//------------------------------//
// Part 13: Fix it. 
// Story: True Harmony 
// by Saturni_Rose 
//------------------------------//

Morning came. Dim light flowed in through the kitchen window, pooling on the counters. Steam filtered up through the pale beams of light, putting a heavenly aroma into the air. Butter sizzled in the pan, helping Ponish muffins getting rich and crisp. A spatula reached in, satisfied another pair was done. One, then the other, was added to the stack before the dish towel covered them up again to keep them a little warm until all were ready. 
Rainbow Dash ambled into the kitchen with a yawn. Her hair was in need of a good brushing, but that could wait. She shuffled over to the cook, who eyed the next pair she’d placed down almost suspiciously; as though they somehow weren’t toasting right. No apron needed to instruct her, she folded her wing across those shoulders as she came around, and kissed at the side of her face. 
“Good morning.” she told her sweetly. 
“Mm.” she got back in response, eyes still transfixed on the breakfast in progress. 
Rainbow sighed. She turned aside and leaned back against the counter. “Say, uh, thanks for letting me crash here.” She awkwardly scratched her chin, eyes wandering. “I just… couldn’t be alone last night.” 
Fluttershy looked up from the pan at last. “Is that why you brought her along?” 
“Okay,” winced Dash, “you’re right, I shouldn’t’ve put you out like that. I’m real sorry, Flutters.” 
Rubbing at the bridge of her nose, she told Rainbow: “I put up with a lot, you know. I really do. And I do so because you’re somepony very special to me. But that was… it was bordering on unacceptable.” 
“So she got a little tipsy at the after party.” stammered Rainbow. “She had nowhere else to stay.” 
“Then she can sleep it off at your house next time.” Her teal eyes rolled up to glare up at the ceiling. “Sorry for yelling, I’m just so cross right now.” 
Dash tried to not snicker and let on that it was hardly a yell. Not even a shout. Didn’t approach a scream. “No, you’re right to be mad.” 
“Darn right I am. The things she said last night were just, just…” Fluttershy shook off the memory, feathers rippling along her wings. “Inappropriate!” 
“Woof,” came a voice from the kitchen doorway, “I am just so, so very sorry about that.”
Fluttershy leered over her shoulder at the griffin. Her eyes narrowed, and the kettle whistled. “Good morning, Gilda.” 
She’d known Fluttershy back when all three of them went to the same school in Cloudsdale. They all learned to fly together. This young mare was far and away less the trembling, lanky thing she knew back then. The stare she was getting now was rather intimidating, in fact. She could only imagine what horrible things she’d said. Voice still raspy from the prior night, Gilda croaked out: “Look. I’ve clearly used up more hospitality than I deserve, so I’ll just get outta your hair.” 
Fluttershy sighed and silenced the whistling kettle. “Not without breakfast.” 
Gilda’s lower beak hung open. She looked at Rainbow, who seemed just as confused as she was. “Nah, listen, it’s fine. Really.” 
Shaking her head, Fluttershy pulled the last muffins and switched off the stovetop burners. Pouring a couple cups, she nodded to the platter. Next to it was a selection of different jams. “Gilda, just have some breakfast.” 
Her claws nervously tip-tapped across the floorboards. “I mean… if you insist?” 
“Yeah, you didn’t have to do this for us, Flutters. We’re grown, we coulda taken care of the whole breakfast thing ourselves.” Rainbow watched her grab a basket and walk past Gilda where the griffin still lingered, stunned. 
“I made some dragon pearl tea for the two of you. Dash knows where the milk and sugar are if you want some.” She began to turn away. “I have some errands to run.” 
“Whoa,” called Rainbow, “what about you?” 
“Already ate.” 
Before she could keep on, Gilda had to know. “Would ya wait a sec? I think we both know I don’t deserve this, so… what gives?” 
Fluttershy stared at her a moment, looking almost offended she’d even asked that. “That may be so, but looking out for each other is just what friends do, alright?” She nodded to Rainbow. “She’s one of my best friends. And you’re one of hers. So have some breakfast already.” 
“Wow.” said Gilda weakly. “Thanks. For uh, everything.” 
Fluttershy was quiet, eying her up and down for a consternated second. “You’re welcome.” She turned back around, but paused one last time. “It was a lovely performance by the way.” 
They watched after her as she left through the front door without another word. When it closed, they looked at each other. Rainbow shrugged, then nodded to the counter and they began moving breakfast to the dining area. 
“I almost hate to ask,” groaned Gilda as she grabbed their tea, “but what’d I say this time? Because yeesh. I have never seen her so mad.” 
“You really wanna know?” asked Dash, setting the platter out alongside a couple plates. 
Gilda reluctantly nodded, placing their cups beside the plates. “Just give it to me straight.” 
Rainbow chuckled, and the noise sent a chill down Gilda’s spine. “Poor choice of words, girl.” 
“Oh no.” Gilda paused in her tracks, like her entire world was about to come crashing down around her. 
Going by with the jams, Rainbow rolled her eyes with a most churlish look. “You may or may not have told us about some of the ladies in town you thought were—oh and these are your words, by the way—‘such exquisite creatures.’ You were even doing your Elouisa voice.” 
“Oh no…” Gilda whined again, plunking down on the floor. 
“Hoo.” laughed Rainbow, wiping away a single tear from the memory. She pat her shoulder on her way to get the milk and sugar. “But yeah, rich as that was, you kinda put me and Flutters both on that list.” 
“Oh nooooo.” Gilda’s eyes shut tight and she leaned back to let out a prolonged groan. 
Dash finished setting everything out on the table and pulled out a chair. “Hey come on, champ. Let’s both walk off last night and get some food.” 
Gilda’s claws and paws dragged sluggishly along. She sat herself at the table with a horrendous, defeated posture. “And just how are you acting so casual about this?” 
“Because my other problem is a bit more dramatic.” said Dash, pulling back the towel covering breakfast. “That, and hey, I mean, ya got taste, Gilds. I respect that.” 
Grabbing a few muffins, she rolled her eyes and said: “Uh huh. Sure. Anyway, look, I’m real sorry. I promise I won’t stick my beak in between you and her.” 
Unable to decide, Rainbow covered her first muffin with a little of each jam; strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and grape… berry, all swirled together under her knife. “Eh, stop being the high school bully she remembers, and she might come around. Who knows?”
Gilda sat up straight. She gaped at her, eyes narrowing. “Girl.” 
“Hey, I said who knows, not that it’s a sure thing.” Dash shrugged and took a bite. 
Squinting, Gilda pinched at the bridge of her nose, where beak ended and ruffled feathers began. “Can we just please drop this for now?”
Rainbow gulped and said: “Okay, consider it dropped.” 
“Thank you.” Gilda poured some milk into her tea and gave it a try. It was lovely. 
“Instead, you can tell me what you’ll do next since Nightmare Pinkie…” Rainbow tapped her chin. “I mean, I guess that’s what we’re calling her. But she’s not making you do the play anymore, right?” 
Gilda set the cup down and licked her beak. “Would you flip if I said I kinda wanna keep doing the show?” 
Snickering, Dash gave her an incredulous look and said: “Uh, yeah?” 
“Well, you were right when you guessed she used some kind of magic to make some of us join up.” She peered into the swirling contents of her cup. It was warm to the touch. “But I dunno. It was… fun.” 
Rainbow leaned over toward her. “You realize how shocking this is for me, right? You do realize that?” 
Gilda rolled her eyes. “I know it probably sounds crazy—”
“M-maybe let’s not… use that word.” Rainbow gave her space and reached for her tea. 
She blinked at her, but didn’t press. “Uh, sure. I know it sounds, uh, absurd, right? But to me, it was kinda like our prank sprees.” 
Rainbow gulped some tea and shook her muffin at her. “You’re right, that doesn’t make sense. Can you make it track for me?” 
“Sure, it’s more elaborate, and involved. But we’re all playing on and off each other. All to get a reaction from the crowd.” Gilda chuckled. “Only here, you know everyone is in on it, so there’s no hard feelings to clean up later.” 
Rainbow chewed thoughtfully. “Dang. You’re really serious about this.” 
“Super serious.” nodded Gilda. She wiped raspberry jam off her beak and added: “Mm, some of the other cast members were even talking about shows coming to Canterlot. They’re, like, pretty forward and cool, right?” 
Rainbow pursed her lips in thought. “I mean I guess so. Why?” 
“I just wanted to know if they’d blind cast a griffin for a musical I heard would be in spring. I’d love to try and be the main fiddler guy.” 
Rainbow gawked at her. The ambition was admirable. She simply never would have pictured it being aimed where it is. Not from her. Perhaps this Nightmare Pinkie incident had at least one good consequence. Smirking, she said: “Now I know you’re pulling my leg.” 
“What? C’mooooon.” Gilda raised her shoulders and rolled them around. “‘If I were a rich man. Ya ba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dibba dum.’”
She laughed and shook her head. “Well, let’s not set our sights that high right away. But I’m sure you’ll do great.” 





Fluttershy flew over Ponyville. There were fears she’d hoped against hope were unfounded. The construction crew mending the cobblestone street below dashed those hopes as the delusions of a foal that they were. 
There seemed to be an entire guard detail milling about around the library when she got there. It looked to be about half the town guard. Which, admittedly, was not that difficult or impressive to accomplish; Ponyville was a pretty quiet town. 
Or, it had been. Before Luna had shown up. 
Setting down, Fluttershy made sure her basket was secure, and that the cloth on top of it covered what she had. She approached and said: “May I come in?”
One guard met her several paces back from the entrance. “Sorry, miss. Library’s closed until further notice.” 
A second guard sputtered upon hearing that and jogged up. “You idiot, she’s the Element of Kindness. Of course she can see Luna.” 
Unphased, the first guard said: “And we’re currently on the lookout for the Element of Laughter, who we both saw beat the snot outta Luna last night. She’s not getting in.” 
“Couldn’t I simply—” began Fluttershy. 
“Luna said she needs to convene with the non-possessed Element bearers, weren’t you paying attention?” 
Fluttershy grimaced. “If you’d—”
“But how do we know she’s not also been charmed? Wasn’t she puppeting a whole stage troupe?” 
“Look, I—”
“And the charm wore off a while ago. I read the reports. You didn’t. Let her through.”
“E-excuse me, but—”
“And the Nightmare can’t cast new charms?”
“For goodness sake.” cracked a new voice. A burly white unicorn shoved through them and her horn lit up. Then, it lit up again. “There. No charm. No supernatural entities. Now let her through.” 
Fluttershy watched her stomp away, muttering something about having to do everything herself around here. She looked at the two now much more abashed guards. 
“So sorry for the delay, your… eminence.” The second one bowed, though he was clearly uncertain if etiquette called for that. 
“Yes,” said the first, scratching the back of his neck, “we’re a little on edge is all.”
They parted for her. She made to go by, and as she did so, stuck her nose way up with an indignant “Hmph!” 
Inside, Fluttershy found the entire library dim, not a single light on, or curtain drawn back. The clamor and chatter of the town waking up faded away as she closed the door. It was a strangely eerie scene; it reminded her of the morning after Summer Sun, coming here and finding out her new friend was the lost princess in disguise. 
She started for the stairs leading up to the bedroom, but she noticed legs sticking out from behind the front desk. Peering around, she found the alicorn herself, tired eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. She was in a bedroll, head cradled by a rolled up blanket. 
“Luna?” asked Fluttershy. 
Luna groggily lifted her head. “Oh. Fluttershy, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.” 
“I didn’t, um, announce myself.” Timid teal eyes glanced back at the closed door at the top of the stairs. “Why are you sleeping on the floor?” 
“Sleeping. Yes.” Luna laughed dryly, features going wry. Effort groaned out of her as she lurched up to better speak with her. “My room has… it needs some repairs.” 
Finally getting a good look at her, Fluttershy noticed the bandages taped to her chin and the red rolled tissues stuffed into her nostrils. Her heart ached. But she couldn’t stop now. Setting her basket upon the desk, she looked her in the eyes. “It’s all true, then, isn’t it? Everything Dashie told me?” 
Luna simply nodded. No delay, no reluctance, she just affirmed. She didn’t know what version of events Rainbow had told, but she found she didn’t care either. “Every word of it, I’m afraid.” 
The yellow pegasus suddenly felt very small, despite being on the tall and lanky side. She took a long, deep breath, slowly closing her eyes before looking into Luna’s once more. “Then I’m sure you’ll understand that I am very upset with you.” 
“I’d say that’s a fair response.” Luna’s expression stayed level, but within, she braced herself for Fluttershy to let her have it like she had that day with Galahad. 
Instead of raising her voice and chiding her like she probably deserved, Fluttershy reached over and tossed the cloth of her basket. There was a small pile of baked goods. “Well. I knew you’d probably be despondent over this. It being Pinkie and everything. So. I brought you some Ponish muffins to make sure you’d eat.” 
Luna stared at them, then back at her. “Hey what now?” 
“Don’t misconstrue, okay? I baked them last week and definitely not this morning when I couldn’t sleep.” Fluttershy shook her head to try and keep her conviction. “They’re stale, so, if you think about it, really, I’m telling you to eat my trash. B-because it’s what you deserve after what you’ve done.” 
Luna took one and bit down. Cornmeal dust flitted down over her chest. They were most certainly not stale. “Meaning you no offense, dear, this is the sorriest display of rage I have ever seen in my life. And I have lived for a long time.” 
Fluttershy folded her ears back and blew out her reddening cheeks with a pout. “Look, I am mad. I’m full of rage.” She poked Luna’s chest. But then she wiped off the cornmeal dust, cursing her instinct. “B-but I’ll get even madder if my friend starts acting self destructive before she makes this right. Have I made myself clear, missy?” 
“Crystal.” said Luna. “Though I still can’t see through you.” 
“I hardly think this is a good time for jokes.” droned Fluttershy. 
“And I disagree.” said Luna, setting the muffin back into the basket. “I’ve been thinking. And I’ve come to a decision that I’d like to at least try and enjoy my life, even the miserable parts. It just so happens there seems to be an awful lot of misery. So.” She shrugged. “I might as well get my fun where I can.” 
Shaking her head, Fluttershy was solemn as she was drole. “You don’t have to make up for her absence. Just… bring her back to us.” 
“That wasn’t quite my intent.” Luna dragged a wastebasket nearby and pulled one of the tissue wads. Then the other. She wrinkled her nose and thanked her lucky stars to smell something else—something fresher. That’s when a wrapped cloth, taken also from Fluttershy’s basket, was presented before her. 
“I was also wondering if maybe you’d be able to take this back. I don’t want it anymore.” Upon unfolding the little cloth, it was revealed to be her necklace containing the Element of Kindness. She hadn’t wanted to get crumbs on it; even if she didn’t love the object, she at least respected it that much. 
The butterfly shaped gem practically glowed, washing Luna in its pink luminescence. Looking up from it into the bearer’s eyes, she shook her head. “It doesn’t quite work like that, I’m afraid.” 
Fluttershy donned a frustrated frown, facing her again. “Well. Why doesn’t it work like that, then?” 
“Old magic,” explained Luna, “old even in my time when I was young, it was… wild. Like it had a mind of its own.” She reached out and touched her chest. “It’s rather like the gem itself heard me, and agreed. It peered into your heart and liked what it saw so much, it bound itself to it. You know, hence the shape and color.” 
“If it knows so much about my stupid heart, then it should know I don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting monsters.” Hoof trembling, Fluttershy lifted it up, thinking to slam it down on the desk. But she worried about denting Luna’s desk. So she sighed and placed it gently down between them. “Especially if one of those monsters is my possessed friend.” 
Luna looked at her, uncertain what to say or do for a long, painfully quiet moment. She drew a breath, resting her tired eyes, if only a tiny bit. “You remind me of myself when I first understood what it truly meant to have become an alicorn.” 
Fluttershy took her eyes off the Element. 
“Friends and family and community would all come and go; and in exchange for my strength and flight and ample magic, I would have to rise again and again as guardian. When it finally dawned on me, I wanted to go back.” She shrugged. “But I couldn’t. Such powerful gifts cannot be given back. So I played my assigned role. I did so for centuries.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the right words. So Luna went on. 
“I watched kingdoms rise, and then their castle walls brought to ruin. And when their banners rose against us, I knocked their walls down myself. Alongside my sister, of course. I faced down every escaped Tartarus beast, every twisted monster that crawled out from the shadows. All to give a home to, and protect a people I’d probably outlive again.” 
Luna’s eyes glazed over and she began to grin. 
“That, by the way, was the secret reason behind what I did, you know. The real reason—the one that really mattered to me. Sure, the old tale has my crown envy well covered. But at first, I just wanted a friend I wouldn’t have to bury. And nightmares are forever.” 
Fluttershy felt her breathing quicken. She tried to steady it. 
“Oh, we got up to so much mischief. Juvenile fun at first, giving Equestrians a good fright while they slept. Dreams can’t hurt you, after all, so where was the harm? But the more I complained—about my sister, about my life—the worse and crueler the nightmares we gave. Every pain and suffering I’d exacted on our enemies, I fed to their imaginations. I made them live with my sins just as much as I had to. And when that wasn’t enough for us, they started dreaming of random wanton misery. Like their teeth suddenly falling out of their skulls.” 
Nausea began to creep in for Fluttershy. When she belched, she tasted that raspberry jam from earlier. She swallowed hard. “Okay,” she mewled, “I’ve heard enough.”
Luna’s eyes lit back up, as though she were suddenly aware of where she was. Her drained, rasping voice was barely above a whisper. “Oh. Right. I’m sorry.” 
“Why did you tell me all that?” Fluttershy felt at her chest, something dawning her about who exactly had just poked it moments ago. 
Luna shrugged. “I’m… not fully sure myself. I guess I’m just tired.” She felt at eyes which likely hadn’t shut all night. “I am so very tired.” 
“Well.” Fluttershy chewed her lip. “They say a burden shared is a burden lightened.” 
Luna’s head slowly nodded up and down. She supposed that made sense. 
“But,” stammered Fluttershy, drawing her attention anew, “more importantly… you don’t want to be that pony anymore.” She gulped. “Do you?” 
“Goodness no.” Luna held her hoof to her own heart. “I never want to be in that dark of a place again, however long I live.” Her ears drooped. “And it pains me so much to have put Pinkie there. I need to get her out. I…” 
Fluttershy picked up her Element and eyed it warily. “Then…” She took a deep breath and placed it around her neck. “Then I want to help you do it.” 
Luna looked at the gem. It seemed to spark when she donned it, as though coming back to life. She almost felt like she too was being revived. Pushing up and onto her feet, she said: “You think yourself small and weak, Fluttershy. But I think we’re more alike than you realize.” 
“Just…” She shook her head. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear. Especially after what Luna had just told her. “Tell me it’s possible. That we can save Pinkie from Nightmare.” 
“Well, it’s only a small piece of the Nightmare you saw, so that’s a start.” Luna felt at the bandages all along the underside of her chin. “I think that’s how Pinkie managed to show through as much as she did.” 
“You think so?” Fluttershy raised a brow, wanting to understand better. 
“I really do. There were several points where she could have landed a felling blow. Against me, Ruby, Marble. But each time, she refused to commit.” Luna glanced at the shadow of a guard walking by, their head just visible on the drawn curtain of the window. “Trust me. The Nightmare is cruel enough to have wanted to. If Pinkie’s holding it back, we might be able to reach out to her. Maybe… pull her out of its clutches.” 
“Soooooo.” Fluttershy rolled her hoof for her to go on. “What do we do? All huddle around her, tell her how much she means to us? The way Dashie described it, I’m not so sure that will be enough.” 
“Perhaps not on its own.” Luna tapped her Element. “The Elements are meant to work in tandem, however. It’s when they’re at their most powerful.” She gestured at the corner of her eye. “Pinkie’s has morphed to a mask, with the stone here, but she kept it on the whole time. It’s probably fueling her new powers, too, so I doubt she’ll take it off.” 
“Then, if we all get together, connect our Elements to hers, and also tell her how much she means to us? You think that’ll do the trick—doing both at once?” Fluttershy nodded and rubbed her chin. The pieces were falling into place. 
“It is most certainly worth the attempt. And our best working plan thus far.” She leaned upon her desk, hooves crossing and brows furling in. “The difficult part will be getting her to all five of us, Elements at the ready.”
Sidling up beside her, Fluttershy said: “She’s gotta be hiding out somewhere.” 
Luna reached over to the far side of her desk and slid over a folded piece of paper. “There’s only so many places I could imagine, and I’ve already checked.” 
Fluttershy took the paper. It seemed to be a note addressed to Luna with some familiar penmanship. Unfolding it, she read: “You didn’t really think I’d be that obvious did you? Try again, silly.” 
The part that really confounded her was the “XOXO” followed by a little doodle of her face, winking and sticking her tongue out. Mouth tight, she looked over to Luna. The alicorn seemed lost in thought. 
“And I was working with Twilight and Sunset on old dream walker magic, hoping to trace the Nightmare through dreams. But neither of them are really ready for that. I hate sitting around on my hooves waiting to do something.” She thoughtfully chewed her lip. 
Folding the note after one last peek at the final bit, Fluttershy passed it back. She asked: “Is uh, is it true possessed Pinkie… kissed you?” 
Luna did a startled double take. “Wh—hey now, only on the cheek. It was clearly a taunt—what did Rainbow tell you about that part?”
“Oh shush.” said Fluttershy with a roll of her eyes and a pat on Luna’s shoulder. “I’m not judging you here, I just want to know. Do you… still have feelings for her?” 
Heat crawled all along Luna’s skin; she was suddenly very uncomfortable. “I have a lot of very complicated feelings about Pinkie Pie. Yes. That much is true.” 
“Don’t double talk on me now. You just got, like, waaaaaay too honest about your past a few minutes ago.” Fluttershy put her hooves on her hips. 
“Yes, but I need you to know, this conversation is far and away more painful for me than that.” Luna sank her face into her hooves upon the desk. It was not altogether so uncomfortable. Why, if she could stay there, just a few minutes longer… 
Fluttershy tapped the note. “If what you’re saying is true, and she’s at least a little in control, then don’t you think she’s expressing the feelings she still has for you? Not just letting the Nightmare taunt you?” 
Luna kept her face buried. A muffled groan came through them. 
“I’m not telling you how to feel about her.” Fluttershy’s timid hoof lingered for a moment before she had enough courage to rub Luna’s back. “But, well, if you did happen to have any feelings for her along those lines, it might be useful to reaching out to her, you know? Strong emotions like that, and weird, wild, old magic, it…” She shook her head and shrugged. “I mean, maybe?” 
Luna looked up at her from the corner of her eye. A single bittersweet laugh came up. “We certainly have plenty in common now. We both make foolish, elaborate schemes we think will protect those we care about, only to end up hurting them instead. We both love to… I think Rainbow said we were ‘palling around’ with our constant jokes and barbs.” She sat more upright, slowly but surely. “Both been possessed by the Nightmare. Which, now that I think on it, means it could have shared plenty of those memories I told you about.”
“Yikes.” muttered Fluttershy quietly. 
Not hearing her, Luna sat a little taller. Her toothy grin shined in the low light. “And, as I found out last night, we both live for drama, and love a good bout. I can scarcely recall the last time I had such a satisfying fight. Oh, sure, the fights with Moon were decent, and then there was Galahad. But this? This was so much more thrilling—the way she moved and…” 
When she looked at Fluttershy, the pegasus tried to put on a brave face and an encouraging smile. “Wow. Yeah. Th-that’s great.” 
Luna stopped. She realized how she sounded: bloodthirsty and manic and like a mare who could easily walk right back down that dark path she said she wanted nothing to do with. She huffed, emboldened posture deflating. “It’s—you know when you exert—there’s a certain rush in… I’m… going to stop talking now.” 
“No, no, I… think I understand.” She really didn’t. “Kinda like how Rainbow feels good after she does her laps. Same basic thing.” It really wasn’t. “But—and hear me out? Could it be, maybe, possibly that you had fun with the fight because of who you happened to be fighting?” 
Luna looked away from her. She opened her mouth to say something in protest, maybe about how she’d been a trained warrior for centuries, the thrill of dueling a worthy opponent having been beaten into her with plenty of practice. But it all felt like a lie. Maybe she could convince one of the two of them; but there’d be no chance both would believe it. Her ears folded back and her cheeks went dark with frustration and embarrassment, a heavy combination that weighed her down. 
“Okay.” said Luna at last. “There might be a chance I still have feelings for Pinkie Pie.” 
Surprising both of them quite a lot, Fluttershy hugged her around her chest. “Then let’s save her. Together.” 
“Oh.” mewled Luna. “Okay. Yes. Let’s.” 
Fluttershy let go, pulled back, and then socked Luna on the shoulder. “And that was for not telling us. Which… I am still mad about, but… you’re still my friend, so after this is over, I-I think I need to not talk to you for a little while. If that’s okay.” 
Luna felt at her shoulder, as though it pained her greatly. In reality, it was quite possibly the weakest strike she’d ever received in her life. And she’d lived quite a long time. “I think that’s more than fair, dear. Come now, let’s go let the others know we’ve a plan forming.” 
“Luna.” said Fluttershy, pulling her back. She gestured to the basket. “I literally already told you to eat some food. You need to keep your strength up.” 
Luna smirked. “Okay. Thanks, Fluttershy.” She picked up the basket and headed toward the kitchen. “Let me toast a couple of these, then we’ll head out.” 
“I recommend raspberry jam, personally.” 





Fluttershy landed along the packed dirt path. Her cottage was just up ahead. It had been a long day. She peered back as the skies went tangerine with the setting sun. Great giant clouds streaked and stretched out above her as an autumn wind tossed and tussled her mane. It invoked a long, steadying breath in her. Then, she continued on the path to home. Home again, home again, lovely peace and more lovely quiet. 
Her quiet would have to wait. Upon approach to the little bridge over the stream, she heard banging. Coming around the bend, cautious and quiet as she could on her hooves, she peeked from behind a tree. There, hunched over the planks was Gilda, hammer in her claws. She drove the nail a couple more times, examined it, then nodded. 
Gilda set the tool aside, then grabbed the remaining rotted old planks, sticking them neatly into the wide metal bucket she had nearby. With a puff, she dusted off her claws and picked them both up to fly off for the shed. That’s when she noticed the confused daffodil yellow pegasus gawking at her. 
“May I ask what you’re doing?” Fluttershy held her empty basket close at her side. 
“Oh, uh. I picked up a little carpentry from working with the stagehooves. No biggie, hey?” She turned again to go put her things away. 
“Okay, but…” When Gilda landed again, she continued. “But did you just replace those old planks?” 
Gilda lifted the bucket. “They were, uh, turning green. Seemed to be rotting, so, I figured what the hay, ya know?” 
“You really didn’t have to do that, you know.” 
Gilda scratched the feathered plumage around her neck with the hammer. “Oh. Shoot. Guess, uh, I also didn’t have to have Rainbow give me some of the list you leave for her when you have to run into town.” 
Fluttershy blinked at her. She looked around her little estate. 
Nerves began to pinch at Gilda. She must have done some of those chores wrong. “I-if you need me to redo something, I can.” 
Fluttershy looked at her, waving her hooves. “Oh, no, no. It’s fine, I’m just surprised. This was pretty nice of you. Thank you.” 
“Nah.” Gilda’s eyes wandered along those long golden clouds. “I kinda figure this is the least I can do.” 
“Well. I really appreciate it.” said Fluttershy. They stayed like that, quietly smiling at each other for a moment, sunset winds rippling their feathers and fur. “Say, do you still need a place to stay while your troupe is performing?” 
Gilda blinked at her. She set the bucket and hammer back down and waved her claws and shook her head. “Whoa, whoa, I-I couldn’t impose on ya like that. This wasn’t me trying to earn another night on your couch, honest. I just… I guess I kinda… felt bad.” 
Fluttershy went over and brushed some of her feathers with the back of her hoof. A little cloud of dust flew off and dissipated in the breeze. “You could also use a bath.” 
“I mean, maybe, but…” She watched Fluttershy walk by. Up and across she went. The new boards worked perfectly. A strange pride filled her feathered chest. 
Looking back over her shoulder, Fluttershy paused on the bridge’s zenith. “Are you okay with eggs? I’m kinda feeling breakfast for dinner.” 
Gilda gaped at her. Finally, she shrugged and nodded. “Uh. Y-yeah. Eggs are great.” 
Fluttershy smiled warmly, a cool wind tossing her mane. Pink hair splayed out behind her, almost like a halo. “Good.” she told her. “‘Cause I make a mean omelet with sauteed mushrooms.” 
“That sounds, just like, so great right now.” Gilda’s shoulders eased. “Thanks so much.”