> One Day Too Late
>  by Protector of Light
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: One Step Behind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


This story is completely fictional. All similarities to real life events and/or other fan fictions, comics, books, etc. are unintentional.

It goes without saying that My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is property of Hasbro, not me.
This story belongs to my imagination.


The sun wasn’t shining as Fluttershy walked down the expansive hallway towards the makeshift hospital that had been erected in Canterlot Palace, carefully watching her surroundings. The yellow pegasus was heading to visit Rainbow Dash for the first time in several days. As much as she deeply cared about her friend's well being, she just couldn't face her very often anymore.
Fluttershy thought of so much as she walked down the hallway. Just a few weeks ago, the world had been the same as it had always been, but now, everything had changed so much. It started with a storm. And as the clouds looming overhead refused to yield, the destruction and terror only seemed to get worse. When it started, nearly all of her friends left her, choosing to yield to whatever was causing all of this to cause as much terror as everypony else. The only one who had stayed with her was Spike, who, strictly speaking, wasn’t a pony, so she guessed that he wasn’t part of everypony. Now, Rainbow was back, but she and Fluttershy could hardly stand to be in the same room out of guilt and terror, respectively. All of these things didn’t even make her sad anymore; she had gotten used to it. All Fluttershy wanted now was to have all of her friends back, and everything to go back to the way it had been before.


~

11 days ago	
The gargantuan storm hovered over Ponyville, dark grey clouds without much rain, but plenty of thunder, lightning, and wind. All of the weather pegasi had been called on duty to try to stop it before it could cause any real damage. It had come from over the Everfree Forest, like many other storms. Usually, the weather team was able to contain such dangerous storms before they managed to reach the small town, but this one seemed to be driven by some force beyond that of nature. Fluttershy’s house was the first to be hit by a blast of the powerful wind. All of her animals had been terrified, running for cover away from her cottage, even Angel Bunny. Fluttershy had tried her best to calm them down, begging and pleading; but they left her behind, making her panic just as much as they had. She started after her animal friends in a shaking stride outside to try to keep them in safety, but was quickly frightened right back into her house. The yellow pegasus galloped across the room to the safest place she knew. She hunkered down under her stairs, shivering, prepared for the worst. And the worst came. A terrible wind slammed against her house, making it shake from the force. She cowered ever smaller, hearing the boards creaking under the strain. She whimpered as a tree fell down and hit her wall, making her face the full force of the wind. Seeing no other option, she ran from her house and headed the direction her animal friends had gone, screaming all the way.
The animals had found a small cave which was facing away from the wind. Fluttershy first tried to gallop towards the entrance, but lost her footing and ended up blowing back into the rubble of her house. She was unable to lighten the blow because her wings were paralyzed in fright. Afterwards, she slowly trekked towards the entrance, fighting the wind with all of her strength, wanting desperately to get out of the raging gusts, ducking down so that the wind could not catch her again. Once she reached the cave, she felt sure she waited there for hours, waiting for the storm to subside. 

When it did, she heard all of her friends yelling for her in panic, having found her crushed house.
“I-i-i’m over here,” Fluttershy whimpered, coming cautiously out of the cave. She walked on shaky legs towards her friends, worried that they might buckle under her in fear.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” said Twilight Sparkle as she trotted forward. “We saw your house. Or at least what’s left of it. We were worried you were hurt! Rainbow said that she hadn’t seen you come out.”
“Fluttershy dear, I am truly sorry that we didn’t come over here when we saw the storm coming. I thought that you would surely have gone to somewhere in town. I know how much you hate storms or anything else loud and dangerous. No offense,” Rarity smiled apologetically, "So I should have thought to come and check on you earlier today when the weather ponies were talking about a storm traveling through Equestria." 
“Oh, that’s okay,” Fluttershy said with a shaky voice, even quieter than normal. “You didn't know I would stay. I wanted to keep the animals safe. But they ran away. I saw where they had gone, and when a board came out of my wall, I figured I would be safer there.”
“Ah’m just glad you’re okay,” Applejack said, not really understanding what Fluttershy had said in her whisper. Nobody really did, and Fluttershy knew it when she heard their responses.
“I knew you were tougher than they seemed to think. I mean, who scared a dragon away from the mountain?” Rainbow Dash said, hovering slightly overhead.
“I knew you were alright! I knew you were alright! But I’m glad I was right,” Pinkie said in her usual Pinkie Pie manner. “But I saw the storm coming and I was like *gasp* and then I was all like ‘I hope everybody’s okay’ but I knew that all you guys would be safe because you guys are really smart about taking care of yourselves then I remembered that Dashie was on the weather team so I got all worried about her again but then she came and said she was alright but she hadn't seen you so I’m just so glad that you all are safe!” she said without taking a breath until she was done.
“And I’m glad that you’re all safe too,” Fluttershy said, speaking more clearly this time. The group shared a hug, causing Rainbow to get a disgusted look before smiling and looking relieved. When the friends finally broke the embrace, they walked side by side towards Ponyville to assess the damage.


~

Now, Fluttershy felt a tear creep from her eye remembering how they had all been so happy to be together just a couple of weeks ago. She realized that she had stopped in the middle of a hallway thinking and remembering. She smiled awkwardly and blushed in embarrassment at a maid who walked by, who smiled back and shook her head pityingly before moving on.
The yellow pegasus continued onward, still remembering.


~

The friends had gathered at Twilight’s library to discuss the damage and what might have caused the storm to be so strong on its own. Even as they talked about such a serious topic, they laughed and smiled at little puns. Fluttershy felt so safe and secure in their presence. Rarity and Applejack bantered back and forth over how they should repair the damage, glaring at each other on occasion before breaking out laughing. Fluttershy wasn’t paying attention to what anybody was saying, but she smiled at their happiness, even though some of hers was crushed along with her home. Finally, Twilight sighed, tapping her hoof on the ground and clearing her throat, drawing the gazes of all of her friends. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash was right there with her. “This is serious business, you guys. This storm was not planned. Storms that aren’t planned are dangerous,” Twilight said, annoyed. 
“Obviously,” Rainbow muttered under her breath, before continuing at full volume. “Every pegasi was up there, except for Fluttershy and the foals, fighting that storm. And we didn’t even make a dent in it. The storm just couldn’t be stopped!”
“That’s odd,” Applejack said, “But not unheard of. Ah mean, all of the weather here in Ponyville was natural from the Everfree Forest back in Granny Smith’s day. But ah’ve never heard of much damage coming out of storms like that.”
Twilight sighed. “That’s the thing. The town’s records have nothing on any storm like that one, even that far back. And now Rainbow is saying that the pegasi aren’t even able to clear the clouds.”
“That can't be right. I’ve never seen any clouds that Rainbow Dash couldn’t clear,” Fluttershy said and then squeaked, because all of her friends were looking at her.
“I know. I’m awesome,” Rainbow said, spinning in the air to show off her awesomeness.
Twilight put her hoof to her face. “Not now girls, we need to concentrate!”
“You know, Twilight, it’s gettin’ kind of late. Maybe we oughta go home and sleep on it. It’s not like another storm is coming this very second,” Applejack said, smiling at her.
“Oh-but-- oh. I guess you’re right,” Twilight sighed. “But girls, please think about it tonight. We need to figure out what’s going on.”
The girls all nodded affirmatively. All but Fluttershy. “Um… excuse me. I’m really sorry to bother you guys. But… I don’t have a place to sleep… I’m sorry,” she squeaked.
“Oh, you don’t need to be sorry. I'm the one that forgot. Don’t worry. I have an extra bed.” Twilight smiled widely.
The other girls murmured apologies before heading out towards their homes.
“I’ll show you the way. It’ll be like a slumber party!” Twilight said.


~

Twilight stood in the middle of the Everfree Forest, spooked by every motion in the brush. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had all gone into the forest telling her and Fluttershy to follow. Though their mannerisms had seemed a bit strange, their voices holding a somewhat sinister note, Twilight was afraid not to follow them. Especially since something seemed to be wrong. She needed to investigate. This could have something to do with the strange storm.
But now, she stood, separated from the group. She couldn’t keep up. The girls all seemed to move with the fog and mist in the forest. Maybe Fluttershy stayed behind even after Twilight had gone.  She hoped so, because she hadn’t seen her, and just hoped that she was somewhere safe. Maybe nothing strange had happened to her.
As far as where Twilight was, she wasn’t sure. Time seemed to move differently in the Everfree on any given day, but it seemed even stranger today. She didn’t know how long she had wandered aimlessly, but now she was certain that she was lost.
“Why didn’t they wait for me?”


~

Spike walked into the living room yawning widely. He had slept through the girl’s entire conversation. “Hey, Twilight. Sorry I overslept, but I’m up now, I hope Owloysius didn’t have to go through the trouble of doing my chores or anything, heheh.” The little purple dragon paused when Twilight didn’t respond. He looked around in horror at the fact that all of the books in the library seemed to be spread out on the floor, piled up in drifts like snow. Her head was laid down on the table like she had slept there all night. “Uh, Twilight?”
Twilight jumped up, ran in place, then looked around in mild panic. “Oh. It’s just you Spike. I thought it was some kind of monster or something, I was having a bad dream.” She calmed down and smiled at him, but then her face turned serious. “There’s some weird stuff going on around here lately. You slept through the girls and I talking about that storm that we had last night. You fell asleep when it was just getting to its worst. Anyway, Fluttershy’s cottage blew down, so she’s staying here for now.”
“Yeah, I saw her up stairs and thought it was strange. She’s alright though, right? She didn’t get hurt did she?”
“She’s fine, Spike, just a little shaken up. She wouldn’t be Fluttershy if she wasn’t shaken up over something,” Twilight said, sounding amused. “The rest of the girls should be getting here soon, so don’t worry about the chores. Something seriously strange is going on.” Her stomach rumbled, and she chuckled nervously. “On second thought, maybe some breakfast would be good.”
As Spike walked into the kitchen, he heard a knock on the door, and heard some laughter from outside. “That must be Pinkie. Better fix a lot of pancakes. That pony has a stomach the size of a dragon’s. Well, a full size dragon, anyway. I can’t eat as much as her. And now I’m talking to myself,” Spike said, looking slightly annoyed with himself.
He heard Twilight open up the door. From upstairs, he heard the gentle yawn of a certain sleeping pegasus. “Oooh, hey Twilight! Am I the first one here? It looks like I’m here before Fluttershy is even up!” Spike heard Pinkie sing joyously. He chuckled.
Meanwhile, in the other room, Twilight smiled for a minute before returning to her serious self. “Come on, Pinkie. Were any of the others coming yet? We need to get moving on research.”
“Hmmmm… Well, I did see Dashie moving the clouds, and there was a light on a Carousel Boutique, and Applejack is always up bright and early to do her chores, so they should all be here really soon!”
Twilight was glad to hear that they were all probably up and headed towards the library. She was worried that they would be really late today, and today was just too important to stand for that. At least Pinkie was her usual hyper and happy self. She didn’t seem worried. Then again, she rarely seemed worried.
She heard a soft yawn again. Fluttershy was coming down the stairs. “I’m sorry I slept so late. I mean, you seem really worried, and you were worried about people being late and I overslept. *squeak*”
“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. You had a traumatic experience last night. If anybody has an excuse to sleep in, it’s you,” Twilight said comfortingly.
“What about you, Twilight? You stayed up all night looking for anything on the storm.”
“That’s no big deal. I do things like that all of the time. You don’t nearly die all the time. At least, I hope not! Though, bad things do seem to follow us around everywhere.” Twilight looked at the ceiling pondering that and was suddenly overcome with a yawn that threatened to split her head in two. “Though, maybe I am a little tired. But I’m not going to sleep until we find out what’s going on around here!”
The door was broken down by a blur of color as Rainbow Dash was blown by wind through it. She shook her head to get out of a daze. “What in Equestria is up with this weather? Seriously, I was just trying to clear some clouds and this wind about blew me away! It was like the cloud was attacking me or something,” the annoyed cyan pegasus said once she regained her breath.
“I dunno sugarcube. This weather is mighty strange, that’s for sure. If the rain was just a little stranger Ah would be afraid Discord was loose again. But thankfully this ain’t no chocolate milk,” said Applejack, stepping over the broken door and the pegasus on the floor right in front of it.
“Oh dear, your hair looks far more terrible than usual!” said Rarity, grimacing at Rainbow Dash as she walked in, complete with her raincoat with the umbrella.
“I think we’ve got bigger problems than that, don’t we Twi,” said the sensible farmer pony.
“Yes. Definitely.” Twilight nodded in agreement.
“Breakfast is ready, guys! Blueberry pancakes, nice and hot!” Spike said, breaking the tension by carrying a huge plate of pancakes and sitting it in front of the group.
“Oooh! Looks delicious! Nice and sweet with lots of syrup and hot sauce!” the pink party pony said ecstatically. The others groaned at her comment.
“That does look mighty good,” said Applejack, after pausing.
The others nodded in agreement. “Fine. I guess our search can wait for a minute,” Twilight said, resigned.

After breakfast, all six ponies and the little dragon hit the books, so to speak. Though Twilight had already gone through half of the library in her frantic search for a clue, everypony was pouring though the books desperately. But even Pinkie’s freaky tendency to know where things were when nobody else did, there was not a hint as to what was going on. “UGHHH!” Twilight yelling in frustration. “Why can’t we ever find something useful when we need it! Well, I take that back. We usually can. But why can’t we find it now!”
Spike tried to pacify her. “Why don’t we just send a letter to Princess Celestia. She might know something. If nothing else, she should probably be told what is going on if the doesn’t already know.”
“You’re right, Spike!' Twilight jumped up. "Something is really wrong around here. She has to be informed immediately, even if she doesn't know anything!”
After writing a quick letter, Spike sent it by dragon fire. The group of friends waited impatiently for a response. It was Fluttershy that finally said something. “I guess we should keep searching while we wait. Um, I mean, if that's okay.” The others sighed, but resumed digging.
It was several minutes before they received a response. Spike stood facing Twilight, leading the letter to hit her in the face and singeing her hair. But instead of Princess Celestia’s personal seal, the letter had Luna’s. “Huh? I swear I sent that to Princess Celestia, not Luna, honest!”
Twilight stood for a moment in a daze from both shock and exhaustion before speaking. “Don’t worry about the details, Spike, just read it!”
“Ahem,” Spike began to speak, clearing his throat.
“Twilight Sparkle and Friends,
“It is I, Princess Luna. We… er… I have been meaning to get in contact with you urgently since yesterday. This is a matter of upmost importance.
“I know that you usually go to Princess Celestia with your concerns, problems, and lessons in friendship. However, she is not here right now.” Spike paused for a moment in confusion, obviously reading ahead in the letter. “I regret to inform you that she disappeared without a word yesterday while I was resting.
“Hearing your side of the story about the storm was quite useful. The storm seems like it must be powerful magic. Pegasi can clear a storm of any size with no problem so long as it is natural.
“We… I mean I… appreciate your diligent search for information, but as your friend, I beg you to be careful. If anything was to happen to you and Celestia, I don’t know what I could do. You and our friends in Ponyville showed me that it was possible to have friendship again. For that I cannot thank you enough.
“All I can ask of you is to be very cautious. This is dangerous business, and it would be best to stay out of it for now. I will let you know if I find out anything of use here in Canterlot, but for now, I would just suggest staying in the library to do your research.
“Please be careful.
“Your friend,
“Luna”
Everypony’s mouth stood agape. “The Princess is…” Twilight began.
“Missing?” the rest joined in unison.

Several hours later, another powerful storm slammed against the library. Twilight convinced Rainbow Dash that it was too dangerous to fight the storm. However, everypony needed to get outside at least for long enough to get things secured. Pinkie needed to be sure the Cakes knew what was going on and would stay in safety. Rainbow Dash had to go tell the rest of the weather team to stay away from the storms. Applejack had to take Apple Bloom home from school and try to get the trees protected. Rarity had to check on Sweetie Belle and her family. Only Fluttershy and Twilight were able to remain inside as Princess Luna had suggested, and they begged the others to stay. 
There was something ominous about the air, like it was a caged animal trying to get out. Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy waited impatiently for their friends’ return. 
When it came, it couldn’t have been worse. The wind literally blew everypony in the door that Twilight had just used her magic to fix, annoying her. But that wasn’t what made Twilight stare silently and Fluttershy hide Spike behind her in a motherly way. There was a dark shadow over their eyes, like they were under a dark cloud when they weren’t. “What’s wrong, girls? ... Girls?” Twilight asked and waited for a response.
Pinkie Pie giggled in her usual way. “Hey you guys! We’re all heading into the Everfree Forest.”
"In the middle of a storm?"
“It definitely seems like there might be some clue as to what’s going on in there,” said Applejack, smiling.
Fluttershy whimpered. “P-p-princess Luna said that we should stay here in town.”
“Come on Fluttershy. If she told you to jump off a cliff, would you?” Rainbow Dash paused. “Wait, you’re a pegasus, bad example. But still, I thought you were cooler than that! Who was brave enough to come into a tornado that was falling apart?”
“Come on darling, I promise nothing bad will happen to you,” Rarity said in a soothing voice.
“Well… uh… if you say so, girls,” Twilight saw that something was obviously wrong, and that this was her chance to get to the bottom of it. “I trust you.”
“I’m not coming.” Everypony but Twilight looked at Fluttershy like she was a madpony. “And you can’t make me.” Spike cowered behind her after seeing the sinister looks that crept across their faces.
“Oh really. I, the most awesome pony in all of Ponyville, can’t make you come? We’ll see about that,” Rainbow said with a sinister sneer.
Twilight, who wasn’t quite with the others yet whispered loudly over the commotion of the rest of the girls moving, “Fluttershy, run!”
Fluttershy picked up Spike by the tail and threw him on her back. She ran only a short while before her legs shook too much to keep it up. She found a small bush by the flower sister’s shop to cower inside. She stayed there for a few minutes before she heard Rainbow Dash speak. “Come on guys, let's just go. She's not worth it. I can come back and get her later.” Out of the brush, she saw Twilight’s concerned face as she moved on.


~

Maybe if Twilight hadn’t waited until after breakfast to press the issue, maybe if Fluttershy had spoken up sooner, Fluttershy wouldn’t be visiting Rainbow Dash in the hospital now. Maybe they would all be fine now, not corrupted by ‘some sort of mist’ like Rainbow said had happened. Maybe then all seven friends would be together now. But as it was, Rainbow was in the hospital recovering with around fifty other ponies that had been injured in the storms. Spike was helping take care of the ponies and keep wait for the possibility of a letter from either of the princesses. What happened had happened, and nothing could be done to change that.

> Chapter 2: Scars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash waited in the recovery room. Though her wounds had healed days ago, she was being kept under careful observation in case any residual magical effects remained from whatever had controlled her and her friends. Usually, she would have been frustrated about this, but after all she had done, she felt like she should be locked away forever. Not even her Daring Doo books could distract her from her misery even for a moment. She didn’t feel like she disserved to enjoy anything now.
Deserting her friends under the influence of Discord had been one thing. Harming them was another. She could forgive herself for not being loyal and just leaving her friends behind; but for causing one of her closest friends, the one that she had known the longest, harm as terrible as she had, she felt like she might never let herself fly again if she thought that it would help.
If she had been in Fluttershy’s place, she would never forgive the person who did it. But Fluttershy had forgiven her right away! And that just made it worse. Even more terrible, Rainbow Dash had been so into the trance that she had wanted to hurt her. She wanted to make her scream, to see the terror on her face, to make her pay for not going with her!
No. Rainbow couldn’t forgive herself. No matter what.

~

Fluttershy had nearly reached the hospital wing when screeching alarms went off. She shrieked for a moment before regaining her composure. She had to be tough and strong and brave and everything that Twilight or Applejack or Rainbow Dash would be. She was the only one who could be now.
She wondered whether the palace was under attack or what else it could be. Sometimes it meant that a storm was about to hit, sometimes that somepony was coming to the palace unannounced, and sometimes it meant that somepony in the hospital was in critical condition. From the lack of wind, it was one of the latter.  “Oh no. I hope it’s not Rainbow!”


~

10 days ago…
Fluttershy flew as fast as she was able, Spike holding on to her mane as tight as he could while they sped on. She hadn’t known at first where to go, but she flew anyway. She was facing Canterlot. “Canterlot,” Fluttershy muttered. “If anywhere is safe it would be there.”
“Spike!” she yelled, as much as she could, over the wind to be heard.
“What? What is it?” he asked, eyes going wide and his teeth chattering in the cold. He was still very shaken up by seeing the group of friends being so vicious. 
“Do you have a scroll and a quill?”
“No. Why?”
“Oh. I was hoping that we could send a letter to Princess Luna. I think we need her help.” The wind gained speed, its gust knocking Fluttershy rolling. “We at least need somepony’s help.” 
Dejected, Fluttershy regained her orientation and decided to walk instead of fly. Less difficult for her. She continued onward. At least she still had Spike. They could take care of each other. In the mean time, Fluttershy knew that so long as she got to the palace, they would be fine. It was just a matter of getting there…

The winds were worse heading up the mountain to the royal city. Fluttershy lost her balance countless times, but luckily Spike was very good at holding on, lest he fall off of a ridge and onto the ragged cliffs. They weren’t gaining much ground, but Fluttershy tried to keep both her and Spike’s spirits up. “Almost there… Just over that next ridge…” she lied to herself. She had to make it. She just had to. If she didn’t, who knew what would happen? She had to get Spike to safety. After all, he is just a baby dragon, with his whole life in ahead of him. “One hoof in front of the other…”
She suddenly saw a dark blur fly overhead. The smudge vaguely resembled a pony with a nebulous mane. It took Fluttershy a minute to realize that it was Princess Luna, the very pony she was hoping to see. Fluttershy took a deep breath and prepared the loudest voice she could muster. “PRINCESS LUNA!” she screamed, though her voice cracked. Spike looked up and yelled as well, hoping that they could be heard over the wind.
Thankfully, the Princess of the Night doubled back, turning towards the voice. “WHO GOES THERE?” she said. Being heard over loud noises was probably the only thing the Royal Canterlot Voice was good for. 
“OVER HERE! IT’S FLUTTERSHY! PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP!” Luna flew down to where she believed to have heard Fluttershy from. After a little searching, she located her.
“Fluttershy, what are you doing out here in this wind? I thought I told you and your friends to stay in Ponyville,” Luna said, both concerned and a little annoyed.
“Oh… um… well…”
“Princess Luna! It’s terrible!” Spike interrupted. He had already calmed down enough to form coherent phrases, thankfully. “We had to leave Ponyville. Everypony started chasing us. If Fluttershy hadn’t been so good at staying quiet, we would have been caught for sure!”
“Your friends chased you? Why?” Luna said, tilting her head in confusion.
“Well… I don’t really know. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity all just came back to the library after settling things at home and were acting all weird. They had these dark shadow things over their eyes and—” He was interrupted by a timid voice.
“G-g-g-g-guys? There’s a c-c-c-cloud coming at us. On its own. And it’s on f-f-f-i-i-ire! We need to r-r-r-r-RUN!” Fluttershy said, frightened.
Luna looked up just in time to put up a quick barrier. She huddled next to Fluttershy to offer comfort to the sobbing pegasus. Spike, for his part, was just staring in awe at the flames.
Once the fire dissipated, Luna lifted Fluttershy’s chin with her hoof. “Why don’t we get back to Canterlot and talk about it there.” She smiled comfortingly.
“Yes please. That is, um, if you don’t mind too much.”

The trio had flown to Canterlot under the protection of Luna’s shield. Luna listened to Fluttershy and Spike’s story and immediately called the guard captain, Shining Armor, to let him know of the threat, but to leave out the fact that Twilight was missing. Of course, he was far too perceptive to overlook the fact that Spike was there with only Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, right? Has something happened to Twiley?” he asked, beginning calm but sounding slightly panicked towards the end. 
Fluttershy wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She would have gotten Spike to come up with an answer, but he had been sent to bed. He hadn’t slept for more than twenty-four hours, and he was just a baby dragon. She didn’t want to lie, but this was the start of her new found habit of avoiding the truth. “Well… um…” she began uncomfortably. “Oh… she is probably fine. She wasn’t behaving as weird as the rest of our friends…”
“But?”
“Well, oh… I don’t know where she is!” said Fluttershy, rushed and panicked at first. But then she managed to calm down. “But I’m sure she’s fine. She is an incredible pony and can take care of herself just fine. She wouldn’t fall for some kind of trick.” Fluttershy was happy with the way that she had answered that. She felt like she sounded confident in what she had said. It must have worked, since he didn’t press the issue, but he still looked pretty gloomy.
“Princess Luna?” he got her attention.
“What is it, Shining Armor?”
“I will use my shield spell. I am sure that it is needed.” He walked out of the room, seeming very depressed. At least he had Princess Cadance to go home to.
“I’m sorry…” Fluttershy said, wishing she could help him get through the pain of a missing sister.
After seeing him, she made her decision. “Princess Luna, I’m going to find my friends.”
“Fluttershy, it is too dangerous. Stay here, where it is safe.”
“No. I have to help them. For him. For me. For you. For Spike.”
“Please at least wait until I have a free moment to go with you.”
“No. I don’t know how long that will be. You are the sole person in charge of Equestria. You need to be fully aware of what’s going on. I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me.”
“On the contrary. I could stop you; I just have no desire to prevent what you feel is right.”
“Oh, thank you Princess! If I’m not back by tomorrow morning, then you can come and search for me… that is, um, if you want to.” Fluttershy had used up all of her determination and was back to being shy and scared. What have I gotten myself into?
“Dear Fluttershy, of course I would come and look for you. And please, just call me Luna. In this time of need, we both just need a friend.”

~

Now, Fluttershy limped into the facility, looking around for nurses or doctors rushing around like somepony was hurt. When she saw that this wasn’t the case, she slowed down and continued onward, hoping that neither the alarm nor her galloping had disturbed anypony. She was such a noisy pony sometimes, or at least she thought so, and so inconsiderate. Her eyes shifted around the room, looking to see that Rainbow Dash was in the same place and still in one piece. 
There she was, lying in the bed, staring grumpily at the ceiling. No matter how angry she got at Rainbow when she wasn’t in the room, she couldn’t help but smile seeing the rainbow haired mare being so frustrated. She could never stay angry with her friends. Luna seemed to think that it was part of her being the Element of Kindness.
She trotted over to Rainbows bed and sat down. “Hello…”
“Hey,” said Rainbow, not looking at Fluttershy’s face.
“Um… how are you?”
“Fine.”
“Um… That’s, um, good.” Fluttershy twisted her hoof on the floor.
Rainbow looked farther away for a minute before turning suddenly to look her in the eye. “Why do you even come and visit me, Fluttershy?” 

~

11 days ago
Rainbow Dash had addressed the weather team, telling them the extent of the danger that the storms could have according to Princess Luna, and had decided that the storm wasn’t too bad yet. She needed some stuff from home if she was going to be camped out at the library for any extent of time. She had already read all of the Daring Doo books after all. She wanted to get her Gamecolt for one thing, and she would decide what else to get when she go there.
She was flying absentminded towards her home when she had seen something that she had never expected. “Princess Celestia?” Rainbow landed a short distance away from the pure white mare with ethereal hair. “Are you alright? Princess Luna said that you were missing.”
There was something off about her eyes when she turned to face her; they weren’t the usual soothing and kind magenta eyes, at least at first. “Hello Rainbow Dash. I’m perfectly alright. I meant to send Luna a letter letting her know that I had just decided to come to Ponyville to see my faithful student and her friends. But I’m afraid that if I can’t see her soon, I will have to leave without doing so.” She sounded so normal. She smiled her usual smile, but she seemed to be looking Rainbow Dash over as though she was a coach picking out a star from the masses.
“Oh. Well, Twilight’s at the library of course. So are the rest of us. Well, at least, we were. All of us but Fluttershy had to leave for a little while. Things to take care of and all that.”
“Oh. One more thing. Could you do me a favor?”
“What?” Rainbow Dash said. “Anything for the Princess.” When the Princess’s smile turned sinister, she realized that she shouldn’t have said that.
“Anything, you say?” Suddenly everything got a lot darker, and Rainbow Dash’s thoughts got all muddled together. She seemed to be frozen in place. “Well, then. I need you to go and get your friends. All of them. And bring them to the Everfree Forest. From there you should know where to go.” Celestia then changed into a dark, grey mist. The thing that wasn’t Celestia then flew away into the distance as Rainbow Dash’s legs moved without her commanding them to do so.  “Anything,” she said, her lips’ movements and her voice not her own.

She walked to Carousel Boutique first. She knew that Rarity would be there after checking on her family to grab some of her designs. Even s would eventually get bored with the girly sleepover stuff that Twilight had planned. Not that it was why Rainbow was going there anyway. She was just thinking of it as she walked, her thoughts entirely her own, but not her movements. She heard some commotion as she neared the boutique.
“I-de-a!” she heard Rarity sing, along with some bangs, likely signifying things being thrown around. “Oh, but this just won’t do. Everypony’s going to want these raincoats, but I’m not going to be here. This storm is just more trouble than it’s worth. Not that it’s worth anything… Oh well. Twilight would be disappointed in me if I went against Princess Luna’s suggestion, and I promised her that I would come back to the library no matter what happened.” Rainbow Dash walked in the door. “Oh, hello Rainbow dear… Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here? You were supposed to go straight back after you got everypony informed how dangerous it was out there! This is not the time for you to suddenly become interested in my work!”
“I just came to check on you, Rare. I was flying over and you were talking to yourself, and I knew that you had less to do than I did. You’re the one who should be back at the library.” Rainbow felt her mouth mold into a smile.
“Are you alright dear? You look very… tired? Yes, that’s it. Tired.”
“I’m fine.” No, I’m not. “Don’t worry about it. So are you coming back now?”
“Yes, yes, I’ll hurry up and come with you.”
“I saw Princess Celestia on the way here.”
“What? And that’s not the first thing you said? Where is she now?” Rarity sounded excited, but perplexed as to why Rainbow wouldn’t have told her right away.
“Oh, she said she was busy. She headed towards the Everfree Forest.”
“Oh! We have to tell Twilight and the others! Come on now, get a move on!” Rarity said, grabbing her bags and Opal, the annoyed cat.
“Can you do me one favor before we go?” No. Don’t say—
“Wha- well, of course dear. Anything you need.”

Now Rainbow Dash and Rarity walked side by side towards Sugarcube Corner. “I can’t wait to tell Pinkie that we found the Princess! She’ll be thrilled, and want to throw a ‘Welcome Back’ party or something.” Rarity said, her eyes now overshadowed.
“Oh, I’m sure she will be.” Rainbow smiled as they entered the bakery.
“Welcome to – oh, it’s you two. Pinkie’s still upstairs packing her things. You can go up there and wait on her if you want, dearies,” Mrs. Cake said, startled.
The pair went upstairs without another word. “Eye twitch, back itch, eye twitch, ankle ache. That one’s new. Oh, hiya guys! What are you doing here? Oh, I know! You wanted to help me throw the ‘It’s Storming’ party for the gang too! Too bad it won’t be a surprise for you two though.” Pinkie looked ponderingly towards them. “Are you girls alright? Your eyes look all shadowy!”
“Oh, we’re fine, Pinks. But yeah. We just came to pick you up. Didn’t want you to get caught in the storm alone or anything,” Rainbow said nonchalantly, though inside she was screaming. NO Pinkie! Don’t fall for it!
“Okie dokie lokie. Let’s go!”
“Oh, Pinkie Pie. Could you do me a tiny favor, dear?” Rarity said in a velvety voice.
“Oh, sure.” No. No no no nonononono! “ I’d do anything for one of my best friends!”

Their last stop- Sweet Apple Acres. After that they would no doubt head to the library and ‘pick up’ Twilight and Fluttershy to head to the Everfree Forest. Well, hopefully Applejack wouldn’t fall for this whole ‘Everything’s fine. I saw Princess Celestia’ garbage and could go and warn Twilight. 
She was bucking a tree as they walked up. “Hey girls. Ah’ve just got his one tree left, then Ah was all set to go back. What’re y’all doin’ here?” she said, looking at them funny. “An’ what’s got y’all so gloomy lookin’? I ain’t seen those faces on you since Discord was aroun’.”
“Oh, nothing’s wrong. Are we not allowed to come and be sure our friend gets back safe?” said Rarity, with a smile.
“Oh. Well, I s’pose y’are. Well, just let me buck this last tree, then.”
“Hey, AJ! Can you do me a favor and get me some apples for me? I’m going to make an apple cake and I know you’re apples are the best!” Pinkie Pie said ecstatically. 
“Oh. Well sure! I’m always ready to do something for a friend.” Yes! She didn’t say it! Come on AJ, just stay cool. “So, uh, you guys ready to go?”
“Do you need anything before we head back?” Rainbow’s voice asked AJ.
“Eh… nope! Not a thing.”
Yes! “Nothing at all?”
“Yep. Nothin’.”
Pinkie Pie snuck up behind Applejack. “Hey, do you suggest anything else for a cake?”
“Uhhhh… Nope. Pinkie, what r’ ya doin’?” What is she doing?
“Guess we aren’t going to get through to her girls.”
“Are y’all sure there ain’t anything wrong? Y’all are bein’ just plain creepy.” No. No. Just no.
Next stop: The library.

~

“You should hate me. You’re one of my best friends and… and I almost killed you!” She turned away. “How can you forgive me?” Rainbow started softly crying. “How can you forgive me?”

~

10 days ago
Fluttershy had left Spike in Canterlot as she headed out in search of her friends. “At least it isn’t storming as bad as it was earlier.” She was all that was left. Even Twilight had left her. But Luna was there for her in her time of need. She could never repay her for it, truly. All she could do was try to find Princess Celestia for her. Luna had to help the people get through this tragedy; otherwise she would help Fluttershy search. Fluttershy took comfort in that.
Fluttershy trotted gloomily down the mountain that earlier she had fought so hard to reach the summit of. She guessed that it wasn’t quite pointless, since she got Spike to safety. And Luna had cast a spell on her that might stop whatever was wrong with Applejack and the others from getting hold of her. Well, she just had to face her fears and go forward. One hoof in front of the other, Fluttershy trekked on.
She had to get her friends back. She just had to. Only she could.
She heard a noise overhead and looked up just in time to see a rainbow blur fly towards her. She was slammed into by a mass of cyan pegasus, thrown back into a rock. Dazed, she didn’t have time to react as she was hit by the full weight of the rainbow-maned pony slamming into her chest.
“Fluttershy, you have to come with me! Now!” Rainbow said, sounding like she was pleading. Fluttershy saw through the ruse.
“No. I’ll never go with you. Not ever! I have to save you and the others, and I can’t do that if I go crazy too!”
“Come on!” Rainbow said, slamming her hooves into her head this time. “I will knock you out if you don’t!” A powerful kick blew into her stomach this time.
“No…” Fluttershy said as hooves slammed onto her wings, ridding her of an escape plan.
“YES! YOU ARE COMING WITH ME!”
“No…” she said as she felt the bones in one of her legs splinter like a block of wood.
“YES YOU ARE!”
“No. No. NO I’M NOT COMING WITH YOU! THIS IS NOT THE RAINBOW DASH THAT I KNOW AND LOVE! THIS IS NOT THE RAINBOW WHO PROMISED ME THAT NOTHING WOULD EVER HURT ME!” she screamed at the top of her lungs as her ribs shattered. She lunged forward with a blow of her own into Rainbow’s chest, as hard as she could. She saw a strand of blood where her hoof cut. She hit again, through her pain, splitting Rainbow’s lip and knocking her jaw out of place. Fluttershy coughed up some blood before continuing. “I AM NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HER!” her voice weakened. She saw the shadow over Rainbow’s eyes lessen and finally fade, her expression changing to horror as she saw Fluttershy. The light faded out of her own eyes as she fainted away. “You… promised…”

And, Fluttershy dreamed. She dreamed of pleasant memories of times before; of Twilight’s birthday, of the Grand Galloping Gala, of after she helped make the tornado to transport water to Cloudsdale. The royal wedding, once everypony found out Twilight was right all along. Finally, she dreamt of when Rainbow and she were fillies, just after the pegasus race that resulted in their cutie marks. They had just introduced themselves to each other. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy. I flew too close to you,” said Rainbow, looking meek and shy, a rare sight on the brave pony’s face.
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“No. It really isn’t.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Fluttershy said, getting shier and hiding behind her hair.
“Well, in that case, alright. But listen, I did knock you off the cloud. You ended up alright, but you might not have.” She seemed to wait for a response that didn’t come. “Hello? Well, anyway… I’m gunna protect you from those bullies from now on. Nothing is going to hurt you, you got that?”
Fluttershy was startled. She had never had anypony be this nice to her. “You’d really do that… for somepony you just met?”
“Yep! And Rainbow Dash always keeps her promises!”
“… Thank you.”
“No problem. Friends?”
“Friends.”

~

Fluttershy couldn’t help but back up a few steps at her outburst. She had never seen Rainbow Dash cry. It was just so strange. She was always so calm, or else excited in a positive way. “Well… Um…” She didn’t like being put on the spot like that. How could she tell her that she was still afraid? She couldn’t. She just couldn’t make her even more upset. Maybe when all of their friends were back together, when they all had each other for support. Right now, she was Rainbow’s only support. “Um… we’ve just been friends for so long. You’ve always been there for me. Besides, I know that you wouldn’t do that. You weren’t in your right mind.”
“That’s the worst part. I wanted to hurt you, in any way possible. I’m just a terrible pony.”
“That’s okay. You weren’t yourself. You aren’t a bad pony.”
“You’re just saying that. It’s always, ‘That’s okay’ or ‘I forgive you.’ I don’t know how you could forgive me. I can’t forgive me. I would understand if you didn’t want to see me ever again. I would forgive you. You shouldn’t have to always be the one who forgives.”
Fluttershy was very careful not to let her face show that she had seriously considered doing just that within the past couple of weeks. “You’re one of my best friends, and you’re hurting. Of course I’m going to be here.” She hoped that the words didn’t sound as empty as they truly were. She hoped that she really felt somewhere inside that that was really the case.
Rainbow smiled slightly out of sight. “Thanks Fluttershy. I can’t thank you enough. It shouldn’t have come to me hurting you for me to go back to normal. I’m just glad that I did. But I can’t forgive myself. I never can.”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Well… you’re welcome.” She paused. “But please work on forgiving yourself. I don’t want you to be hurting like this forever. And you also saved me, remember?” 


~

10 days ago
No. Fluttershy was bleeding really bad. Her breaths were getting shallower and less frequent. No. This can’t be happening. It’s just a really bad dream, Rainbow told herself. But her own wounds were bleeding. They didn’t hurt. But they bled. I have to get to Canterlot. It’s closer. Come on wings don’t fail me now!

She had finally made it. All the way up the mountain carrying a pony on her back. It was just a good thing that Fluttershy was such a light pegasus. Though it did have a downfall. It made her fragile.
The yellow pegasus’s breath sounded pained. She was still unconscious, though, at least it seemed. People were stopping to stare at the pegasi as Rainbow trekked forward. “Excuse me?” she said to a guard. “My friend’s really hurt. Is there anywhere I can take her to get help?”
The guard looked at them and jumped in a little victory buck. “Miss Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy found you!” said the unicorn. “But, what happened?” He looked very concerned. “Oh, right! This way to get help.” He led the way.
A royal guard, showing emotion? “So, you seem pretty excited. The Princess give you special orders or something?”
“Well, uh… yeah. Also, I’m off duty. And… Fluttershy’s my little sister.” The guard suddenly seemed as meek as Fluttershy usually was.
Uh oh. “Fluttershy has a brother?”
“Here, let me take her,” he said, being as chivalrous as a guard should be. “Well, not by blood. But we were together for awhile when we were kids, once she left Cloudsdale, so it feels like it.”
“Oh. Cool. Heheh.” Rainbow tried not to seem so nervous, but was failing. “Well, uh, she’s a good mare! And, uh, well we’re at the palace now… anyway!”
“Yes. The hospital is this way.” Once they were out of anypony’s line of sight, he broke into a gallop.
“Hey, wait up! My leg’s a little hurt.” She did her best to catch up.
“You can catch up later. She’s barely breathing!” He galloped faster. So did Rainbow. “Doctor! We have somepony in critical condition!” he yelled once they reached the Grand Hall.
The doctor and some nurses looked up, seeming bored and tired until they saw the pink-haired pegasus on his back. There was a commotion, followed by Fluttershy being taken onto a gurney and being rushed off. A nurse came up to Rainbow Dash. “Come on, dear. You’re hurt too.”
“What? But! Fluttershy!” She fought the nurse as she was drug away from Fluttershy’s brother, who was blocked from following the yellow pony.

~

“That doesn’t count. I’m the one who hurt you. You’re probably hurting more than me, and yet here you stand, just smiling and listening. I should be protecting you. But I can definitely understand that you don’t want to be around me right now.”	
“That’s not…” Fluttershy paused. She was tired of lying about every single detail. “Okay, I’m a little afraid of you still… but you are my friend. Just, please understand… I’m not ready to talk about it.”
Rainbow looked sad. “Thank you for being honest about it. I’d rather know.”
“You’re welcome… and… I’m sorry…” Fluttershy whispered, unsure of what else she could say.

~