//------------------------------//
// Words 
// Story: Saying Goodbye 
// by Toriandthehorse 
//------------------------------//

Everyone can learn to love, with the right pony. And I’m not talking about the romantic stuff, because that’s still questionable. I’m talking about the normal kind. Some might not believe it. I know if anyone had told me that long ago, I sure wouldn’t have believed it. But now I do. And it all has to do with a beautiful yellow pony with the softest pink mane, and the gentlest eyes… I miss you, Fluttershy. 

You were the light. When I was in the dark, with a stone-cold heart, you came along and showed me the way out. You showed me trust when I wasn’t trustworthy. You showed me there was more out there for me than a life of evil. You showed me that a true friend would do anything for her friends, whether it be giving them trust or a firm voice. No pony will ever compare to the friend you were, my dear Fluttershy. 

You gave me kindness, when I deserved to go back to the stone prison. You gave me tea parties and cucumber sandwiches when I deserved to be poisoned. You gave me friendship and love when others gave me enemies and hate. You gave me the shoulder to cry on when things got to be too much. 

You brought me back. When I went off my path, you gave me your hoof until I accepted. I was at my worst, and you used that sweet, soft voice of yours to guide me into being the better me. You brought me the most happiness and peacefulness I’ve ever had, in all my moons.  

You held me together. I had been falling apart before you came along; destroying my life, my world, my heart. But then you showed me such trust, trust I didn’t deserve, and you fit the pieces back. I’m a complicated being… but you figured me out. You saw the pieces and shuffled them into a brand-new position. 

You inspired me. To be more like you. To have an extra place at the picnics already set up. To stand up for the new baby ducks when they’re crossing the street, so not one of them gets lost. To be the shoulder to cry on; and the biggest supporter at the same time. 

You understood. The secret hurt from everyone’s glares, the spark of pleasure when I remembered to wave at a random pony – and got a wave back. That underneath the attitude, there was… just me. And then you understood what you’d do to make me better. 

You let me be myself. You let me turn your house upside down, inside out, and back again, until I realized you’d like your cottage on the ground. Even then, after I apologized, you just put your hoof on my arm, and smiled that beautiful smile of yours. 

You helped me shine. Once upon a time, there was nothing but a broken soul inside an age-old draconequus. When you came along, you stitched up the cracks in your gentle ways, then lit them on fire to set me free. 

You were the reason. The reason I stayed in this land of creatures that aren’t my own. The reason I put in effort to change, to find that inner peace and light. You were the reason I laughed, and… when we had fights, the reason I cried. 

Why did you have to go, Fluttershy? Do you know how hard it was to sit by your bed, and watch you smile at me, one last time? How it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my very self when your chest rose for the final breath? I’ve never cried as much as I did yesterday. 

There were tears of anger. Anger that Death had to come for you. That I’d never see you running through your to-do list, or caring for those animals, or having picnics on that old blanket of yours, ever again. 

There were tears of shame. That I never let you see how much you mean to me. All those times that I pushed you too far, too soon, out of your comfort zone… and never apologized. The times I brushed off our friendship just to maintain an image that wasn’t there. 

There were tears of regret. I should have seen your pink hairs fading. I should have offered to do… something after you had your first fall, instead of stand back just for the fear of what might come. I should have told you to slow down; take it easy. But I didn’t. I let you grow weaker, and weaker, and weaker, until you couldn’t keep going anymore. 

There were tears of fear. Of what was going to happen, and what had happened. You had asked me to help you to your bed. I could hear your voice failing, even as you spoke, my Fluttershy. Then you fell onto the bed, and smiled at me. “It won’t be long now, Discord.” Was what you said. And then you shut your eyes, held my hand, and died. 

Then there were the tears of just plain… grief. You had been my best friend; the pony I respected and loved more than anypony else in all of Equestria. And now you were gone. Laid in a carved wooden box, and buried under an ugly gray rock in a corner of your sanctuary. 

Nothing has ever killed me like it did to sit there, feeling your hoof grow cold in my hand. I willed you to move, to tell me everything was going to be okay. But you just… stayed there. Smiling, with closed eyes that would never open again.  

There’s really nothing more I have to say. You were ten times the pony I am. You always will be. I hope you’re back with your friends now. I hope you have your animals, daily picnics on old checkered blankets, and everything that makes you happy. I will miss you, for as long as I live. Nopony could ever replace you, my sweet Fluttershy. Nopony, ever.