Something to Remember me by

by ChaoticHarmony

So That you Know I'm Still Here

The sun rose from its hiding place under the horizon, pushing away the darkness that shrouded the land. Each of the rays sliced away the night with ease, spreading into the world a brilliance that was only obtainable in the early hours, the time when there were few to witness it. The few that were awake watched with wondering eyes as the silver moon quickly retreated, drawing behind it the blackness as if it were simply a blanket that hung over the land of Equestria.

One of these ponies was sitting outside on the soft grass a small distance from the trickling stream that flowed beside her home. Her butter-yellow hooves were only just submerged in the clear liquid that flowed smoothly around them. Her soft hums barely triumphed over the gentle babbling of the water, providing a melody that danced around the tempo of the stream. Birds of every size fluttered around her and sang along to the song that whispered through the small blades of grass, each of their melodies blending into and setting themselves apart from hers.

As the song faded into nothingness, Fluttershy looked around at all of the birds that twittered at her from all sides. “Thank you, my friends. That was… nice.” Directing her gaze upward, Fluttershy watched in a deep, thoughtful way as the sun’s light finally pushed the entirety of the moon’s darkness under the horizon. “Nice.” She repeated simply, allowing a soft sigh to escape her lips before pulling her hooves out of the water to dry them on the fluffy towel that she had taken with her. It had been a gift, given to her a few years ago, from her old friend Rarity, the Element of Generosity and one of her best friends, not to mention one of the most-successful clothing designers of Canterlot.

Normally, the shy pegasus was hidden away inside at this hour, tending to her animal friends before braving the outside world. Today, however, was special. She spread her wings and stood, stretching her muscles that had remained immobile for so long that morning. Her soft groan penetrated the chirping of the birds, causing them to fall silent and stare at her with curious eyes. She followed their silence with one of her own; allowing it to remain undisturbed as she merely looked at the scenery that surrounded her. One of her oldest bird-friends hopped over to her, pushing his head against her leg and twittering nervously.

She patted the anxious creature lightly, smiling down at its worried eyes. “Oh, it’s okay, Birdly.” If birds could frown, then Birdly’s mouth would be turned down at nearly ninety degree angles. Fluttershy merely giggled at the creature as it pecked at her back, attempting to draw out the source of the preoccupation that hovered over her mind. “No, really, I’m fine.” The bird merely looked at her and cawed skeptically before flying away. The silence suddenly exploded with the sounds of what seemed to be thousands of wings as the flock of birds took to the skies. Another sigh found its way out of her mouth, this time filled with sadness rather than contentment.

She glanced over her shoulder at the birds as she stepped along the path that lead up to her cottage, finding herself eager to turn and take flight as well. She smiled sadly and continued walking, her hooves making soft thumps in the ground as they impressed their shapes into the dirt. Her door stood in front of her, smelling faintly of the fruit that the wood’s origin had once borne on drooping branches. It was a beautiful thing. On its hard surface was her name, carved in beautiful flowing letters. She remembered Applejack and her family as they presented the gift to her, urging her to accept it on the day before they moved to the struggling settler-town of Appaloosa in order to assist their family there.

After a moment of silent admiration, in which she ran her hoof across the carved letters that were set deep into the wood, she pushed into her home and allowed the door to swing shut behind her with a snap. Her hooves clicked on the floorboards as she walked over to the animal feed that was hidden away under the staircase. She called the animals softly with a small tune, pouring the small pellets into a few different bowls as the different creatures scurried into her cottage. “Good morning, everyone.” She smiled at all of her friends before turning to put the feed back where it belonged.

A loud, incessant tapping greeted her as she emerged from the cupboard. She hovered into the kitchen, where the sound was originating from, and looked down to find Angel Bunny tapping his rather large foot on the smooth tiles. She chuckled at her oldest friend’s stubbornness and took down a salad that had been resting on the top of the dining table. “Okay, Angel Bunny, here you go; a nice, special salad just for you!” As she set the dish on the floor, the white rabbit reached up and grabbed her hoof, pulling her closer to him as he looked deeply into her eyes. Another sigh worked its way up into her throat until she quashed the urge to release it. “I’m fine Angel, really.”

The accusing beads of black were further obscured by white as the bunny squinted at her, his eyes seeming to say ”I’m not stupid, Fluttershy.” The tiny paw brushed lightly against her cheek, the eyes now asking her a question that she couldn’t answer. She shook her head at the ball of white fur and turned away, hiding the sudden upwelling of tears that appeared in her eyes.

Everyone is concerned about me, but I can’t tell them what’s wrong. A feeling of helplessness filled her to the core as she stepped around the animals that nibbled on the food that she had set out for them. Wiping a hoof over her eyes in an attempt to clear her misty vision, the yellow pegasus flew up the staircase and into her room. Once seated upon the soft covers of her bed, she reached over and grasped a worn picture frame that stood on the nightstand. The faces that were frozen on the paper looked up towards her from a different time. A different life.

Twilight Sparkle, the first to leave Ponyville to study abroad in the outlying territories of Equestria, had been rendered nearly incoherent with tears as she pulled out a piece of paper which no doubt had a farewell speech written on it and began reading. Eventually, the studious unicorn had simply tossed the words aside and gathered the other five of them into a large hug. Her last words echoed up into Fluttershy’s mind, sounding as they had on that day. ”I’m going to miss you. All of you. Thank you so much for those gifts you all gave me. Thanks to them, I’ll never ever forget you guys.”

The socially-challenged pony had given them a gift in turn, each of them receiving a large book that had Twilight’s Cutie Mark as a cover image. On its pages stood not text, but pictures; pictures transferred from the librarian’s mind and imposed onto the white paper. All of her memories in Ponyville, both the good and the not-so-good, were magically pressed into the paper better than any kind of ink could do. The leather-bound book, now slightly yellow with age, stood tall on the top of her bookshelf, where anypony could see it.

Fluttershy looked up to the oversized book, the border of it wavering in her vision.

Pinkie Pie had been the second to leave the small town, the pink pony being tasked to run the Royal Kitchen in Canterlot. Throwing a party in a manner quite like her usual self, excepting the small sad smile that replaced the ordinarily bubbly one, the earth pony raised their spirits above the sadness of the occasion. Each of them had also given her a gift, something for her to remember them by, though the pony’s uncanny ability to remember all the things about her friends would probably strike such a need for an item. However, the excitable earth pony accepted the gifts with, well, excitement. The party pony’s last words also sounded as if they were shouted shrilly merely minutes ago. ”Oh, thanks you guys! I bet I can make a nice little shelf in the castle with these! Oh thank you thank you thank you!”

The mischievous pony also left them all with parcels, which contained a single sheet of yellow and pink paper. It was a recipe for Chimmecherry Chongas, something Pinkie had perfected in the years prior to that day. The now slightly-crumpled and stained piece of paper sat in Fluttershy’s kitchen, framed in a balloon-ringed holder. Every year, on the same date as that fateful day when five became four, Fluttershy baked some of the delicious treats in memento to her departed friend.

She gulped around the strange feeling in her throat, blinking away a few watery tears that attempted to free themselves from her eyes.

The next one of their group to leave was Rarity, undoubtedly drawn away by how large her business had grown, especially in Canterlot. As with the other two that had left them, the circle of friends gathered one final time in the Ponyville Day Spa, exchanging gifts once more between themselves with teary eyes. There was but two words that Rarity had uttered, barely able to pronounce them through her sobs. ”Farewell, everypony.” Fluttershy remembered how sad their last embrace had felt, how empty it left her as Rarity pulled away and stepped onto the train.

It would have been unbefitting of the Element of Generosity to depart without leaving them with something in return. In her usual way of showing her love for them, Rarity had crafted each of them a new Gala dress, as theirs had been utterly destroyed in the last Gala they had attended. Fluttershy’s dress hung in her closet, twinkling slightly with life even in the dark space, begging to be taken out and worn. She found herself opening the closet door at times and slipping into the garment, posing in the mirror as if she were a fashion-born pony, only to sigh sadly after a few minutes and place the beautiful clothes back onto their hooks.

Small taps could be heard in the room as her tears began to slide down her face and drip onto the glass from behind which her friends all smiled up to her.

The final pony to move away was Applejack, who had been stubbornly putting off her goodbyes until the last minute. They all sat around a table in the railroad station, each lost in their own emotions until the orange pony pulled out a large pitcher of Apple Family cider. Without words, she also brought out three mugs and set them down in front of each of them, pouring the golden liquid into them before sitting down again. Another moment of silence assaulted the trio of friends as they stared at the drink before them. Applejack was the first to grab her cup, the other two mimicking the action. ”Well everypony, Ah’m not one for speeches or nothin’. Was fun being ya’lls friend, but Ah hope we still are.” They simply clank their tankards together and downed the cider, each of them letting out a refreshed sigh as they finished it off.

Though nothing physical was given to her, Fluttershy could still remember that particular mug of liquid above all others. Whenever she drank a different kind of cider, any flaws that would have normally made themselves known were forgotten as the recalled taste of Applejack’s brand, and the memories that came with it, danced across her taste buds and mind.

A ringing bell drew her out of her memories, pulling her away from those happy times and into the present. She drew a hoof across her face, brushing away her tears. A single thought wormed its way into her mind, repeating itself over and over again in time with the bell’s peals. It’s time. She got up from her perch on the soft blankets and walked slowly over to her desk, upon which sat a non-descript paper bag. She grabbed the package in her mouth and pushed open her window, from which she flew into the sky. It’s time.

After a few minutes’ flight, her butter-yellow hooves were landing lightly on the hard-packed dirt of the takeoff strip for pegasi on weather missions. She slowed to a stop and looked around at the flat plain of nothingness that was broken only by the shapes of a few ponies that crossed its surface and a few outlying buildings that jutted upward. Minutes passed, seeming like seconds to her as groups of weather pegasi took off from the many different areas in the airfield to prepare for the storm that had been scheduled for that day. She smiled as she watched a grey mare yelling at a pair of colts that had apparently done their tasks wrong, reminiscing at how Rainbow used to rant at her about how she didn’t push the clouds hard enough to stay in place.

A lone flyer landed in the dirt in front of her, slowing to a dead stop in a matter of seconds, the pegasus’ prismatic mane waving behind her in the wind. She watched in silence as the mare slowly walked toward her. When the blue-suited mare became level with her, Fluttershy turned and trotted beside her. The silence was broken only by the sound of flapping wings and their hooves as they touched the ground. The bag suddenly seemed to weigh tons as they walked farther and farther down the strip until it became so heavy that she set it down and stopped

“Shy, I—“

“Shhh, Rainbow. It’s okay.” Fluttershy merely sat there, playing with the fringes of the package that she had brought with her. “I have something for you, Rainbow.” Fluttershy merely pushed the bag over to her friend, who looked at it with sad eyes before pulling out a flower with pink petals that curled curiously like Fluttershy’s mane.

“What is it?”

“It’s just something to remember me by, it’s nothing re—“ She cut off as the cyan pegasus wrapped her in a warm embrace. Fluttershy brushed through the rainbow mane and murmured softly as the pony cried softly into her own.

“I could never forget you, Shy, and anything you give me is special!” Rainbow Dash tightened her hold on her friend, slightly rocking back and forth with the force of her sobs. After a few minutes, the brash pony pulled away from her oldest friend and rubbed a hoof at her eyes. “Shy, I… I’m not saying goodbye. I won’t do it, because...” She looked up into the sky, Fluttershy doing the same. “I’ll be coming back. Remember when we went after Nightmare Moon, and I had to go across the bridge?”

“Of course I do, Rainbow.”

“Well, I said ‘I never leave my friends hangin’, and that includes you, Fluttershy.” Rainbow turned away and watched as a few more pegasi took to the sky as another group landed. “I-I’ll see you again, Pinkie Pie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cup—“ A butter-yellow hoof touched itself to her lips, silencing her promise.

“Please, don’t make promises you can’t keep, Rainbow. Especially a Pinkie Promise. It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy drew her oldest friend into another hug, this one briefer than the last. As she pulled away, Fluttershy backed up a few spaces and sat there on the dirt expectantly.

“You aren’t going to let me go without you watching, are you, Shy?” A small smile was given to her in answer, bringing a snort from the tomboyish pegasus. “Figured." She crouched and spread her wings wide. "Well, here’s my little something for you to remember the coolest and most radical pony in all of Equestria by!” With that, the newly-joined Wonderbolt took to the air with a powerful flap of her wings.

Fluttershy watched as the sky was painted with a sparkling rainbow that shimmered in the sun for a moment, and was gone.

I can tell by your tears that you will remember it all.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

It’s all said and done, it’s real, and it’s been fun.

How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.

However, saying goodbye isn’t the hard part, it’s what we leave behind that’s tough.

You say you will never forget...

But it’s always nice to have something to remember me by.