Tearing Off the Wings of Butterflies

by Felix Fire

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Other, Fluttershy, Tragedy, Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6241

Fluttershy was always a weak flier when she was younger, but what if Rainbow Dash wasn't around to stick up for her? Would the dwindling remains of her confidence vanish along with her hope of ever flying?

Fluttershy was always a weak flier when she was younger, but what if Rainbow Dash wasn't around to stick up for her?
Would the dwindling remains of her confidence vanish along with her hope of ever flying?
Or can she overcome her fears and find the confidence inside to finally fly?

Published 2013-02-14 06:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-14 06:40:01 UTC

Life Just Flutters By

Life Just Flutters By

"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!"

"It's true, I can't fly. I can't be like everypony else in my class. I can't do anything."

Flight Camp, the main learning center for young pegasi, is the most enjoyable time for fillies and colts growing up.

It's the place where every pegasus learns to control their wings, adapts to the limitless skies around them and ultimately learns to fly.

It's the place where every pegasus meets new friends, enjoys new activities, and often leads to the discovery of their special talent.

Every pegasus except Fluttershy.

Another flight lesson, another failure. Earth ponies and unicorns have spent longer in the air by jumping than the time that Fluttershy stayed airborne in flight practice.

"Nice going, Cluttershy!"

The sarcastic tone of the brutish colt rang through Fluttershy's ears. The situation was already unbearable enough without Dumb-Bell's regular bullying adding to the sadness she felt at this moment.

"Yeah! Nice going, erm... Cluttershy!" came a second voice from another member of Dumb-Bell' gang. This time it was Hoops whom had parroted his partner's insult, unable to think of his own.

Fluttershy just sat there on her haunches and sobbed. Covering her head with her wings to hide away from the continued torment seemed the only option for her now.

By now, most of the other children had joined in with the 'harmless' teasing of their classmate. Or at least they thought it was harmless - good fun - the kind that every child experiences when growing up through school.

But it wasn't harmless. Not in the slightest.

The flight teacher had already left the class to attend to some generic teacherly duty.
Score, the final member of the menacing trio had led the rest of the class away to lunch.

This left Fluttershy to remain behind. Alone and forgotten.

"Maybe its better this way," thought Fluttershy. "At least there's nopony left to hurt me and see me cry anymore..."

Fluttershy steadily picked herself back up between each of her raspy breaths. Her eyes had already dried up from her constant stream of tears. It now just hurt. She could no longer cry. Nevertheless, Fluttershy vacantly made her way back to her room.

"Nice going, Cluttershy!"

Fluttershy shot wide awake hoping that everything that transpired this morning was just a nightmare. It wasn't. She knew it wasn't. The cruel chanting of the class was embedded into her mind.

It wasn't the first time this had happened and she knew it wouldn't be the last, but she couldn't fly in front of everypony, she was just too shy.

"I'll never be a strong flier! I'll never fly at all!" she started to tug at her own wings. "What do I need these for?! They're no good to me!"

The rough tugging ceased as she winced back in pain after accidentally removing a mouthful of bloodfeathers from the deeper part of her wings.

The stinging of her dried, tearless eyes complimented the new found stinging from the removal of bloodfeathers as the wound she made started to seep blood into the surrounding feathers.

Fluttershy lay back down on her bed, eyes wide open, staring vacantly at her wall and surrendered her pain to the silence of the dorm.

*knock knock*

Fluttershy's eyes came back into focus. "Who could it be? Who was sick enough to come torment her in her own room?!"

Fluttershy refused to acknowledge the knocking any further, rolled over and stared vacantly once more, her fresh wound causing her to wince in pain when her rolling crushed her wing between her own body and the bed beneath her.

*knock knock*

Fluttershy continued to ignore the sound coming from her dorm room door - until a voice called out from the other side.

"Fluttershy, you in there?"

Fluttershy recognized this voice, its sound had a familiar warmth to it, a gentle motherly feel. Fluttershy's sniffles must have gave her away as the voice continued its questioning.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy? Anything I can do to help?"

Fluttershy could only respond to this familiar voice with a quiet grumble.

The pony that owned the voice must have taken this as a sign to enter and proceeded to slowly open the door that separated them.

A small filly entered the room, equipped with a lustrous gray coat and long flowing blonde mane which didn't quite match the small, spiky tuft on top of head.

At the sight of Fluttershy's condition, the gray pegasus had only one logical response.

"Oh, Celestia! What happened?! Is that b-blood?!"

Fluttershy could only respond with a slight whimper of the concerns of the familiar pony. The soreness of her eyes made it difficult to make out who exactly this was.

"Fluttershy, can you hear me?" the gray pegasus asked, filled with concern.

The familiar voice made something click in Fluttershy's mind, she knew who this pony was. "D-D-Ditzy?!" she called out in hope.

"Yes, 'Shy, I'm here now." replied Ditzy in a gentle tone.

Ditzy Doo had been a friend of Fluttershy's from when they started Flight Camp, but due to an incident involving her brother, Cirrus, she had to return home to Canterlot.

It was ever since Ditzy left that Dumb-Bell and his gang had descended on her in her lonely, vulnerable state; but now she was safe, her only friend was back, and nopony was going to stop her.

Fluttershy leapt off her bed with some new found strength and proceeded to grasp Ditzy in a much needed hug.

But it didn't last long, the weakened filly started to grow faint from the blood loss and passed out, collapsing to the floor.

Fluttershy opened her eyes. She recognized this room, she had been here before, though she never remembered how she ever got here.

"Good morning, Fluttershy" the tender voice attracted Fluttershy's attention.

"G-good morning, Nurse Wholeheart." replied Fluttershy, still in a dazed state as to what in Equestria had happened.

Nurse Wholeheart pointed her golden hoof in the direction of the pony sleeping in the chair next to the hospital bed. "You have this kind pony to thank for bringing you here."

Fluttershy turned her head to where Nurse Wholeheart was pointing. Ditzy turned in her sleep. Fluttershy smiled at this sight, the idea of her friend being there with her could only keep her happy. Her eyes strayed to the bandages on her wing. She bit her lip and looked down in shame as she recalled what she did for her to be in this state.

"You need to take better care of your wings, Fluttershy. They define who you are."

"But what use are they if I can't fly..." Fluttershy sat there, stuck on that thought and wrapped her one good wing around herself.

"Fluttershy, is there something you wish to talk about?" expressed Nurse Wholeheart, with a deep look of concern at her patient.

"I-I-I..." Fluttershy couldn't express how she felt in words, she wasn't ready ready to talk about how she felt at all. She could only shake her head slowly in disagreement and continued to stare at her wing.

"Well... If you ever need to talk, you know where my office is. I'll be happy to help any way I can, deary." Nurse Wholeheart turned away and began to walk to her next patient.

"T-thank you." whispered Fluttershy, still looking down at her wing.

Nurse Wholeheart reared her head and smiled, then continued to walk on.

Fluttershy turned her attention to her friend in the chair. "She came back. My friend came back." With a smile on her face, she fell back to sleep.

Upon reawakening, Fluttershy was greeted by the warm, endearing stare of Ditzy.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Ditzy yelled, squeeing as she grinned at her friend.

"Hi, Ditzy!" Fluttershy replied, reciprocating a squee of her own as she grinned back.

The two shared a moment of delighted silence smiling at each other, until Ditzy spoke up.

"So... erm, what happened, 'Shy?" she asked with a saddened look in her eye, shifted the mood from the happiness they shared just moments ago.

Fluttershy froze. Even to her best friend, she was afraid to bring up the events that had befallen her since Ditzy left.

She looked away, "I-I don't want to talk about it." Fluttershy whispered to herself.

Unable to hear her, Ditzy could only reply quizzically. "What was that?"

"I-I-I d-don't..." Fluttershy broke into tears as all the memories flooded into her mind. Memories of hurt. Memories of failure. Memories of pain.

Ditzy took her wings and wrapped them around Fluttershy in a friendly embrace. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't meant to bring up any bad memories. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just promise you'll take better care of yourself. For me?"

Fluttershy ceased her crying and stared at her wings once more. This only made Fluttershy's state worse. She quietly screamed out, telling all as her mind unraveled in between the need to breathe caused in her emotional state.

"I'm useless! I can't fly! Everypony hates me! I should just tear off my wings and die!"
Fluttershy became louder as she couldn't take it anymore and just screamed until she could no longer breathe.

"-ttershy, Fluttershy!" Fluttershy snapped out of her distressed state and stared shocked at the pony who had just struck her across the face.

She raised her hoof to her muzzle. As the pain spread, thoughts rushed through her head. "She's no better than the rest of them. She hurt me. I thought she was my friend. Was my friend. Yes, that's all in the past now. I'm all alone. Alone. Just me. Alone." Fluttershy ran from her bed, from the room, from Flight Camp itself. To be by herself. Alone.

Fluttershy's escape took her to an empty cloud field on the edge of the camp, the main building was behind her in the distance and everywhere else was just cloudless, blue skies. This truly was the edge. Any further and she would have fallen to the ground.

Fall to the ground. That's an idea. She had no reason to be here anymore. No reason to be a pegasus. No reason to exist at all.

Fluttershy slowly walked to the edge. The clouds felt less stable the closer she got. Her hooves started to sink into the clouds when they became to thin to support even the smallest of pegasi. She kept moving closer, constantly moving her hooves so that she didn't just fall through unexpectedly.

She finally reached the edge.

She looked down.

She closed her eyes.

Tears started to fall.

She lifted a hoof to take a step over the edge.

"-ershy! Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!"

The shock from the voice calling her name caused her to fall.

Backwards.

Safely onto stable clouds.

Safe from her untimely demise.

Ditzy had finally caught back up with he friend. She leapt forward and pulled Fluttershy tightly into a long, fearful embrace.

"No! Get off me! You're not my friend! You're just like everypony else!" Fluttershy screamed out in tears as she tried to wiggle free from the gray pegasus' grasp.

"'Shy! I'm sorry, I truly am. You were just screamed and I was scared and I-I-I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did. I care for you, Fluttershy. I didn't want to see you in pain and I certainly didn't want to be a cause of it." Fluttershy stopped wriggling and started to listen to the words Ditzy, motionless. "I'm a bad friend. I haven't been there for you. I haven't been here when you needed me and now you've been hurt and it's all my fault." Ditzy started to cry with herself now, soaking Fluttershy's mane with her tears.

"No... That's not true." Fluttershy began. "You helped me to the hospital wing when I was hurt." She started to sniffle. "You stayed with me all night in the hospital and I only hurt you by running away. I'm the one who should be sorry. I-I don't want to lose my only friend. I'm sorry, Ditzy." Fluttershy had dampened Ditzy's mane to the point it was no longer free flowing in the gentle breeze surrounding them.

After the extended moment the two fillies slowly started to walk back towards camp.

"'Shy, there's someone I think you should meet. My roommate, like you she's quite the shy one, but she overcame her shyness and learned how to fly in her own time without everypony staring."

Fluttershy blinked at the statement Ditzy had just made. "Another pony like her? Then why had the bullies only picked on her? Though, if Ditzy says she's a good pony, then I should meet them, I guess." Fluttershy started to stare at the ground. "Will I like this pony? Everypony I've met so far hates me, how can you be sure meeting them will be a good idea?" she asked nervously.

"Trust me, you and Cloudy will get on just fine, I'm sure of it." Ditzy turned her head to smile carefreely at Fluttershy and proceeded to walk to her dorm.

Fluttershy followed with uncertainty. Sure she could trust her friend, but the idea of someone new liking her seemed impossible to her.

As the pair of fillies reached Ditzy's dorm room, Fluttershy noticed the state she was in.

"Ditzy, I'll be back in an hour." as she raised a hoof to signal the messiness of her coat and mane.

"Ditzy could only respond to the motion with a giggle. It was an adorable sight to see for sure. "Very well," she grinned, while pointing at her own mane. "I think I need the same treatment, I'll see you shortly!"

As Ditzy turned to enter her dorm, she remembered that she wanted to give Fluttershy something special. "'Shy, wait!" but she was already on her way upstairs.

Fluttershy continued up towards her dorm, smiling as she ascended the four flights of stairs to her floor. Her cheerful state ground to a halt as she saw who was waiting outside of her dorm.

Dumb-Bell.

Fluttershy turned quickly and ran back for the stairs only to find her path blocked by Hoops and Score.

As her three assailants grew closer, her breathing grew faster. Panic. There was no escape. She was too scared to even scream for help. Subconsciously, she dropped to the ground, curled up into a ball and started to whimper.

"Well, if it isn't the orphan bitch!" Dumb-Bell was the first to call out.

"Yeah! Looks like the loner is all alone!" Score followed up.

"Look at the dodo freak, curled in a ball like she wants her mommy! Oh, wait, that's right, she doesn't have one!" Hoops added to the onslaught of verbal abuse.

Fluttershy could no longer act rationally in response to what was happening and proceeded to rock back and forth, wishing for them to leave.

But that wasn't going to happen.

The trio continued their advances. Silently, with a glare of menace in each of their eyes.

They came to within a hoof's reach distance of their prey.

"No. No. No. No. No. No." Fluttershy was mentally broken at this point. Things weren't meant to be like this. She was meant to be safe. She had Ditzy now. Ditzy. Ditzy wasn't here. She was vulnerable. There was nothing she could do anymore.

The first hoof struck. Blood. She was hit above her right eye. The blood flowed down her muzzle.

Dumb-Bell had a sadistic grin that took over his coltish visage into something more evil. He struck again, a kick to the stomach. Fluttershy coughed, inhibiting her ability to breathe.

Hoops and Score came up behind and added their own repeating hoof assault.

*snap*

Something had broken, she knew it. She coughed harder this time. More blood. She looked down at it and then looked up to something in the distance. She could make out the faint image of a pony followed by the voice of Ditzy. She then blacked out smiling at the sound of her friend's voice.

"Fluttershy?! What have you bastards done?!" Ditzy made a charge for Fluttershy. A swift buck to Score knocked him into Hoops, sending them both into the nearby wall. She attempted to move Fluttershy back down to her dorm, to safety.

A buck to the head. Dumb-Bell had attacked in their escape attempt.

Ditzy passed out on top of the body of the already unconscious Fluttershy. The blood from her deep head injury flowing into the former yellow coat of her friend.

Still unsatisfied, the trio added another kick to the pair of unconscious fillies before fleeing back to their own dorms with a hideous laughter filling the corridor.

The two fillies just lay there, still, as the night approached, waiting to be saved as their blood soaked into the wooden floorboards beneath them.

Fluttershy awoke in the hospital bed that had become so familiar to her now.

Her now bandaged head was over encumbered with pain, stopping her from seeing clearly.

It was still night out, or so she thought. It was revealed to her by Nurse Wholeheart that she had been out for three whole days.

"Erm... Nurse Wholeheart, where's Ditzy? I-I think she was there before I..." She couldn't finish her sentence, she couldn't bring herself to speak of what happened. "Has she visited at all?"

Nurse Wholeheart had a look of worry on her face, she turned away while she took a breath before being able to face and answer Fluttershy.

"I'm afraid Miss Doo still has yet to regain consciousness. It seems she suffered a moderate head injury. We're not sure when she will recover, it appears that the damage has affected her brain, so it will take time for her to heal." Nurse Wholeheart looked at how this was affecting Fluttershy and tried to reassure her. "But we're doing everything we can to help, I'm sure she'll be fine." She gave Fluttershy a genuine smile of hope.

But it was no use.

Fluttershy had adopted that vacant look that occurred when she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her friend was severely injured trying to protect her and it was all her fault. If she hadn't been so powerless, Ditzy wouldn't have had to put her life on the line to save Fluttershy's.

In the time she had been out, her wing had mostly healed from what she could assume from the lack of bandages on her wing, though it still had a faint twinge where the missing feathers used to be.

But where one set of bandages had been removed, two others had been added. She could see the head bandage in the corner of her eye, that must have been from her own head wound when she was first hit by Dumb-Bell. The other set she could just feel, without looking. It hurt to breathe and the bandages wrapped around her chest confirmed that.

She let out a small whimper at the realization of her own injuries, catching the attention of Nurse Wholeheart.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," stated a stern Nurse Wholeheart at the sight of her patient wrapping her own forelegs around her injured chest. "You have a couple of fractured ribs, I'm afraid," her demeanor changing to that of the more caring side Fluttershy was used to. "It'll probably be another day or two before you're healed enough to do anything physical such as running or flying, though with your wings still healing, I'd give it a week. I've sent a message to your flight instructors that you'll be out of lessons for a while, so you'll do best to spend that week resting in your dorm."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, though she knew flying wasn't going to be an issue, after all, that's just something she couldn't do. Not in front of everyone else. Not while people were watching. Not without Ditzy. Ditzy. She needed to see her.

"Nurse Wholeheart!" Nurse Wholeheart was taken aback by the sudden burst of energy and confidence in Fluttershy's voice. "C-can I see Ditzy, please? I-if that's okay with you..."

Nurse Wholeheart's look of surprise was quickly replaced by a small, heart-warming smile as Fluttershy returned to her natural state of kindness and shyness. "You should be resting, but I know it would be even more cruel of me to say no. As long as you take it easy, I can take you there for a few minutes. But we must be quick. I have other patients, you know."

Fluttershy let off a squeak of happiness followed by a grin so large it could have led to another injury of its own. She slowly made her way off her bed with a hoof from Nurse Wholeheart and the mare and filly made their way to the room next door.

Intensive Care Ward.

Even the sign on the door was daunting to the yellow filly, but with her favourite nurse by her side, she knew she had nothing to fear.

The golden mare pushed open the the door revealing mostly empty beds, save for the sheets covering them. The bed they came for was the only one that stuck out in the room. As Fluttershy got closer to the bed, she could see the name on the chart attached to end of the bed.

Ditzy Doo.

Underneath this was a load of medical jargon that she didn't understand save for a few phrases.

'Moderate head trauma', 'Irregular brain activity' and 'Patient regained consciousness once since admittance'.

Worry spread over Fluttershy's face, knowing her friend was in a bad state was one thing but seeing her like this was something different. It made it real. She'd started to quietly cry at this until a hoof had made its way to her shoulder, but it was not the golden hoof she thought it was. "She'll be fine, don't you worry, I know she will be." The voice came from the owner of the tan brown hoof that was providing a level of comfort she'd only experienced from Nurse Wholeheart.

The brown pegasus stallion exchanged a glance with Nurse Wholeheart as Fluttershy stared at the familiar hourglass Cutie Mark of the stallion.

"Doctor." Nurse Wholeheart was the first to speak up.

"Matron." replied the stallion, nodding his head in her direction.

"Nurse." continued the exchange from Nurse Wholeheart.

"No, I'm The Doctor, not The Nurse." The Doctor replied.

"That's what I said, and I prefer Nurse to Matron, thank you, Doctor."

"Erm..." Fluttershy started to speak up.

"Right, sorry, how is she, Doctor?" queried Nurse Wholeheart, putting their debate to rest.

"Well, she's spoke to me once this afternoon and I helped her get through her fear and shock about not being able to currently see." The Doctor spoke as he pointed out the head bandage covering both Ditzy's head and her eyes. "But don't worry, that's just to make sure any sudden bursts of light don't cause her any unnecessary headaches. She'll be able to take them off in a few days once her brain has healed itself enough."

Tears had started to form in Fluttershy's eyes once again when she asked the only question left on her mind. "C-can I talk to her now, D-Doctor?"

"Well, I can't resist the eyes of a pretty filly like you now, can I? I'll wake her up for you, I'd ask you to keep quiet when I do, but I don't think that'll be a problem for you, would it, dear?"

Fluttershy smiled at the Doctor's compliments and her tears ceased once again. She nodded her head in silence, following the Doctor's orders, and followed him to Ditzy's bedside.

"I'll head back to my patients in the medical ward if I'm no longer needed here." said Nurse Wholeheart, concerned for Fluttershy being around someone new.

"I'll be okay, I have Mr. Doctor here if I need anything." Fluttershy assured.

The Doctor put his hoof behind his ear and mumbled to himself. "It's just The Doctor, actually..."

"Very well," Nurse Wholeheart smiled, "Erm, Fluttershy, come see me afterward, we still need to check up on how you're healing."

Fluttershy turned around to nod at Nurse Wholeheart and then turned back to where her friend lay.

The Doctor turned to Fluttershy to look for a motion to go ahead. Fluttershy nodded in approval, silent as ever before.

"Ditzy, Ditzy, can you hear me?" The Doctor started.

Fluttershy stared at her friend as she started to rustle about at the sound of The Doctor's voice. "D-Ditzy?"

Ditzy stopped rustling as she started to speak. "F-Fluttershy, is that you?"

"Yes, Ditz, I'm here now." Fluttershy replied softly, as gentle as she could be, to reassure her friend that they were together again and that all was okay.

As the silence continued, the scene was a reversal of when they first reunited just days ago, but Fluttershy was certain that Ditzy wouldn't be jumping out of her bed to hug her.

"H-how are you doing, Ditzy?" Fluttershy was first to speak up once again. She could see her condition was bad, but if she could be told that her friend felt fine, that might just make this less scary for her.

"I don't know," Ditzy started, changing her tone once she remembered whom she was talking to. "B-but I feel better now that you're here, 'Shy! I get the occasional pain in my side now and then and my head feels funny all the time, but I'll be just fine, okay?" Ditzy had an air of confidence to her voice, she knew she needed it for Fluttershy's sake. "H-how are you doing, 'Shy?" Her voice now filled with concern at the last thing she remembered seeing - her friend unconscious at the hooves of three reckless colts.

"I-I'm just fine! Really!" Fluttershy hastily stated, not wanting to worry the gray filly in front of her. She wasn't fine, but Ditzy couldn't see that.

Ditzy could hear that though.

"Fluttershy, I know that's not true. I saw... I saw how badly they had hurt you, you're trying to tell me that you've healed up already?" Ditzy's voice was now fluctuating between concern and sorrow.

"I-I'm sorry, Ditzy. I am still hurt, but I don't want you to worry. I'll be find in a day or two according to Nurse Wholeheart and she always knows what she's saying and then we can play together again!" exclaimed Fluttershy, who quickly clasped her hooves over her muzzle after realizing the volume of her voice and looked up apologetically at The Doctor. He simply replied with a smile and the two fillies resumed their conversation.

Ditzy giggled at her friend's outburst, although the rise in volume did cause her head more pain than it was already in, but the bandage covering her eyes hid it well, so Fluttershy didn't notice. She turned her head to where she believed The Doctor was standing. "Doctor, did I have anything with me when I was brought in?"

"You did, indeed, Miss Doo, I took the liberty of placing it on the bedside table for when the moment called that you would need it. I assumed I'm right in thinking that time is now?" answered the stallion in the room, brimmed with confidence.

Ditzy replied to The Doctor only with a smile and turned her head back to the side of Fluttershy. "'Shy, on my bedside table, there should be a bracelet of some kind, can you see it?"

Fluttershy quickly located the object as it gleamed in the dim lit room from the table's lamp refracting through it. "I see it. It's beautiful, Ditzy!"

Ditzy continued with her bubbly giggling at the filly's joy. "Well, I'm glad you think so!" she replied with her own joy. "Because it's for you, 'Shy." I made it while I was back in Canterlot and meant to give it to you when I got back..." as she remembered her reunion with Fluttershy her mood fell, "...things happened, I was finally going to give it you when we got back to our dorm but-" if Ditzy was upset or angry at this point it wasn't certain as the only expression that could be read on her face at this point was the biting of her lip. "-things happened again."

The Doctor could not let the somber silence of the two fillies continue and therefore decided to speak up "It is a beautiful bracelet though, and you say you made this all by yourself, Ditzy?"

The charming demeanor of The Doctor had hit its mark as the gray filly's face slowly grew a smile, "Yes, Doctor, I did. After Cirry had his accident, I made him a bracelet so he could always remember me by when we're apart, and after leaving 'Shy all alone here I made one for her too!"

By this point, Fluttershy's eyes had watered up again, yet they were not tears of sorrow, but tears of happiness for her friend's thoughtfulness. As she looked at the bracelet, some of the charms were unfamiliar to her. "Ditzy? What are these pink shapes supposed to be?" she asked, hoping that Ditzy knew what she was talking about, not being able to see and all.

"Those are butterflies. You've never seen a butterfly before?" answered Ditzy, surprised at the query made.

"No, I don't think they fly up here to cloud-level and I've never been to the ground before, but they look pretty." replied Fluttershy, continually staring at the pink creatures attached to the bracelet she had been offered.

"They remind me of you, 'Shy. Butterflies are fragile creatures who can't fly when they're young, but when the time is right, they find their wings and can fly in the most beautiful of ways. I want you to find your wings, 'Shy. I want you to fly beautifully, and that's what I made this for you." Ditzy paused her speech as she was thinking how she could help next. "I want you to go speak to Cloudy. If there's anyone I know and can trust to help you fly, it's Cloudy. As I said before, she was afraid to fly in front of the whole class so she developed her own private lessons and learnt to fly out of class in her own time. She might seem a bit strange to you at first, but that's how she is, you'll get used to her." Ditzy's face formed itself into a large grin with beaming eyes that were still sadly hidden behind layers of bandages, but Fluttershy could feel the happiness in her eyes through them.

With Ditzy's pep talk filling her with confidence, Fluttershy agreed to Ditzy's request to find this 'Cloudy' but only because Ditzy had trust in her, usually she was not good around new people, so knowing that they would get along was a good start for her. "Okay, I'll do it! If you say she's as good as she is, then I'll find her and I will learn how to fly!"

Ditzy's bubbly personality shone through again at her friend's burst of confidence. "I'll be out of here in no time at all, and when I do, I'll be there to see you fly and I'm sure you'll make me proud, 'Shy." Ditzy let out a small yawn, at which The Doctor stepped in to take his role as healer once again.

"I think Miss Doo needs her rest again now, Fluttershy. We'll leave her here and I'll walk you back to the Matron's office." advised The Doctor. "Good night, Ditzy. I'll be back in the morning to check up on how you're healing and we might be able to get those bandages off soon."

"Good night, Ditzy, I'll be back tomorrow to check up on you as well!" Fluttershy exclaimed, placing a hoof over her muzzle as she realized the volume was getting too loud once again at her excitement for the near-future.

The stallion and the filly walked side-by-side out of the room and back into the medical ward, where Nurse Wholeheart was currently at her desk, filing away what seemed to be stacks of medical forms.

"Matron." The Doctor started, unclear if he was teasing or he hadn't realized from the previous conversation that 'Matron' was not the title she preferred.

"Doctor." Nurse Wholeheart was not playing along with The Doctor's game and turned to smile at Fluttershy, who was still smiling from the events that took place just next door. "You've certainly brightened up, Fluttershy, that's good to see!"

Fluttershy, still beaming, continued to grin in the nurse's direction, not needing to answer with words.

The Doctor spoke for her as the filly was still speechless. "It seems she's had some good news, Nurse Wholeheart. News that might lead her to talk about some interesting things." A hint of emphasis could be heard in his voice as he spoke about these 'interesting things' and Nurse Wholeheart took the hint. "Well, I best be off! People to see, things to do, that sort of stuff, you know?" and with a cry of 'Allons-y', The Doctor had vanished out of the room.

Nurse Wholeheart laughed as Fluttershy stood there bewildered as to what had just happened. "Never mind him, deary, why don't you stay here for one more night and you can tell me all about what's got you so cheery." she said, pointing one her golden hooves at the bed Fluttershy woke up in earlier this evening.

Nurse Wholeheart had pulled up a stool and placed it next to the bed as Fluttershy clambered her way into it. "First of all, we best check up on how you're feeling before we start talking, don't you think?" Fluttershy nodded and the nurse ran a series of examinations on her eyes and head to make sure everything was in order there. She then took her stethoscope and placed the cold steel against Fluttershy's chest area. Even with the bandages, Fluttershy couldn't help be laugh and recoil at the freezing touch of the metal. After the third attempt, Nurse Wholeheart had finished all the tests she had needed to take and placed the medical equipment aside and prepared herself to talk with Fluttershy.

"So, what's the good news then?" Nurse Wholeheart started, simply and straight to the point.

"Well, Ditzy says she's okay and I feel okay, which means we'll both be able to play again soon and I don't have to worry that they hurt h-" Fluttershy quickly stopped, realizing what she was about to say. Nurse Wholeheart took note of this, but let it slide for now, allowing the filly to continue with her story. "A-anyway, she also gave me this bracelet with these pink creatures on it called 'Flutterbys' or something and said that they remind her of me and that I need to find my wings and fly beautifully and she'll come and watch me fly and we'll be together again!" Fluttershy held her bracelet up to the golden mare sitting in front of her with a smile on her face at what was in her hooves.

"T-that's beautiful!" Nurse Wholeheart genuinely replied, although her mind was still occupied at what Fluttershy had said before she stopped herself. "But about that thing you said about someone hurting you, what's that about Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy clammed up at the question, she still couldn't talk about it. She wasn't a tattletale and couldn't tell Nurse Wholeheart what had happened, even if it was true and they did hurt both her and Ditzy.

"Fluttershy, did someone hurt you and Ditzy?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Can you tell me who it was?"

Fluttershy shook her head, it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Was it just one pony?"

Another shake of her head.

"Two?"

The shakes continued.

"Three?"

A nod. Nurse Wholeheart was getting somewhere.

"Now, were they colts?"

Another nod. More progress.

"So it's three colts. I think that'll be all the questions for now, Fluttershy, you just head to sleep for now, I'm sure you have things planned tomorrow that you'll need your energy for, right?" Nurse Wholeheart ended the conversation there, knowing that the information she had just gained was enough to work on.

Fluttershy just smiled at the thought of her day tomorrow and played out how wonderful it would be.

"Good Night, Fluttershy." Nurse Wholeheart walked to the other side of the room as she came to the end of her work shift.

Fluttershy shifted the bracelet through her forehooves until the large heart charm came into view. It read a message that would stay with her for the night, as the lights in the ward turned off and she turned over to sleep.

Fluttershy, find your wings and fly beautifully.

Author's Note

Well, this fic wasn't even meant to be longer than a couple of thousand words. But I got really into it and it'll probably stretch over 3-5 chapters. I'll have to see as I'm writing it. My weekly blog posts explain in more detail as to what's going on with the fic and why it came about.

As my first fic, any feedback will be appreciated and I'll edit it as needs be as it hasn't had a pre-reader yet either, just myself reading over it 4-5 times looking for any mistakes.