//------------------------------// // A tense talk about Kindness // Story: In the wake of Anon-A-Miss // by General Alduin //------------------------------// Muffled sobs came from underneath a mountain of blankets, the room awash with darkness as the blinds were closed tightly. Light came pouring in as the door was opened, Fluttershy's mother sticking her head in. “Fluttershy? I made lunch.” Came the voice of Fluttershy's mother as she looked in. “I know you’re upset about your friend, but you really should eat something.” Fluttershy only cried harder when her mother said ‘friend’, it being a harsh reminder of what she had lost. Mrs. Shy sighed and walked in, setting the plate of food down on Fluttershy's dresser and sitting on her bed. She sat there for a few moments as Fluttershy cried her heart out. “Fluttershy, can we please talk?” Fluttershy's crying quieted down ever so slightly. The bed shifted and the mountain of blankets moved as Fluttershy poked her head to meet her mother. Her face was a mess of snot and tears, her eyes red and puffy. She sniffled to try and contain herself, hiccuping as she looked up at her mother. Mrs. Shy frowned and reached for some tissues, cleaning up her daughter's face. “Sweetheart, I know you’re upset about everything that’s happened, but you’re crying like it happened yesterday.” She said as she threw the tissues to the side and got a new one. “I’m surprised you haven’t died of dehydration yet.” Fluttershy could only babble incoherently as she tried to collect herself. “I-it’s just I-I-I’m s-such a t-t-terrible p-person. I-I s-should’ve known I-I-it wasn’t S-Sunset.” After saying her friend's name, Fluttershy began bawling again, retreating back into her blanket mountain. “Sweetheart, you had pretty compelling evidence, everyone else at school thought it was her too.” She got quiet. “I even thought it was her, I even yelled at her to go away when she came to see you. Said she should stop ruining my daughter's life and befriending her was your biggest mistake…” Mrs. Shy frowned. She couldn’t believe she had said that to a young girl, even with Anon-A-Miss. “That would make me a worse person Fluttershy.” Fluttershy poked her head out again, still blubbering. “N-no, y-you were t-trying to pr-protect m-me. I-I’m the w-w-worst p-person ever, I-I d-did something horrible." Mrs. Shy doubted that. Her daughter was probably beating herself up over something minor, probably rolling her eyes at Sunset once or twice. “Fluttershy, I doubt what you did was any worse than what the rest of the school did. Didn’t your friend Rainbow Dash slap her in the face?” “I punched her actually.” Came Rainbow’s voice from the door. Mrs. Shy looked over to see an embarrassed Rainbow Dash rubbing the back of her neck. “Even back then I thought I might have gone too far.” “Oh, Rainbow Dash. We weren’t expecting to see you today.” Mrs. Shy said with a small smile. Fluttershy however just stared at Dash pitifully, tears running down her face. “Yeah, well, I decided to pay a visit.” Rainbow cringed at the scene. “Thought Flutters might want to get out of the house a bit.” Fluttershy sniffled. “I-I d-dunno Dash. I d-d-don’t think I-I’m really u-up for d-doing anything t-today.” “Ah, well, I guess that’s fine.” Rainbow Dash said walking in. “It’s just I was really excited to share some news…” she stopped a foot from Fluttershy's bed. “News about Sunset.” “W-what?” Fluttershy perked up at that. “What d-do you m-m-mean?” “Hold on there Flutters.” Rainbow Dash held a finger out. “I’m not telling you unless you hang out with me.” “D-Dash, I a-appreciate you trying to get me o-out of m-m-my house a b-bit, but I’m n-not sure if I-I won’t break down a-and embarrass you.” Fluttershy said sheepishly. “Plus, w-what if we run I-into Sunset?” “That’s the thing: Sunsets with AJ.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. Fluttershy's eyes widened and she jumped out of her bed. “W-what do you mean s-she’s with Applejack?” “I’m not telling you.” Dashes smirk grew wider. “Unless you get cleaned up and we have some fun.” Fluttershy frowned in disapproval. “I think you should go Fluttershy.” Fluttershy looked backwards to her mother. “It’ll be good for you to do something rather than cry all the time. Plus, when was the last time you two had a girls day out?” Being pressured by her friend and mother alike, Fluttershy gave a small groan of defeat. “Alright, f-fine. Just let me g-get cleaned up and p-put some Makeup o-on.” She crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a small glare. “But this better not be s-some hair brained scheme o-of yours Dash.” Rainbow held up her hands defensively. “Hey, after Anon-A-Miss, I’m taking a break from making any schemes, hair brained or otherwise.” She gave her a scrutinizing glare before walking out of her room and to the bathroom. “This isn’t a scheme right?” Mrs. Shy asked getting off the bed. “She’ll probably feel worse if you don’t actually have any news.” “Do I really seem that untrustworthy?” Rainbow said with an annoyed huff. The entire restaurant was quiet for a full minute, nobody saying anything as the two girls stared at each other. Sunsets face softened and she looked away from Applejack. Her face became crimson and she cleared her throat and lifted her hands. “Sorry everybody, so sorry, me and my friend are just having a… heated discussion. Just go back to your lunches, there’s nothing to see here.” Sunset gave a nervous smile before sitting down and lowering her head, hiding her face behind one of her hands. “I can’t believe I just did that… Look, I’m sorry for yelling at you, but I’m tired of everyone giving that bitch a free pass just because she’s all cute and shy.” Applejack recoiled when Sunset described Fluttershy as a ‘bitch’. Sunset never used that kind of language, especially when describing her friends. “A-Ah just… why… this doesn’t… huh?” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you heard right. I hate Fluttershy. Pretty insane twist huh?” “A-Ah just don’t understand. Ah thought for certain yah and RD were going to have the most… issues.” “And we are, as my friend. Me and Rainbow, as friends, will have a lot of issues we need to sort out.” Sunset crossed her arms. “But I want nothing to do with… her.” Applejack just stared at Sunset dumbfounded. She couldn’t think of any possible reason Sunset would have such burning hate for Fluttershy. She opened her mouth to ask why but was interrupted when a squat, slightly overweight Italian man with brown hair and a funny mustache came up to their table. “Ah, excuse’a me.” He asked in a thick Italian accent. The girls looked over, Sunsets blush returning when they saw the man’s name tag said ‘Mario’. “Is something the matter sir?” “I was’a told there was some kind of’a commotion over here.” The man said. “Is everything alright'a?” Sunsets blush deepened. “Y-yes, everything is fine.” “We were just having a tense discussion when Ah said something that made my friend angry.” “I’m sorry for any inconvenience, we can leave if you want.” Sunset offered sheepishly. “Just as long as you promise to not’a do it again you can stay.” “I promise sir.” Sunset nodded feverishly. “There won’t be any more problems. Sorry again.” With that, Mario nodded and walked off. Sunset groaned and face planted against the table. “I can’t believe I freaked out in a restaurant two days in a row. At this rate, I’ll be banned from every restaurant in the city within the year.” “Are yah sure yah can keep a lid on that temper of yers? Ah still want to talk about what’s going on between yah and Fluttershy.” Sunset lifted her face to look at Applejack with an annoyed glare. “Ok fine, but if we get kicked out don’t blame me.” She lifts her body off the table and sits up. “And before you ask, no, I don’t hate her because I was in love with her or anything. I wasn’t attracted to any of you girls like that.” “Well, that wasn’t going to be my first guess per se.” Applejack said while giving Sunset an odd look. “Was it because she wasn’t kind when we were accusing you?” “She was pretty subdued compared to the rest of you when that happened, so no. Dash was the one that probably best betrayed her element, though you could argue she was being loyal to all of you. Fluttershy doesn’t have that kind of excuse, especially with… what she did.” Sunsets glare hardened. Applejack tilted her head. “What did she-” “Applejack.” Sunset snapped. “We’ve been on speaking terms for barely an hour, please don’t ruin it.” Sunset huffed. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready.” Applejack sat quietly for a few seconds. “Alright, Ah don’t want to make you uncomfortable... or mad Ah guess.” Sunset sighed and her glare disappeared. “Sorry, I shouldn’t yell at you like that. I get why you want to know what happened but I’m just… not comfortable talking about her. Whenever I think about what happened, I can’t decide whether to start bawling or break a freaking window.” Applejack didn’t respond, merely grabbing Sunset's hands and squeezing them lightly. “Ah know this probably isn’t what yah want to hear, but whatever happened between the two of yah, it can be fixed.” “No, it can’t.” Sunset shook her head. “But I understand why you would say that, and I won’t hold it against you if you continue being friends with her. Just keep her far away from me and don’t try to force a confrontation between us.” “Ah won’t force you into anything yer not ready for.” Applejack nodded and gave a small smile. “Me and the girls will progress at the pace yer comfortable with, though we wouldn’t mind if it said pace was a little fast.” “I bet you girls would.” Sunset laughed. “We’ll see Jackie. I have my up days and my down days.” Applejack's breath hitched. Sunset just called her Jackie. She hadn’t done that since Anon-A-Miss started and hadn’t expected to hear it from her so early. She told herself not to get used to it, like Sunset said, she’d probably feel different about Applejack day to day. Finally the waitress returned and placed bread on the table, filling up a small plate with oil and herbs. “Well I don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired with having emotional conversations for the time being." She grabbed a piece of bread. "Let's eat." Applejack smiled and did the same. "That's the best thing you've said all day." The two pushed their respective pieces together like they were toasting each other and began chowing down.