End of Courage

by 576-Belligerent-Coil

Part 4: Epilogue

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that--

Twilight balled up the paper and threw it in her trash bin. It’d been four days since Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy started dating and she didn’t know where to begin. She knew this whole situation was important, but had she even learned anything? How should she even start the letter? This wasn’t the type of thing normal ponies had to deal with at all. Twilight had never really thought about dating at all, let alone have to deal with two friends coming to terms with whatever feelings they had for each other. Yeah, she thought she learned something from the whole situation, but what?

She leaned back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe I learned that you can find love where you least expect it, she thought desperately. No, that’s so… generic. She buried her face in her pillow and breathed deeply into it.

What did I learn?! She lifted her head and stared at the wall, realization passing over her face. What if I didn’t learn anything? Even as she thought it, she quashed the idea. Even if she didn’t learn anything, she’d still force herself to take something from the whole situation. Well, if I didn’t learn anything directly, maybe I could learn something from Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

She thought about the first time she’d seen them together after she left Fluttershy’s house. They were in the market eating lunch. Even though she was watching them from a distance, she could tell things were still a bit awkward for the two of them. Dash was obviously self-conscious, giving everypony who looked at them a threatening glare, and Fluttershy was hiding her head. She didn’t seem to appreciate the attention Dash’s paranoia was gathering, but she was obviously trying to get her friend-- no, her filly-friend-- to calm down. Every time she looked back at Rainbow Dash, she tried to strike up some conversation. Dash seemed to focus for a second each time before she noticed someone else taking interest in them. Poor thing still didn’t understand how relationships were supposed to work.

Twilight considered the two of them together. How was their relationship supposed to get anywhere? Neither of them had ever thought about what would happen if they were together. Fluttershy was so focused on getting the words out that she hardly thought of what would happen afterwards, and Twilight was still sure Rainbow Dash wasn’t even a filly-fooler. For all she knew, Dash didn’t even have a sexual orientation. Twilight still had some hope that they’d figure it out some time, though.

…maybe it’d be better if they didn’t. The thought surprised Twilight. Why wouldn’t I want them to be happy? …well, what if they aren’t?

The thought weighed heavily on Twilight’s mind. What if they aren’t happy? That would mean the whole relationship was for naught. That would mean everything she’d worked for was worthless. It would mean poor Fluttershy would be an absolute mess. She wouldn’t let her down again. She still wanted to make up for lying to her, though she had to admit it’d all worked out in the end. She still dreaded seeing the mare crying. Somehow, knowing Fluttershy wasn’t always so defeatist made seeing her in tears that much harder to take. She closed her eyes, trying to shake the growing suspicion that she was getting more attached to her friend than she should be.

Enough, she thought to herself. I need to focus.

She looked at the table she was propped against and summoned up yet another roll of parchment. This time, she’d get it right.

Dear Princess Celestia,

This week, I learned that friendship sometimes changes. Even though you’ve known someone for a very long time, there are always new things to learn about the ponies you spend your time with. Sometimes, it’s hard to face these facts whenever they come up, especially after they’ve been buried under doubt and years of painful memories. Today, two of my friends learned this lesson the hard way. Though it was it was hard for all of us involved, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were able to sort out some deep-seated issues from their past and come to terms with what they felt for each other.

Twilight squinted, trying to figure out how to end the report. She had a good beginning, yes, but the words seemed to end there. She briefly considered ending it right there, but decided to go to her friends to help. Awkward as it was, they were two ponies best qualified to talk about their relationship.

Unsure what she was going to ask them, she headed towards Fluttershy’s house, hoping they were there.

***

Twilight stood outside Fluttershy’s cottage, severely apprehensive. Well, if she didn’t do it now, she never would. She knocked on the door and called out, trying to figure out if anypony was home. There was no response. She waited a few seconds and knocked again.

Oh, no… what if things went south? Twilight remembered the pitiful sight of Fluttershy in her room bawling and knew that she had to go in to make sure everything was alright. She opened the door slowly, scanning the room as the door revealed it. For some reason, things seemed off. Twilight looked around, trying desperately to figure out what was different. All of Fluttershy’s furniture was all in order, her sparse decorations were still as they’d always been, her pictures were still above the mantle… but as Twilight looked at everything that was still there, she realized what wasn’t. There wasn’t a single animal in the entire room. Something was definitely up. Twilight gingerly walked around the first floor, peeping in every mouse hole and under all of the furniture, not finding any trace of life. The tension was palpable as Twilight gently climbed the steps to the second floor of the cottage. As she inched down the upstairs hallway, she heard the first signs of life since she’d been there.

The door of the master bedroom was closed, but Twilight could tell the sound was coming from behind the door. She realized what it was with a start: heavy breathing.

Fluttershy… are you hurt? Crying…?

With a little more urgency, she walked towards the door and prepared to open it when she heard something else.

“Oh… oh…! Oh! My…”

Realizing what she’d walked in on, she stormed out of the house blushing furiously. She reached the library and opened the unfinished letter, quickly and angrily scrawling a final line before throwing it at Spike to be sent.

And they’re doing just fine.

Comments

[576-Belligerent-Coil]

Woo~

Well, the epilogue is finally here. It's a bit short, but that's what the epilogue's for, right? Hope you've enjoyed the ride (I know I have!), and be sure to keep a lookout for my next fic, which is going to be an extension of that story Twilight was reading in the first chapter.

Sorry this took me so long; the summer's new, and I've been working and sick for quite some time. Now that I got laid off (unyay), I've had some time to work.

Thanks for reading!

--576 Belligerent Coil loves you!

[macbow333]

Hrmm

A shipping triangle

What could come of this?

[josh6520]

oh my Celestia! you have no idea, i love this story so much, until i get to the epilogue... then it got 100 times better! i woke up my parents i was laughing so hard at what twilight *ahem* stumbled upon, you have made my night, i honestly dont think i have laughed that hard in a while! and how you ended the letter, classic!!!

[flutterdashforever]

"And they’re doing just fine."

Best. Line. Ever!

[King Kiashi]

Why do I have this feeling that Twilight was misinterpreting what they were doing? I mean, they've only been dating for a few days and Rainbow Dash seems kind of clueless/uncertain about the whole thing. Maybe it was a massage...or maybe some game like twister gettin' difficult... Or maybe Fluttershy really did get hurt and Rainbow Dash was merely trying to help... *shrug* Ending just puzzled me, 'tis all.

[Doubt]

Incomplete?