Something to Remember me by

by ChaoticHarmony


Epilogue Part Two: Again at the Gala

---- Something to Remember me by ----

---- Epilogue Part Two: Again at the Gala ----

However far away you drift from each other, friends have a nasty habit of meeting again, even if it takes a little nudge.


Five hours later, she found herself standing outside the large gates that towered over the opulent path into Canterlot, the fabric of the dress shimmering in the light cast by the gemstone lights that lined the road. She couldn’t help but cringe at the glances that the other ponies directed at her, even those that were simply passing over her. A nudge sent her frayed nerves alight, making her jump with a small squeak.

“Well, pardon me, Miss. I didn’t see you there.” A gallant-looking stallion removed his hat from his head and bowed slightly before continuing into the city. “Though, you might not want to stand in the way like that either.” He called jovially over his shoulder, giving her a wink before returning his attentions to the pony that trotted alongside him, a pretty cobalt mare with an elaborate hairstyle that practically screamed upper-class.

“Thank you.” Her murmur was heard only by empty air before being lost to the crowd’s chatter. Shaking herself from the strange trance that held her, Fluttershy passed through the wrought-iron bars, her shoes that Rarity had attached with the dress clicking lightly on the stones with every step. She stared around at the city that she thought she knew, her eyes taking in the greatly-changed buildings of the ancient city of Canterlot, giving a newer feel to the whitewashed walls that were made in places with plaster instead of stone. Turning down the smaller road that led towards the gardens, she found her way barred by two heavy-set stallions in golden armor.

“Are you Miss Fluttershy?” Taking her terrified squeak as a yes, the guard nodded to his partner before turning back to her. “Well then, come with us. There is somepony very important who would like to speak with you.” He walked up to her and nudged her with a wing. “Come, Miss Fluttershy, she doesn’t have all night.” The trio walked in a bubble of space, as royal guards tend to create for themselves whenever they ventured into the streets outside the castle.

The wandered farther and farther from the tall stone walls, finding themselves nearly alone in a backstreet of the city. The two stallions stopped suddenly, taking of post on either side of her with stoic expressions on their faces. “Miss Fluttershy.” One of them stated simply, waving his hoof to the side. Panic eliminated any sense that she had, flowing through her body like wildfire before another voice came from the store beside them.

“Fluttershy?” A gasp, followed by a wall of pink flying out of the store that crashed into the butter-yellow pegasus, cut off whatever the other voice was going to say.

“Oh my gosh, Fluttershy!” The pair of hooves that was wrapped around her tightened, squeezing more of the oxygen from her lungs. “It’s so good to see you! I mean, really really really really real—“

“Hi… Pinkie… Pie. I missed… you… too… But can you... miss me a little less?” She wiggled in the embrace, trying to free herself from the party pony’s hooves.

“Oops.” The pink pony released her, smiling sheepishly at her after she brushed herself off. “Sorry, but I just missed you so much and I couldn’t just not hug you, because then I wouldn’t be able to hug all my friends!”

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her old friend. “That’s okay Pinkie, I understand. Wait,” The implications of the baker’s words finally hit her. “Did you say all of your friends?” The earth pony nodded excitedly. “As in, Rarity and Twilight and everypony else?” Another nod. “W-w-what? W-w-who d-did—“

“Good gravy girl, are ya going to come inside and let us greet you?” A voice with a slight country twang cut across her stutters. “Get in here already!”

“Yes Fluttershy, darling, do come in before you catch a cold.” Rarity’s unmistakable accent called out. She pushed open the door and blinked as she stepped inside.

“Um… wow.” She looked around at the party her friends had put together, Pinkie’s hoof in things evident by the worn party cannon that sat in the corner. “Is this… for me?”

Twilight Sparkle, as studious as ever, looked up from her book and giggled. “What, this? No, Fluttershy, it’s for us. The Elements of Harmony, our own little Gala right here in Pony Joe’s Donut Shop.” Tilting her head back to shout backwards, she yelled into the next room. “Thanks again for that, Pony Joe.”

“No problem, Twilight Sparkle. Anything for an old regular.” A husky voice called from the kitchen.

They all sat in silence for a moment, giving Fluttershy time to look around the old shop whose white walls were still cracked and flaked with memories. A sudden shock jolted through her body as she glanced over at the rest of her friends. “Wait, you said all of us. Where’s Rainbow Dash?” It was as if the lights dimmed as a depressed hush fell over the other four, their faces ranging from anger to teary-eyed sadness. It stabbed at her heart to see her friends in so much pain. “Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make everypony else sa—“

“You didn’t do nothin, Fluttershy.” Applejack slammed a hoof on the table and straitened her hat angrily. “That Rainbow, always puttin’ things off like that. Ah’m just about ready to use Kicks McGee on that mare, thinkin’ she’s gotta stay for that Gala with those Wonderbolts instead of coming to see us after all this time.” As she fell silent, the rest of them shifted awkwardly in their seats. “Ah’m sorry everypony, Ah don’t mean to get all riled up.”

Twilight Sparkle decided to prevent the awkward silence that would no-doubtedly develop. “That’s all right, AJ. I guess we have to accept that she’s moved on.” Shaking her head sadly, Twilight turned back to shout at the owner. “Hey Pony Joe, how are those donuts coming along?” In answer, the stallion burst through the double doors and deposited a heaping platter of pastries onto the table. “I thought I ordered only a dozen. That looks like a lot more than a dozen.” She, like the others, looked upon the pile with both awe and disbelief.

The tan pony flashed a smile before bowing to the mares. “My treat, Twilight Sparkle, for a very special circle of friends. After all, what’s a Gala without any food?” Chuckling to himself, the donut-dealer turned away from the befuddled five and returned to his kitchen, the double doors swinging in his wake.

After a few moments of silence, Pinkie Pie visibly quivered on the edge of leaping at the mountain of food. Twilight simply sighed. “Go ahead, Pinkie Pie. I know you’re dying to eat some.” Grabbing the now-in-the-air mare with a spell, she laughed with the others as she levitated a few of the pastries onto her plate. “Just let us get some first.” After the gathered ponies had obtained their meals, the spell holding back the pink pony dissipated, allowing her to slam face-first into the pile of food with a squeal of delight.

The group of ponies, underestimating the sugar-loving pony’s enthusiasm for sweets after being apart for so long, were helpless as the crumbs and drops of frosting fell upon them. Rarity was the first to speak, her affronted tone cutting through the sounds of engorgement. “Pinkie Pie! You just got food all over my new dress!” Pulling out a handkerchief from who-knows-where, the fashionista made futile efforts to clean herself. “Oh, it’s not coming out! Oh, this is the worst possible thing!”

“Oh, Rarity, it’s just a little icing and some bread.” Twilight shook her head as the other unicorn flared up indignantly.

“It’s more than just a dress, Twilight. See, it is a one-of-a-kind, hoof-stitched dress made of the very rarest of silks from the spiders that are in the crystal mines beneath the city. “I bought it at the Canterlot Orphanage charity auction, for more than it really costs for sure, but it was worth every bit.” She sighed dramatically and put a hoof to her head. “And now it’s ruined!”

Pinkie Pie, drawn out of her eating by her friend’s wail of despair, leapt from the table and landed next to Rarity. “Oh, don’t worry, Rarity! I have the perfectest thing that will get all those tasty bits of food out of that pretty dress.” Pulling out an ordinary-looking dish rag, she approached Rarity with a determined look on her face.

“Oh no, keep that dirty little thing away from me.” The white pony waved her hooves in an attempt to fend off Pinkie but it was hopeless, her protests turning into sputters as the cloth rubbed over her face and clothes. When it was finally removed, a speechless Rarity sat in the chair looking down at herself, now free of any food that had been adorning her dress. “W-w-what?” She pawed at the folds of silk. “How… how did y-you—“

“Well, the Princess gave me this after she saw that I kept getting all kinds of stuff on my chef’s clothes in the castle. It’s super-duperrific right?” She bounced around the room in her usual manner. “I mean, if I accidentally get something on somepony else like that I can use it on them too and—“ Applejack’s hoof, with a donut on the end of it, put an end to the pink pony’s rambling.

“All right now, Pinkie, we get it.” The orange pony pushed her Stetson hat back up onto her head and smiled at them. “All right ya’ll, let’s eat!”

The other five’s voices filled the tiny shop with enthusiasm. “Yeah!”

. . .

Hours later, Fluttershy stood atop the building’s roof, staring up into the stars that formed a lattice across the black sky. There was no moon tonight, a gaping hole filling where it normally rested. Applejack’s words came back to her from inside her heart, stabbing into her with each syllable. Ah’m just about ready to use Kicks McGee on that mare, thinkin’ she’s gotta stay for that Gala with those Wonderbolts instead of coming to see us after all this time.” Tears soon found themselves falling down on a suicidal mission to the ground, exploding into countless particles as they struck the roof tiles.

“Oh, Rainbow…” She caught herself searching the sky for the familiar rainbow trail zipping in a line towards her. She felt yet another stab when she saw nothing there. “Why did you have to go and join those Wonderbolts?” She couldn’t suppress the anger that bubbled up from deep within her, brought out by her friend that had always been by her side through their years together. “And now you aren’t here…” Fluttershy bitterly wiped away her tears and turned away from the sky, looking down at the stone and tracing the patterns with her eyes.

“Fluttershy?” The small voice called out in the night hesitantly, sounding so unlike her friend from five years past. “Are you here?”

“I’m up here, Rainbow Dash.” Her voice, which would have normally been breathy and happy, was filled with a disgusting anger that filled her entire being. “I’ve been here.”

“Fluttershy!” The flapping of wings signaled the arrival of the sextet’s other pegasus, who landed a short distance away and kicked at the ground slowly. “So… how are you… er… doing?” Even now, as she stood before Fluttershy, Rainbow’s voice had changed. Her appearance had as well. No longer was the athletic pegasus carrying the look of a tomboy, holding now the look of a careless pony who was on top of the world and held the ponies around her in her hooves.

“How am I doing? I’m doing fine, Rainbow.” Her voice was cold, frighteningly so. “I’m so happy that you are too.” Fluttershy heaved suddenly, her mouth shutting around a sob that threatened to escape. The rainbow-maned pegasus’ cyan hooves attempted to wrap around her in a comforting hug, but Fluttershy batted them away. “No, Rainbow. You can’t do anything.” Fluttershy turned away and looked back into the star-studded night sky. “You can’t do anything, Rainbow.”

“Shy… I… I know I bucked up… I know that I’m just some jerk who brushed away her friends like they were nothing.” Behind her, Fluttershy could hear the soft plips of tears impacting into the tiles that lined the room. “But I want to tell you something, Shy. So could you just turn around and let me tell you?”

As she did so, soft lips touched to hers and shattered all of her conscious thoughts. Time seemed to lose meaning as the two ponies kissed on the rooftop. Fluttershy felt all of her anger and frustration ebb away, replaced by a strange contentment that filled her with warmth. After what seemed like several lifetimes, the cyan pegasus pulled away and smiled tearfully. “Shy… I don’t want you to remember me how I am now.” Rainbow Dash backed up to the edge of the roof and shook her head sadly. “Just… remember me how I was.” With a flap of her strong wings, the Wonderbolt flew into the night’s embrace.

The butter-yellow pegasus stood on the rooftop, touching a hoof to her lip and staring at the darkness where her oldest friend had disappeared from her life. “Goodbye, Rainbow Dash.”


Through the tests of time, our friendships endure.

All six of them, bright and pure.

But sometimes, even though you are still friends, your time apart has no cure.

And the only thing you can do is remember the good memories of that old friend, the mare azure.