//------------------------------// // The Last Birdsong // Story: For All That We Have Lost // by Darkswirl //------------------------------// And finally there's Fluttershy... Her passing hurt me the most, because of how fragile and innocent she was. All she ever wanted to do was care for those that could not... - "T-Thank you for coming, Twilight..." Fluttershy whispered. "I hope it wasn't any trouble..." "Fluttershy..." Twilight said softly. "Nothing you could ever do or ask would ever cause any trouble." "Oh, OK...Uhm...I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Twilight..." Fluttershy squeaked, not wanting her friend to be mad at her in her final hour. Resting her snout next to the yellow mare's, Twilight smiled sadly and comforted her. "I'm sorry too, Fluttershy, but I should have known you wouldn't have listened to me. You care about everypony too much to even look out for your own safety." "Oh, b-but I should have known a changeling wouldn't be too fond of a pegasus, especially after what happened in Canterlot..." Fluttershy reasoned. "You had no way of knowing exactly, Fluttershy. You tried to help, and that was all that mattered." Twilight said. After the failed invasion of Canterlot and the resulting anti-changeling spell, Fluttershy had been returning home and stumbled across a wounded changeling. Trying her best to help the poor creature, she approached it and received a vicious bite to her hoof. Who knew changelings were poisonous? As she lay in her little cottage, tucked warmly into bed with Twilight and her animals gathered around her, Fluttershy began to cry. "I'm so sorry I have to go, Twilight..." Fluttershy whimpered as Angel hopped up onto the bed to say goodbye. "It's alright, Fluttershy. We all have to eventually-" Twilight began, but was interrupted. "I-I'm sorry for interrupting, but I don't think I have a lot of time..." Fluttershy whimpered, hugging her bunny tightly. "Twilight...I've spent my whole life taking care of all these little critters...I wont be able to after I'm gone...Can you please find a new home for all my critters, and...And if you ever see anypony or animal hurt...Please do your best to help them. Some ponies just don't care who or what they hurt, but those are the ponies that need the help the most..." Twilight laid her head against Fluttershy's side, trying to hide her tears. The rest of the animals did the same as the final breaths of a kindred spirit were spent. I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter; it was just too incredibly painful to write. I'll make up for it in the next two chapters.