It had been some time after her encounter with Iron Will. And it was because of her encounter with him and the incident with Discord that made her Pinkie Promise she wouldn't be cruel to anyone anymore. The last time she would act like that was at the Royal Wedding, but she swore that was the last time. Right now, Fluttershy was treating her animals when she heard a knock at the door.
"Hmm? I wonder who that could be." said Fluttershy as she went to the front door and saw Derpy flying right there with a sad look on her face.
"Oh, Ditzy Doo?! What's wrong?" asked a now worried Fluttershy, only for Derpy to hand her a letter and fly off. Fluttershy was now really confused until she saw the front of the letter and realized that the writing on the front of it was her mother own hoofwriting. She got really curious now. Her mother was a caretaker at Canterlot while her father was one of Celestia's best royal guards. She opened the letter and read it.
Dear my beloved daughter Fluttershy,
If you're reading this, then both me and your father are now in the great pony land in the sky, where all ponies go after they have passed on. Your father was in a war, which has by now ended, with the Griffon Kingdom and he lost his life saving one of the griffons. It was because of him that ponies and griffons are now allies, but when I heard from Princess Celestia that your father was gone, I slipped into a deep depression.
I kept trying to live life without him and I kept your father's tragedy a secret from you until the time was right, but looks like I can't wait any longer. My doctors apparently have told me that I have severe brain cancer and that I would die soon after I've written this letter to you. But I refused to let the doctors tell you of what has happened to me because I wanted you to have a great life without either me or your father at your side.
I know you and your friends have done so much for all of Equestria and from what the princess told me, you even saved this great land from it becoming a land of chaos, even though you were cruel for some time, I don't blame you. But that incident gave me an idea for one last gift for you. And I have no idea when Princess Celestia will have it ready, but I know she'll have it ready for you. Please except it knowing it's the last gift from your beloved mother.
At any rate, I don't have much strength left to keep on writing. Alas, my vision is becoming blurry. Just know dear Fluttershy that I love you with all my heart and I hope I'll see you again.
Love,
Your dear mother
Fluttershy was, at this point, crying so much that she could barely even see the words of the letter. All of her animals were now curious, even Angel Bunny.
"N-No...it can't be true! It just can't be true!" shouted Fluttershy as she ran up stairs to her room. She closed the door behind her and then threw herself onto her bed and cried into her pillow. She remembered her entire life with her parents before she came to Ponyville. Her mother was always there for her when she was sad after a day at flight school. Her father always made sure to spend time with her and sometimes even brought gifts for her. The fact that both of them were gone now made her very sad. Angel came into the room after some time, very worried about Fluttershy. He hopped onto her bed and tapped her shoulder.
"Leave me alone..." said Fluttershy. Angel was persistent though and kept trying to get Fluttershy up. However, Fluttershy suddenly got up and had a mad look in her eye.
"I said...LEAVE ME ALONE!" yelled Fluttershy as she suddenly bucked Angel right into her mirror, causing it to fall down and the glass shattered all over the floor. Angel luckily didn't get cut, but he looked at Fluttershy with a frightened look and ran out of the room as Fluttershy realized what she just did.
"Oh my...what have I done?" said Fluttershy was she collapsed back onto her bed and cried some more. She had never felt more sad in her life. She had also broken a Pinkie Promise. She was even considering ending it all right now. But she can't. What would her friends think if she ended her life right here? They would all be depressed with what happened to her and may even break apart. Rainbow Dash probably would be too sad to even try to become a Wonderbolt anymore. Rarity wouldn't go to the spa anymore and may even let her look become horrible. Applejack probably wouldn't buck apples anymore and would have so much trouble with rounding animals if Winona got hurt and she wasn't there to help heal her. Pinkie Pie may stop having parties and even be too depressed to even smile ever again. And Twilight would probably go psycho trying to bring her back and even be taken to a crazy house. All of Ponyville and a lot of Equestria would be affected so much if she was gone. But she was in so much pain and she couldn't do anything about it. It's not fair! Why did her parents have to leave her like that!? It's just not fair!
"Fluttershy?" asked a unknown voice, but what startled Fluttershy was the fact that this voice sounded just like her own. She raised her tear soaked face up and turned it to the source of the voice and suddenly saw...herself? But it was her when she was under Discord's influence. She was looking right at herself, except the her she was looking at was completely gray, except for her eyes, which were the same color as her own for some reason. That didn't matter though because seeing her discorded self, which she simply called "Fluttercruel", made her anger reach a boiling point.
"WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?" yelled Fluttershy at her discorded self, making Fluttercruel surprisingly flinch. She then looked back at Fluttershy with, for some strange reason, a look of concern on her face.
"Fluttershy, I-I'm not sure myself how I'm even here, but...this is not like you." said Fluttercruel, only for Fluttershy to fly right into her face with her face red with anger.
"WHY ARE YOU COMPLAINING!? I'M ACTING THE WAY YOU'D WANT ME TOO, RIGHT!? SO WHY ARE YOU-" Fluttershy was suddenly cut off by a punch to her face from Fluttercruel, who suddenly realized what she did as Fluttershy looked back at Fluttercruel, blood coming from her now possibly-broken nose, with an even more angry look. She was about to charge again when Fluttercruel suddenly grabbed her.
"Fluttershy, even though I'm cruel myself, you're not! Think about what you're doing!" yelled Fluttercruel, causing Fluttershy to freeze as her eyes dilated to the size of a needle as she realized what she's been doing. She's been taking her own anger out on others who had nothing to do with what happened. Tears started to form in Fluttershy's eyes again, but suddenly felt a hoof under her chin, which raised her head up so she'd be looking right at Fluttercruel's face, which had a worried look.
"Fluttershy...I'm sure I'm hear for a reason...and I think it's to help comfort you about whatever is wrong with you...even though that's not normally my thing...but seeing you for some reason like this makes me hurt on the inside..." said Fluttercruel, surprising Fluttershy greatly as Fluttercruel suddenly brought Fluttershy into a comforting hug. To Fluttershy, it felt like a hug from...a family member?
"Come on Fluttershy...just let it all out and then let me know what's wrong." said Fluttercruel, encouraging Fluttershy to cry to her hearts content, which she did. And Fluttershy no longer care if her discorded self was the the one she was being hugged by now, she needed the comfort of anypony right now as she cried her innocent heart out, letting all the anger, sadness, and pain out. And Fluttercruel didn't leave her during the entire time as the gray pegasus continued to wonder why she was even here and now another pony. She had one idea though, but she needed to wait before confirming her suspicions. After a good 10-12 minutes, Fluttershy's crying softened into small sobs and then near-silent sniffs before eventually stopping all together. By now, Fluttercruel's entire shoulder and back was wet, but she didn't care. She decided now was the time to see what had caused all this. Before she could even ask, Fluttershy suddenly slipped out of her grasp, slowly trotted over to the bed, and grabbed the letter on it and handed it to Fluttercruel, who slowly read it over three times, once to see what was on it and twice to see if she wasn't seeing things. Her mouth nearly dropped to the floor from what she saw.
"Fluttershy...I-I had no idea...and from the way you were feeling, I guess you were very close to them?" asked Fluttercruel, earning a silent nod from Fluttershy, who looked to once again be on the verge of tears at the mention of the mention of 'them' as Fluttercruel put the letter down. Her suspicions were confirmed and she now knew why she was also here.
"Fluttershy, I think I now know two reason why I'm here." said Fluttercruel, causing Fluttershy to look up at her.
"One reason I may be here is that Celestia must have sensed your sadness and made me come back and appear here to try and comfort you and my second reason, which I got from reading that letter...is that I'm that gift your mother wanted you to have." said Fluttercruel, causing Fluttershy to gasp. Fluttercruel expected to get a flurry of all sorts of things from Fluttershy as she closed her eyes and waited for it to happen. However, she never got it and she curiously opened her eyes, only to find Fluttershy standing right there in front of her...with a smile on her face?
"Fluttercruel...oh, is it alright if I call you that?" asked Fluttershy shyly, causing Fluttercruel to have the tiniest of smiles, knowing Fluttershy's true nature was back as she nodded.
"In that case, Fluttercruel, if you really are the last thing my mother wanted...well...would you mind if I call you...my, ummmm.....sister?" asked Fluttershy. Now it was Fluttercruel's time to look shocked. However, her shocked face suddenly turned into a small smile as she then realized that she was being given another chance to live in peace with the other ponies of Equestria, this time she could do it...as Fluttershy's sister. She already felt like she was family to Fluttershy and she knew that Fluttershy felt the same way.
"...Only if you don't mind if I call you sister as well." said Fluttercruel finally, letting Fluttershy happily squeal and hug Fluttercruel, who returned it as both had tears coming down their face. Only these were tears of joy instead. Fluttercruel knew she was not acting like she was first created to be like, but now she didn't care. Fluttershy needed someone to be there for her and she considered herself lucky she was the one who was given the chance to do just that and be a family with the shy pony. The hug between the two ponies who were now sisters only ended when Fluttershy yawned. Only now did pegasi realize that Luna's moon was high in the sky. Fluttercruel picked up Fluttershy and laid her down in bed before going towards the door.
"Wait!" Fluttershy suddenly called towards Fluttercruel who looked back at Fluttershy with another concerned face.
"I know this sounds weird...but can you tell me a story just for tonight?" asked Fluttershy, earning a smile from Fluttercruel as she then flew back over to the bed and sat down on the side of it.
"Okay...sis'. I do have one story in my head that is related to what you've kind of been through and it involves your friend Rainbow Dash. It's called 'My Little Dashie'. Our story begins in a run down town..." said Fluttercruel as she told the story from her heart to Fluttershy, who listened with a smile on her face. After about a half hour of talking, Fluttercruel neared the end of the story as she was crying herself from her own story.
"...For myself. For my little Dashie. The end...Fluttershy?" asked Fluttercruel as she finished the story and wiped tears from her eyes before looking at Fluttershy and found that she was fast asleep. Fluttercruel simply smiled and started to get back up, only to feel a tug. She looked underneath the bed sheet and saw that Fluttershy was cutely holding her own tail like a young foal holding a stuffed animal while it sleeps. Fluttercruel's smile grew as she decided to the one thing that came to her mind. She got under the covers and held Fluttershy close to her.
"Good night sister...I...I love you." said Fluttercruel as she softly kissed the top of Fluttershy's head before closing her eyes, though she swore she saw a small smile on Fluttershy's face before going to sleep and entering her very first dream. Both of them knew the next day would probably be full of many things, but as long as the two were together, they would face it together...as a family. Outside, a white alicorn and a smaller blue alicorn looked at the two ponies and had a smile on their own faces, proud of what they had done and even considered actually thanking Discord for bringing this version of Fluttershy into reality, because now Fluttercruel and Fluttershy were now sisters thanks to them. The two flew back to Canterlot, their job done and the promise they made to Fluttershy's mother kept. After they did, a radio that both pegasi forget to turn off began to play a special song.
So here I am with my thoughts of you
And this world I've left for me
Stoic faces when I think of you
And how I once believed
So now you call me, but you know I won't let you through
I've myself to decieve
So leave the memories alone
I don't want to see
The way it is, as to how it used to be
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing
And I'll hold you here in my memory
So I find me in your garden now
A sad smile for the scene
And all the flowers that we planted now
Taken by the weeds
But in my minds eye, you know they still bloom for me
They stand tall there, in that summer breeze
Leave the memories alone
I don't want to see
The way it is, as to how it used to be
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing
And I'll just hold you here in my memory
In my memory, yeah
So leave the memories alone
I don't want to see
The way it is, as to how it used to be
Leave the memories alone, don't change a thing
And I'll hold you in my memory, yeah
You'll never change
You'll never change
You'll never change
You will never change
Yeaaaaaaaahh
Fluttershy had woken up just in time to hear the song and silently cried tears of joys, now with the thought that her parents will always be with her in her memories before falling back into a peaceful sleep in the arms of her sister.