Away from the cameras, away from the chaos, Fluttershy sat in her cottage, quietly preparing a cup of tea. She didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to leave her friends in a spot like this. But despite her best efforts, Fluttershy found herself unwilling to go through another Grand Galloping Gala. In fact, she had just about enough of repeats all together. So when Rainbow Dash came over to get her earlier that morning, she told her fellow pegasus companion that she would be sitting this gala out, and as much as she could try, Rainbow Dash was unable to change Fluttershy’s mind. It wasn’t as if the timid pegasus wanted to abandon her friends, or her wonderful fans, she had told Dash. It was just that a shy pony like her, she reasoned, can only be pushed so far in the number of times she had to be enraged for the episode.
Fluttershy began to feel really guilty over putting her friends in a rough spot. So before Rainbow Dash left, she asked her to fetch two of her other friends over and invite them over to her cottage for some tea. She thought it would be helpful if she had some company over for some tea to help calm her down and cheer her up. Fluttershy knew that her fellow Elements of Harmony would be busy destroying the gala, so instead she called upon a couple of other good friends to help her out.
It was about an hour since Rainbow departed. Fluttershy was busy setting the table when a knock came at her front door. The yellow pegasus glided over to the front door and opened it, thrilled to see her two friends standing outside.
“Gilda! Trixie!” Fluttershy shouted. “I’m glad you came over. Come in!”
“No problem, Fluttershy!" Trixie said. "Rainbow Dash said you were feeling a little down, so the least we could do is keep you company.”
Gilda nodded in agreement. "By the way, I wanted to apologize again for hurting your feelings" the griffon added.
"Gilda, you don't have to keep apologizing for that," Fluttershy smiled. "I already forgave you after the first time. Anyway, I had some tea on and it's just about ready now."
The guests made their way inside her cottage, making themselves comfortable on her sofa as she began to serve the tea. Fluttershy smiled as she remembered how the three of them became friends, despite the fact that they still had to act like antagonists on the show.
Trixie never really talked to anypony else the first few times she showed up for the 'Boast Busters' episode. However, to help break the monotony of repeating the story, Trixie began to engage in some small talk with some of the other ponies, including her supposed nemesis, Twilight Sparkle. As it turned out, the two unicorns had a lot to talk about since they both shared magic as their special talent. After befriending Twilight, it was only a matter of time before Trixie was accepted by the rest of the group, although Trixie did have to endure a revenge roping by Applejack before she came around herself.
In Gilda's case, it all went back to the very first run-through of 'Griffon the Brush Off', specifically the scene where she roared at Fluttershy. Gilda wanted to make a good impression on the scene, so she held nothing back at the roar which had, of course, left Fluttershy running away in tears. As she saw her fleeing, Gilda wondered if she had gone too far. During the following break, she sought out Fluttershy in order to explain herself and apologized to her and everypony else for the way she acted. Even though the apologies were accepted, Gilda still felt a twinge of guilt every time she had to play her part. After all, it's not easy to keep being the one to make Fluttershy cry. She could understand the urge to sit a story out, but Gilda would have never guessed that the normally shy pony would be the one to actually go through with it first.
“So you really are sitting out the story.” Gilda the Griffin chuckled. “I couldn’t believe it when Dash told me. What, are you playing hooky, or something? I never thought you were the rebellious type.”
“Oh, I’m not rebelling, Gilda.” Fluttershy explained. “I just need to take a break from the reruns.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense. Everypony needs to take a break once in a while.” Trixie said, taking a sip of her tea. “What episode were you supposed to do today, anyway? Was it the one with Iron Will?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “We’re supposed to do the Grand Galloping Gala again today.”
Gilda groaned. “Not the 'You’re going to love me' episode again. No wonder you’re skipping!”
“I know I really should go through with it, but I simply can’t put myself in that situation again!” Fluttershy admitted as her mind replayed scenes not just from 'The Best Night Ever', but from 'Putting Your Hoof Down', 'Griffon the Brush Off', 'Ponyville Confidential', and 'Hurricane Fluttershy'. The scenes that pushed the meek pegasus to her mental and emotional limit. Anymore pushing like that, then I might crack for good, Fluttershy thought to herself,
Fluttershy sighed. “I don’t have the energy to put up with all this anymore. Oh, I hope the girls understand that I just need to get away from it all.”
“I know what you mean, Fluttershy” Gilda said. “I mean, I’m having trouble trying to pretend I really hate you guys in my story.”
Trixie nodded in agreement. “And trust me when I say that the 'Great and Powerful Trixie' is close to being all boasted out. Besides," Trixie sighed, "I’ve seen enough Ursas to last me a lifetime.”
“Well if you want my opinion, Fluttershy, I think we all deserve a little R&R from doing these repeats,” Gilda said, putting her teacup down.
“You do remember what Pinkie Pie said about why we’re doing it in the first place, right?” Trixie pointed out.
Gilda rolled her eyes. “It’s all for the fans. We owe it to them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. Yeah, I know what she said!”
“Which brings up the 25,000 bit question. How are you going to break it to Pinkie that you want to take a break from the repeats, Fluttershy?” Trixie asked.
“I don’t know yet.” Fluttershy sadly admitted. “I’ll try to figure out something though.”
The conversation continued for a while, as the three friends continued to enjoy the tea, as well as each other’s company. Their peace came to a crashing halt when Fluttershy’s door suddenly broke open. The noise startled Fluttershy as she nearly dropped her tea cup to the floor. She turned to her front door to see who made the sudden entrance.
Standing at her door were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were not alone however. Standing right beside them were two other fillies. One of which was Silver Spoon, and she was trying to comfort her friend, Diamond Tiara who was crying hysterically, her head buried in her hooves.
“We have a problem, Fluttershy.” Sweetie Belle reported.
“What’s going on, girls?” Fluttershy asked.
Diamond Tiara lowered her hooves to display the sore red spot on her right cheek. “Apple Bloom hit me!” the filly sobbed.
“Ah did not!” Apple Bloom shouted.
“You did so! We all saw it!” Scootaloo argued.
Fluttershy went into referee mode as she tried to break up the argument. “Now hold on girls. Don't fight!" She turned to the fifth filly in the group. "Silver Spoon? What happened?” she asked.
“Well, you know how long it takes for Diamond to get back into acting like a bully?” Silver Spoon explained. “Well, she was practicing for our next story, when Apple Bloom came in. She thought Diamond wasn’t acting so she started yelling. Diamond tried to apologize, but Apple Bloom said ‘I don’t believe you’ and she hit her.”
Fluttershy turned to the accused filly.
“Is that true, Apple Bloom?” Fluttershy asked.
“But… she was still calling me a blank flank!” Apple Bloom said, desperately trying to defend her actions.
“I was only pretending!” Diamond Tiara sobbed.
Sweetie Belle turned to her accused friend. “Come on, Apple Bloom. Diamond would never really act like that with us!”
“But Ah…Ah thought she was gonna....” Apple Bloom said softly, lowering her head in shame.
Diamond Tiara approached the remorseful filly. “Apple Bloom, I know I have to act like a jerk, but you need to know that you are the best friend a filly could ever dream of!” she sniffed. "I even Pinkie Promised that I'd never really hurt you like that! Remember?"
Apple Bloom hung her head in shame. “Ah know, Diamond. Ah’m sorry I hit ya. It’s just that for a second back there, ah thought you were becoming a bully.”
“Why would I even want to be a bully anyway!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “This isn’t fair! I know Pinkie says we still have to be enemies on the show, but you guys are all my friends!” She cast a glance at the three crusaders through tear-filled eyes. “Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? I don’t want to fight with you guys anymore! I don’t want to be a bully anymore! I... I don’t want anypony to hate me anymore!!!”
Diamond Tiara collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Silver Spoon did her best to try to comfort her, but couldn’t find any words to do so. The three crusaders looked to one another, silently asking if any one of the three had any ideas to try to cheer Diamond up. Fluttershy was on the verge of tears herself, while Trixie stood stunned, unable to offer anything in an attempt to help. It was the one non-pony in the room who speak up first.
“Hey listen, kid” Gilda began. “From one 'bully' to another, I know it’s hard to act like you hate your friends. But if you let yourself worry about what they think Diamond, it’ll only make you sad.”
“I guess you’re right.” Diamond Tiara sniffed, wiping her tears away from her eyes.
Trixie walked up to the filly, offering a small smile in reassurance. “But you know what?” The unicorn said. “It really doesn’t matter what anypony else thinks of you. In the end, it matters what your friends think of you.”
Gilda nodded. “Exactly. Take me and Fluttershy, for example. You know how mean I have to act to her in my story right? But despite that, we're still friends. She knows that I never mean to really hurt her. Right, Fluttershy?”
“Right, Gilda,” Fluttershy smiled. “And Diamond? Let me let you in on a little secret. You know how Nightmare Moon keeps showing up?”
Silver Spoon scratched her head. “I was wondering why she keeps showing up. I thought you helped her turn back into Princess Luna that first time.”
“We did,” Fluttershy said. “But those other times she’s appeared since then was't really Nightmare Moon. It was just Luna, playing pretend.”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes grew wide. “Really?"
"Yes, really." Fluttershy confirmed. Despite the fact that Nightmare Moon had long been vanquished and Princess Luna was back to normal, the schedule of repeats meant that Nightmare Moon needed to eventually reappear. In these situations, Princess Luna voluntarily became Nightmare Moon again, but it was only for the show.
"But why would she keep doing that if she’s not Nightmare Moon, anymore?” Scootaloo asked.
Trixie smirked in response. “Well, a lot of ponies won’t admit it, Diamond. But sometimes, it’s fun to pretend to be the bad guy.”
Diamond Tiara let out a small laugh. “Well, I do admit it was a little fun, but I still feel guilty about it.”
Diamond Tiara yelped in surprise as she was suddenly embraced by Silver Spoon. “Listen, Diamond. It’s just a story. Pure make believe. The Cutie Mark Crusaders wouldn’t really hate you!” she told her tiara-clad friend.
Sweetie Belle joined in on the hug. “Of course we wouldn’t! We know you don’t really mean any of that stuff.”
“Yeah! Who cares what they think!” Scootaloo said as she joined in the hug as well. “If they’ve got a problem with you, they’ll have to answer to us!”
Finally, Apple Bloom joined the other fillies in the group hug. “No matter what, you’re still our friend, Diamond. Ah’m sorry if Ah though otherwise. Ah have ta’ say though, that you really do an awesome job being a pretend bully.”
The fillies broke up the hug after a few seconds, leaving Diamond Tiara by herself, looking down at the floor, away from everypony in the room.
“Diamond?” asked a concerned Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara’s head suddenly jerked back up, her face now sporting a snobbish grin.
“Well, of course! That’s why they picked me! I am special after all!” the filly smirked. The others in the room looked on stunned as she began to pace the floor, her eyes closed and her nose stuck up in the air. “It’s not like you would understand, though. But then again, I guess having a special talent is something you BLANK FLANKS wouldn’t ever understand, huh?” she turned her head and threw a mean look to the crusaders.
Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. “Ok, maybe a little too awesome.”
Diamond Tiara giggled. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist” she smiled innocently.
“That’s it! Come here you!!!” Scootaloo shouted as she playfully tackled Diamond to the ground. Soon, the other three fillies joined in the pony pile. They ended up all on the floor in laughter, all tangled up in each other as the three grown-ups looked on.
“Aw, isn't that touching?” Fluttershy said, wiping a small tear from her eye.
“A little bit too touching if you ask me, but oh well,” Gilda shrugged.
“Well, fillies will be fillies after all,” Trixie sighed. “At any rate, I think the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ will be taking her leave now. Thanks for the tea Fluttershy! I hope we could do it again sometime!” Trixie said as she trotted towards the door.
"It was my pleasure Trixie! See you later!” Fluttershy waved as the unicorn left the cottage.
“Hey Fluttershy,” Gilda began to ask. “How about I take these fillies off your hooves for the rest of the afternoon.”
“Thanks Gilda. I would really appreciate that,” Fluttershy smiled.
“No problem!” the griffon winked. She then turned to the fillies. “Hey, whose up for some ice cream at Sugarcube Corner?”
“Me! Me! I do! I do!” The fillies shouted in excitement as they all raced out the front door with Gilda in tow, making sure they all behave themselves.
“I get to lick the spoon!” Silver Spoon shouted when they all reached outside.
“You always get to lick the spoon!” Scootaloo argued as the group raced further away from the cottage.
Fluttershy smiled at the carefree nature of the group and closed the door. A sudden thought popped into her head.
“I wonder if the bronies would even believe any of that if we ever told them,” she pondered.
After a moment’s thought, Fluttershy shrugged the question away. She began the process of cleaning up her tea cups and saucers when a sudden knock came from her front door.
“I wonder who that could be?” Fluttershy asked herself. She went over to the front door and opened it.
“Hello? Can I help…”
WHAM!
Fluttershy barely had time to react to the unicorn silhouette at her door as a piece of plywood was swung straight at her head, striking her to the ground unconscious. Fluttershy’s still form began to levitate as the assailant unicorn used her magic to place the pegasus on her back. With Fluttershy out cold, the unicorn began to take her away from her cottage, a manic smiled placed on her face.
“I’m not gonna let you miss this story, my dear Fluttershy!” the unicorn grinned. “You’ve got a song to sing!”