“With me, what you see is what you get. Yes, call me naive, but I love life. ... I do like to see the best in people, and when someone is nice to my face, I tend to believe them.”
- Joyce Giraud
Hey Fluttershy,
It’s me, Rainbow Dash. I don’t know if you’ll ever read this, or if you’ll believe it’s from me if you do, but there’s something I need to tell you.
I don’t think I ever said this while I was alive, so I’m saying it now: I’m sorry. I’m sorry I called you a traitor. I’m sorry I always yelled at you. Ah heck, I’m sorry for a lot of things. But most of all, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me. I wasn’t there when you needed advice, and I wasn’t there when you needed a friend. I get that you're probably blaming yourself for everything that happened, but I want you to know that it’s not your fault, not entirely. The rest of us should have done more to help you.
At least you actually tried to make things better. Yeah, it didn’t work out as planned, but you did try. I never did. I regret that more than anything else I did during the war. I don’t want to see you beating yourself up because you decided that something needed to be done. Something did need doing, and you were the one who tried to do what you thought was it. We were all just too blind to realize you had a point.
So don’t blame it all on yourself. Just look around you, Fluttershy. The world is healing. The war is over. Things could have gone better, but everything is starting to turn out OK. I bet you won’t settle for that, though. As soon as you’ve recovered, you’re going to go out there and try to help as many ponies and non-ponies as you can. Because you’ve always been a doer, Fluttershy, and I know you’ll succeed this time.
And don’t worry about me, or the others. We’re dead, but we’re not going anywhere. We’ve stuck around for a good two hundred years, so what’s a dozen or so more among friends? We’ll gladly wait as long as we need to.
See ya on the other side when that day comes, Flutters.
-Rainbow Dash
Dear Fluttershy,
This letter is from Rarity, if you can believe that. I know last you saw me I was dying, but I hope you will believe this letter comes from me all the same.
I know you are hurting, Fluttershy. The guilt you feel is much like my own. I look out into ruins of the world every day and ask myself why I wasn’t able to prevent it all. But you must understand, guilt is far more complicated than simply what poor decisions we’ve made. It also has a lot to do with intention.
We all tried to end the war. We all failed in the end, but we can at least look back on our mistakes and say that they were, in fact, mistakes. We weren’t bad ponies, trying to spread death and destruction wherever we could, and neither were you. You might consider yourself the one who doomed us all, but that is simply not true.
There is no reason to be ashamed of misplaced trust. There is nothing wrong with wanting the believe in the best of others. Perhaps you should have waited for a second opinion, but did I or any of your friends offer you the chance to receive one? We are just as responsible. The blame for the end of the war does not lie squarely on you, Fluttershy.
I forgive you. We all forgive you. So please, dear Fluttershy, try to forgive yourself. The world has no more room for loathing and hatred, even if it’s directed at oneself. What it needs now is more kindness. Kindness that you can offer to the world, even if it’s just offering hope to others by simply living.
So please, live on. Live on so that my death wasn’t in vain. I don’t blame you for my untimely demise, but I shall have some strong words to say if you try to join us before your time comes! You have been given the gift of a chance to make a difference, and I hope that you will take full advantage of it.
Take care of yourself, Fluttershy. As long as you hold my statuettes, I will be there to comfort your dreams.
Sincerely yours,
-Rarity
Hi Fluttershy,
It’s me, Pinkie Pie. Yeah, I’m sending you a letter from beyond the grave because I figured you’d appreciate it if I didn’t show up to haunt you face to face.
I hope I managed to make you smile there. I know how hard it is for you to smile after everything. I’m sorry that I can’t be there and hug you, but I want you to know that I am with you all the same. I’m always here, hoping against hope that I’ll see your soft, calm, and beautiful smile again some day. But don’t you go smiling just for the sake of smiling. I know a fake one when I see it. What I want more than anything is for you to be happy again.
That might sound like I’m asking a lot, but I know you can do it. You’ve always been so much stronger than you seem. I still remember the fire in your eyes whenever that strength came out. I know that strength is still there. It’s probably very weak right now, but it’s there. And I know that once you get it together, you’ll use it and try to make the world a better place.
So I’m not going to asking you to stay strong. I know you will. I’m asking you to remember that it’s OK to be happy again. Things are getting better. Equestria’s future looks bright. Our mistakes are starting to be undone. There is plenty to be happy about, Fluttershy. Don’t think you don’t deserve to smile.
So go and find something to be happy about. And don’t worry about us. Seeing you up and moving, doing what you do best, will be the single greatest thing you can do for us. I have a party all planned out for when we meet again, but that’s one party I’ll be happy to keep putting off for as long as possible.
Have a happy rest of your life, Fluttershy.
With love,
-Pinkie Pie
P.S. By the way Gummy is still around, and he’s a great listener if you need someone to talk to. Just thought you’d like to know.
Hey Fluttershy,
Applejack here. I’m hoping you’ve read several of the other’s letters by now, so you know it’s really me.
I know how you feel right now. You feel like the whole world is looking at you and saying that everything wrong in the world is your fault. It seems like nopony is willing to forgive you, and you don’t deserve it anyway. You know I’ve always been an honest pony, so believe me when I say that everything I just described is a load of horseapples.
I can name a lot of things wrong in the world that you had nothing to do with. In fact, I can name several things wrong in the world that you helped get rid of. Do you remember when you tried to ease the pain of others during the war? How many lives you saved as things got worse? You’ve always been a kind pony, Fluttershy. The war never took that away from you, and I reckon these long years haven’t taken it away either.
You’re not a bad pony, even if you feel like one right now. And I know that if you work up the courage to ask, the ponies around you will say they don’t think you’re a bad pony either. Everypony knows the truth about you: how you only wanted all the killing to end. And even if you don't believe them, there’s something I want you consider before you start thinking you don’t deserve to live anymore: bad ponies don’t regret their mistakes.
It takes a special kind of pony to look at what you did wrong and realize that it was a bad decision; to know you could have done better and wish you had. If you can look into the mirror and be honest about your mistakes, then it’s a sign you have hope yet for forgiveness.
So be honest with yourself, Fluttershy. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you did worse things than you actually did. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way, and I don’t want to see you learn it that way too.
There’s a lot more I’d like to say, but I don’t want this poor mare’s hoof to fall off writing it down. And I think the rest can wait until we see each other again. So I guess I’ll see you around, Fluttershy. Keep being that kind mare I remember.
-Applejack
Fluttershy,
It’s us, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo’s here too, but she’s still kind of out of it.
That said, she wants you to know just how sorry we are. We all do. We never really connected to you as well as we should have when we had the chance. Maybe then we could have paid you back for everything you did for us.
Do you remember when you used to babysit us? That time we wandered into the Everfree Forest? The courage you showed that night was amazing. Not many ponies can march into certain danger when they’re completely terrified. But you did. You did without a moment’s hesitation once you realized where we had gone.
Courage is a funny thing. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll succeed, or that what you’re brave enough to attempt is the right thing to do, but it’s still one of those things that’s so important for ponies to do what needs to be done.
And you had the courage to turn against Equestria in the hopes of ending the war. You were so determined to save lives that you were willing to give such powerful magic to the enemy. But you know what? You gave far more to save everyone than anypony else. Even us, the ones who built the Stables.
That’s because you didn’t give up. You believed that ponies and zebras were still good on the inside. That if we could just let go of our hatred and need to vengence everything would turn out alright. The three of us just threw in the towel and said that everything in the world was wrong and needed to change.
And in the end, you were right. When ponies let go of their fear and despair, they came together and saved the world. You may blame yourself for everything that went wrong, but even with your mistakes, you were the one who was right all along.
So don’t you go beating yourself up like Scootaloo did. The only thing you did wrong was trusting the wrong zebras. You still cared about everyone even as we were destroying each other. And as long as you keep caring, you’ll be able to keep helping others. And we know that you will.
Take care of yourself Fluttershy,
-Apple Bloom & Sweetie Belle.
Dear Fluttershy,
It’s me, Twilight Sparkle.
I’m certain you've been hearing time and time again how you shouldn’t blame yourself. I’m going to say it as well, but I also know how hard it is to accept that. So please let me tell you about my own problems for bit.
I’ve spent the last two hundred years as part of a mess that was only making things worse. And while I bear guilt for my actions during the war, I also bear a fair amount of guilt for my actions as part of that collective conscious. I wasn’t the primary mind, so a lot of what happened wasn’t my decision, in a way. But could I have done more? Could I have convinced the mare in charge do better? Now that we’re both free she’s insisted that I never could have, but I’m still not sure if she’s just saying that because of her own guilt.
And that guilt is what I want to talk about. Guilt may feel like a terrible thing, but that’s because guilt is the acknowledgement that we made mistakes that had consequences. It’s the feeling of being disappointed in ourselves. To feel guilt is to know that we could have done better, but didn’t. But here’s the thing: just because we feel guilty about something doesn’t mean it could have been helped.
Could I have done more during the war? Yes. Could I have done more as part of that mess of Alicorns? Not likely. And yet, to me it feels as if both crimes are of equal guilt. But are they? I don’t know. And neither does anyone else. Here I am, dead, and yet I still have no idea what lies beyond, or why I’m going where I am, or if I even deserve it.
And that’s what I want you to take away from this letter, Fluttershy. We both know mortal ponies are unfit to judge the souls of other mortals. What we tend to forget is that this includes our own souls. You cannot judge yourself with any level of clarity. And as a fellow mortal, I say that your crimes are forgivable. The blame you throw onto yourself is no more “official” than my forgiveness.
So don’t blame yourself, Fluttershy. Look at your mistakes and try to do better. And I know you will. You don’t have to be a scholar to be able to learn from yourself. You just need to be able to acknowledge when you did something wrong. And if you can feel guilt, it’s a clear sign that you can learn.
Take care, Fluttershy. I’ll see you again in the next world.
Your friend,
-Twilight Sparkle