Love In The Adjacent Cornerby MiponiskiChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Alternative EndingEpilogueChapter 1Love in the Adjacent Corner A My little Pony fanfic Written By: Miponiski Chapter 1 Bang! The walls fell to the ground. It was the single most-deafening sound that made all later sounds not worth hearing, even if it was possible to. After burning for some time now, the fiery inferno made the air itself sweat with a great intensity. It was all over, she thought to herself, everything was in that house. The emitted light off the bright fire was blinding in itself, but its unyielding power shook the core of all that dared to look away, and shatter the good nature of those that choose to watch it feed. Fire Fighters attacked the fire with hoses from several angles, but hope inevitably had to fade. The flames stubbornly refused to dim without taking the house down with it. The home was at the utter mercy of a merciless destruction. After the house was brought lower than its owners knees, the fire willingly receded; not from the Fire Fighters, or their hoses. It was the absence of dreams for it to destroy, that gave the fire no more purpose of burning. A Fire Fighter approached Fluttershy; solemnly informing her that the entire property was lost. Fluttershy was still trying to wrap her head around the event. Fluttershy looked at the Fire Fighter and asked, "How did the fire start?" The Fire Fighter tried to share sympathy, but other than a soft tone in his words nothing in the expression of his sincerity gave her any comfort. "The fire started from the outside. We don't know from what exactly, but the dry lawn must have drawn the fire to a straight path toward your house." Fluttershy regretted asking. It filled her mind with self-pity. Ever since her husband abandoned her with a filly, she was behind on her mortgage payments, and she felt that the best way to responsibly take care of her bills, was to reduce her expenses on all non-necessities: restaurants, heat, and water for the lawn. A tear of guilt slid down her cheek as she absorbed the blame. After the Fire Fighters left, Fluttershy sighed with grief. The fire was an afternoon's ambush. It came so quickly that she only barely made it out with her life and her filly's. Nothing with less than four legs, and an instinctive reaction to escape danger, could have possibly survived that fire. But, at least nopony was hurt. Fluttershy knew that her whole way of life was about to change, doubtfully for the better, but at least she still had her life and her daughter's. Fluttershy wrapped a single hoof tightly around her filly's shoulders to comfort her. Fluttershy knew her filly was just as confused if not more than what she was, but Fluttershy didn't speak a word—she just didn't know what to say. The moment of silence didn't last long. A blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane flew down to see the aftermath of the situation. Fluttershy recognized the pegasus almost instantly, but had not seen her since the days when they were both fillies. "Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy muttered; curious to know why of all days was it today that she was reunited with an old friend. "Whoa! Fluttershy, is that you? Its me: Rainbow Dash. We used to go to flight school together in Cloudsdale." Fluttershy needed no reminder of who the pegasus was, and how they knew each other. For the years they've been apart, Fluttershy has yet to find a friend as close as she was with Rainbow Dash. Truthfully, Fluttershy wasn't the best at making new friends, but she cherished the memories of the one's she had. "Of course I remember you," she answered. "I never would have thought that burning house was yours," said Rainbow Dash. She clearly had no intent of being offensive, but it completely lacked in any sensitivity. "I know," Fluttershy replied with a depressing sigh that was just a little to subtle for Rainbow Dash to pick up on. "Dang! That was one hell of a fire. Your house didn't stand a chance." Fluttershy replied with the same depressed sigh as before. "I know." "But I can't believe that you live here in Ponyville too." "Well..." Fluttershy looked at the smoldering pile of rubble that use to be her home. "I use to live here anyway." Talking about a challenging event to process made it harder for Fluttershy to keep her composure. Her eyes begun to water, and soon even a pony as vain as Rainbow Dash would have had to notice Fluttershy's sorrow. "Hey Fluttershy? You okay? Oh my gosh! Who is this little guy?" Rainbow Dash only just noticed the little filly leaning against Fluttershy's leg. "Is this your filly? She's adorable!" Rainbow Dash was completely distracted by the filly, and forgot all about her original question. Fluttershy answered hesitantly. "Well... Yes this is my daughter Lantana." When Rainbow Dash pushed her face into the yellow filly's personal space, Lantana shied back. "Damn she's a little thing! She's shy like her mother too. A unicorn though, huh. I can only imagine that gene came from her father. Who is the father anyway?" Rainbow Dash was caught up in the excitement of meeting an old friend, and completely disregarded the tragedy Fluttershy and her daughter have just experienced. At this time Rainbow Dash's attitude seemed a little inappropriate and obnoxious. Rainbow Dash continued, "I don't think either of us even had our cutie-marks when we last seen each other. I can't believe I'm seeing you all grown up for the first time! This is so exciting!" Fluttershy didn't share the same excitement. Normally, she would have, but today, more dramatic events overpowered her feelings of excitement. Fluttershy quietly murmured, "Yes its... exciting." "Sure a shame what happened to your house though. Of all days too. There's suppose to be a storm tonight. I hope you have a place to go that's either indoors or above the rain. What are you going to do?" Fluttershy's gaze dropped into the ground. She answered with a hopeless weep. "I don't know." Rainbow Dash was finally starting to experience some empathy for Fluttershy. "You're welcome to spend a few nights up in my cloud. It's not that big but it will keep you above the rain." "That's very kind of you, but Lantana won't be able to stand on the clouds: She's a unicorn, and of course I can't leave her." Fluttershy was glad that Rainbow Dash was trying to help her through a difficult time, but she couldn't accept Rainbow Dash's offer. Only pegasi can walk on clouds, and for a filly without wings, a cloud is an unsafe place. "Well if you need anything I can help with," Rainbow Dash answered, "I'm more than willing to. In fact, I'll see if there's something I can do to make sure the storm goes around your house... well property I mean." Fluttershy let Rainbow Dash return to her whether duties by giving a sincere thanks. Then, Rainbow Dash flew off to do her job. Once alone with her filly Fluttershy tried to comfort the little one—promising she would find a way to make everything work out alright. Fluttershy had no idea how she could support such a promise, but she would give her life to keep it. The little Lantana noticed Fluttershy's fear, even though Fluttershy tried her hardest to stay strong for the filly. Night came, and Fluttershy was still unsure of what to do as when the fire started. She could hear the storm rage in the distance. It created a feeling of warmth just knowing that Rainbow Dash was thinking of her by altering the storm patterns for her sake, but as heart warming as the intent was, the night was still cold. The gusts of wind came often, and chilled its way down to the bones of the homeless ponies. The two ponies lied on the cold ground by what was once their home. Lantana snuggled as close into her mother's ribcage as she could. Fluttershy kept a hoof wrapped around the filly's shoulders to help keep her a little warmer. Later in the night, Rainbow Dash returned to check on the two ponies. "You okay?" Rainbow Dash asked. She had much more sympathy in her voice this time than the previous encounter. Fluttershy didn't want to seem desperate, but it wasn't in her heart to lie to an old friend. "We're managing," she said. Rainbow Dash pulled a blanket out from her saddlebag. "I wish I could get you a warm place for the two of you to stay, but since you can't sleep in the clouds like me... Anyway, I have some extra blankets for you. It should be dry the rest of the night. I also managed to borrow an extra pillow from one of the other weather ponies." Rainbow Dash threw the blanket over the two ponies leaving only their heads visible. Fluttershy felt the warmth of the blanket instantly, and was touched by Rainbow Dash's compassion. "Thank you," she said, "After all this time we've been apart, I'm glad that you're still just as kind." Rainbow Dash was flattered by the compliment, "Well... It was nothing. To get the other weather ponies to help out with the storm I had to agree to cover a couple extra shifts for them. I'm going to be working double shifts for the next few days, but it was no problem at all. Anything for a true friend like you Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash's hospitality made Fluttershy, for a brief moment, forget about the hardships of her current state of life. She smiled at Rainbow Dash, and for a second, had an expression on her face of complete bliss. Fluttershy thanked the blue pegasus again. "Thank you so much." Before Rainbow Dash left, she made her same offer as before. "If there's any thing I can help you with, I'm more than willing to." Author's Note Thanks for giving this story a chance. Don't forget, it's never too early to leave a comment! Your opinions help me improve my writing for future projects. This story has been a very fun write and I hope it is a fun read. Your feedback is always important to me. Just some background: This story was originally just a free write about a house destroyed in a fire which later became this fanfic. At the time I wrote it, I was trying to capture the emotions from forest fires around where I live that had been destroying homes. Chapter 2Chapter 2 Fluttershy's eyes opened shortly after the sun came up. She woke up with a slight tweak in her back from the uneven ground she spent the night on. Lantana woke up stretching her hooves, followed by a yawn. Both ponies looked at the pile of rubble after waking, to confirm that it wasn't just a dream. Lantana tugged on her mother's mane. "Do you know where we're going to live yet?" she asked. Fluttershy had no clue what they we're going to do, but she tried to answer her daughter, while being as comforting as possible. "Not yet, but that doesn't mean we can quit either." Lantana had a nervous look on her—one of her mother's classic expressions. She asked, "Will you think of something soon?" Fluttershy brought her head down in order to be at eye level with her daughter. "Tell you what, while you're at school, I'll spend the whole day trying the best I can to find us a home." Fluttershy gave her daughter an affectionate hug. "I still have to go to school?" Lantana asked. Fluttershy answered, "Of course. The fire didn't go anywhere near the school. Besides, it would be good for you to see all your friends. Its not like you're going to miss out on anything fun over here." Lantana nodded in compliance, but still had more to say. "Mommy?" "Yes dear?" "I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since before the fire." Fluttershy felt her heart sink realizing that she had no food or money to buy food. "Well..." She thought hard about what she was going to do. "Go to school. I'll try to drop off a lunch for you if I find anything." Lantana looked unsatisfied by her mother's response, but she nodded her head in agreement anyway. Lantana and Fluttershy exchanged goodbyes followed by another hug. Soon Lantana was at school, and Fluttershy was alone in Ponyville looking for money, food, and shelter. Fluttershy hoped that she would run into Rainbow Dash again, but she was nowhere to be found. Fluttershy wandered through the Ponyville market to search for some food for her daughter. She tried to explain to the farmer working at an apple-stand, that she didn't have money, but she really needed food. The farmer had green eyes, and wore an old western hat. She had a southern accent and a friendly face, but nonetheless, Fluttershy got no sympathy from her. The farmer replied, "Look sugarcube, I can't just give away free apples to everypony that asks. If you're looking for charity y'all best bark up another tree." Fluttershy walked away with her head held low with shame. She tried to explain her situation to some other ponies, begging them for something: money, food, or just a simple act of kindness. Everypony gave the same reaction it seemed. They gave a sincere apology and, said that they couldn't help her. Lantana was probably on her way home by now, and Fluttershy still didn't have any food for the little filly. Fluttershy didn't care whether or not she could manage to ease her own stomach. Just as long as her daughter had something to eat, her mind could be at peace. No matter how much Fluttershy begged, no pony was willing to lift a hoof for her. Fluttershy had to return home a failure—empty hoofed. She would stay out longer—all night if she had to, except she didn't want to leave her filly home alone. Fluttershy came home to see how her little filly was doing. "How was your day?" Fluttershy asked Lantana. "I'm still really hungry. You never brought me any lunch like you said you would. I haven't eaten anything all day. I felt like I was going to faint during PE." Fluttershy felt guilt weighing on her shoulders. "I'm very sorry, but I couldn't find any food." Lantana wasn't so understanding like she was last time. Lantana's voice squeaked as she yelled out, "This is all those weather ponies fault! If they made it rain just a few hours earlier our house would still be standing!" "It's not any pony's fault. No pony could have predicted the fire. The weather ponies are understaffed, and are having a hard time bringing in enough rain for the hot season." Fluttershy knew this as a fact from her prior knowledge. Before the fire, Fluttershy spent a lot of time looking for work. She saw an advertisement in the paper about how the weather pony services were looking to hire. Fluttershy thought it could be her chance to get a job, but sure enough they told her that she wasn't what they were looking for—that they wanted a pony that was a stronger flier. Lantana respected her mother, but was still angry about the situation. "It's just that... I hate not having a home. When is that one pegasus going to come back. Maybe she could give us food." Fluttershy answered solemnly, "I don't know where she is." It hurt knowing that she couldn't give her filly the things she needed. Seeing her daughter angry, tired, and starving, made her eyes water. "Just wait here, and try not to overexert yourself. I'll go back out to the market, and I promise I'll come back with food." Fluttershy didn't like the idea of leaving her filly alone, but leaving her to get food felt like the lesser of the two evils. At least Ponyville is a safe town, she thought. The sun was beginning to set, and more ponies started to make their way home. She was no longer looking at the food stands for food, instead she looked for ponies that looked like they had something to spare. No longer was she worthy of being labeled a consumer. Without money, she was a victim seeking refuge. After the sun went down, no pony looked familiar to her. Begging didn't do her any good. Soon all the other ponies were in their homes, while Fluttershy was alone crying in the middle of the road. As the night grew, Fluttershy found her weeps to be interrupted by the loud, clopping hoofsteps of another pony coming down the road. The pony was large, and his silhouette in the moonlight looked muscular. The mysterious pony approached Fluttershy, and with a manly, low-toned voice asked what she was doing. This is my chance, Fluttershy thought to herself. She explained everything to the pony. She told him about the fire, about her daughter, and most importantly, about her necessity for food. The mysterious pony's face was covered in the darkness, but Fluttershy knew he was pondering the situation with silence. She awaited his response. The mysterious pony cleared his throat, and answered, "I have a few apples in my saddlebag left-over from dinner still." Fluttershy felt a rush of happiness when she heard this. Her eyes lit up as if she won the jackpot, but then he said something else. That he never really cared much for charity, but if she could return a favor, he would give them to her. Fluttershy felt that it was a strange thing to say, but she wanted those apples, and couldn't disagree that a small favor for a little generosity was fair. Fluttershy answered the pony. Her voice was eccentric, but still maintained her quiet demeanor. "Of course! What do you need my help with?" she said. Fluttershy looked up at the tall pony eagerly, as if he was her hero. After all, a hero never came to aid her starving daughter. The mysterious pony explained what he wanted. He went on explaining how there were certain things that his special somepony wasn't willing to do for him sexually. He was asking her for a blowjob, and was using the bag of apples as leverage. Fluttershy was torn between two urges. One that wanted to run away, and the other that wanted to get the apples for her daughter. Her eyes watered from confliction. Fluttershy began to feel an adrenaline rush from fear. She had a hard time believing that the pony was really making this request. Fluttershy felt that she had to keep her promise to Lantana, and without the apples, a little filly like her could starve to death. To Fluttershy the apples meant more to her than just a delicious fruit. It meant more to her than her pride, and self-respect. She shied back a little, and asked if there was anything else she could do for the apples, but the mysterious pony knew he had leverage, and he refused to any and all changes to his original proposal. Fluttershy was scared, but she agreed to his terms—not out of morals, but out of desperation. The mysterious pony escorted Fluttershy up the path to an old barn—where the two ponies made the trade. Fluttershy wept during the exchange, but the stallion wasn't bothered the slightest by it. After Fluttershy did her part of the deal, the mysterious pony gave Fluttershy the saddlebag of apples, then without hesitation, showed her to the door. He tossed her out on his front porch and slammed the door shut without looking back. As soon as the stallion got what he wanted, there was no need for him to keep her there any longer. Fluttershy was banished to the streets without even getting a chance to wash up after a sticky exchange. Fluttershy used the back of her hoof to wipe her face clean as she could without water, before proceeding on her way back home. The lingering aftertaste residing in the back of her throat bothered the yellow pegasus. The shameful event made Fluttershy feel sleazy. Probably the way one should feel after whoring themselves out for a bag of apples, she thought. Fluttershy felt awful as she continued her walk in shame. She felt guilty. It was like she was a disgrace against her own integrity, and everything else she stood for. Fluttershy never ceased crying until she got home. Lantana greeted Fluttershy as soon as she saw her, and was happy to see her bring back apples. Even though Fluttershy was quite hungry herself, she didn't even think to take an apple. She didn't want any of them. Not any of those apples. Fluttershy told Lantana that the entire bag of apples was for her, and that she didn't want any. Fluttershy laid on her side, against the cold ground. She got ready for another nights sleep outside as she reflected to herself, Never have I done anything like that before. Never have I degraded myself so much. Chapter 3Chapter 3 Fluttershy woke up the next morning in an opposing position from where her sleep started. Her morning breath carried the odor of last nights sin. Lantana was already up, and was just about to start on her way to school when she saw her mother was awake. "Mommy!" said the little filly. "You're awake!" Fluttershy didn't feel like she was anymore rested even after a whole night's sleep. It took her a moment to reorient herself before she could address her filly. Her head ached. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes, then said to Lantana, "Yes, I am. Are you... getting ready for school?" Lantana answered her mother. "Yep. I saved you an apple from last night. I had one for breakfast so now there's only one left." Fluttershy thought the gesture was sweet, but still didn't want the memories that the apple were tainted with. "Well how about you take it for lunch, or an after school snack. I would much rather you eat it than me." Lantana nodded, and took the apple with her to school. Fluttershy was surprised at how quickly the bag was of apples disappeared. Now she was in the same situation before, but she desperately hoped for less shameful results. Even though Fluttershy had no money, or reason to hit up the Ponyville shops, she needed something to do, somewhere to be, and a place to think. She felt herself being lured into the local pastry shop. Its been over a full day since Fluttershy last ate, and the warm pastries on display made her mouth water, and her stomach growl. Fluttershy knew she couldn't afford anything, and has given up on trying to beg for it. She sat at a table in the far corner of the shop. She sat away from the window where she could bury her face into a newspaper. While acting like she was reading, all she could think about is how she planned to keep her daughter and herself alive. She was only able to imagine two possible outcomes for the future. One was death, and the other was to embrace prostitution into a permanent way of life. Fluttershy hated both options. If it was just herself, a silent sufferable death wouldn't have sounded so bad, but it wasn't just herself. She hid her head behind the newspaper as she silently cried. "Is something wrong?" A peculiar, charismatic voice came from the other side of the newspaper. Fluttershy set the paper down on the table to see who the pony was. To Fluttershy's surprise there were two male unicorns with nearly identical body features standing at Fluttershy's table. They looked like they could be identical twins. Their striped clothes looked like they may have had a sense of style many years ago, but here and now, they just looked odd. Both brothers had a creme colored coat, and if it wasn't for one of them having a mustache, they would be nearly impossible to tell apart from one another. Fluttershy was nervous about what these ponies wanted. She found it hard to believe that ponies with such a grin would ask her whats wrong merely out of concern. Fluttershy answered shyly, "...I'm just going through a rough moment." The two unicorn looked at each other, then back at Fluttershy. The unicorn with the mustache leaned in with sincerity in his words. "Its most unfortunate. Life can be cruel at times. Isn't that right Flim?" The other brother answered, "That's right, most cruel indeed. Why don't you tell us about some of the problems you've been going through." Both unicorns turned their attention to Fluttershy. Fluttershy hesitated. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to get into her life stories with two strangers she never met before—especially ponies as strange as the two brother unicorns. She asked herself, whats the worst that can happen? Eventually, she weepily told them everything. About being abandoned with a filly to feed, her house burning down, and even though she initially meant to not tell them about whoring herself out for apples, she ended up doing so anyway. Fluttershy felt a little better just by telling somepony about everything that happened, even if they were strangers. The unicorns looked at each other and cocked an eyebrow at one another. Then Flam said smugly, "Sounds to me like most your problems could be resolved with a little extra money." Fluttershy nodded. She could by no means find a way to disagree with that statement. "Of course it will, but no matter how hard I try to get a job to make money, I'm almost always rejected," she said. "Well what would you say if I told you we can get you a little more money for your purse?" said Flim. Fluttershy was skeptical, "I would say that I'm not going to whore myself out anymore." Flam laughed, "Haha you're a sweet thing, but we have no such intention." Fluttershy was unsure of what the unicorns were implying. "Am I suppose to believe that you're just going to give me money for doing nothing?" Flim was ready to answer her question the moment she asked it. It was as if he rehearsed this conversation, and already knew what he was going to say. "Practically! I can get you some pretty good income for practically no work at all." Flam interjected, "No job interview, and no skills required!" Flim added, "Get paid big, and get paid on the spot!" Fluttershy was now more confused than ever. "What's the catch? What do I have to do?" Flim pulled out a sealed box from his saddlebag, and placed it on the table. "There is no catch. All you got to do is deliver this box." Flam added, "It doesn't need to go far, just to this address. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes." Flim pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with the address and set it on top of the box on the table. "Lets not forget, bring the money back to us, and we will give you a generous cut." Fluttershy felt like the two ponies were trying to scam her. Whatever their business was, she knew it was too good to be ethical. "What's in the box?" she asked. Flam answered, "Pick it up, give it a shake. It's too light to be a bomb, does anything beyond that really matter? You see the pony folk want certain goods delivered with a hassle-free, no questions asked service, that the postal service can't offer." Fluttershy was beginning to understand their proposal. Whatever was in the box, it must have been some sort of illegal substance. Fluttershy shook her head side-to-side. "I don't want to take part in a crime that makes other ponies lives worse." Flim leaned in closer to Fluttershy, and explained, "It's all supply and demand. Ponies want it, we can get it. It would be great if everypony could make a living through honest intentions, but that's not how the economy works. You of all ponies should know that. We're just providing a wanted service. The difference between prostituting yourself and this is: when you prostitute yourself, you hurt yourself to serve the clients demands. By delivering these goods, the clients choose to hurt themselves to meet their demands. As far as I'm concerned, if they want to hurt themselves with these products, that's their business. My business isn't to judge one based on their life choices. I profit because of it, and both parties walk away happy. As long as everypony's happy, there is no victim." Fluttershy was trying hard to see things from his perspective. It reminded her of a pony trying to sell her a time share. He made such a bad thing sound like a wonderful service to the world. Fluttershy contemplated the pros and cons in her head, and didn't even notice that Flam left the table a while ago. A blueberry muffin was on the table—directly in front of Fluttershy. "I heard your stomach growling," said Flam, "You know we use to be a lot like you—unable to feed ourselves. Being proud isn't a bad thing, but being stubbornly proud is only going to cause yourself harm when life starts to get tough. Just drop off one box, and you can afford to feed yourself for a week. No one will ever suspect a cute pony like you." Fluttershy was hesitant, but she couldn't turn down his offer. After all, it meant her worries could finally be behind her, and she wouldn't have to repeat what she did the previous night. It felt wrong for Fluttershy to do something that was against the law, but the law never put food on her table. She placed the box in her saddlebag, along with the muffin, and headed out the door. Flim and Flam both said in unison, "See you later!" They were certainly odd ponies. Fluttershy thought to herself, For ugly faces they sure seemed friendly. She felt nervous just from carrying the box in her saddlebag. Fluttershy followed the road until she came across the address that she was supposed to deliver the box to. Sweat began to drip from her hairline. It was an old house that lacked in curb-appeal. Fluttershy took the box out of her saddlebag, and rang the doorbell. A pony called out from inside the house, "Just a minute!" The door opened and a gray pegasus opened the door. The gray pegasus saw the box right away, and was expecting the delivery. Fluttershy was afraid to make eye contact, but managed to mutter out the words, "I'm suppose to bring this to you." The gray pegasus took the box and left Fluttershy with a filled coin purse. That wasn't so hard, Fluttershy thought. She returned to the pastry shop to see if Flim, and Flam were still there. Sure enough they were sitting at the same table as before. Fluttershy entered the shop and approached the two brothers. "I told you it wouldn't take more than twenty minutes," said Flam. "You didn't even think she was going to come back," said Flim. Fluttershy was still nervous, "Well... I did what you told me to do, I brought the payment back." Fluttershy set the coin purse on the table, for the two brothers to see. "Excellent," said Flam. Flim said, "The fact that you came back proved that we can trust you. We can use a trustworthy pony. Keep the money—all of it, and if you're willing to see your earnings triple, I have another delivery that can use a trustworthy pony like yourself." Fluttershy couldn't remember a time she had as much money as she got from the one delivery, but that didn't mean she didn't need anymore. After all, her house just burned down. She was homeless. Fluttershy had to accept the offer. Chapter 4Chapter 4 Fluttershy spent the next couple days delivering drugs. She felt uncomfortable with the idea, but it was an easy thing to do, and it paid the money that she so desperately needed. After a while her discomfort went away, and she was use to the life-style. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but nopony ever stopped her. The police never suspected a thing, and the ponies she delivered to were appreciative of what she was doing. Her deliveries always ended in praise and warm regards. She felt some level of guilt, but she couldn't feel to bad. After all, she made enough money to keep her daughter alive. Fluttershy spent the day making deliveries door-to-door, while her daughter was at school. She had plenty of money for food now, and was well on her way to getting a roof over her head too. For the first time in a while, it felt like things were getting better, instead of worse. Fluttershy was on her way back from a delivery when she ran into a familiar face. Rainbow Dash spotted Fluttershy from her cloud, and flew down to greet her. "Hey Fluttershy! Long time no see huh. Well its by no means the longest we've been apart, but still." Fluttershy was startled by Rainbow Dash's approach. "Oh, hello," said Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash rambled, "Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been working extra weather shifts. Its been exhausting, and I just couldn't find the time to drop by. This is the first day off I had all week." Fluttershy did have some understanding for Rainbow Dash's absence. Although Fluttershy could have used some more of her help a couple of days ago, Fluttershy still thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend. "So that's why the weather has been so nice the last couple days." Rainbow Dash loved the compliment. "I guess you can say that," she said smugly. "But anyway, have you been getting by alright?" "It was a rough start," Fluttershy replied, "but I think I'm managing pretty well now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I get a new home." "Well that's awesome news! Is there anything I can help with in the meantime?" Fluttershy declined, saying everything is fine at the moment. She still had a box she needed to deliver in her saddlebag, but since she didn't want Rainbow Dash to know about the type of work she's been doing for Flim and Flam, she decided she would spend the day with Rainbow Dash, and make the delivery tomorrow. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to a coffee shop to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. Since before the fire, they never seen each other for years—not since they were fillies, and they had lots of catching up to do. After a while of chatting, Fluttershy had to say goodbye in order to be home when her filly got off from school. Both ponies agreed to meet again tomorrow. Fluttershy agreed by saying, "I can't see why not." Fluttershy went back home, even though it wasn't much of a home now, and waited for the filly to come back. Fluttershy waited and waited but Lantana didn't come back home like she was supposed to. Fluttershy was worried. It wasn't until several hours after that Lantana came back from school. Concerned, Fluttershy asked the filly, "Where have you been?" Lantana began to sob as she said, "I had detention." Fluttershy was shocked. She always imagined her daughter as her perfect little angel. She was surprised to hear that her always well-mannered daughter got into trouble. "Whatever for?" Fluttershy asked. Her voice showed even more concern than before. Lantana was afraid to make eye contact with her mother. She knew what she did was wrong. She felt guilty. Even though her mother wasn't expressing any anger, she felt like she was awaiting another punishment. "I got in a fight," she said. "One of the other ponies was laughing at me when she over heard me say that my house burned down. I told her to stop laughing, but she didn't. Eventually I just got so angry, that I hit her, but it wasn't my fault! She wouldn't leave me alone even after I asked her nicely!" Lantana's eyes started bawling. Fluttershy was surprised at what her daughter told her, but she understood how hard the recent events must have been for her daughter. Fluttershy tried her best to empathize. "Now I know it wasn't nice of the other filly to make fun of you, but was violence really necessary? Did it make anything any better?" Lantana sighed with self disappointment. "I guess it didn't," she said. Fluttershy continued, "Violence is never the right answer to solve your problems. No matter how satisfying it may seem, you will always lose more from violence than you gain. I think you got to experience that for yourself today. You missed out on a beautiful day because you had detention. Now I think you learned something from all this, but do you think you can promise me that you won't do this again?" Lantana wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah. I learned my lesson, and I promise I won't ever do this again." Fluttershy gave Lantana a prolonged hug. "Mommy?" Lantana asked. "Yes?" "Are we ever going to get our house back?" asked the little filly. "Soon. We will soon. I promise it won't be too much longer." Fluttershy for the first time made a promise that she felt confident about. She felt that it was the first promise she made since the fire, where she had a plan to make it happen. Author's Note I'm interested to know what your thoughts on the story are so far. I was unsure if Flim and Flam were the best characters for this story. I know they lack the approval ratings from the fandom but I thought they would flow well with the story. I'd be interested to know what you think of them. Chapter 5Chapter 5 Fluttershy was beginning to grow accustom to sleeping on the ground. The next morning she felt more rested than the last few nights. Lantana was awake before Fluttershy, but waited for her mother to wake up before asking for permission to play in the park with some friends. Since it wasn't a school day, Fluttershy encouraged her filly to run off and play. Fluttershy was about to put on her saddlebag before heading out to meet with Rainbow Dash. She stopped herself after remembering that it still contained the drugs for her next delivery. It would be best if I didn't bring this with me, she thought, I don't want to alarm Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was on her way down to the same coffee shop where she agreed to meet Rainbow Dash. The sun was already up, and the sky was free of clouds. A beautiful Saturday morning! the yellow pegasus thought. Fluttershy trotted toward town, humming a happy tune when Rainbow Dash flew down cutting Fluttershy off her path. Fluttershy jumped back, once again, startled from Rainbow Dash's approach. Fluttershy was still a few blocks away from where they were suppose to meet, and they were the only ponies on the path. "So what have you really been up to?" Rainbow Dash asked. For a moment, Fluttershy believed that Rainbow Dash knew about her new job in Ponyville. "Well... nothing really," she replied. Fluttershy walked around Rainbow Dash and proceeded walking down the path. Rainbow Dash flew in front of Fluttershy, cutting her off again, and blocked her path. Fluttershy stopped. Rainbow Dash returned a glare of disbelief at Fluttershy, "Really? Nothing at all?" Fluttershy began to worry, and here nerves became visible on her face. "Just taking care of Lantana," she said. Rainbow Dash began to accuse Fluttershy. "What's this I hear about you selling cocaine to ponies?" Fluttershy immediately denied the accusation, "I don't even know where you would hear such a thing." Rainbow Dash stuck her face inches in front of Fluttershy's, while staring straight into her eyes. "A friend told me—Derpy. She's in the hospital right now because she overdosed. I went to see her last night. She almost died! The doctors said she has permanent brain damage. Sure enough one thing she does remember is a yellow pegasus selling her drugs!" Fluttershy guiltily looked away, but did her best to sound innocent. "I'm by no means the only yellow pegasus in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash didn't believe Fluttershy's innocence at all. "She also said the pegasus had a couple of butterflies for a cutie-mark," Rainbow Dash added. There are plenty of yellow pegasi in Equestria, but each cutie-mark is unique, and her butterfly cutie-mark was in plain view even at that very moment. Fluttershy knew she couldn't deny it any longer. "Well... so what if I sold it to her. She ordered it. I didn't force her to take the drugs. She wanted them. I didn't tell her how much to take. She choose to overdose on them. None of that is my fault!" Rainbow Dash began to lecture her, "What do you mean it's not your fault? Had it not been for you, she would be with her family instead of in the hospital right now! What are you doing selling drugs anyway!" "Well I didn't want to. I just really needed the money." Fluttershy felt some shame, but It bothered her how Rainbow Dash, a pony who never suffered a day in her life, was the one judging her right now. "Fluttershy! What were you thinking? You know better than this. This isn't the right way to make money." Something in Rainbow Dash's words struck a nerve on Fluttershy. It felt like something in her mind had snapped. Something that turned her guilt and shame into pure anger. She felt furious. Fluttershy was done being lectured by Rainbow Dash. She was ready to stand up for herself, and stared Rainbow Dash straight back in her eyes. She took in a big breath, and yelled louder than she ever had before, "You don't know what I've been through! I wasn't born with wings four times as strong as any pony else. I payed attention during flying classes back in Cloudsdale flight academy—unlike you, and I put my best effort to be half as good a flyer as you, but I'm not even half as good a flyer as most fillies! I'm a pegasus who isn't a good enough flyer to get a job anywhere! I don't have the skills of an earth pony, or unicorn, and the only skills that make a pegasus employable—I suck at. My husband abandoned me while I was pregnant, and I fucked up every job I had because my useless wings quit on me! Sure enough, the weather ponies were understaffed, so it was a dry season. When I tried to apply for a job there, they told me I wasn't what they were looking for. Despite how understaffed they were, and because of the drought and my unemployment, I couldn't afford to keep my frickin' lawn watered, and sure enough an outdoor fire followed the dead grass straight to my house and took away everything from me! And you're judging me? I didn't get lucky with your genetics. I had to suck a ponies dick for a bag of no more than four apples, because I had no money to buy food for my daughter, and you know what: That pony was the closest thing to a hero in my life. You were nowhere to be found when my daughter was starving. The legal system let my husband leave me without paying any alimony. The fire fighters never saved my house from the fire. No disaster relief crew came to give me shelter after I've been homeless for days now. You haven't had to suffer for a single day in your life! Your parents paid for everything you ever needed. Every time you got into trouble, you had some pony that just made all your problems go away! I finally found a way to successfully keep my daughter, and myself alive, and you're going to tell me that its wrong, and that I should stop? FINE! Then tell me how to keep a roof over my head! Tell me how to feed my daughter the right way! Tell me how! FUCKING TELL ME HOW!" Fluttershy was breathing heavily after her rant. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped completely open. Rainbow Dash never in her life heard Fluttershy yell. Fluttershy's voice was always soft and gentle. Rainbow Dash was stupefied. She backed away from Fluttershy, unblocking her path, while her mouth hung open. Rainbow Dash was left with nothing to say. Fluttershy proceeded down the path. Even though she could assume her meeting with Rainbow Dash at the coffee shop had been canceled, she felt that the confident thing to do was to keep walking—leaving Rainbow Dash behind. She had no business being in the Ponyville shopping center. She left her saddle bag with all her money at home, but she still had a lot of stress from her encounter with Rainbow Dash, and a walk around town could be just what she needed to calm down. As the day grew older Fluttershy decided to head back home, just in case Lantana was done playing with her friends, and decided to come home. The sun only just reached mid-sky, and, Fluttershy started to think when would be the best time to finish her delivery that should have been done yesterday. It was when Fluttershy was less than a block away from her house that a light rain began to take place. The rain wasn't enough to bother Fluttershy, but she was concerned about whether it would get much worse before she gets a roof to keep dry under. I guess Lantana's not here, Fluttershy observed. The patch of yard next to the ruble of their home was empty. Too empty, Fluttershy thought. Fluttershy looked around for a moment knowing something in the air didn't feel quite right. A spark inside her head went off. Her saddlebag was missing. The saddlebag with the drugs. Oh no! Fluttershy knew exactly where she left that bag on the ground, and all she knew is that wherever it was, it wasn't where she left it. Fluttershy worried what to do if she couldn't find it. How would she tell Flim, and Flam? How would they react? Would they be mad? Fluttershy walked around the property, looking under any loose rubble that Fluttershy had enough strength to lift. What if somepony took it? she thought. Fluttershy's eye caught something laying beside the rubble of the far side of the house. She couldn't identify the object other than that it looked peculiar compared to the Rubble. She moved closer. It looks like... Lantana?Fluttershy was curious. What would she be doing over there? She moved closer. It was definitely Lantana. She was laying flat on her side, and facing in the opposite direction her mother approached from. "Lantana?" Fluttershy called out. "Lantana!" The Filly didn't respond or move or anything. Fluttershy ran up to the filly and rocked her body side to side in attempt to wake her up. Fluttershy called out louder despite being closer. "Lantana!" The filly was completely unresponsive. With a closer look, Fluttershy noticed the filly wasn't breathing, and her body was cold to the touch. Fluttershy lifted one of the filly's closed eyelids, and waved her hoof in front of the filly. It was motionless. Her eyelid itself was stiff, and the rest of her eye was completely dry. The ends of Lantana's legs were beginning to lose their color, and her legs were limply splayed. Fluttershy was no longer looking at a filly, but a corpse. "No! No! Lantana! What did you do?" Fluttershy had tears pouring from her eyes. Her saddlebag and the box she was supposed to deliver both lied empty, and open next to the corpse. A fine white powder stained the young corpses lips. Fluttershy was smart enough to understand what happened, but not emotionally capable of believing such a thing could happen to her. "Don't worry Lantana. Don't worry. I'm here now. Don't worry." Fluttershy brushed the corpse's mane—the one part that was still soft. The death of her daughter struck Fluttershy with immense fear, but Fluttershy couldn't accept the fact her daughter was dead. She was in denial, and even looking at her daughter's colorless corpse wasn't enough to convince her what she was seeing was real. It was her own guilt that repressed reality. "Its okay Lantana. It's probably a good thing to get some rest right now. You're just sick is all." Fluttershy put a hoof on her forehead to check for a fever. "Oh my, you're ice-cold. Just wait there I'll go get you a blanket." A deeper part of Fluttershy's mind knew Lantana was dead, and it was the reason Fluttershy cried uncontrollably, but Fluttershy's consciousness simply couldn't process what was right in front of her, and so it didn't. Fluttershy returned with the blanket, and draped it over her daughter. "That should warm you up." Fluttershy got under the blanket with the corpse. She put her hoof around the filly's shoulders and snuggled tightly with Lantana's body. Fluttershy nuzzled into Lantana's mane, and she continued to cry. Fluttershy fearfully, and quietly sang a lullaby to her dead daughter; sobbing between every few words. "Hush now, quiet now, its time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now..." Chapter 6Chapter 6 Fluttershy over heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. "Ah there she is. You've always been the best at tracking ponies down Flam... Oh would you look at that." Fluttershy turned her head to see Flim and Flam standing behind her, and in front of the sunrise. She continued to hold her daughter tightly. Flim spoke, "I can see now why you missed your last delivery." Fluttershy nodded with tears still in her eyes. "I wasn't able to make my delivery. My daughter is very sick." "She also smells," Flam added. Flim knelt down to Fluttershy in a comforting way. "Its alright. We're ponies too. We understand that you're going through a rough part of your life right now. We can't force you to deliver drugs if you don't want to." Flim showed sincerity in his words. Fluttershy appreciated his understanding but had too many tears to speak: She nodded instead. "Although..." said Flam. "Right, although," Flim continued, "We don't really care about your personal problems. We need to know whether you're still willing to work for us or not." Fluttershy couldn't answer. Her emotional state wasn't ready to talk about business. She stared at Flim with sad, teary eyes. Flam said, "I think that means she's not willing to do work for us anymore." "Yes I think you're right brother Flam." Flim grabbed hold of Fluttershy's hoof in a compassionate way. "You see," he said, "Our business is bigger than you think. Drugs aren't the only thing we sell here in Ponyville. Now we may not be able to make you sell drugs against your will, but we got other jobs that we can make you do against your will. Flam grab her!" Flam grabbed Fluttershy by the scruff of her neck. Fluttershy shrieked and with her free hoof, she held on to Lantana—afraid to let her go. "Lantana!" she cried out. Flim slapped the back of Fluttershy's hoof, forcing her to let go of her daughter's body. "Leave that gross thing behind," he said. Flim and Flam continued to drag Fluttershy to an old shack. Flam said, "You see, it's fine if you don't want to sell drugs for us anymore. In fact, I might even say its better than fine. Drugs take a lot of work to sell, and we can only sell them once. Not to mention we have to stick our necks out in the public going door to door to sell them." Flim added, "It's really not our best line of work. If it wasn't such an easy business to start, we might have just not even bothered." "Sex is where the real money is," said Flam, "Ponies pay good money for it. We give them a young attractive pony, like you, for them to use however they want for an hour, and then we rent you out to the next pony. We can rent you out several times a day, every day a week, every week a year, and as many years you have until your beauty starts to fade." Flim added, "Doesn't that sound like fun?" Fluttershy continued to kick, scream, and cry. She didn't really understand the logic of what Flim and Flam were explaining. She was too worked up from being taken away from her daughter, but despite her struggles, they weren't enough to escape their grasp. Fluttershy was dragged into the shack, and taken to the basement. Her hooves were tied together, along with her wings, and she was thrown behind a locked door on her side. "Welcome to the Flim Flam residence," Flim said. The two brothers left the room, closing the door behind them, and didn't look back. The basement Fluttershy was in had an unsanitary appearance. The floors were dirty and the room had a rank smell. The room was filled with several other ponies that were tied the same way she was. All of them were female. Their faces showed no interest or desire to speak, and Fluttershy had no reason to either. Some were pagasi, others were unicorns, and some were earth ponies. All of them looked grungy like they haven't bathed properly in a long time. Fluttershy wondered if that was going to be her in the near future. Fluttershy was able to see a light come from under the door. She heard hoofsteps and the thin walls carried the sounds from the next room. She herd voices pass through the walls. One voice was familiar enough to her to know that one was either Flim or Flam, and that another quieter voice that barely penetrated the walls could be anypony except for the Flim Flam brothers. "What'll it be for you?" asked one of the Flim Flam brothers. A muffled voice replied, but was too distorted to make out what he was saying through the walls. Flim or Flam answered after the muffled voice stopped, "Sure I got unicorns. I'll go bring one up for you." Hoofsteps grew louder as they approached the door. The door opened and Flam dragged out one of the unicorns. He didn't say anything or address any pony. He dragged the restrained unicorn out of the room and closed the door behind him. From behind the closed-door she was able to hear the, once muffled voice, a bit more clearly. "Oh yes perfect. She will do." said the voice. Fluttershy could here Flam's response, "I'm sure she will. Take her upstairs into the first room. Bring her back within the hour." Fluttershy could hear the clanking of coins that she could only assume was Flam's payment. An hour passed, and Fluttershy became sore from laying on her same side. She couldn't move to adjust herself, and the shoulder and hip she was laying on started to cause her discomfort. The door opened again, and Flam returned the unicorn back into the room with restraints. Fluttershy could only imagine what just happened to her. The unicorn was about the same age as Fluttershy. She was shaking with her hind legs tightly closed from whatever it was that just happened to her. She was clearly miserable, but she never shed a tear. Her will was clearly broken, and it most likely broke a long time ago. Out of fear for the unknown Fluttershy felt obliged to ask, "What did they do to you?" The unicorn turned her head toward Fluttershy, and it wasn't until then that Fluttershy noticed that the unicorn's white coat was covered in fresh stains all along her abdomen. The unicorn answered blatantly, "When its your turn—you'll know." Chapter 7Chapter 7 Fluttershy knew it was only a matter of time before she gets chosen. She listened to a deep voice talking to Flam. "I know I didn't exactly set up an appointment, but do ya think you can schedule me in?" Flam answered proudly, "Of course. You've been a customer with us for years. I even have a special treat for you." The unknown voice asked sarcastically, "Are you actually going to give me a discount for once?" Flam stuttered, "Well no. But, I do know how much you love the pegasi, and I got a brand new one; never been touched yet. She's been waiting eagerly just for you." Fluttershy continued listening in through the walls. The unknown voice sounded skeptical at first, but agreed to accept Flam's 'special' treat. Hoofsteps approached, and the door opened. Standing next to Flam was a blue-gray earth pony. "This is the new pegasus you got?" asked the earth pony. "Sure is. Cute right?" Flam said. "She doesn't look all that new, she already has a layer of dust on her," said the earth pony. "I assure you she is. She just needs to be moved around a little, if you know what I'm saying," said Flam. "Well alright I'll take her up to the room then," said the pony. Flam flashed a near-devilish smile at Fluttershy "Keep in mind, the new ponies may sometimes be a little rascally. You might have to be a little rough with her." The earth pony chuckled, "That won't be a problem." Flam dragged Fluttershy out of the room and closed the door. This is the first time Fluttershy seen the door close from the other side. Flam untied the bindings around Fluttershy's hooves. "You know what to do. One hour. And I mean it this time, one hour. I don't want any of this 'five more minutes' horseshit." The earth pony nodded and escorted Fluttershy up the stairs. The yellow pegasus was frightened, and when she thought about being afraid, she thought about Lantana—which made her more afraid. Flim was standing at the top of the stairs and showed the earth pony to the room. Behind a structurally flawed door was a surprisingly well decorated room. The walls looked like they were actually painted this decade, and the floors were elegantly tiled. The room had one double bed, and a mirror off to the side that faced it. There was one chair, and a window that let in just enough light, and provided a pretty nice view of the Ponyville Lake in the distance. Despite how much Fluttershy expected everything to be horrifying, she had to admit the room looked rather pretty. However, Fluttershy knew what awaited her, and she was afraid to merely think about it. Before closing the door leaving Fluttershy alone with the earth pony, Flim said, "Have a good hour." The earth pony starred Fluttershy up and down making several passes with his eyes. He was slowly scanning across every inch of her body. Fluttershy stood frozen. She was fearing the earth pony's next move. "Well Flam was right. You are a cute little thing," he said. Fluttershy couldn't come up with any words to respond. She tucked her tail in between her legs and shook with fear—much like the way the unicorn from the basement did. Fluttershy muttered fearfully, "Please, please don't touch me!" The earth pony didn't seem to care about Fluttershy's fear at all. "I already paid 70 bits. Now Flim and Flam run this business well, but they are far to stingy to refund my money. Of course I'm going to get my money's worth. Now we only have an hour so..." Thump! The earth pony's body hit the ground. Fluttershy's spine tingled. She never hit another pony before, but she struck this pony in his throat with all her might. The earth pony was unconscious. His neck had a large bruise on it, which continued to grow by the second. Fluttershy didn't know why she did what she did. She was just as surprised as the pony she hit. She was acting on pure instinct. Blood was drooling out of the pony's mouth, and Fluttershy could feel judgment from the back of her mind. I-I hit him? Well he was trying to rape me, but still... is he dead? Fluttershy could hear Flim shouting and knocking on the other side of the door. "Is everything okay in there? You aren't being too rough are you? Remember we need her back in one piece so we can use her again." Flim knocked from the other side of the door again, "You still there?" Fluttershy quickly grabbed the chair and jammed it under the door knob. Flim turned the knob but couldn't push the door open. The door was stuck closed. Flim pushed harder on the door. "I need help here!" he shouted down the stairs. Fluttershy could hear several hoofsteps trotting up the stairs. Flim managed to push the door just barely wide enough to fit his nose in. "Dumb pegasus get back here!" Fluttershy ran up to the window and shattered it with a solid kick. Glass fell to the ground at the same moment as the chair holding the door closed, snapped in pieces. Fluttershy flew out the window. I should be okay. I may not be the best flier, but I should be able to fly away from a couple unicorns. Fluttershy was surprised when she found two pagasi ponies following her—tailing her closely. Fluttershy thought that Flim and Flam ran the whole business themselves, but apparently they had help. The pegasi chasing after Fluttershy were both darkly colored—one a dark brown, and the other a dark gray. They looked strong, and large. If they ever got their hooves on Fluttershy either one of them could easily out muscle her to the ground. They chased after her with a great intensity on their faces. The pegasi were faster than Fluttershy, and soon she had to try something besides just flapping her wings harder. She was flying just on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy thought to herself, If I can't out fly them, maybe I can out maneuver them. She turned sharply going straight into the Everfree Forest. She weaved in, and out of the trees smoothly, as if her life depended on it, because for all she knew, it might. The darkly colored pegasi followed her into the forest without any hesitation at all. They managed to weave in between the trees, and still managed to keep up the pursuit, but the distance between them and Fluttershy was growing. They weren't able to move in between the trees as easily as Fluttershy. She was almost out of sight, but then... Snap! Fluttershy's wing flapped directly into a tree branch that was too thick for a pony of her size to fly through. At first she thought the loud snap came from the branch, but the thick branch didn't break—it didn't even bend. Her right-wing sent an intense pain, and folded into an unnatural position. The collision sent Fluttershy into the ground. Her landing was hard, and merciless. The high-speed she was flying at caused her to skid across the uneven forest floor. She was conscious when she landed—the impact of the landing was on her ribcage—but she was in too much pain to move. The forest floor wasn't a forgiving surface to land on. Where Fluttershy landed, there were plenty of sharp rocks as well as branches. Skidding across that surface opened large chunks of Fluttershy's skin in several places. Most of the open wounds were on her belly and thighs. She could see a large streak of her own blood that drew a straight path from where she crash landed, and where she was laying. In addition, Fluttershy saw a fair amount of rocks that wore chunks of her own flesh over their sharp edges. Fluttershy was winded, and couldn't lift herself up. The two pegasi that were pursuing her followed her down to the ground—in a much safer way. They landed on either side of Fluttershy. Fluttershy cried, not from the pain—which there was a lot of, but because she failed her attempt to be free. Fluttershy might never get to see her daughter again. "Now what are we going to do with you?" the brown pegasus asked, "You look pretty beat up. Without your looks no pony's going to want you, and Flim and Flam aren't going to waste the money to fix you up. Nonetheless, we can't just leave you alone—its a matter of principle." The gray pegasus spoke, "I think there's only one thing we can do now. I'm not flying back all the way from here carrying a limp pegasus. I say we kill her here, and leave her here." The brown pegasus nodded his head in agreement. He approached Fluttershy, and tightly gripped Fluttershy's broken wing. Fluttershy squealed in pain. The pegasus continued to put his full weight onto her wing as Fluttershy cried out, begging for them to stop. She felt close to blacking out. Just then, a ferocious roar came from beyond the fog of the Everfree Forest. The shadow of a great beast was approaching. The two male pegasi flew off for their own lives, and left Fluttershy behind as the beast charged forward. The beast had scared off the other pegasi. Although they probably thought that the beast will eat Fluttershy instead of them—completing their duties—the beast had no intention of harming Fluttershy. The creature showed itself. Standing before her was a manticore ten times her size. Fluttershy wasn't afraid of the manticore. After all she would rather be devoured in a single bite by a manticore, than being slowly tortured to death by two pegasi, and besides, she knew that the manticore had no desire to eat her—it just saved her life. It must have heard Fluttershy's screams of agony, and ran over to rescue her. Fluttershy thanked the creature, and with struggle, lifted herself onto her feet. The manticore gave a playful lick across Fluttershy's mane. The manticore carried Fluttershy back to the edge of the Everfree Forest, before it retreated back into its den. Fluttershy was too injured to fly at all, but had enough strength in her legs to make it the short distance back home—just as long as she doesn't have to go faster than a limp. Despite being only a short walk, Fluttershy's fastest limp can barely be compared to a slow newborn's crawl. The rain was coming down hard in Ponyville. It was a heavy downpour. Fluttershy absorbed so much rain in her coat, mane, tail, and skin, that she felt as if she was caring the limp weight of another pony on her hooves. Her mane absorbed so much water that it became heavy, and hung straight down her face, instead of off to the side.At least the rain is washing out the blood. After a walk that took three times as long as it should have, Fluttershy made it home in the middle of the night, and all she could think about was seeing her daughter Lantana. Part of her expected to see Lantana up and about, prancing around with her face full of utter bliss, but a hint of doubt was in the far back of her mind. She was starting to come out of denial, but had to see her daughter's corpse one last time to know once and for all. Fluttershy approached Lantana. The body was laying in the same spot as before. From a closer look, Fluttershy could see that Lantana's body had almost no skin on her face at all. Maggots and flies were eating at the skin, and the corpse's eyes were nothing more than a small ooze coming from the depths of her eye sockets. "No Lantana! You can't be dead! You can't be!" Fluttershy felt like she was about to cry yet again. After all she was starting to understand that her daughter was actually dead for the first time. Nonetheless, Fluttershy held her tears in. She continued to stare at her daughter's corpse. "No! This can't be!... But it is!" Fluttershy couldn't handle watching the flies feed on her daughter any longer. She turned her head away, and up to the sky. She had no more tears left to shed. All she could feel now was anger. Fluttershy shouted into the sky, "This is all Flim and Flam's fault! If it wasn't for them! If they just left me alone! Oh, I'm so angry! I'm so angry I could just... I could just... Oh, I'm so angry I could Just KILL THOSE BASTARDS!" A darkness formed in the pit of Fluttershy's heart. She had nothing left to care for—only enemies to hate. "With Celestia as my witness, I will take everything from those fuckers just as they took everything from me! I will kill them! I will kill them no matter what it takes! I will kill them no matter who tries to stop me! I will kill them if its the LAST THING I DO!" Author's Note I know a lot has happened in this chapter. How does this chapter compare to some of the others? Also, my PM box is always open if you rather share your thoughts that way. Chapter 8Chapter 8 Fluttershy became consumed with rage. Her eyes glowed red. She lost everything that she had, and everything that she was. She was a pony with nothing more than her vital signs. She was living, but without a reason to. Fluttershy thought, what makes up a pony's soul? Love? Morals? She already lost both. She lost her daughter—her last remaining love. She broke her morals—by committing crimes and sins that will haunt her until her death. She lost her best friend, her dignity, and her faith. She didn't care about her ex-husband or her home anymore. What is there to care for? All the pegasus wanted—all she could think about, was vengeance. Fluttershy plotted how she will perform what she last vowed, but she had so much determination that she couldn't think rationally. All she could plan was: find something sharp, take it, and slide it in each of the Flim Flam brother's throats. Now where can I find a weapon? she thought. She picked up her saddlebag from the ground and looked through it—just a good sum of money, and an empty box. Her eyes locked on a house in the neighboring area. It had no outside or inside lighting, but somehow it stood out more than any other house in the darkness. It had a large pile of newspapers in the driveway. Of course,Fluttershy thought, what kind of neighbor wouldn't offer any hospitality to a fellow neighbor who's house just burned down? Fluttershy already knew the answer. One that's been out-of-town for the last couple weeks. Fluttershy limped her way along the driveway. The mailbox was overflowing and the trash was empty. Every sign pointed to the house being vacant. Fluttershy walked around the backside of the house until she came across a window on the ground floor that was within her reach. With a solid kick, the glass shattered into tiny fragments of broken glass that looked like a fine dust. She used her hoof to clear off the broken glass that stuck to the edges of the window frame. Because of her weakened legs, and loss of flight, It took her more than one try to hoist herself through the window, but eventually, she got in. Fluttershy felt around for a light switch, and flicked the switch into the on position. The lights came on. She was in a kitchen. The kitchen was neatly arranged. It even reminded Fluttershy of her own kitchen back before the fire. Her hooves tracked in mud along the floors. After spending mostly all night outdoors, it felt nice being out of the heavy rain. She looked through every drawer until she found the one with kitchen utensils, and cutlery. Their were about a dozen kitchen knives of varying sizes. Fluttershy placed the two longest knives in her saddlebag. One for Flim; One for Flam. The knives rested in her bag with the blades pointed to the ground. These will do nicely. What else could I use? Fluttershy wandered into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. Inside were pills, bandages, sterile wipes, and more. Fluttershy grabbed a bottle of antiseptic and used it to wipe out the open cuts on her body. As the antiseptic passed over even the smallest cuts it burned and stung with a relentless pain. The pain didn't bother Fluttershy though. For the first time ever, she was glad that pain was as uncomfortable as what it was, because she knew Flim and Flam were about to get their dose of it, and whatever she's feeling now will only be a fraction of what they will. While she wrapped up her wounds with bandages, she said out loud with a hushed tone, "You're gonna like it Flim and Flam. You're gonna love it." Fluttershy took one of the bathroom towels to dry her hair on. She knew that it would just get soaked with water again as soon as she stepped out in the rain, but she felt that she could at least enjoy the next two minutes without her cold hair hanging in her face. Fluttershy's right-wing was in too much pain to bandage or treat. She couldn't extend it all the way out, or all the way in. Her broken wing just limply stuck out in an awkward fashion. Any pony could tell that it was broken just by looking at it. It carried itself in a completely unnatural position. Fluttershy's wing still throbbed with any sudden movements she made. It clearly needed treatment, but she thought that treatment was one of her lower priorities at the moment. Fluttershy felt like she could walk a little better now that her wounds were properly dressed. She still wasn't able to run, and was nowhere close to being able to fly, but it didn't hurt her as much to walk. Fluttershy went to the front door. She emptied her saddlebag of everything except for the two knives. Over a hundred bits fell out on the floor. "Perfect," said Fluttershy, "A few for the window, a couple for the knives, some for the bandages, and still a little more as a gift." Fluttershy opened the front door and stepped through. She was back in the rain. The cold water reminded her of just how warm it was inside the house. Almost instantly her mane became ruined in the water, and was back to hanging in her face. Fluttershy stood in the rain for a moment. It gave her one last chance to think. This is all that's important now. Killing Flim and Flam will finally even the score. They took away my daughter, my morals, my way of life. If vengeance is suitable for anypony, why not a pony with nothing of value left to lose. Before Fluttershy proceeded to find Flim and Flam Fluttershy whispered quietly under her breath, "I'm ready for you. I hope your ready for me. Don't you two worry now; I'm a pony of my word—and I'm coming for you." Chapter 9Chapter 9 Fluttershy journeyed forward to the old shack where she would find Flim and Flam. She journeyed slowly. The pain all over her body hindered her speed greatly. Also she wanted to conserve her energy for where she would need it most. The storm was growing more ferocious by the second. Strikes of thunder echoed through all of Ponyville, and the close lightning strikes illuminated the sky, and some of the ground too. Fluttershy took no consideration to walk around puddles, she trudged forward without thinking twice, and as a result, had mud spatters that passed her knees. Fluttershy could see the old shack in the distance. Despite being covered in the darkness it stuck out blatantly. All the lights were out. Fluttershy walked lightly on her hooves as she approached. Fluttershy put her ear against the front door. She couldn't hear anything from the other side. Perfect. Fluttershy took out one of her two knives from the saddlebag, and slowly turned the knob. The door didn't open—it was locked—but a locked door wasn't going to stand in Fluttershy's way. For a pony with murder in her eyes, a locked door didn't stand a chance. Fluttershy shoved the knife through the lock of the door, and thrust it forcefully through the lock. After sufficient force was applied, the knife stabbed all the way through the lock. Fluttershy put all her weight into trying to twist the knife clockwise until the tumbler was forced to roll back. It made a terrible metal on metal squeak, but the lock broke open. Once inside Fluttershy yanked the knife out of the lock, and held it with her teeth. She didn't notice that the tip of the knife broke off in the door. All she could see in the dark room was a moonlit staircase. The staircase took Fluttershy up to the second floor of the shack. She only been on the second floor once before. From what she could remember, the room she was taken to with the earth pony, had no personal belongings in it whatsoever. She doubted two ponies with such corrupted wealth would live in such a room. There had to be bigger rooms somewhere around here, Fluttershy thought. She went down the opposite side of the hallway. Towards the end of the hallway she noticed two doors on opposing sides of the hallways that were farther apart from all the other doors. Probably because they're bigger rooms, she thought. One of the doors even had light coming from underneath it. Too obvious, she thought. She threw the door open, and leaped into the lit room. To her surprise, but not to her concern, she saw Flim and Flam standing in the middle of the room as if they were expecting her. "I knew I heard some pony messing with the front door," said Flim. "And who might you be?" Flam asked. Fluttershy was surprised at first when they didn't recognize her, but in all honesty, she knew that her appearance changed drastically since she last saw them. Her eyes had a blood-red color. Her soaked mane was hanging down in her face. Her body was scared and wrapped in bandages. Her legs and the underside of her belly were covered with mud, and her right-wing was in a completely unnatural shape. Flim suddenly recognized Fluttershy. "Oh you're that one pony that escaped from us this morning, and you got a knife. Hilarious!" Flam laughed, "Oh I see it now! It is her! Damn she got ugly in the last few hours!" Fluttershy didn't mind that the two brothers were laughing at her. She was confident that the last laugh would be her own. "Is that the way you choose to behave when you are about to meet your death?" yelled Fluttershy. "Our death? No. You were foolish to come back here, but now that you're here, you aren't leaving this place alive." Fluttershy Lunged at Flam. Just in time he managed to hop out of Fluttershy's reach. Flim lunged at Fluttershy, landed on her, and pinned her on her back, and to the ground. Fluttershy's knife was still in between her teeth, and she stabbed it into his chest. Since the knife tip broke off in the door, the knife didn't pass through the pony's ribcage. Instead, the knife lacerated down his chest. Even though it didn't penetrate any internal organs, the laceration drew a large amount of blood. After feeling the sharp pain Flim smacked Fluttershy across the face; forcing the knife to fall out onto the ground. Flim put his hoofs around Fluttershy's neck, and began to squeeze tightly enough so that she couldn't breathe. Fluttershy knew their was another knife inside her saddlebag, and she could see the tip of the blade poking through the bottom of the bag. Fluttershy grabbed where the handle of the knife was through her saddlebag, and forced the tip into Flim's thigh. In reaction, Flim leaped off of Fluttershy. Fluttershy saw Flim retreating backwards, and with her hind legs, she gave a solid kick into Flim's bottom ribs. The kick sent him flying back into the wall. The back of his head smacked against the wall, and knocked him unconscious. Flam lunged at Fluttershy before she could get off her back. Since she was on her back, the quickest way to avoid Flam from landing on top of her was to roll out-of-the-way. Fluttershy managed to avoid Flam's lunge, but the process of rolling out-of-the-way involved rolling over her broken wing. Her wing caused her more pain now than it ever had before, but Fluttershy yelled through her pain with a deafening war cry. She couldn't sacrifice any attention on pain. Every part of her mind knew that her focus needed to be on finishing what she started. After Flam's lunge missed, Fluttershy took advantage of the opportunity to stand back onto her feet. Flam made a second lunge. Fluttershy expected the attack. She never been more ready about anything than she was at that moment. She could feel her adrenaline pound through her body like a drum, and everything she saw felt as if it was occurring in slow motion. Fluttershy took a shuffle-step toward the side, and propelled a hoof into the side of Flam's skull. Flam's lunge just barely missed, but Fluttershy landed a perfect hit. It wasn't Fluttershy's strongest strike, but it was by no means weak either. It had just enough force to incapacitate Flam. Flam fell to the ground, and was barely conscious. The strike left him disoriented. He dropped to the ground, and he couldn't do much else besides groan in pain, and squirm around on the ground. Fluttershy was doing it. Both Flim and Flam were completely at Fluttershy's mercy. Unfortunately for them, Fluttershy renounced her merciful ways after she vowed to kill them. She wielded the knife without the broken tip and mounted on top of Flam's squirmy body. She lined up her blade with Flam's throat. "Wait, stop!" a voice called out from the doorway. Fluttershy looked up; she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there. Rainbow Dash showed worry. She never seen Fluttershy act out in violence, and in her mind, she never would have imagined to see two male unicorns helplessly incapacitated by Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash herd Fluttershy's war cry from earlier and could only assume that Fluttershy would be the one in trouble. Fluttershy left the knife pointed at Flam's throat. "Why would I stop! I should have done this a long time ago!" Rainbow Dash wasn't expecting to be talking her friend out of murder, but she gave her best effort to anyway. "Is murder really the right way?" Fluttershy answered with confidence, "It's the best way to do it! These ponies deserve to die!" "Maybe they do, but do you have the authority to decide that for them?" Rainbow Dash said sympathetically. Fluttershy was panting heavily. Even the muscles in between each of her ribs contracted as she took in a breath. She cried out, "Who better than their victim? Who better than the pony whose life they ruined! They took everything from me!" Rainbow Dash lowered her voice, just a little, in effort to calm Fluttershy. "If you kill them, how will you be able to live with yourself?" Fluttershy said angrily, "It doesn't matter how I live with myself. I have nothing left in my life to live for. I'm a pony with nothing left in my soul to salvage. Flim, Flam, and I have all overstayed our welcome on earth. I don't care how I live with myself after this! I don't care if I live after this! I just want them dead! I want to kill them like they killed my heart, and soul! I want them dead—They killed my daughter!" Rainbow dash replied, "No matter how evil these guys are, killing them won't bring your daughter back." "I know... It's just..." Fluttershy stuttered. Rainbow Dash added, "What would your daughter say if she was here right now?" "... She would say..." Fluttershy had to think a moment about what her daughter would actually say. "She would say that you always lose more from violence than you gain." For the first time since she was in the Everfree Forest, she started to cry. "Oh! I don't know what to do now!" Fluttershy's heart started racing. Rainbow Dash said with comfort, "You can start by putting down the knife. Please Fluttershy, I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this, but you have to put the knife down." Tears started leaking out of Fluttershy's eyes, and for the first time she was able to admit, "I'm no less responsible for my daughter's death than they are." Once said, she let the knife fall from her hoof onto the ground. "It will be okay," Rainbow dash promised. "It will be okay." Fluttershy became dizzy. Everything looked like it was spinning. Her vision faded out with a dark haze. She fell to the ground. Chapter 10Chapter 10 Rainbow Dash was concerned about Fluttershy, and had many questions for the doctor. "What happened to her? She was conscious one minute then just passed out." The doctor cleared his throat, "She had an aneurysm rupture inside of her. It started bleeding internally. Had she came to us any later she probably would have bled out, and died." "What caused it?" She asked. "Usually they're caused by high blood pressure—which can be caused by any number of things: Improper diet, large amounts of stress, or lack of sleep." "Will she be okay?" asked Rainbow Dash. The doctor answered, "She's stable. She almost didn't make it, but you did a good job with bringing her in quickly. However, if this were to happen again, I doubt she would be so lucky. " "But she's okay right now. Right?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes, she is," said the doctor, "but she's going to need to stay here so we can make sure she stays that way. We did give her a blood transfusion. Also her wing is fractured in several places. The bones aren't aligned properly, and it won't heal without surgery. Since wings are best fixed by a specialist, and it wasn't life threatening, we splinted it for right now, but she will need another surgery to get it fixed. Judging by the looks of it, It will be a long recovery, and if she ever does fly again, it might never have the same wing power as it did before." "Oh my!" said Rainbow Dash. "Is there... anything I can do for her... as a friend?" The doctor replied, "The company of a friend is always good for a recovering pony. When we discharge her from the hospital, make sure she doesn't overexert herself. Try not to stress her out, and avoid touching her wing." "Okay. I'll take good care of her," said Rainbow Dash. "Umm... Can I see her?" The doctor saw the desperation in Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Just don't try to startle her. She only woke up from the anesthesia a moment ago so it might take her a bit to orient herself. Also, I should let you know, she was in surgery for a long time, so its normal if she looks a little pale..." Rainbow Dash entered Fluttershy's room. Fluttershy was hooked up to more than one machine. She was pale like the doctor cautioned, and here eyes were squinted. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cheered excitedly, then remembered the doctor told her that she wasn't suppose to startle her. From sudden realization she lowered her tone. "I mean: Hi Fluttershy. How's it going?" Fluttershy opened her eye's a little wider. "Rainbow Dash?" she muttered. Fluttershy looked confused. She asked, "Rainbow Dash... Why did you help me? How did you know where I was?" Rainbow Dash wasn't prepared to answer that question, but she tried her best to anyway. "I'm a weather pony, and I was taking on an extra night shift. I was working the storm, and I saw you walking up to that shack. I thought it was strange for you to be going to a place like that in the middle of the night, so I followed you. I waited outside, but when I heard you scream I went in the house to look for you." "Yeah, but why? I was so mean to you earlier. I thought you were no longer my friend." Fluttershy looked up solemnly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash said, "No Fluttershy. We may have our fights, but no matter what, I'll always be there for you." Fluttershy extended her arms out; asking for a hug. Alternative EndingAlternative Ending: Since it was requested such a while back I wrote this alternate ending to please readers with a different taste. It takes place immediately after chapter 9. The first block of text is just the last few paragraphs of chapter 9 that lead into the alternate ending. "Wait, stop!" a voice called out from the doorway. Fluttershy looked up; she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there. Rainbow Dash showed worry. She never seen Fluttershy act out in violence, and in her mind, she never would have imagined to see two male unicorns helplessly incapacitated by Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash herd Fluttershy's war cry from earlier and could only assume that Fluttershy would be the one in trouble. Fluttershy left the knife pointed at Flam's throat. "Why would I stop! I should have done this a long time ago!" Rainbow Dash wasn't expecting to be talking her friend out of murder, but she gave her best effort to anyway. "Is murder really the right way?" Fluttershy answered with confidence, "It's the best way to do it! These ponies deserve to die!" "Maybe they do, but do you have the authority to decide that for them?" Rainbow Dash said sympathetically. Fluttershy was panting heavily. Even the muscles in between each of her ribs contracted as she took in a breath. She cried out, "Who better than their victim? Who better than the pony whose life they ruined! They took everything from me!" Rainbow Dash lowered her voice, just a little, in effort to calm Fluttershy. "If you kill them, how will you be able to live with yourself?" Fluttershy said angrily, "It doesn't matter how I live with myself. I have nothing left in my life to live for. I'm a pony with nothing left in my soul to salvage. Flim, Flam, and I have all overstayed our welcome on earth. I don't care how I live with myself after this! I don't care if I live after this! I just want them dead! I want to kill them like they killed my heart, and soul! I want them dead—They killed my daughter!" Rainbow dash replied, "No matter how evil these guys are, killing them won't bring your daughter back." "I know... It's just..." Fluttershy stuttered. Rainbow Dash added, "What would your daughter say if she was here right now?" "... She would say..." Fluttershy had to think a moment about what her daughter would actually say. "She would say that you always lose more from violence than you gain." For the first time since she was in the Everfree Forest, she started to cry. "Oh! I don't know what to do now!" Fluttershy's heart started racing. Rainbow Dash said with comfort, "You can start by putting down the knife. Please Fluttershy, I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this, but you have to put the knife down." Tears started leaking out of Fluttershy's eyes, and for the first time she was able to admit, "I'm no less responsible for my daughter's death than they are." Once said, she let the knife fall from her hoof onto the ground. "It will be okay," Rainbow dash promised. "It will be okay." Fluttershy became dizzy. Everything looked like it was spinning. Her vision faded out with a dark haze. She fell to the ground. Your input is valuable to me, and I'd like to know if you like this ending or the original ending better. The following is the alternative ending: Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy fall to the ground. Immediately she leaped to Fluttershy's aid. Fluttershy, with her rage replaced by regrets, felt sick to her stomach and rolled on the ground sobbing. She felt dizzy and shaky with her face buried in the wood floors. She felt weak. She felt like her body is finally giving up on her. She had some pretty severe injuries, and now that her adrenaline has transformed into tears, she lost all her ability to keep going. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on the sobbing pony's back. "It will be okay," promised Rainbow Dash, "You've been through a lot. Let's first get you out of here, then we can make sure you get whatever help you need." Fluttershy didn't make any effort to budge, but Rainbow Dash became insistent. "Come on now, let's get you back on her hooves." Rainbow Dash tried to support some of Fluttershy's weight from her side, and tried to lift her on her feet. Rainbow Dash heard the door nudge open behind her. Her head quickly turned to the doorway where she saw two male pegasi enter the door. They were the same gray and brown pegasi who chased after Fluttershy after she escaped the last time she was here. They both appeared surprised to see the aftermath of the battle that just occurred. "What's going on here?" shouted the brown pegasus. The gray pegasus pointed at Fluttershy, "Isn't that the mare we pursued earlier today?" "How did she survive!" said the brown pegasus. Seeing grotesque condition Fluttershy was in gave both the male pagasi a fright. Flam pushed himself back onto his hooves, and limped toward the two male pagasi. He looked hurt and his leg was bleeding rapidly, but the knife that he was stabbed with was now between his teeth with his own blood dripping off the blade. The expression on Flam's face showed no signs of pain like the rest of his body did. It just showed pure furry. The male pegasi were even more fearful after seeing their boss's condition. "Are you okay boss?" said the brown pegasus. "Shut up!" replied Flam. He muttered between his teeth, "I'll be damned before I admit defeat to this ugly bitch!" Then, Flam pointed straight at Rainbow Dash, who was still standing at Fluttershy's side. As much as she took pride in being fearless, she couldn't deny being scared. Flam pointed straight at Rainbow Dash. "Grab the blue one!" ordered Flam. Rainbow Dash jumped back to escape their grab, but the two pegasi were bigger and stronger. Rainbow Dash shouted, "Let go of me! I'm not afraid to fight you both!" truthfully though, she was quite scared. She thrashed her body around to free herself from the two pegasi's grasp. She bucked her hind legs wildly knocking down furniture in the room along with the lamp, and shattered the window that overlooked Ponyville Lake. The two male pegasi struggled holding onto her, but in the end, the two of them managed to pin her down with her stomach to the ground. Fluttershy was still on the floor, and was in no condition to fight. In fact, she couldn't even see straight anymore. Flam grabbed Fluttershy's mane, and pulled her face to face with him. Fluttershy's tears covered her eyes, and she could barely see what was happening. Flam stared at her in utter rage before whispering in a dark tone, "You! Did you really expect this to end any differently? We could have gotten along fine had you just done the job we paid you to do from the beginning. If you want to blame us for you're daughter's death, because you were too careless with our product than fine! I'll take the blame. It wouldn't even be the worst thing I've ever done. Not even on the top five. Think whatever you want Fluttershy... Whatever helps you sleep at night..." Rainbow Dash blurted out, "Get your hooves off my friend!" Rainbow Dash continued to squirm away from the two pegasi holding her down, but their grip didn't even loosen, and they had her well under control. "Ahh! Forgive me. I don't believe we met," said Flam to Rainbow Dash. Flam continued, "Now ordinarily I wouldn't allow my emotions to forfeit a perfectly good business opportunity. You see, I have a cellar full of mares just downstairs for the sole purpose of servicing the colts that come in here. Now Fluttershy was perfect... however now, her looks clearly left her, and her injuries will kill her before we can make a bit off her. On the other hoof, you look perfectly healthy and fine, but you're just not quite the homeless nopony Fluttershy was, and I'm sure if you went missing, ponies will actually talk about you." Flam cleared his throat, "Now this puts me in a bind. I have no qualms with you, but you know too much, and I'm not going to risk my business on a pony who's perhaps moderately attractive at best. Unfortunately, you're not going to leave here alive, and you're not going to stay here long enough to be missed either." Flam turned to the pegasi holding Rainbow Dash. "Take her to the cellar with the other mares. Since you two preformed adequately at the least, you two can do whatever you want with her. Have your way with her, and don't worry about being gentle. Before the sun comes up, she will be killed, and disposed of." The male pegasi nodded and took her out the door. Flam limped back over to Fluttershy, where she helplessly laid on the floor. Flam held the knife closely to her neck. "Now Fluttershy, look at the mess you made with Flim," said Flam. Flim was completely unconscious, but breathing. There was a golfball sized bump on the side of his head. Fluttershy cried softly with the knife next to her neck. She had no strength left to resist. Fluttershy was scared, not because of the threat to her life, but everything else. What's going to happen to Rainbow Dash, what happened to her daughter, what life for the rest of the mares in the cellar will be like, but most of all, she was afraid of herself—not for herself. She was afraid of the monster she became. She was scared how she managed to give up each moral in just a short amount of time, and got driven by rage with the attempt to commit murder. Flam looked at his brother, then back at Fluttershy. "I admit it. You put up a good fight, but in the end, I came out on top. I always come out on top... How does it feel; being as weak as a little filly? I'm sure that wing doesn't feel too good either. You're once perfect life in solitude becomes this. Your home burned down, your daughter dead from drug overdose—and whether you blame me or yourself, you're helplessly stuck in the same room with your daughter's killer. Not to mention your friend is at the cellar; possibly being gagged and raped right now. After which, she will be killed by yours truly. Then the flesh would be torn off her body and burned to dispose of any evidence of me or my business. Then her bones will be thrown into the Ponyville Lake so that some old pony can one day find, and everypony would have to assume she just drowned, and would give up looking for her. And to top it all off, you're going to die by the hooves of your enemy. Tell me Fluttershy, how does all that feel?" Flam gave a long pause awaiting for a response, but Fluttershy didn't give him one. Flam had a fiendish smile. Flam eventually continued, "Now, killing you will be too easy at this point. I'm no doctor, but I think cutting the throat of a pony in your condition would just be a wast of time. But I still have to return the favor you gave me." Flam took the knife, and plunged it into Fluttershy's upper hind leg, and forced it all the way through into the wood floor beneath. Fluttershy shrieked from the pain into her thigh. "Lets make sure it goes deep into the floor board so it doesn't fall out," said Flam pushing the knife in further. "There," he said, "Now I'll give you some privacy, and while you die, I'll be getting my leg bandaged." Flam turned his back and limped out the door, closing it behind him. Fluttershy laid motionless with the knife through her leg. She didn't have the strength to do anything. Fluttershy cried. The pain in her leg was agonizing, but most of her tears were due to the thought of everything she did. She remembered the time she use to take pride in being a good pony. Back in the day where she still had her house, and her daughter. At that time, she use to imagine little Lantana growing to be a nice, caring, and loving pony just as she was. It broke her heart to think about it. Not only will Lantana never grow up to be anything, but Fluttershy broke every ethic she raised her daughter by. She remembered when her house burned down, she felt like she lost everything—how far from the truth that was—but because she felt like she hit rock bottom at the time, her mind started to justify each horrible thing she got herself into one by one. She ruined pony's lives with the drugs she sold for Flim and Flam, but at the time it seemed okay, because she needed the money to care for her daughter. She remembered when she justified the murder of Flim and Flam, because they were bad ponies. She remembered what she told her daughter the day she came home from detention for fighting: you will always lose more from violence than you gain.Fluttershy began to cry harder. It's true, Fluttershy thought to herself. Not only did her violence cause her to lose her life, but she lost her daughter, she hurt innocent ponies, but even after getting in a fight with her best friend, Rainbow Dash was still there for her. She still came to help her, but because of violence, Fluttershy became responsible for the death of the only friend she could count on for anything. Fluttershy's body began feeling cold. She knew she was dying, and she knew it was her own fault. But she didn't care about dying. If anything, she felt like she deserved it. She wished that she could take back all the horrible things she done—all her regrets. She wished that just for a day, an hour, or even a minute, she could go back to being the the pony that lived up to her own standards instead of the fiend that she was. Fluttershy noticed an open window on the other side of the room that overlooked the Ponyville Lake. It was the window Rainbow Dash broke. She was reminded of what Flam said about throwing Rainbow Dash's bones into the Lake so that pony's would think she just drowned. Fluttershy felt guilty for what she did to Rainbow Dash. It was bad enough that she yelled at the only friend who truly cared about her, but now she's responsible for her execution. Fluttershy thought about escaping through the window, but even if her leg wasn't pinned by the knife, she knew she would never be able to climb to the window yet alone through it. Fluttershy looked at Flim who was still on the floor unconscious. The first thought that crossed her mind was to find away to get the knife out her leg, and with her dying breath take Flim's life, but she shook the thought from her mind reminding herself what she told her daughter: you will always lose more from violence than you gain. Besides, the knife was in her leg and the floor pretty good, and she didn't see any way of pulling it out. She could just barely reach Flims front hoof if she reached with all her might. Then Fluttershy noticed her saddlebag that she brought with her. It was empty now, and was barely within her reach. She leaned over and grabbed the saddlebag. It pulled on her leg some which was very painful for her. Once she had the saddlebag, she wiped her hoof across her leg, wiping off some of the blood. Then began to write on her saddlebag. Using her hoof as a quil, and her blood as ink, and her saddlebag as a lumpy parchment, she wrote the words "Flim + Flam killed RD" She wasn't able to fit Rainbow Dash on the bag. Without a proper quill she had to write big, and even still the writing was just barely readable, but she prayed that if someone found it, they would be able to figure it out. Now it was just a matter of getting the saddlebag out the window. She knew there wasn't a chance that she would be able to walk the bag to the window. She was losing a lot of blood, and lost feeling in the bottoms of her hooves. She could throw it, but the saddlebag was made from a very thin, light, and cheap material, and didn't have enough weight to go very far. Maybe if I found something to weigh it down, she thought. She looked at Flim. She was just barely able to reach his front hoof. However, on that hoof, he had a horseshoe on. Fluttershy fought the pain and discomfort reaching for Flim's front hoof, and with her hooves going numb she struggled getting the horseshoe off his hoof, but she managed to pull it off. Fluttershy stuck the horseshoe inside the saddlebag. Okay, she thought to herself, The only thing left is to throw the saddlebag out the window. Hopefully Flim and Flam suffered to much head trama to really notice the saddlebag went missing, and hopefully somepony finds the bag just outside the window before Flim and Flam do, and hopefuly they can read the smudgy writing and figure out what it means. Now, I've never been really well coordinated, and I only have one chance to throw the saddlebag out the window. My vision is hazy, my hooves are numb, and the bag is slippery with blood... here goes nothing. Author's Note If you read the entire story, it would mean a lot to me for some feedback. I've been surprised to see how much the reviews on this site contradict with reviews on fanfiction.net. By no means do I take negative reviews too critically. Unfortunately fimfiction.net doesn't recognize the same file types I used on fanfiction.net so I don't know how to fix paragraph spacing without losing italicized fonts. Though posting this alternate ending took much longer than it was suppose to, I did it to address disgruntlement from this site. So this would have never happened had people not been commenting, and the only reason this chapter exists is because the readers from this site offered their support. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you all for reading EpilogueEpilogue Flim and Flam had multiple injuries, but both survived. They were sent to Canterlot Prison. Had it not been for Fluttershy's actions, the sex slaves in the basement may have never been liberated. Fluttershy was charged with assault on Flim and Flam, but Fluttershy plead insanity, and the judge ruled that she can return to society after spending some time in a psychiatric hospital. Rainbow Dash visited often. After a lot of therapy Fluttershy was considered healthy enough to return to Ponyville. To welcome Fluttershy back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash built Fluttershy a small cottage. It was just outside the town; away from all the commotions and stresses of the towns ponies. The cottage wasn't anything much, but it was beautifully made, and was cozy enough for Fluttershy to calmly adjust to her new life-style. In addition, Rainbow Dash gave another gift to welcome Fluttershy back: A little, white, adorable, baby bunny. Fluttershy loved the bunny, and after settling into society, she adopted a few more pets, and later a few more. Fluttershy will always have scars in her past, but her time in the psychiatric hospital taught her to accept her past for what it was, and to move on. Fluttershy will never be the exact same as before. There will always be a side of her that caries the burden of her nerves, paranoia, and timidity, but she learned how to be the sweet, kind pony like she use to be. She also developed a little more appreciation for her friends. Fluttershy was grateful that Rainbow Dash was there to help her. Without Rainbow Dash's help, Fluttershy may have never been able to recover from the evils she faced. Although it may have seemed that evil and unfortunate events are always just around the corner, wherever there is darkness, there is always love waiting to be accepted from the adjacent corner. Author's Note Thank you for reading! If you haven't left a comment or sent a PM, please do! Your thoughts make a huge difference. I would love to figure out why it has so many dislikes.
Chapter 1Love in the Adjacent Corner A My little Pony fanfic Written By: Miponiski Chapter 1 Bang! The walls fell to the ground. It was the single most-deafening sound that made all later sounds not worth hearing, even if it was possible to. After burning for some time now, the fiery inferno made the air itself sweat with a great intensity. It was all over, she thought to herself, everything was in that house. The emitted light off the bright fire was blinding in itself, but its unyielding power shook the core of all that dared to look away, and shatter the good nature of those that choose to watch it feed. Fire Fighters attacked the fire with hoses from several angles, but hope inevitably had to fade. The flames stubbornly refused to dim without taking the house down with it. The home was at the utter mercy of a merciless destruction. After the house was brought lower than its owners knees, the fire willingly receded; not from the Fire Fighters, or their hoses. It was the absence of dreams for it to destroy, that gave the fire no more purpose of burning. A Fire Fighter approached Fluttershy; solemnly informing her that the entire property was lost. Fluttershy was still trying to wrap her head around the event. Fluttershy looked at the Fire Fighter and asked, "How did the fire start?" The Fire Fighter tried to share sympathy, but other than a soft tone in his words nothing in the expression of his sincerity gave her any comfort. "The fire started from the outside. We don't know from what exactly, but the dry lawn must have drawn the fire to a straight path toward your house." Fluttershy regretted asking. It filled her mind with self-pity. Ever since her husband abandoned her with a filly, she was behind on her mortgage payments, and she felt that the best way to responsibly take care of her bills, was to reduce her expenses on all non-necessities: restaurants, heat, and water for the lawn. A tear of guilt slid down her cheek as she absorbed the blame. After the Fire Fighters left, Fluttershy sighed with grief. The fire was an afternoon's ambush. It came so quickly that she only barely made it out with her life and her filly's. Nothing with less than four legs, and an instinctive reaction to escape danger, could have possibly survived that fire. But, at least nopony was hurt. Fluttershy knew that her whole way of life was about to change, doubtfully for the better, but at least she still had her life and her daughter's. Fluttershy wrapped a single hoof tightly around her filly's shoulders to comfort her. Fluttershy knew her filly was just as confused if not more than what she was, but Fluttershy didn't speak a word—she just didn't know what to say. The moment of silence didn't last long. A blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane flew down to see the aftermath of the situation. Fluttershy recognized the pegasus almost instantly, but had not seen her since the days when they were both fillies. "Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy muttered; curious to know why of all days was it today that she was reunited with an old friend. "Whoa! Fluttershy, is that you? Its me: Rainbow Dash. We used to go to flight school together in Cloudsdale." Fluttershy needed no reminder of who the pegasus was, and how they knew each other. For the years they've been apart, Fluttershy has yet to find a friend as close as she was with Rainbow Dash. Truthfully, Fluttershy wasn't the best at making new friends, but she cherished the memories of the one's she had. "Of course I remember you," she answered. "I never would have thought that burning house was yours," said Rainbow Dash. She clearly had no intent of being offensive, but it completely lacked in any sensitivity. "I know," Fluttershy replied with a depressing sigh that was just a little to subtle for Rainbow Dash to pick up on. "Dang! That was one hell of a fire. Your house didn't stand a chance." Fluttershy replied with the same depressed sigh as before. "I know." "But I can't believe that you live here in Ponyville too." "Well..." Fluttershy looked at the smoldering pile of rubble that use to be her home. "I use to live here anyway." Talking about a challenging event to process made it harder for Fluttershy to keep her composure. Her eyes begun to water, and soon even a pony as vain as Rainbow Dash would have had to notice Fluttershy's sorrow. "Hey Fluttershy? You okay? Oh my gosh! Who is this little guy?" Rainbow Dash only just noticed the little filly leaning against Fluttershy's leg. "Is this your filly? She's adorable!" Rainbow Dash was completely distracted by the filly, and forgot all about her original question. Fluttershy answered hesitantly. "Well... Yes this is my daughter Lantana." When Rainbow Dash pushed her face into the yellow filly's personal space, Lantana shied back. "Damn she's a little thing! She's shy like her mother too. A unicorn though, huh. I can only imagine that gene came from her father. Who is the father anyway?" Rainbow Dash was caught up in the excitement of meeting an old friend, and completely disregarded the tragedy Fluttershy and her daughter have just experienced. At this time Rainbow Dash's attitude seemed a little inappropriate and obnoxious. Rainbow Dash continued, "I don't think either of us even had our cutie-marks when we last seen each other. I can't believe I'm seeing you all grown up for the first time! This is so exciting!" Fluttershy didn't share the same excitement. Normally, she would have, but today, more dramatic events overpowered her feelings of excitement. Fluttershy quietly murmured, "Yes its... exciting." "Sure a shame what happened to your house though. Of all days too. There's suppose to be a storm tonight. I hope you have a place to go that's either indoors or above the rain. What are you going to do?" Fluttershy's gaze dropped into the ground. She answered with a hopeless weep. "I don't know." Rainbow Dash was finally starting to experience some empathy for Fluttershy. "You're welcome to spend a few nights up in my cloud. It's not that big but it will keep you above the rain." "That's very kind of you, but Lantana won't be able to stand on the clouds: She's a unicorn, and of course I can't leave her." Fluttershy was glad that Rainbow Dash was trying to help her through a difficult time, but she couldn't accept Rainbow Dash's offer. Only pegasi can walk on clouds, and for a filly without wings, a cloud is an unsafe place. "Well if you need anything I can help with," Rainbow Dash answered, "I'm more than willing to. In fact, I'll see if there's something I can do to make sure the storm goes around your house... well property I mean." Fluttershy let Rainbow Dash return to her whether duties by giving a sincere thanks. Then, Rainbow Dash flew off to do her job. Once alone with her filly Fluttershy tried to comfort the little one—promising she would find a way to make everything work out alright. Fluttershy had no idea how she could support such a promise, but she would give her life to keep it. The little Lantana noticed Fluttershy's fear, even though Fluttershy tried her hardest to stay strong for the filly. Night came, and Fluttershy was still unsure of what to do as when the fire started. She could hear the storm rage in the distance. It created a feeling of warmth just knowing that Rainbow Dash was thinking of her by altering the storm patterns for her sake, but as heart warming as the intent was, the night was still cold. The gusts of wind came often, and chilled its way down to the bones of the homeless ponies. The two ponies lied on the cold ground by what was once their home. Lantana snuggled as close into her mother's ribcage as she could. Fluttershy kept a hoof wrapped around the filly's shoulders to help keep her a little warmer. Later in the night, Rainbow Dash returned to check on the two ponies. "You okay?" Rainbow Dash asked. She had much more sympathy in her voice this time than the previous encounter. Fluttershy didn't want to seem desperate, but it wasn't in her heart to lie to an old friend. "We're managing," she said. Rainbow Dash pulled a blanket out from her saddlebag. "I wish I could get you a warm place for the two of you to stay, but since you can't sleep in the clouds like me... Anyway, I have some extra blankets for you. It should be dry the rest of the night. I also managed to borrow an extra pillow from one of the other weather ponies." Rainbow Dash threw the blanket over the two ponies leaving only their heads visible. Fluttershy felt the warmth of the blanket instantly, and was touched by Rainbow Dash's compassion. "Thank you," she said, "After all this time we've been apart, I'm glad that you're still just as kind." Rainbow Dash was flattered by the compliment, "Well... It was nothing. To get the other weather ponies to help out with the storm I had to agree to cover a couple extra shifts for them. I'm going to be working double shifts for the next few days, but it was no problem at all. Anything for a true friend like you Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash's hospitality made Fluttershy, for a brief moment, forget about the hardships of her current state of life. She smiled at Rainbow Dash, and for a second, had an expression on her face of complete bliss. Fluttershy thanked the blue pegasus again. "Thank you so much." Before Rainbow Dash left, she made her same offer as before. "If there's any thing I can help you with, I'm more than willing to." Author's Note Thanks for giving this story a chance. Don't forget, it's never too early to leave a comment! Your opinions help me improve my writing for future projects. This story has been a very fun write and I hope it is a fun read. Your feedback is always important to me. Just some background: This story was originally just a free write about a house destroyed in a fire which later became this fanfic. At the time I wrote it, I was trying to capture the emotions from forest fires around where I live that had been destroying homes.
Chapter 2Chapter 2 Fluttershy's eyes opened shortly after the sun came up. She woke up with a slight tweak in her back from the uneven ground she spent the night on. Lantana woke up stretching her hooves, followed by a yawn. Both ponies looked at the pile of rubble after waking, to confirm that it wasn't just a dream. Lantana tugged on her mother's mane. "Do you know where we're going to live yet?" she asked. Fluttershy had no clue what they we're going to do, but she tried to answer her daughter, while being as comforting as possible. "Not yet, but that doesn't mean we can quit either." Lantana had a nervous look on her—one of her mother's classic expressions. She asked, "Will you think of something soon?" Fluttershy brought her head down in order to be at eye level with her daughter. "Tell you what, while you're at school, I'll spend the whole day trying the best I can to find us a home." Fluttershy gave her daughter an affectionate hug. "I still have to go to school?" Lantana asked. Fluttershy answered, "Of course. The fire didn't go anywhere near the school. Besides, it would be good for you to see all your friends. Its not like you're going to miss out on anything fun over here." Lantana nodded in compliance, but still had more to say. "Mommy?" "Yes dear?" "I'm hungry. I haven't eaten since before the fire." Fluttershy felt her heart sink realizing that she had no food or money to buy food. "Well..." She thought hard about what she was going to do. "Go to school. I'll try to drop off a lunch for you if I find anything." Lantana looked unsatisfied by her mother's response, but she nodded her head in agreement anyway. Lantana and Fluttershy exchanged goodbyes followed by another hug. Soon Lantana was at school, and Fluttershy was alone in Ponyville looking for money, food, and shelter. Fluttershy hoped that she would run into Rainbow Dash again, but she was nowhere to be found. Fluttershy wandered through the Ponyville market to search for some food for her daughter. She tried to explain to the farmer working at an apple-stand, that she didn't have money, but she really needed food. The farmer had green eyes, and wore an old western hat. She had a southern accent and a friendly face, but nonetheless, Fluttershy got no sympathy from her. The farmer replied, "Look sugarcube, I can't just give away free apples to everypony that asks. If you're looking for charity y'all best bark up another tree." Fluttershy walked away with her head held low with shame. She tried to explain her situation to some other ponies, begging them for something: money, food, or just a simple act of kindness. Everypony gave the same reaction it seemed. They gave a sincere apology and, said that they couldn't help her. Lantana was probably on her way home by now, and Fluttershy still didn't have any food for the little filly. Fluttershy didn't care whether or not she could manage to ease her own stomach. Just as long as her daughter had something to eat, her mind could be at peace. No matter how much Fluttershy begged, no pony was willing to lift a hoof for her. Fluttershy had to return home a failure—empty hoofed. She would stay out longer—all night if she had to, except she didn't want to leave her filly home alone. Fluttershy came home to see how her little filly was doing. "How was your day?" Fluttershy asked Lantana. "I'm still really hungry. You never brought me any lunch like you said you would. I haven't eaten anything all day. I felt like I was going to faint during PE." Fluttershy felt guilt weighing on her shoulders. "I'm very sorry, but I couldn't find any food." Lantana wasn't so understanding like she was last time. Lantana's voice squeaked as she yelled out, "This is all those weather ponies fault! If they made it rain just a few hours earlier our house would still be standing!" "It's not any pony's fault. No pony could have predicted the fire. The weather ponies are understaffed, and are having a hard time bringing in enough rain for the hot season." Fluttershy knew this as a fact from her prior knowledge. Before the fire, Fluttershy spent a lot of time looking for work. She saw an advertisement in the paper about how the weather pony services were looking to hire. Fluttershy thought it could be her chance to get a job, but sure enough they told her that she wasn't what they were looking for—that they wanted a pony that was a stronger flier. Lantana respected her mother, but was still angry about the situation. "It's just that... I hate not having a home. When is that one pegasus going to come back. Maybe she could give us food." Fluttershy answered solemnly, "I don't know where she is." It hurt knowing that she couldn't give her filly the things she needed. Seeing her daughter angry, tired, and starving, made her eyes water. "Just wait here, and try not to overexert yourself. I'll go back out to the market, and I promise I'll come back with food." Fluttershy didn't like the idea of leaving her filly alone, but leaving her to get food felt like the lesser of the two evils. At least Ponyville is a safe town, she thought. The sun was beginning to set, and more ponies started to make their way home. She was no longer looking at the food stands for food, instead she looked for ponies that looked like they had something to spare. No longer was she worthy of being labeled a consumer. Without money, she was a victim seeking refuge. After the sun went down, no pony looked familiar to her. Begging didn't do her any good. Soon all the other ponies were in their homes, while Fluttershy was alone crying in the middle of the road. As the night grew, Fluttershy found her weeps to be interrupted by the loud, clopping hoofsteps of another pony coming down the road. The pony was large, and his silhouette in the moonlight looked muscular. The mysterious pony approached Fluttershy, and with a manly, low-toned voice asked what she was doing. This is my chance, Fluttershy thought to herself. She explained everything to the pony. She told him about the fire, about her daughter, and most importantly, about her necessity for food. The mysterious pony's face was covered in the darkness, but Fluttershy knew he was pondering the situation with silence. She awaited his response. The mysterious pony cleared his throat, and answered, "I have a few apples in my saddlebag left-over from dinner still." Fluttershy felt a rush of happiness when she heard this. Her eyes lit up as if she won the jackpot, but then he said something else. That he never really cared much for charity, but if she could return a favor, he would give them to her. Fluttershy felt that it was a strange thing to say, but she wanted those apples, and couldn't disagree that a small favor for a little generosity was fair. Fluttershy answered the pony. Her voice was eccentric, but still maintained her quiet demeanor. "Of course! What do you need my help with?" she said. Fluttershy looked up at the tall pony eagerly, as if he was her hero. After all, a hero never came to aid her starving daughter. The mysterious pony explained what he wanted. He went on explaining how there were certain things that his special somepony wasn't willing to do for him sexually. He was asking her for a blowjob, and was using the bag of apples as leverage. Fluttershy was torn between two urges. One that wanted to run away, and the other that wanted to get the apples for her daughter. Her eyes watered from confliction. Fluttershy began to feel an adrenaline rush from fear. She had a hard time believing that the pony was really making this request. Fluttershy felt that she had to keep her promise to Lantana, and without the apples, a little filly like her could starve to death. To Fluttershy the apples meant more to her than just a delicious fruit. It meant more to her than her pride, and self-respect. She shied back a little, and asked if there was anything else she could do for the apples, but the mysterious pony knew he had leverage, and he refused to any and all changes to his original proposal. Fluttershy was scared, but she agreed to his terms—not out of morals, but out of desperation. The mysterious pony escorted Fluttershy up the path to an old barn—where the two ponies made the trade. Fluttershy wept during the exchange, but the stallion wasn't bothered the slightest by it. After Fluttershy did her part of the deal, the mysterious pony gave Fluttershy the saddlebag of apples, then without hesitation, showed her to the door. He tossed her out on his front porch and slammed the door shut without looking back. As soon as the stallion got what he wanted, there was no need for him to keep her there any longer. Fluttershy was banished to the streets without even getting a chance to wash up after a sticky exchange. Fluttershy used the back of her hoof to wipe her face clean as she could without water, before proceeding on her way back home. The lingering aftertaste residing in the back of her throat bothered the yellow pegasus. The shameful event made Fluttershy feel sleazy. Probably the way one should feel after whoring themselves out for a bag of apples, she thought. Fluttershy felt awful as she continued her walk in shame. She felt guilty. It was like she was a disgrace against her own integrity, and everything else she stood for. Fluttershy never ceased crying until she got home. Lantana greeted Fluttershy as soon as she saw her, and was happy to see her bring back apples. Even though Fluttershy was quite hungry herself, she didn't even think to take an apple. She didn't want any of them. Not any of those apples. Fluttershy told Lantana that the entire bag of apples was for her, and that she didn't want any. Fluttershy laid on her side, against the cold ground. She got ready for another nights sleep outside as she reflected to herself, Never have I done anything like that before. Never have I degraded myself so much.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Fluttershy woke up the next morning in an opposing position from where her sleep started. Her morning breath carried the odor of last nights sin. Lantana was already up, and was just about to start on her way to school when she saw her mother was awake. "Mommy!" said the little filly. "You're awake!" Fluttershy didn't feel like she was anymore rested even after a whole night's sleep. It took her a moment to reorient herself before she could address her filly. Her head ached. Fluttershy rubbed her eyes, then said to Lantana, "Yes, I am. Are you... getting ready for school?" Lantana answered her mother. "Yep. I saved you an apple from last night. I had one for breakfast so now there's only one left." Fluttershy thought the gesture was sweet, but still didn't want the memories that the apple were tainted with. "Well how about you take it for lunch, or an after school snack. I would much rather you eat it than me." Lantana nodded, and took the apple with her to school. Fluttershy was surprised at how quickly the bag was of apples disappeared. Now she was in the same situation before, but she desperately hoped for less shameful results. Even though Fluttershy had no money, or reason to hit up the Ponyville shops, she needed something to do, somewhere to be, and a place to think. She felt herself being lured into the local pastry shop. Its been over a full day since Fluttershy last ate, and the warm pastries on display made her mouth water, and her stomach growl. Fluttershy knew she couldn't afford anything, and has given up on trying to beg for it. She sat at a table in the far corner of the shop. She sat away from the window where she could bury her face into a newspaper. While acting like she was reading, all she could think about is how she planned to keep her daughter and herself alive. She was only able to imagine two possible outcomes for the future. One was death, and the other was to embrace prostitution into a permanent way of life. Fluttershy hated both options. If it was just herself, a silent sufferable death wouldn't have sounded so bad, but it wasn't just herself. She hid her head behind the newspaper as she silently cried. "Is something wrong?" A peculiar, charismatic voice came from the other side of the newspaper. Fluttershy set the paper down on the table to see who the pony was. To Fluttershy's surprise there were two male unicorns with nearly identical body features standing at Fluttershy's table. They looked like they could be identical twins. Their striped clothes looked like they may have had a sense of style many years ago, but here and now, they just looked odd. Both brothers had a creme colored coat, and if it wasn't for one of them having a mustache, they would be nearly impossible to tell apart from one another. Fluttershy was nervous about what these ponies wanted. She found it hard to believe that ponies with such a grin would ask her whats wrong merely out of concern. Fluttershy answered shyly, "...I'm just going through a rough moment." The two unicorn looked at each other, then back at Fluttershy. The unicorn with the mustache leaned in with sincerity in his words. "Its most unfortunate. Life can be cruel at times. Isn't that right Flim?" The other brother answered, "That's right, most cruel indeed. Why don't you tell us about some of the problems you've been going through." Both unicorns turned their attention to Fluttershy. Fluttershy hesitated. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to get into her life stories with two strangers she never met before—especially ponies as strange as the two brother unicorns. She asked herself, whats the worst that can happen? Eventually, she weepily told them everything. About being abandoned with a filly to feed, her house burning down, and even though she initially meant to not tell them about whoring herself out for apples, she ended up doing so anyway. Fluttershy felt a little better just by telling somepony about everything that happened, even if they were strangers. The unicorns looked at each other and cocked an eyebrow at one another. Then Flam said smugly, "Sounds to me like most your problems could be resolved with a little extra money." Fluttershy nodded. She could by no means find a way to disagree with that statement. "Of course it will, but no matter how hard I try to get a job to make money, I'm almost always rejected," she said. "Well what would you say if I told you we can get you a little more money for your purse?" said Flim. Fluttershy was skeptical, "I would say that I'm not going to whore myself out anymore." Flam laughed, "Haha you're a sweet thing, but we have no such intention." Fluttershy was unsure of what the unicorns were implying. "Am I suppose to believe that you're just going to give me money for doing nothing?" Flim was ready to answer her question the moment she asked it. It was as if he rehearsed this conversation, and already knew what he was going to say. "Practically! I can get you some pretty good income for practically no work at all." Flam interjected, "No job interview, and no skills required!" Flim added, "Get paid big, and get paid on the spot!" Fluttershy was now more confused than ever. "What's the catch? What do I have to do?" Flim pulled out a sealed box from his saddlebag, and placed it on the table. "There is no catch. All you got to do is deliver this box." Flam added, "It doesn't need to go far, just to this address. Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes." Flim pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with the address and set it on top of the box on the table. "Lets not forget, bring the money back to us, and we will give you a generous cut." Fluttershy felt like the two ponies were trying to scam her. Whatever their business was, she knew it was too good to be ethical. "What's in the box?" she asked. Flam answered, "Pick it up, give it a shake. It's too light to be a bomb, does anything beyond that really matter? You see the pony folk want certain goods delivered with a hassle-free, no questions asked service, that the postal service can't offer." Fluttershy was beginning to understand their proposal. Whatever was in the box, it must have been some sort of illegal substance. Fluttershy shook her head side-to-side. "I don't want to take part in a crime that makes other ponies lives worse." Flim leaned in closer to Fluttershy, and explained, "It's all supply and demand. Ponies want it, we can get it. It would be great if everypony could make a living through honest intentions, but that's not how the economy works. You of all ponies should know that. We're just providing a wanted service. The difference between prostituting yourself and this is: when you prostitute yourself, you hurt yourself to serve the clients demands. By delivering these goods, the clients choose to hurt themselves to meet their demands. As far as I'm concerned, if they want to hurt themselves with these products, that's their business. My business isn't to judge one based on their life choices. I profit because of it, and both parties walk away happy. As long as everypony's happy, there is no victim." Fluttershy was trying hard to see things from his perspective. It reminded her of a pony trying to sell her a time share. He made such a bad thing sound like a wonderful service to the world. Fluttershy contemplated the pros and cons in her head, and didn't even notice that Flam left the table a while ago. A blueberry muffin was on the table—directly in front of Fluttershy. "I heard your stomach growling," said Flam, "You know we use to be a lot like you—unable to feed ourselves. Being proud isn't a bad thing, but being stubbornly proud is only going to cause yourself harm when life starts to get tough. Just drop off one box, and you can afford to feed yourself for a week. No one will ever suspect a cute pony like you." Fluttershy was hesitant, but she couldn't turn down his offer. After all, it meant her worries could finally be behind her, and she wouldn't have to repeat what she did the previous night. It felt wrong for Fluttershy to do something that was against the law, but the law never put food on her table. She placed the box in her saddlebag, along with the muffin, and headed out the door. Flim and Flam both said in unison, "See you later!" They were certainly odd ponies. Fluttershy thought to herself, For ugly faces they sure seemed friendly. She felt nervous just from carrying the box in her saddlebag. Fluttershy followed the road until she came across the address that she was supposed to deliver the box to. Sweat began to drip from her hairline. It was an old house that lacked in curb-appeal. Fluttershy took the box out of her saddlebag, and rang the doorbell. A pony called out from inside the house, "Just a minute!" The door opened and a gray pegasus opened the door. The gray pegasus saw the box right away, and was expecting the delivery. Fluttershy was afraid to make eye contact, but managed to mutter out the words, "I'm suppose to bring this to you." The gray pegasus took the box and left Fluttershy with a filled coin purse. That wasn't so hard, Fluttershy thought. She returned to the pastry shop to see if Flim, and Flam were still there. Sure enough they were sitting at the same table as before. Fluttershy entered the shop and approached the two brothers. "I told you it wouldn't take more than twenty minutes," said Flam. "You didn't even think she was going to come back," said Flim. Fluttershy was still nervous, "Well... I did what you told me to do, I brought the payment back." Fluttershy set the coin purse on the table, for the two brothers to see. "Excellent," said Flam. Flim said, "The fact that you came back proved that we can trust you. We can use a trustworthy pony. Keep the money—all of it, and if you're willing to see your earnings triple, I have another delivery that can use a trustworthy pony like yourself." Fluttershy couldn't remember a time she had as much money as she got from the one delivery, but that didn't mean she didn't need anymore. After all, her house just burned down. She was homeless. Fluttershy had to accept the offer.
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Fluttershy spent the next couple days delivering drugs. She felt uncomfortable with the idea, but it was an easy thing to do, and it paid the money that she so desperately needed. After a while her discomfort went away, and she was use to the life-style. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but nopony ever stopped her. The police never suspected a thing, and the ponies she delivered to were appreciative of what she was doing. Her deliveries always ended in praise and warm regards. She felt some level of guilt, but she couldn't feel to bad. After all, she made enough money to keep her daughter alive. Fluttershy spent the day making deliveries door-to-door, while her daughter was at school. She had plenty of money for food now, and was well on her way to getting a roof over her head too. For the first time in a while, it felt like things were getting better, instead of worse. Fluttershy was on her way back from a delivery when she ran into a familiar face. Rainbow Dash spotted Fluttershy from her cloud, and flew down to greet her. "Hey Fluttershy! Long time no see huh. Well its by no means the longest we've been apart, but still." Fluttershy was startled by Rainbow Dash's approach. "Oh, hello," said Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash rambled, "Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been working extra weather shifts. Its been exhausting, and I just couldn't find the time to drop by. This is the first day off I had all week." Fluttershy did have some understanding for Rainbow Dash's absence. Although Fluttershy could have used some more of her help a couple of days ago, Fluttershy still thought of Rainbow Dash as a friend. "So that's why the weather has been so nice the last couple days." Rainbow Dash loved the compliment. "I guess you can say that," she said smugly. "But anyway, have you been getting by alright?" "It was a rough start," Fluttershy replied, "but I think I'm managing pretty well now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I get a new home." "Well that's awesome news! Is there anything I can help with in the meantime?" Fluttershy declined, saying everything is fine at the moment. She still had a box she needed to deliver in her saddlebag, but since she didn't want Rainbow Dash to know about the type of work she's been doing for Flim and Flam, she decided she would spend the day with Rainbow Dash, and make the delivery tomorrow. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went to a coffee shop to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. Since before the fire, they never seen each other for years—not since they were fillies, and they had lots of catching up to do. After a while of chatting, Fluttershy had to say goodbye in order to be home when her filly got off from school. Both ponies agreed to meet again tomorrow. Fluttershy agreed by saying, "I can't see why not." Fluttershy went back home, even though it wasn't much of a home now, and waited for the filly to come back. Fluttershy waited and waited but Lantana didn't come back home like she was supposed to. Fluttershy was worried. It wasn't until several hours after that Lantana came back from school. Concerned, Fluttershy asked the filly, "Where have you been?" Lantana began to sob as she said, "I had detention." Fluttershy was shocked. She always imagined her daughter as her perfect little angel. She was surprised to hear that her always well-mannered daughter got into trouble. "Whatever for?" Fluttershy asked. Her voice showed even more concern than before. Lantana was afraid to make eye contact with her mother. She knew what she did was wrong. She felt guilty. Even though her mother wasn't expressing any anger, she felt like she was awaiting another punishment. "I got in a fight," she said. "One of the other ponies was laughing at me when she over heard me say that my house burned down. I told her to stop laughing, but she didn't. Eventually I just got so angry, that I hit her, but it wasn't my fault! She wouldn't leave me alone even after I asked her nicely!" Lantana's eyes started bawling. Fluttershy was surprised at what her daughter told her, but she understood how hard the recent events must have been for her daughter. Fluttershy tried her best to empathize. "Now I know it wasn't nice of the other filly to make fun of you, but was violence really necessary? Did it make anything any better?" Lantana sighed with self disappointment. "I guess it didn't," she said. Fluttershy continued, "Violence is never the right answer to solve your problems. No matter how satisfying it may seem, you will always lose more from violence than you gain. I think you got to experience that for yourself today. You missed out on a beautiful day because you had detention. Now I think you learned something from all this, but do you think you can promise me that you won't do this again?" Lantana wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah. I learned my lesson, and I promise I won't ever do this again." Fluttershy gave Lantana a prolonged hug. "Mommy?" Lantana asked. "Yes?" "Are we ever going to get our house back?" asked the little filly. "Soon. We will soon. I promise it won't be too much longer." Fluttershy for the first time made a promise that she felt confident about. She felt that it was the first promise she made since the fire, where she had a plan to make it happen. Author's Note I'm interested to know what your thoughts on the story are so far. I was unsure if Flim and Flam were the best characters for this story. I know they lack the approval ratings from the fandom but I thought they would flow well with the story. I'd be interested to know what you think of them.
Chapter 5Chapter 5 Fluttershy was beginning to grow accustom to sleeping on the ground. The next morning she felt more rested than the last few nights. Lantana was awake before Fluttershy, but waited for her mother to wake up before asking for permission to play in the park with some friends. Since it wasn't a school day, Fluttershy encouraged her filly to run off and play. Fluttershy was about to put on her saddlebag before heading out to meet with Rainbow Dash. She stopped herself after remembering that it still contained the drugs for her next delivery. It would be best if I didn't bring this with me, she thought, I don't want to alarm Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was on her way down to the same coffee shop where she agreed to meet Rainbow Dash. The sun was already up, and the sky was free of clouds. A beautiful Saturday morning! the yellow pegasus thought. Fluttershy trotted toward town, humming a happy tune when Rainbow Dash flew down cutting Fluttershy off her path. Fluttershy jumped back, once again, startled from Rainbow Dash's approach. Fluttershy was still a few blocks away from where they were suppose to meet, and they were the only ponies on the path. "So what have you really been up to?" Rainbow Dash asked. For a moment, Fluttershy believed that Rainbow Dash knew about her new job in Ponyville. "Well... nothing really," she replied. Fluttershy walked around Rainbow Dash and proceeded walking down the path. Rainbow Dash flew in front of Fluttershy, cutting her off again, and blocked her path. Fluttershy stopped. Rainbow Dash returned a glare of disbelief at Fluttershy, "Really? Nothing at all?" Fluttershy began to worry, and here nerves became visible on her face. "Just taking care of Lantana," she said. Rainbow Dash began to accuse Fluttershy. "What's this I hear about you selling cocaine to ponies?" Fluttershy immediately denied the accusation, "I don't even know where you would hear such a thing." Rainbow Dash stuck her face inches in front of Fluttershy's, while staring straight into her eyes. "A friend told me—Derpy. She's in the hospital right now because she overdosed. I went to see her last night. She almost died! The doctors said she has permanent brain damage. Sure enough one thing she does remember is a yellow pegasus selling her drugs!" Fluttershy guiltily looked away, but did her best to sound innocent. "I'm by no means the only yellow pegasus in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash didn't believe Fluttershy's innocence at all. "She also said the pegasus had a couple of butterflies for a cutie-mark," Rainbow Dash added. There are plenty of yellow pegasi in Equestria, but each cutie-mark is unique, and her butterfly cutie-mark was in plain view even at that very moment. Fluttershy knew she couldn't deny it any longer. "Well... so what if I sold it to her. She ordered it. I didn't force her to take the drugs. She wanted them. I didn't tell her how much to take. She choose to overdose on them. None of that is my fault!" Rainbow Dash began to lecture her, "What do you mean it's not your fault? Had it not been for you, she would be with her family instead of in the hospital right now! What are you doing selling drugs anyway!" "Well I didn't want to. I just really needed the money." Fluttershy felt some shame, but It bothered her how Rainbow Dash, a pony who never suffered a day in her life, was the one judging her right now. "Fluttershy! What were you thinking? You know better than this. This isn't the right way to make money." Something in Rainbow Dash's words struck a nerve on Fluttershy. It felt like something in her mind had snapped. Something that turned her guilt and shame into pure anger. She felt furious. Fluttershy was done being lectured by Rainbow Dash. She was ready to stand up for herself, and stared Rainbow Dash straight back in her eyes. She took in a big breath, and yelled louder than she ever had before, "You don't know what I've been through! I wasn't born with wings four times as strong as any pony else. I payed attention during flying classes back in Cloudsdale flight academy—unlike you, and I put my best effort to be half as good a flyer as you, but I'm not even half as good a flyer as most fillies! I'm a pegasus who isn't a good enough flyer to get a job anywhere! I don't have the skills of an earth pony, or unicorn, and the only skills that make a pegasus employable—I suck at. My husband abandoned me while I was pregnant, and I fucked up every job I had because my useless wings quit on me! Sure enough, the weather ponies were understaffed, so it was a dry season. When I tried to apply for a job there, they told me I wasn't what they were looking for. Despite how understaffed they were, and because of the drought and my unemployment, I couldn't afford to keep my frickin' lawn watered, and sure enough an outdoor fire followed the dead grass straight to my house and took away everything from me! And you're judging me? I didn't get lucky with your genetics. I had to suck a ponies dick for a bag of no more than four apples, because I had no money to buy food for my daughter, and you know what: That pony was the closest thing to a hero in my life. You were nowhere to be found when my daughter was starving. The legal system let my husband leave me without paying any alimony. The fire fighters never saved my house from the fire. No disaster relief crew came to give me shelter after I've been homeless for days now. You haven't had to suffer for a single day in your life! Your parents paid for everything you ever needed. Every time you got into trouble, you had some pony that just made all your problems go away! I finally found a way to successfully keep my daughter, and myself alive, and you're going to tell me that its wrong, and that I should stop? FINE! Then tell me how to keep a roof over my head! Tell me how to feed my daughter the right way! Tell me how! FUCKING TELL ME HOW!" Fluttershy was breathing heavily after her rant. Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped completely open. Rainbow Dash never in her life heard Fluttershy yell. Fluttershy's voice was always soft and gentle. Rainbow Dash was stupefied. She backed away from Fluttershy, unblocking her path, while her mouth hung open. Rainbow Dash was left with nothing to say. Fluttershy proceeded down the path. Even though she could assume her meeting with Rainbow Dash at the coffee shop had been canceled, she felt that the confident thing to do was to keep walking—leaving Rainbow Dash behind. She had no business being in the Ponyville shopping center. She left her saddle bag with all her money at home, but she still had a lot of stress from her encounter with Rainbow Dash, and a walk around town could be just what she needed to calm down. As the day grew older Fluttershy decided to head back home, just in case Lantana was done playing with her friends, and decided to come home. The sun only just reached mid-sky, and, Fluttershy started to think when would be the best time to finish her delivery that should have been done yesterday. It was when Fluttershy was less than a block away from her house that a light rain began to take place. The rain wasn't enough to bother Fluttershy, but she was concerned about whether it would get much worse before she gets a roof to keep dry under. I guess Lantana's not here, Fluttershy observed. The patch of yard next to the ruble of their home was empty. Too empty, Fluttershy thought. Fluttershy looked around for a moment knowing something in the air didn't feel quite right. A spark inside her head went off. Her saddlebag was missing. The saddlebag with the drugs. Oh no! Fluttershy knew exactly where she left that bag on the ground, and all she knew is that wherever it was, it wasn't where she left it. Fluttershy worried what to do if she couldn't find it. How would she tell Flim, and Flam? How would they react? Would they be mad? Fluttershy walked around the property, looking under any loose rubble that Fluttershy had enough strength to lift. What if somepony took it? she thought. Fluttershy's eye caught something laying beside the rubble of the far side of the house. She couldn't identify the object other than that it looked peculiar compared to the Rubble. She moved closer. It looks like... Lantana?Fluttershy was curious. What would she be doing over there? She moved closer. It was definitely Lantana. She was laying flat on her side, and facing in the opposite direction her mother approached from. "Lantana?" Fluttershy called out. "Lantana!" The Filly didn't respond or move or anything. Fluttershy ran up to the filly and rocked her body side to side in attempt to wake her up. Fluttershy called out louder despite being closer. "Lantana!" The filly was completely unresponsive. With a closer look, Fluttershy noticed the filly wasn't breathing, and her body was cold to the touch. Fluttershy lifted one of the filly's closed eyelids, and waved her hoof in front of the filly. It was motionless. Her eyelid itself was stiff, and the rest of her eye was completely dry. The ends of Lantana's legs were beginning to lose their color, and her legs were limply splayed. Fluttershy was no longer looking at a filly, but a corpse. "No! No! Lantana! What did you do?" Fluttershy had tears pouring from her eyes. Her saddlebag and the box she was supposed to deliver both lied empty, and open next to the corpse. A fine white powder stained the young corpses lips. Fluttershy was smart enough to understand what happened, but not emotionally capable of believing such a thing could happen to her. "Don't worry Lantana. Don't worry. I'm here now. Don't worry." Fluttershy brushed the corpse's mane—the one part that was still soft. The death of her daughter struck Fluttershy with immense fear, but Fluttershy couldn't accept the fact her daughter was dead. She was in denial, and even looking at her daughter's colorless corpse wasn't enough to convince her what she was seeing was real. It was her own guilt that repressed reality. "Its okay Lantana. It's probably a good thing to get some rest right now. You're just sick is all." Fluttershy put a hoof on her forehead to check for a fever. "Oh my, you're ice-cold. Just wait there I'll go get you a blanket." A deeper part of Fluttershy's mind knew Lantana was dead, and it was the reason Fluttershy cried uncontrollably, but Fluttershy's consciousness simply couldn't process what was right in front of her, and so it didn't. Fluttershy returned with the blanket, and draped it over her daughter. "That should warm you up." Fluttershy got under the blanket with the corpse. She put her hoof around the filly's shoulders and snuggled tightly with Lantana's body. Fluttershy nuzzled into Lantana's mane, and she continued to cry. Fluttershy fearfully, and quietly sang a lullaby to her dead daughter; sobbing between every few words. "Hush now, quiet now, its time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now..."
Chapter 6Chapter 6 Fluttershy over heard a familiar voice coming from behind her. "Ah there she is. You've always been the best at tracking ponies down Flam... Oh would you look at that." Fluttershy turned her head to see Flim and Flam standing behind her, and in front of the sunrise. She continued to hold her daughter tightly. Flim spoke, "I can see now why you missed your last delivery." Fluttershy nodded with tears still in her eyes. "I wasn't able to make my delivery. My daughter is very sick." "She also smells," Flam added. Flim knelt down to Fluttershy in a comforting way. "Its alright. We're ponies too. We understand that you're going through a rough part of your life right now. We can't force you to deliver drugs if you don't want to." Flim showed sincerity in his words. Fluttershy appreciated his understanding but had too many tears to speak: She nodded instead. "Although..." said Flam. "Right, although," Flim continued, "We don't really care about your personal problems. We need to know whether you're still willing to work for us or not." Fluttershy couldn't answer. Her emotional state wasn't ready to talk about business. She stared at Flim with sad, teary eyes. Flam said, "I think that means she's not willing to do work for us anymore." "Yes I think you're right brother Flam." Flim grabbed hold of Fluttershy's hoof in a compassionate way. "You see," he said, "Our business is bigger than you think. Drugs aren't the only thing we sell here in Ponyville. Now we may not be able to make you sell drugs against your will, but we got other jobs that we can make you do against your will. Flam grab her!" Flam grabbed Fluttershy by the scruff of her neck. Fluttershy shrieked and with her free hoof, she held on to Lantana—afraid to let her go. "Lantana!" she cried out. Flim slapped the back of Fluttershy's hoof, forcing her to let go of her daughter's body. "Leave that gross thing behind," he said. Flim and Flam continued to drag Fluttershy to an old shack. Flam said, "You see, it's fine if you don't want to sell drugs for us anymore. In fact, I might even say its better than fine. Drugs take a lot of work to sell, and we can only sell them once. Not to mention we have to stick our necks out in the public going door to door to sell them." Flim added, "It's really not our best line of work. If it wasn't such an easy business to start, we might have just not even bothered." "Sex is where the real money is," said Flam, "Ponies pay good money for it. We give them a young attractive pony, like you, for them to use however they want for an hour, and then we rent you out to the next pony. We can rent you out several times a day, every day a week, every week a year, and as many years you have until your beauty starts to fade." Flim added, "Doesn't that sound like fun?" Fluttershy continued to kick, scream, and cry. She didn't really understand the logic of what Flim and Flam were explaining. She was too worked up from being taken away from her daughter, but despite her struggles, they weren't enough to escape their grasp. Fluttershy was dragged into the shack, and taken to the basement. Her hooves were tied together, along with her wings, and she was thrown behind a locked door on her side. "Welcome to the Flim Flam residence," Flim said. The two brothers left the room, closing the door behind them, and didn't look back. The basement Fluttershy was in had an unsanitary appearance. The floors were dirty and the room had a rank smell. The room was filled with several other ponies that were tied the same way she was. All of them were female. Their faces showed no interest or desire to speak, and Fluttershy had no reason to either. Some were pagasi, others were unicorns, and some were earth ponies. All of them looked grungy like they haven't bathed properly in a long time. Fluttershy wondered if that was going to be her in the near future. Fluttershy was able to see a light come from under the door. She heard hoofsteps and the thin walls carried the sounds from the next room. She herd voices pass through the walls. One voice was familiar enough to her to know that one was either Flim or Flam, and that another quieter voice that barely penetrated the walls could be anypony except for the Flim Flam brothers. "What'll it be for you?" asked one of the Flim Flam brothers. A muffled voice replied, but was too distorted to make out what he was saying through the walls. Flim or Flam answered after the muffled voice stopped, "Sure I got unicorns. I'll go bring one up for you." Hoofsteps grew louder as they approached the door. The door opened and Flam dragged out one of the unicorns. He didn't say anything or address any pony. He dragged the restrained unicorn out of the room and closed the door behind him. From behind the closed-door she was able to hear the, once muffled voice, a bit more clearly. "Oh yes perfect. She will do." said the voice. Fluttershy could here Flam's response, "I'm sure she will. Take her upstairs into the first room. Bring her back within the hour." Fluttershy could hear the clanking of coins that she could only assume was Flam's payment. An hour passed, and Fluttershy became sore from laying on her same side. She couldn't move to adjust herself, and the shoulder and hip she was laying on started to cause her discomfort. The door opened again, and Flam returned the unicorn back into the room with restraints. Fluttershy could only imagine what just happened to her. The unicorn was about the same age as Fluttershy. She was shaking with her hind legs tightly closed from whatever it was that just happened to her. She was clearly miserable, but she never shed a tear. Her will was clearly broken, and it most likely broke a long time ago. Out of fear for the unknown Fluttershy felt obliged to ask, "What did they do to you?" The unicorn turned her head toward Fluttershy, and it wasn't until then that Fluttershy noticed that the unicorn's white coat was covered in fresh stains all along her abdomen. The unicorn answered blatantly, "When its your turn—you'll know."
Chapter 7Chapter 7 Fluttershy knew it was only a matter of time before she gets chosen. She listened to a deep voice talking to Flam. "I know I didn't exactly set up an appointment, but do ya think you can schedule me in?" Flam answered proudly, "Of course. You've been a customer with us for years. I even have a special treat for you." The unknown voice asked sarcastically, "Are you actually going to give me a discount for once?" Flam stuttered, "Well no. But, I do know how much you love the pegasi, and I got a brand new one; never been touched yet. She's been waiting eagerly just for you." Fluttershy continued listening in through the walls. The unknown voice sounded skeptical at first, but agreed to accept Flam's 'special' treat. Hoofsteps approached, and the door opened. Standing next to Flam was a blue-gray earth pony. "This is the new pegasus you got?" asked the earth pony. "Sure is. Cute right?" Flam said. "She doesn't look all that new, she already has a layer of dust on her," said the earth pony. "I assure you she is. She just needs to be moved around a little, if you know what I'm saying," said Flam. "Well alright I'll take her up to the room then," said the pony. Flam flashed a near-devilish smile at Fluttershy "Keep in mind, the new ponies may sometimes be a little rascally. You might have to be a little rough with her." The earth pony chuckled, "That won't be a problem." Flam dragged Fluttershy out of the room and closed the door. This is the first time Fluttershy seen the door close from the other side. Flam untied the bindings around Fluttershy's hooves. "You know what to do. One hour. And I mean it this time, one hour. I don't want any of this 'five more minutes' horseshit." The earth pony nodded and escorted Fluttershy up the stairs. The yellow pegasus was frightened, and when she thought about being afraid, she thought about Lantana—which made her more afraid. Flim was standing at the top of the stairs and showed the earth pony to the room. Behind a structurally flawed door was a surprisingly well decorated room. The walls looked like they were actually painted this decade, and the floors were elegantly tiled. The room had one double bed, and a mirror off to the side that faced it. There was one chair, and a window that let in just enough light, and provided a pretty nice view of the Ponyville Lake in the distance. Despite how much Fluttershy expected everything to be horrifying, she had to admit the room looked rather pretty. However, Fluttershy knew what awaited her, and she was afraid to merely think about it. Before closing the door leaving Fluttershy alone with the earth pony, Flim said, "Have a good hour." The earth pony starred Fluttershy up and down making several passes with his eyes. He was slowly scanning across every inch of her body. Fluttershy stood frozen. She was fearing the earth pony's next move. "Well Flam was right. You are a cute little thing," he said. Fluttershy couldn't come up with any words to respond. She tucked her tail in between her legs and shook with fear—much like the way the unicorn from the basement did. Fluttershy muttered fearfully, "Please, please don't touch me!" The earth pony didn't seem to care about Fluttershy's fear at all. "I already paid 70 bits. Now Flim and Flam run this business well, but they are far to stingy to refund my money. Of course I'm going to get my money's worth. Now we only have an hour so..." Thump! The earth pony's body hit the ground. Fluttershy's spine tingled. She never hit another pony before, but she struck this pony in his throat with all her might. The earth pony was unconscious. His neck had a large bruise on it, which continued to grow by the second. Fluttershy didn't know why she did what she did. She was just as surprised as the pony she hit. She was acting on pure instinct. Blood was drooling out of the pony's mouth, and Fluttershy could feel judgment from the back of her mind. I-I hit him? Well he was trying to rape me, but still... is he dead? Fluttershy could hear Flim shouting and knocking on the other side of the door. "Is everything okay in there? You aren't being too rough are you? Remember we need her back in one piece so we can use her again." Flim knocked from the other side of the door again, "You still there?" Fluttershy quickly grabbed the chair and jammed it under the door knob. Flim turned the knob but couldn't push the door open. The door was stuck closed. Flim pushed harder on the door. "I need help here!" he shouted down the stairs. Fluttershy could hear several hoofsteps trotting up the stairs. Flim managed to push the door just barely wide enough to fit his nose in. "Dumb pegasus get back here!" Fluttershy ran up to the window and shattered it with a solid kick. Glass fell to the ground at the same moment as the chair holding the door closed, snapped in pieces. Fluttershy flew out the window. I should be okay. I may not be the best flier, but I should be able to fly away from a couple unicorns. Fluttershy was surprised when she found two pagasi ponies following her—tailing her closely. Fluttershy thought that Flim and Flam ran the whole business themselves, but apparently they had help. The pegasi chasing after Fluttershy were both darkly colored—one a dark brown, and the other a dark gray. They looked strong, and large. If they ever got their hooves on Fluttershy either one of them could easily out muscle her to the ground. They chased after her with a great intensity on their faces. The pegasi were faster than Fluttershy, and soon she had to try something besides just flapping her wings harder. She was flying just on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy thought to herself, If I can't out fly them, maybe I can out maneuver them. She turned sharply going straight into the Everfree Forest. She weaved in, and out of the trees smoothly, as if her life depended on it, because for all she knew, it might. The darkly colored pegasi followed her into the forest without any hesitation at all. They managed to weave in between the trees, and still managed to keep up the pursuit, but the distance between them and Fluttershy was growing. They weren't able to move in between the trees as easily as Fluttershy. She was almost out of sight, but then... Snap! Fluttershy's wing flapped directly into a tree branch that was too thick for a pony of her size to fly through. At first she thought the loud snap came from the branch, but the thick branch didn't break—it didn't even bend. Her right-wing sent an intense pain, and folded into an unnatural position. The collision sent Fluttershy into the ground. Her landing was hard, and merciless. The high-speed she was flying at caused her to skid across the uneven forest floor. She was conscious when she landed—the impact of the landing was on her ribcage—but she was in too much pain to move. The forest floor wasn't a forgiving surface to land on. Where Fluttershy landed, there were plenty of sharp rocks as well as branches. Skidding across that surface opened large chunks of Fluttershy's skin in several places. Most of the open wounds were on her belly and thighs. She could see a large streak of her own blood that drew a straight path from where she crash landed, and where she was laying. In addition, Fluttershy saw a fair amount of rocks that wore chunks of her own flesh over their sharp edges. Fluttershy was winded, and couldn't lift herself up. The two pegasi that were pursuing her followed her down to the ground—in a much safer way. They landed on either side of Fluttershy. Fluttershy cried, not from the pain—which there was a lot of, but because she failed her attempt to be free. Fluttershy might never get to see her daughter again. "Now what are we going to do with you?" the brown pegasus asked, "You look pretty beat up. Without your looks no pony's going to want you, and Flim and Flam aren't going to waste the money to fix you up. Nonetheless, we can't just leave you alone—its a matter of principle." The gray pegasus spoke, "I think there's only one thing we can do now. I'm not flying back all the way from here carrying a limp pegasus. I say we kill her here, and leave her here." The brown pegasus nodded his head in agreement. He approached Fluttershy, and tightly gripped Fluttershy's broken wing. Fluttershy squealed in pain. The pegasus continued to put his full weight onto her wing as Fluttershy cried out, begging for them to stop. She felt close to blacking out. Just then, a ferocious roar came from beyond the fog of the Everfree Forest. The shadow of a great beast was approaching. The two male pegasi flew off for their own lives, and left Fluttershy behind as the beast charged forward. The beast had scared off the other pegasi. Although they probably thought that the beast will eat Fluttershy instead of them—completing their duties—the beast had no intention of harming Fluttershy. The creature showed itself. Standing before her was a manticore ten times her size. Fluttershy wasn't afraid of the manticore. After all she would rather be devoured in a single bite by a manticore, than being slowly tortured to death by two pegasi, and besides, she knew that the manticore had no desire to eat her—it just saved her life. It must have heard Fluttershy's screams of agony, and ran over to rescue her. Fluttershy thanked the creature, and with struggle, lifted herself onto her feet. The manticore gave a playful lick across Fluttershy's mane. The manticore carried Fluttershy back to the edge of the Everfree Forest, before it retreated back into its den. Fluttershy was too injured to fly at all, but had enough strength in her legs to make it the short distance back home—just as long as she doesn't have to go faster than a limp. Despite being only a short walk, Fluttershy's fastest limp can barely be compared to a slow newborn's crawl. The rain was coming down hard in Ponyville. It was a heavy downpour. Fluttershy absorbed so much rain in her coat, mane, tail, and skin, that she felt as if she was caring the limp weight of another pony on her hooves. Her mane absorbed so much water that it became heavy, and hung straight down her face, instead of off to the side.At least the rain is washing out the blood. After a walk that took three times as long as it should have, Fluttershy made it home in the middle of the night, and all she could think about was seeing her daughter Lantana. Part of her expected to see Lantana up and about, prancing around with her face full of utter bliss, but a hint of doubt was in the far back of her mind. She was starting to come out of denial, but had to see her daughter's corpse one last time to know once and for all. Fluttershy approached Lantana. The body was laying in the same spot as before. From a closer look, Fluttershy could see that Lantana's body had almost no skin on her face at all. Maggots and flies were eating at the skin, and the corpse's eyes were nothing more than a small ooze coming from the depths of her eye sockets. "No Lantana! You can't be dead! You can't be!" Fluttershy felt like she was about to cry yet again. After all she was starting to understand that her daughter was actually dead for the first time. Nonetheless, Fluttershy held her tears in. She continued to stare at her daughter's corpse. "No! This can't be!... But it is!" Fluttershy couldn't handle watching the flies feed on her daughter any longer. She turned her head away, and up to the sky. She had no more tears left to shed. All she could feel now was anger. Fluttershy shouted into the sky, "This is all Flim and Flam's fault! If it wasn't for them! If they just left me alone! Oh, I'm so angry! I'm so angry I could just... I could just... Oh, I'm so angry I could Just KILL THOSE BASTARDS!" A darkness formed in the pit of Fluttershy's heart. She had nothing left to care for—only enemies to hate. "With Celestia as my witness, I will take everything from those fuckers just as they took everything from me! I will kill them! I will kill them no matter what it takes! I will kill them no matter who tries to stop me! I will kill them if its the LAST THING I DO!" Author's Note I know a lot has happened in this chapter. How does this chapter compare to some of the others? Also, my PM box is always open if you rather share your thoughts that way.
Chapter 8Chapter 8 Fluttershy became consumed with rage. Her eyes glowed red. She lost everything that she had, and everything that she was. She was a pony with nothing more than her vital signs. She was living, but without a reason to. Fluttershy thought, what makes up a pony's soul? Love? Morals? She already lost both. She lost her daughter—her last remaining love. She broke her morals—by committing crimes and sins that will haunt her until her death. She lost her best friend, her dignity, and her faith. She didn't care about her ex-husband or her home anymore. What is there to care for? All the pegasus wanted—all she could think about, was vengeance. Fluttershy plotted how she will perform what she last vowed, but she had so much determination that she couldn't think rationally. All she could plan was: find something sharp, take it, and slide it in each of the Flim Flam brother's throats. Now where can I find a weapon? she thought. She picked up her saddlebag from the ground and looked through it—just a good sum of money, and an empty box. Her eyes locked on a house in the neighboring area. It had no outside or inside lighting, but somehow it stood out more than any other house in the darkness. It had a large pile of newspapers in the driveway. Of course,Fluttershy thought, what kind of neighbor wouldn't offer any hospitality to a fellow neighbor who's house just burned down? Fluttershy already knew the answer. One that's been out-of-town for the last couple weeks. Fluttershy limped her way along the driveway. The mailbox was overflowing and the trash was empty. Every sign pointed to the house being vacant. Fluttershy walked around the backside of the house until she came across a window on the ground floor that was within her reach. With a solid kick, the glass shattered into tiny fragments of broken glass that looked like a fine dust. She used her hoof to clear off the broken glass that stuck to the edges of the window frame. Because of her weakened legs, and loss of flight, It took her more than one try to hoist herself through the window, but eventually, she got in. Fluttershy felt around for a light switch, and flicked the switch into the on position. The lights came on. She was in a kitchen. The kitchen was neatly arranged. It even reminded Fluttershy of her own kitchen back before the fire. Her hooves tracked in mud along the floors. After spending mostly all night outdoors, it felt nice being out of the heavy rain. She looked through every drawer until she found the one with kitchen utensils, and cutlery. Their were about a dozen kitchen knives of varying sizes. Fluttershy placed the two longest knives in her saddlebag. One for Flim; One for Flam. The knives rested in her bag with the blades pointed to the ground. These will do nicely. What else could I use? Fluttershy wandered into the bathroom, and opened the medicine cabinet. Inside were pills, bandages, sterile wipes, and more. Fluttershy grabbed a bottle of antiseptic and used it to wipe out the open cuts on her body. As the antiseptic passed over even the smallest cuts it burned and stung with a relentless pain. The pain didn't bother Fluttershy though. For the first time ever, she was glad that pain was as uncomfortable as what it was, because she knew Flim and Flam were about to get their dose of it, and whatever she's feeling now will only be a fraction of what they will. While she wrapped up her wounds with bandages, she said out loud with a hushed tone, "You're gonna like it Flim and Flam. You're gonna love it." Fluttershy took one of the bathroom towels to dry her hair on. She knew that it would just get soaked with water again as soon as she stepped out in the rain, but she felt that she could at least enjoy the next two minutes without her cold hair hanging in her face. Fluttershy's right-wing was in too much pain to bandage or treat. She couldn't extend it all the way out, or all the way in. Her broken wing just limply stuck out in an awkward fashion. Any pony could tell that it was broken just by looking at it. It carried itself in a completely unnatural position. Fluttershy's wing still throbbed with any sudden movements she made. It clearly needed treatment, but she thought that treatment was one of her lower priorities at the moment. Fluttershy felt like she could walk a little better now that her wounds were properly dressed. She still wasn't able to run, and was nowhere close to being able to fly, but it didn't hurt her as much to walk. Fluttershy went to the front door. She emptied her saddlebag of everything except for the two knives. Over a hundred bits fell out on the floor. "Perfect," said Fluttershy, "A few for the window, a couple for the knives, some for the bandages, and still a little more as a gift." Fluttershy opened the front door and stepped through. She was back in the rain. The cold water reminded her of just how warm it was inside the house. Almost instantly her mane became ruined in the water, and was back to hanging in her face. Fluttershy stood in the rain for a moment. It gave her one last chance to think. This is all that's important now. Killing Flim and Flam will finally even the score. They took away my daughter, my morals, my way of life. If vengeance is suitable for anypony, why not a pony with nothing of value left to lose. Before Fluttershy proceeded to find Flim and Flam Fluttershy whispered quietly under her breath, "I'm ready for you. I hope your ready for me. Don't you two worry now; I'm a pony of my word—and I'm coming for you."
Chapter 9Chapter 9 Fluttershy journeyed forward to the old shack where she would find Flim and Flam. She journeyed slowly. The pain all over her body hindered her speed greatly. Also she wanted to conserve her energy for where she would need it most. The storm was growing more ferocious by the second. Strikes of thunder echoed through all of Ponyville, and the close lightning strikes illuminated the sky, and some of the ground too. Fluttershy took no consideration to walk around puddles, she trudged forward without thinking twice, and as a result, had mud spatters that passed her knees. Fluttershy could see the old shack in the distance. Despite being covered in the darkness it stuck out blatantly. All the lights were out. Fluttershy walked lightly on her hooves as she approached. Fluttershy put her ear against the front door. She couldn't hear anything from the other side. Perfect. Fluttershy took out one of her two knives from the saddlebag, and slowly turned the knob. The door didn't open—it was locked—but a locked door wasn't going to stand in Fluttershy's way. For a pony with murder in her eyes, a locked door didn't stand a chance. Fluttershy shoved the knife through the lock of the door, and thrust it forcefully through the lock. After sufficient force was applied, the knife stabbed all the way through the lock. Fluttershy put all her weight into trying to twist the knife clockwise until the tumbler was forced to roll back. It made a terrible metal on metal squeak, but the lock broke open. Once inside Fluttershy yanked the knife out of the lock, and held it with her teeth. She didn't notice that the tip of the knife broke off in the door. All she could see in the dark room was a moonlit staircase. The staircase took Fluttershy up to the second floor of the shack. She only been on the second floor once before. From what she could remember, the room she was taken to with the earth pony, had no personal belongings in it whatsoever. She doubted two ponies with such corrupted wealth would live in such a room. There had to be bigger rooms somewhere around here, Fluttershy thought. She went down the opposite side of the hallway. Towards the end of the hallway she noticed two doors on opposing sides of the hallways that were farther apart from all the other doors. Probably because they're bigger rooms, she thought. One of the doors even had light coming from underneath it. Too obvious, she thought. She threw the door open, and leaped into the lit room. To her surprise, but not to her concern, she saw Flim and Flam standing in the middle of the room as if they were expecting her. "I knew I heard some pony messing with the front door," said Flim. "And who might you be?" Flam asked. Fluttershy was surprised at first when they didn't recognize her, but in all honesty, she knew that her appearance changed drastically since she last saw them. Her eyes had a blood-red color. Her soaked mane was hanging down in her face. Her body was scared and wrapped in bandages. Her legs and the underside of her belly were covered with mud, and her right-wing was in a completely unnatural shape. Flim suddenly recognized Fluttershy. "Oh you're that one pony that escaped from us this morning, and you got a knife. Hilarious!" Flam laughed, "Oh I see it now! It is her! Damn she got ugly in the last few hours!" Fluttershy didn't mind that the two brothers were laughing at her. She was confident that the last laugh would be her own. "Is that the way you choose to behave when you are about to meet your death?" yelled Fluttershy. "Our death? No. You were foolish to come back here, but now that you're here, you aren't leaving this place alive." Fluttershy Lunged at Flam. Just in time he managed to hop out of Fluttershy's reach. Flim lunged at Fluttershy, landed on her, and pinned her on her back, and to the ground. Fluttershy's knife was still in between her teeth, and she stabbed it into his chest. Since the knife tip broke off in the door, the knife didn't pass through the pony's ribcage. Instead, the knife lacerated down his chest. Even though it didn't penetrate any internal organs, the laceration drew a large amount of blood. After feeling the sharp pain Flim smacked Fluttershy across the face; forcing the knife to fall out onto the ground. Flim put his hoofs around Fluttershy's neck, and began to squeeze tightly enough so that she couldn't breathe. Fluttershy knew their was another knife inside her saddlebag, and she could see the tip of the blade poking through the bottom of the bag. Fluttershy grabbed where the handle of the knife was through her saddlebag, and forced the tip into Flim's thigh. In reaction, Flim leaped off of Fluttershy. Fluttershy saw Flim retreating backwards, and with her hind legs, she gave a solid kick into Flim's bottom ribs. The kick sent him flying back into the wall. The back of his head smacked against the wall, and knocked him unconscious. Flam lunged at Fluttershy before she could get off her back. Since she was on her back, the quickest way to avoid Flam from landing on top of her was to roll out-of-the-way. Fluttershy managed to avoid Flam's lunge, but the process of rolling out-of-the-way involved rolling over her broken wing. Her wing caused her more pain now than it ever had before, but Fluttershy yelled through her pain with a deafening war cry. She couldn't sacrifice any attention on pain. Every part of her mind knew that her focus needed to be on finishing what she started. After Flam's lunge missed, Fluttershy took advantage of the opportunity to stand back onto her feet. Flam made a second lunge. Fluttershy expected the attack. She never been more ready about anything than she was at that moment. She could feel her adrenaline pound through her body like a drum, and everything she saw felt as if it was occurring in slow motion. Fluttershy took a shuffle-step toward the side, and propelled a hoof into the side of Flam's skull. Flam's lunge just barely missed, but Fluttershy landed a perfect hit. It wasn't Fluttershy's strongest strike, but it was by no means weak either. It had just enough force to incapacitate Flam. Flam fell to the ground, and was barely conscious. The strike left him disoriented. He dropped to the ground, and he couldn't do much else besides groan in pain, and squirm around on the ground. Fluttershy was doing it. Both Flim and Flam were completely at Fluttershy's mercy. Unfortunately for them, Fluttershy renounced her merciful ways after she vowed to kill them. She wielded the knife without the broken tip and mounted on top of Flam's squirmy body. She lined up her blade with Flam's throat. "Wait, stop!" a voice called out from the doorway. Fluttershy looked up; she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there. Rainbow Dash showed worry. She never seen Fluttershy act out in violence, and in her mind, she never would have imagined to see two male unicorns helplessly incapacitated by Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash herd Fluttershy's war cry from earlier and could only assume that Fluttershy would be the one in trouble. Fluttershy left the knife pointed at Flam's throat. "Why would I stop! I should have done this a long time ago!" Rainbow Dash wasn't expecting to be talking her friend out of murder, but she gave her best effort to anyway. "Is murder really the right way?" Fluttershy answered with confidence, "It's the best way to do it! These ponies deserve to die!" "Maybe they do, but do you have the authority to decide that for them?" Rainbow Dash said sympathetically. Fluttershy was panting heavily. Even the muscles in between each of her ribs contracted as she took in a breath. She cried out, "Who better than their victim? Who better than the pony whose life they ruined! They took everything from me!" Rainbow Dash lowered her voice, just a little, in effort to calm Fluttershy. "If you kill them, how will you be able to live with yourself?" Fluttershy said angrily, "It doesn't matter how I live with myself. I have nothing left in my life to live for. I'm a pony with nothing left in my soul to salvage. Flim, Flam, and I have all overstayed our welcome on earth. I don't care how I live with myself after this! I don't care if I live after this! I just want them dead! I want to kill them like they killed my heart, and soul! I want them dead—They killed my daughter!" Rainbow dash replied, "No matter how evil these guys are, killing them won't bring your daughter back." "I know... It's just..." Fluttershy stuttered. Rainbow Dash added, "What would your daughter say if she was here right now?" "... She would say..." Fluttershy had to think a moment about what her daughter would actually say. "She would say that you always lose more from violence than you gain." For the first time since she was in the Everfree Forest, she started to cry. "Oh! I don't know what to do now!" Fluttershy's heart started racing. Rainbow Dash said with comfort, "You can start by putting down the knife. Please Fluttershy, I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this, but you have to put the knife down." Tears started leaking out of Fluttershy's eyes, and for the first time she was able to admit, "I'm no less responsible for my daughter's death than they are." Once said, she let the knife fall from her hoof onto the ground. "It will be okay," Rainbow dash promised. "It will be okay." Fluttershy became dizzy. Everything looked like it was spinning. Her vision faded out with a dark haze. She fell to the ground.
Chapter 10Chapter 10 Rainbow Dash was concerned about Fluttershy, and had many questions for the doctor. "What happened to her? She was conscious one minute then just passed out." The doctor cleared his throat, "She had an aneurysm rupture inside of her. It started bleeding internally. Had she came to us any later she probably would have bled out, and died." "What caused it?" She asked. "Usually they're caused by high blood pressure—which can be caused by any number of things: Improper diet, large amounts of stress, or lack of sleep." "Will she be okay?" asked Rainbow Dash. The doctor answered, "She's stable. She almost didn't make it, but you did a good job with bringing her in quickly. However, if this were to happen again, I doubt she would be so lucky. " "But she's okay right now. Right?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes, she is," said the doctor, "but she's going to need to stay here so we can make sure she stays that way. We did give her a blood transfusion. Also her wing is fractured in several places. The bones aren't aligned properly, and it won't heal without surgery. Since wings are best fixed by a specialist, and it wasn't life threatening, we splinted it for right now, but she will need another surgery to get it fixed. Judging by the looks of it, It will be a long recovery, and if she ever does fly again, it might never have the same wing power as it did before." "Oh my!" said Rainbow Dash. "Is there... anything I can do for her... as a friend?" The doctor replied, "The company of a friend is always good for a recovering pony. When we discharge her from the hospital, make sure she doesn't overexert herself. Try not to stress her out, and avoid touching her wing." "Okay. I'll take good care of her," said Rainbow Dash. "Umm... Can I see her?" The doctor saw the desperation in Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Just don't try to startle her. She only woke up from the anesthesia a moment ago so it might take her a bit to orient herself. Also, I should let you know, she was in surgery for a long time, so its normal if she looks a little pale..." Rainbow Dash entered Fluttershy's room. Fluttershy was hooked up to more than one machine. She was pale like the doctor cautioned, and here eyes were squinted. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cheered excitedly, then remembered the doctor told her that she wasn't suppose to startle her. From sudden realization she lowered her tone. "I mean: Hi Fluttershy. How's it going?" Fluttershy opened her eye's a little wider. "Rainbow Dash?" she muttered. Fluttershy looked confused. She asked, "Rainbow Dash... Why did you help me? How did you know where I was?" Rainbow Dash wasn't prepared to answer that question, but she tried her best to anyway. "I'm a weather pony, and I was taking on an extra night shift. I was working the storm, and I saw you walking up to that shack. I thought it was strange for you to be going to a place like that in the middle of the night, so I followed you. I waited outside, but when I heard you scream I went in the house to look for you." "Yeah, but why? I was so mean to you earlier. I thought you were no longer my friend." Fluttershy looked up solemnly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash said, "No Fluttershy. We may have our fights, but no matter what, I'll always be there for you." Fluttershy extended her arms out; asking for a hug.
Alternative EndingAlternative Ending: Since it was requested such a while back I wrote this alternate ending to please readers with a different taste. It takes place immediately after chapter 9. The first block of text is just the last few paragraphs of chapter 9 that lead into the alternate ending. "Wait, stop!" a voice called out from the doorway. Fluttershy looked up; she was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there. Rainbow Dash showed worry. She never seen Fluttershy act out in violence, and in her mind, she never would have imagined to see two male unicorns helplessly incapacitated by Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash herd Fluttershy's war cry from earlier and could only assume that Fluttershy would be the one in trouble. Fluttershy left the knife pointed at Flam's throat. "Why would I stop! I should have done this a long time ago!" Rainbow Dash wasn't expecting to be talking her friend out of murder, but she gave her best effort to anyway. "Is murder really the right way?" Fluttershy answered with confidence, "It's the best way to do it! These ponies deserve to die!" "Maybe they do, but do you have the authority to decide that for them?" Rainbow Dash said sympathetically. Fluttershy was panting heavily. Even the muscles in between each of her ribs contracted as she took in a breath. She cried out, "Who better than their victim? Who better than the pony whose life they ruined! They took everything from me!" Rainbow Dash lowered her voice, just a little, in effort to calm Fluttershy. "If you kill them, how will you be able to live with yourself?" Fluttershy said angrily, "It doesn't matter how I live with myself. I have nothing left in my life to live for. I'm a pony with nothing left in my soul to salvage. Flim, Flam, and I have all overstayed our welcome on earth. I don't care how I live with myself after this! I don't care if I live after this! I just want them dead! I want to kill them like they killed my heart, and soul! I want them dead—They killed my daughter!" Rainbow dash replied, "No matter how evil these guys are, killing them won't bring your daughter back." "I know... It's just..." Fluttershy stuttered. Rainbow Dash added, "What would your daughter say if she was here right now?" "... She would say..." Fluttershy had to think a moment about what her daughter would actually say. "She would say that you always lose more from violence than you gain." For the first time since she was in the Everfree Forest, she started to cry. "Oh! I don't know what to do now!" Fluttershy's heart started racing. Rainbow Dash said with comfort, "You can start by putting down the knife. Please Fluttershy, I'll do whatever it takes to help you get through this, but you have to put the knife down." Tears started leaking out of Fluttershy's eyes, and for the first time she was able to admit, "I'm no less responsible for my daughter's death than they are." Once said, she let the knife fall from her hoof onto the ground. "It will be okay," Rainbow dash promised. "It will be okay." Fluttershy became dizzy. Everything looked like it was spinning. Her vision faded out with a dark haze. She fell to the ground. Your input is valuable to me, and I'd like to know if you like this ending or the original ending better. The following is the alternative ending: Rainbow Dash saw Fluttershy fall to the ground. Immediately she leaped to Fluttershy's aid. Fluttershy, with her rage replaced by regrets, felt sick to her stomach and rolled on the ground sobbing. She felt dizzy and shaky with her face buried in the wood floors. She felt weak. She felt like her body is finally giving up on her. She had some pretty severe injuries, and now that her adrenaline has transformed into tears, she lost all her ability to keep going. Rainbow Dash put her hoof on the sobbing pony's back. "It will be okay," promised Rainbow Dash, "You've been through a lot. Let's first get you out of here, then we can make sure you get whatever help you need." Fluttershy didn't make any effort to budge, but Rainbow Dash became insistent. "Come on now, let's get you back on her hooves." Rainbow Dash tried to support some of Fluttershy's weight from her side, and tried to lift her on her feet. Rainbow Dash heard the door nudge open behind her. Her head quickly turned to the doorway where she saw two male pegasi enter the door. They were the same gray and brown pegasi who chased after Fluttershy after she escaped the last time she was here. They both appeared surprised to see the aftermath of the battle that just occurred. "What's going on here?" shouted the brown pegasus. The gray pegasus pointed at Fluttershy, "Isn't that the mare we pursued earlier today?" "How did she survive!" said the brown pegasus. Seeing grotesque condition Fluttershy was in gave both the male pagasi a fright. Flam pushed himself back onto his hooves, and limped toward the two male pagasi. He looked hurt and his leg was bleeding rapidly, but the knife that he was stabbed with was now between his teeth with his own blood dripping off the blade. The expression on Flam's face showed no signs of pain like the rest of his body did. It just showed pure furry. The male pegasi were even more fearful after seeing their boss's condition. "Are you okay boss?" said the brown pegasus. "Shut up!" replied Flam. He muttered between his teeth, "I'll be damned before I admit defeat to this ugly bitch!" Then, Flam pointed straight at Rainbow Dash, who was still standing at Fluttershy's side. As much as she took pride in being fearless, she couldn't deny being scared. Flam pointed straight at Rainbow Dash. "Grab the blue one!" ordered Flam. Rainbow Dash jumped back to escape their grab, but the two pegasi were bigger and stronger. Rainbow Dash shouted, "Let go of me! I'm not afraid to fight you both!" truthfully though, she was quite scared. She thrashed her body around to free herself from the two pegasi's grasp. She bucked her hind legs wildly knocking down furniture in the room along with the lamp, and shattered the window that overlooked Ponyville Lake. The two male pegasi struggled holding onto her, but in the end, the two of them managed to pin her down with her stomach to the ground. Fluttershy was still on the floor, and was in no condition to fight. In fact, she couldn't even see straight anymore. Flam grabbed Fluttershy's mane, and pulled her face to face with him. Fluttershy's tears covered her eyes, and she could barely see what was happening. Flam stared at her in utter rage before whispering in a dark tone, "You! Did you really expect this to end any differently? We could have gotten along fine had you just done the job we paid you to do from the beginning. If you want to blame us for you're daughter's death, because you were too careless with our product than fine! I'll take the blame. It wouldn't even be the worst thing I've ever done. Not even on the top five. Think whatever you want Fluttershy... Whatever helps you sleep at night..." Rainbow Dash blurted out, "Get your hooves off my friend!" Rainbow Dash continued to squirm away from the two pegasi holding her down, but their grip didn't even loosen, and they had her well under control. "Ahh! Forgive me. I don't believe we met," said Flam to Rainbow Dash. Flam continued, "Now ordinarily I wouldn't allow my emotions to forfeit a perfectly good business opportunity. You see, I have a cellar full of mares just downstairs for the sole purpose of servicing the colts that come in here. Now Fluttershy was perfect... however now, her looks clearly left her, and her injuries will kill her before we can make a bit off her. On the other hoof, you look perfectly healthy and fine, but you're just not quite the homeless nopony Fluttershy was, and I'm sure if you went missing, ponies will actually talk about you." Flam cleared his throat, "Now this puts me in a bind. I have no qualms with you, but you know too much, and I'm not going to risk my business on a pony who's perhaps moderately attractive at best. Unfortunately, you're not going to leave here alive, and you're not going to stay here long enough to be missed either." Flam turned to the pegasi holding Rainbow Dash. "Take her to the cellar with the other mares. Since you two preformed adequately at the least, you two can do whatever you want with her. Have your way with her, and don't worry about being gentle. Before the sun comes up, she will be killed, and disposed of." The male pegasi nodded and took her out the door. Flam limped back over to Fluttershy, where she helplessly laid on the floor. Flam held the knife closely to her neck. "Now Fluttershy, look at the mess you made with Flim," said Flam. Flim was completely unconscious, but breathing. There was a golfball sized bump on the side of his head. Fluttershy cried softly with the knife next to her neck. She had no strength left to resist. Fluttershy was scared, not because of the threat to her life, but everything else. What's going to happen to Rainbow Dash, what happened to her daughter, what life for the rest of the mares in the cellar will be like, but most of all, she was afraid of herself—not for herself. She was afraid of the monster she became. She was scared how she managed to give up each moral in just a short amount of time, and got driven by rage with the attempt to commit murder. Flam looked at his brother, then back at Fluttershy. "I admit it. You put up a good fight, but in the end, I came out on top. I always come out on top... How does it feel; being as weak as a little filly? I'm sure that wing doesn't feel too good either. You're once perfect life in solitude becomes this. Your home burned down, your daughter dead from drug overdose—and whether you blame me or yourself, you're helplessly stuck in the same room with your daughter's killer. Not to mention your friend is at the cellar; possibly being gagged and raped right now. After which, she will be killed by yours truly. Then the flesh would be torn off her body and burned to dispose of any evidence of me or my business. Then her bones will be thrown into the Ponyville Lake so that some old pony can one day find, and everypony would have to assume she just drowned, and would give up looking for her. And to top it all off, you're going to die by the hooves of your enemy. Tell me Fluttershy, how does all that feel?" Flam gave a long pause awaiting for a response, but Fluttershy didn't give him one. Flam had a fiendish smile. Flam eventually continued, "Now, killing you will be too easy at this point. I'm no doctor, but I think cutting the throat of a pony in your condition would just be a wast of time. But I still have to return the favor you gave me." Flam took the knife, and plunged it into Fluttershy's upper hind leg, and forced it all the way through into the wood floor beneath. Fluttershy shrieked from the pain into her thigh. "Lets make sure it goes deep into the floor board so it doesn't fall out," said Flam pushing the knife in further. "There," he said, "Now I'll give you some privacy, and while you die, I'll be getting my leg bandaged." Flam turned his back and limped out the door, closing it behind him. Fluttershy laid motionless with the knife through her leg. She didn't have the strength to do anything. Fluttershy cried. The pain in her leg was agonizing, but most of her tears were due to the thought of everything she did. She remembered the time she use to take pride in being a good pony. Back in the day where she still had her house, and her daughter. At that time, she use to imagine little Lantana growing to be a nice, caring, and loving pony just as she was. It broke her heart to think about it. Not only will Lantana never grow up to be anything, but Fluttershy broke every ethic she raised her daughter by. She remembered when her house burned down, she felt like she lost everything—how far from the truth that was—but because she felt like she hit rock bottom at the time, her mind started to justify each horrible thing she got herself into one by one. She ruined pony's lives with the drugs she sold for Flim and Flam, but at the time it seemed okay, because she needed the money to care for her daughter. She remembered when she justified the murder of Flim and Flam, because they were bad ponies. She remembered what she told her daughter the day she came home from detention for fighting: you will always lose more from violence than you gain.Fluttershy began to cry harder. It's true, Fluttershy thought to herself. Not only did her violence cause her to lose her life, but she lost her daughter, she hurt innocent ponies, but even after getting in a fight with her best friend, Rainbow Dash was still there for her. She still came to help her, but because of violence, Fluttershy became responsible for the death of the only friend she could count on for anything. Fluttershy's body began feeling cold. She knew she was dying, and she knew it was her own fault. But she didn't care about dying. If anything, she felt like she deserved it. She wished that she could take back all the horrible things she done—all her regrets. She wished that just for a day, an hour, or even a minute, she could go back to being the the pony that lived up to her own standards instead of the fiend that she was. Fluttershy noticed an open window on the other side of the room that overlooked the Ponyville Lake. It was the window Rainbow Dash broke. She was reminded of what Flam said about throwing Rainbow Dash's bones into the Lake so that pony's would think she just drowned. Fluttershy felt guilty for what she did to Rainbow Dash. It was bad enough that she yelled at the only friend who truly cared about her, but now she's responsible for her execution. Fluttershy thought about escaping through the window, but even if her leg wasn't pinned by the knife, she knew she would never be able to climb to the window yet alone through it. Fluttershy looked at Flim who was still on the floor unconscious. The first thought that crossed her mind was to find away to get the knife out her leg, and with her dying breath take Flim's life, but she shook the thought from her mind reminding herself what she told her daughter: you will always lose more from violence than you gain. Besides, the knife was in her leg and the floor pretty good, and she didn't see any way of pulling it out. She could just barely reach Flims front hoof if she reached with all her might. Then Fluttershy noticed her saddlebag that she brought with her. It was empty now, and was barely within her reach. She leaned over and grabbed the saddlebag. It pulled on her leg some which was very painful for her. Once she had the saddlebag, she wiped her hoof across her leg, wiping off some of the blood. Then began to write on her saddlebag. Using her hoof as a quil, and her blood as ink, and her saddlebag as a lumpy parchment, she wrote the words "Flim + Flam killed RD" She wasn't able to fit Rainbow Dash on the bag. Without a proper quill she had to write big, and even still the writing was just barely readable, but she prayed that if someone found it, they would be able to figure it out. Now it was just a matter of getting the saddlebag out the window. She knew there wasn't a chance that she would be able to walk the bag to the window. She was losing a lot of blood, and lost feeling in the bottoms of her hooves. She could throw it, but the saddlebag was made from a very thin, light, and cheap material, and didn't have enough weight to go very far. Maybe if I found something to weigh it down, she thought. She looked at Flim. She was just barely able to reach his front hoof. However, on that hoof, he had a horseshoe on. Fluttershy fought the pain and discomfort reaching for Flim's front hoof, and with her hooves going numb she struggled getting the horseshoe off his hoof, but she managed to pull it off. Fluttershy stuck the horseshoe inside the saddlebag. Okay, she thought to herself, The only thing left is to throw the saddlebag out the window. Hopefully Flim and Flam suffered to much head trama to really notice the saddlebag went missing, and hopefully somepony finds the bag just outside the window before Flim and Flam do, and hopefuly they can read the smudgy writing and figure out what it means. Now, I've never been really well coordinated, and I only have one chance to throw the saddlebag out the window. My vision is hazy, my hooves are numb, and the bag is slippery with blood... here goes nothing. Author's Note If you read the entire story, it would mean a lot to me for some feedback. I've been surprised to see how much the reviews on this site contradict with reviews on fanfiction.net. By no means do I take negative reviews too critically. Unfortunately fimfiction.net doesn't recognize the same file types I used on fanfiction.net so I don't know how to fix paragraph spacing without losing italicized fonts. Though posting this alternate ending took much longer than it was suppose to, I did it to address disgruntlement from this site. So this would have never happened had people not been commenting, and the only reason this chapter exists is because the readers from this site offered their support. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you all for reading
EpilogueEpilogue Flim and Flam had multiple injuries, but both survived. They were sent to Canterlot Prison. Had it not been for Fluttershy's actions, the sex slaves in the basement may have never been liberated. Fluttershy was charged with assault on Flim and Flam, but Fluttershy plead insanity, and the judge ruled that she can return to society after spending some time in a psychiatric hospital. Rainbow Dash visited often. After a lot of therapy Fluttershy was considered healthy enough to return to Ponyville. To welcome Fluttershy back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash built Fluttershy a small cottage. It was just outside the town; away from all the commotions and stresses of the towns ponies. The cottage wasn't anything much, but it was beautifully made, and was cozy enough for Fluttershy to calmly adjust to her new life-style. In addition, Rainbow Dash gave another gift to welcome Fluttershy back: A little, white, adorable, baby bunny. Fluttershy loved the bunny, and after settling into society, she adopted a few more pets, and later a few more. Fluttershy will always have scars in her past, but her time in the psychiatric hospital taught her to accept her past for what it was, and to move on. Fluttershy will never be the exact same as before. There will always be a side of her that caries the burden of her nerves, paranoia, and timidity, but she learned how to be the sweet, kind pony like she use to be. She also developed a little more appreciation for her friends. Fluttershy was grateful that Rainbow Dash was there to help her. Without Rainbow Dash's help, Fluttershy may have never been able to recover from the evils she faced. Although it may have seemed that evil and unfortunate events are always just around the corner, wherever there is darkness, there is always love waiting to be accepted from the adjacent corner. Author's Note Thank you for reading! If you haven't left a comment or sent a PM, please do! Your thoughts make a huge difference. I would love to figure out why it has so many dislikes.
