Fluttershy awoke with a scream that could pierce the heavens. Her head flew up from the pillow, and her eyes were wide open. Once the screaming ceased, the pegasus panted frantically, trying to regain her breath. She hyperventilated frantically, trying to make the horrid dream go away. Once she could breathe normally, she took a look around her, examining her surroundings.

Instead of seeing the dark, cold landscape right outside of town, she saw the dark, warm, moon-lit surroundings of her hospital bedroom. Once she recognized her surroundings, her pulse slowed down, as well as her breathing...But that didn't stop the tears from flowing down her face as the broken pegasus broke down in tears.

It was just a dream. Actually, nightmare would be a better term for it.

Just a nightmare. She was just fine...No...No, she would never be fine. Not after what happened. Not after those stallions took her innocence and burned her image.

After they broke her...Poor...innocent...sweet...Fluttershy...

She would never be the same...Nothing would ever be the same...

Time.

It was something we had to wait for to tell. Sometimes it would pass on too slow, sometimes too fast.

But since the incident with Fluttershy, time had been going slower than any other day. Seconds felt like minutes. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like days. The doctors had announced it would take at least a couple of weeks before Fluttershy was allowed to leave the hospital. Since then, her friends had been taking more care of her than the doctors and nurses. They would keep her company everyday, get her food when she was hungry or a drink when she was thirsty, and they even went to her cottage to help her critters. Most days, Angel was the one who had cleaned up. It was very surprising to everypony. Even the other critters were confused. Everyone knew how Angel was. Stubborn, picky, spoiled; but ever since the incident, he's changed.

Maybe he's doing it for show? Maybe he's actually going to change for the better?

But that doesn't exactly matter. The only matter is what will happen in the coming weeks. Especially a very important part in a rape incident...

Pregnancy.

No one has forgotten that Fluttershy was raped...and that those stallions released their...essence into her. One question was ringing through their minds: Was Fluttershy pregnant?

It was a question that would take time to answer.

Just hours after the incident, some doctors had taken semen samples from Fluttershy, in hoping they could find the perpetrators responsible for this crime. Rape was one of the most serious crimes next to homicide. It usually would come with life in prison without parole or death by hanging. Crime was a very serious matter in Equestria and has been for close to 3 years.

Before harmful crimes sprung to life across Equestria, the only crimes that happened were non-threatening or harmful. Some crimes such as stealing food or cattle often only occurred sometimes every few weeks in some areas of the land. Those who were caught were punished by Celestia with time in the dungeon. However, Celestia had spoken herself that she will hang these men herself, and she won't be afraid to do so. It didn't matter if they were a pony like everyone else. What they did was unforgivable, and their crime would not go unpunished.

But though some were hoping the stallions were caught, others were not so hopeful. Would they find the perpetrators and finally giving them Justice for Fluttershy, or would they never find them?

It was a question that would take time to answer.

Fluttershy felt stupid for two reasons. One, because she had gone out in the middle of the night. Two, because she couldn't remember what the stallions looked like. But it wasn't her fault.

The night she was attacked, the pegasus had a clear view of the three men. They were all three races: A Pegasus, an Earth Pony, and a Unicorn. She also had a clear view of their faces. Now, she can't remember what they looked like. Only a few days into her hospitalization, the doctors explained that the responsible had bruised her head badly, that she had gained temporary amnesia. However, it didn't completely wipe her memory of the night, but just of the faces.

She hated it. She hated them...She hated herself.

However, since it was only temporary amnesia, the doctors said there was a small chance her memory could return, and she might soon remember what they looked like.

Once again, time will tell.

Lightning's POV

Journal entry 25

Fluttershy was allowed to leave the hospital this morning. Thank God and Celestia...But I'm still not allowed to see her. Those fuckers must've messed her up pretty bad to make her be afraid of stallions. Twilight's come over to my house the past few weeks and told me how Shy was. So far, she's doing fine. She's told me Shy's wanted to see me this whole time, but she's afraid of having another panic attack. She, so far, has only six in these three weeks. Don't those doctors get the hint to just stay out?

Anyway, we're still waiting on the DNA tests. Hopefully, we find out who was responsible for this. I don't know why it's taking so damn long! Maybe it's because Equestria isn't as advanced with technology as Earth is. Since they don't have the proper DNA testing technology as Earth hospitals, that must be why it's taking three weeks. If we're lucky, we might get the results within the next few days. Once we do, we'll finally be able to discover who the sons of bitches are. When we do, I'm going to...I don't know what...

I don't get it. Equestria was always such a peaceful place. At least, that's what they portrayed in the show. Everyone was kind, trusting, caring...When did it all go so wrong? What drove ponykind to turn to crime, rape, and murder as a guide? For once, I was happy to live in a world where I didn't see someone get mugged in an alleyway, or see a woman being raped, or a stallion killed in cold blood in broad daylight. I would be allowed to find a special someone without them getting hurt by anyone else...Now Fluttershy was raped...I should've walked with her. I could've stopped those guys. I could've saved her...saved her from all that pain and suffering...

Once I can see her again, I'll never leave her side. Not for a minute.

-Lightning Flash. 4/15/14

After writing the date, I closed the journal and placed it back onto the stand where it originally lay. I then place my hooves behind my head and just lay on the couch, and just do absolutely nothing. If I could, I'd go see Fluttershy, but the Doctors in Equestria are pretty much correct in most cases. MOST cases. I don't want to see my marefriend freaking out because she simply saw me in her line of sight.

...

...

I breathe a sigh of worry, and mostly, boredom. I can't exactly do much. There hasn't exactly been much to do in Equestria. About 90% of the things on Earth don't even exist here: Television, computers, phones, Ipods. When I go out somewhere, I usually just go see the others. When I started my relationship with Fluttershy, I'd usually go to her house and we'd just kiss and cuddle most of the time. Damn, I really miss that. But at the moment, Fluttershy getting better is more important.

I just came to the conclusion that I was full out of things to do. Then I remembered something: Television might not exist in Equestria, but radios do. I always remember Pinkie having one out during her parties. It would always play a few songs, and during most of her parties, the songs were always the same. It made me question how many songs were actually on the radios these days. Oh, if these ponies could be able to hear the songs humans made...I mean, sure, some songs are pretty bad, but hey, it's better than hearing the same 5 or so songs all the time. I could already see the look on the Cutie Mark Crusaders' faces if they heard Alex S's remix of their song. Heh.

Getting back on track, I recall having a radio stashed up in my closet. However, I never used it much. I would usually use it whenever I was bored or if everyone else was busy. Apparently, it's one of those days, only more serious and worrying.

Trying to ignore the outside situation at the moment, I walked to the stairs and headed upward towards my bedroom. Opening the door, the cool air that came from the open window flowed outward into the hallway, sending chills up my spine, but I simply ignored it. Continuing, I walked into the bedroom towards the closet. Opening the closet door, it didn't take more than 2 seconds to spot the radio, seeing how there's little to nothing in the closet anyhow.

Grabbing it, I close the closet door and set the radio on the drawer next to the bed. Luckily, it wasn't one of those plug-in radios, but instead a battery-required one. Opening the back, two batteries sat perfectly in their destined positions. I closed the back and turned the radio's front back to me. Raising my hoof, I pressed the button that activated the radio and brought it to life. It was the first time I actually even used this radio (as I bought it when I first arrived here, which was long ago), and it still worked. I didn't need to replace the batteries or anything, which was good.

For the first few seconds, it sounded like nothing but static. But once I moved the antenna on it, a song finally came to life on it.

It wasn't more than a second that I turned off the radio in frustration. It was the song. The same damn song that everyone's strangely haven't gotten sick of. This song plays nearly every hour of every day. Technically, it plays 24 times a day, which would lead up to 168 times a week. I've heard this too many times, and I wanted to tear my mane out.

The song that played was the same song that played when the Cutie Mark Crusaders go crusading in that one episode. Y'know, the one where they sing?

I haven't been on Earth in a while. Give me a break.

Picking up the radio, I put it back in its original position in the closet and closed the closet doors. I walked over to my bed and practically jumped into it, upon landing, causing my journal to fling up into the air, landing on the nearby drawer. It wasn't intended, but it saved me from having to pick it up.

...Yeah, I'm quite lazy at times.

Finally back in the warm comfort of my mattress, I slowly began to close my eyes, feeling tired, when suddenly, I heard a sound. But it wasn't loud like "around me" loud. It was "downstairs" loud. And it was muffled. But it didn't take long to notice its source. Sighing in frustration, I immediately trotted out the bedroom and down the stairs to the front door. The knocking occurs once more.

"I'm coming!" I yelled. After a couple seconds, I reached the front door, unlocking and opening it. Standing directly in front of me was once again Twilight Sparkle, as I expected.

"Oh, hey, Twi," I said with her nickname.

"Hey, Lightning," she replied. I quickly stepped aside to allow the princess to walk through.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you: She's a princess also.

"How's it going? ...I'm not bothering you, am I?" she starts.

"No," I reply before adding, "...well, a little. I was just ready to doze off. Didn't expect you to come."

"Sorry. I didn't know," she apologizes, smiling sheepishly. I simply told her that it was nothing to worry about.

Then I ask her how Fluttershy had been doing this week.

"She's doing...better than the past few days. She doesn't really...well, freak out around stallions much anymore."

At that response, a hope rose in me. "Does that mean I can visit her?"

"Well, not exactly," she responds. "She doesn't freak out much, but it means she still freaks. The doctors don't want her being around stallions too much until it's completely safe for her to be in their general vicinity. And...despite her...well, situation, she takes it lightly sometimes. She says it's quite boring being around mares 24/7." Twilight giggles and I chuckle along with her, but I then frown a little, getting my hopes up a little.

It's been so long since I've seen Fluttershy. I just want to see her face again. I want to be able to hold her in my arms, kissing her, telling her everything's okay. And then when I really think about it, it sounds like something in a bad Mary Sue fan fiction. But in the end, it's my reality, and it's something I want-...no...something I need to do.

While lost in thought, Twilight places a hoof on my shoulder, knowing what I was going through at the moment. I looked up to her face, and she wore a faint smile. It wasn't a big one, but it did give me a sign of hope.

"Don't worry...She's going to be okay. She'll make it through this. And when she does, we're going to find the ponies who did this to her and teach them a lesson...okay?"

For the few seconds after she spoke, I focused mostly on when she said "the ponies who did this." It made me angry inside. The bastards responsible didn't deserve the right to breathe the same air we do. At first, I had the thought of possibly going after them, feeling like one of those bad ass main characters in the movies, but I realized that I had no expertise in tracking down criminals, even if their IDs were discovered. I decided to leave that to the police of Equestria. I said to myself that Fluttershy would want me here in Ponyville.

Externally, I smiled to Twilight, quickly getting rid of the thoughts that plagued my mind.

"Alright," I simply said to her, and upon saying that, Twilight smiled back.

For a few hours, we simply sat in the living room, doing nothing but talk most of the time, either telling jokes or just talking about random topics. For the first time in weeks, things felt somewhat normal. I didn't feel worry or sadness or anger. I felt...

...happy.

It neared seven o'clock, and by now, Celestia's solar ball of light began to disappear below the horizon, generating one of the most beautiful sunsets ever seen, in Twilight's opinion, several years. Time continued to pass on until it was then eight o'clock. Knowing how late it already was---though I didn't exactly count it as late---Twilight explained that she had to leave, needing to get ready for an important meeting with the Gryphon President up in Canterlot tomorrow.

Sadly, I had to wave and hug my goodbyes to her, wishing her good luck with her meeting. She does the same and promises to visit again tomorrow to hang out some more.

But then again, she couldn't fully promise it. I could completely understand it, her being a princess and all.

I'm just glad I'm not in her hooves...

Twilight hugs her goodbyes to Lightning before turning around and walking to the door. Twisting the knob, she successfully pulls the door open, waving one last goodbye to Lightning before passing to the outside, shutting the door securely behind her. She now had a good view of the not-so-distant Ponyville. By not-so-distant, meaning Lightning's house was around the same range from Ponyville as was Fluttershy's.

Twilight pondered on that sudden thought. For a second, it felt funny, but the laughter went away, knowing it wasn't exactly funny to begin with.

For a moment, she was ready to unfurl her wings to be ready to fly back home to lessen the travel time, but she then realized that though she had wings for several months now, she still didn't have the ability to fly properly, as most times, she would normally fall on her face. So she kept her wings to her side, ready to walk.

Twilight, like Fluttershy, liked taking peaceful walks like these. It would always help her stay calm, despite her status as princess, which was usually stressful. The paperwork, the meetings...the paperwork.

But still, since she was still technically a beginner princess, she wasn't given the amount of work that Princesses Celesta, Luna, and Cadence were given. She was given simple tasks, tasks that would only become a bit more challenging over time.

But no matter what, for any challenges, Twilight would always be ready.

"Help! I need help!"

...Well, almost ready.

Taken completely by surprise, a Pegasus jumped out in front of her, startling the Alicorn.

"Please, I need help! It's my friend! He's been hurt!"

Just as quickly as he appeared, the Pegasus turned back into the direction he came, motioning to Twilight to follow him. Almost immediately, Twilight followed him, knowing that she wasn't going to turn down somepony in desperate need.

For about a minute, she followed the Pegasus, getting ever closer to the Everfree Forest. She wondered why in the world they were hanging out in the forest in the first place, but that was something to be discussed later when this pony was saved.

It didn't take long to reach the location where the supposed injured stallion had been. However, when she arrived, the pony was nowhere to be seen. She had to double check to be sure he wasn't camouflaged with the environment around her. But she double checked, even triple checked, but the stallion was nowhere.

Twilight turned around to ask the stallion where his friend was, but before she could get the words out of her mouth, she felt a mass pain on the side of her head, only lasting for a few short moments.

She felt herself fall to the ground, the pain flowing through her body.

Then the world around her went dark...quiet...and still.

Author's Note

Now, I know what you're probably going to ask: Why haven't you updated for so long?

Well, two things: Writer's Block and State of Decay.

Writers Block: Every time I want to work on a story chapter, I just seem to stop, open up a new tab, go onto Youtube, and watch vids or listen to music. Or go look up some pone 34 and clop away. :D

State of Decay: I've been playing the game ever since I bought it. I played the game for over 3 weeks and successfully cleaned out the entire map of supplies. Now all I have to do is wait for everything to run out. Once that happens, morale will go down, people will starve, and we will all die. Don't say I could use a garden for food. No materials. :p

So yeah.

Also, I've been working on a story on The Last of Us. Spoilers: Joel's dead. I have a fan character in it who has sex with Ellie.

inb4 Chris Hanson.

What you just read above was the author's note from July, last year, in 2013. Yeah, I've been working on this since then. Again, writer's block.

This is the only time that Lightning will get his spotlight as a "main character" in this story, because I want this to be about not just Fluttershy and Lightning, but everyone who is affected by the incident and/or will become affected (AKA Twilight).