//------------------------------// // Fluttershy // Story: Comatose // by MemoryLane //------------------------------// "Mmm..." Fluttershy exclaimed as she took another bite of her salad. A great lunch, if she does say so herself. She was starving, and this definitely hit the spot. She was starving earlier! She just couldn't walk around anymore, she could have gotten sick if she had. She couldn't help but wonder how Applejack was doing, and if she found the others yet. This whole situation is really make Fluttershy nervous, she hoped nothing bad happened to any of them. Gasp! What if now that I left Applejack, what if she'll disappear just like the others? Fluttershy giggled to herself. "There's no way..." She said out loud, trying to contain her nervousness. She was sure they'd be fine. They were probably just...visiting Princess Celestia? Or something like that maybe...? She sighed. She was starting to feel increasingly lonely. She could go out and visit some of her animals, but unfortunately, most of them were resting. So that was out of the question. She could go out and look some more for her friends? No, she already spent most of the day doing that. She could....oh, what's the use... She was starting to get a little restless, which was very unusual for her. There was nothing to do, no one around...she hated this feeling. This is exactly how every day seemed before she had met her five other friends, so she had forgotten this deep and depressing feeling on loneliness. She wished she wasn't so shy sometimes. Maybe if she was a little more like Pinkie Pie, she had tons upon tons of friends. Meanwhile, Fluttershy only had five. Don't get her wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, but she wishes she knew more ponies around here, just incase something like this ever happens again. Oh! I sound like a huge jerk now...I'm sorry... she mentally apologized to herself. Suddenly, a knock at the door. "Oh, guests?" She wondered if it who it could possibly be. Did one of her friends finally make a return? Fluttershy curtly walked over to the door, and cracked the door open a little bit, and looked through. Not knowing who the guest was. She flew the door open when she realized that it was Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy was ecstatic. "Twilight!" Fluttershy loudly whispered. She felt like hugging her, she really did miss her, after all. But she decided to contain her excitement. "Um, hey Fluttershy." Twilight said. It was going to break her heart to do this to her. Why am I always the bearer of bad news...? "Would you like to come in? I was just eating some lunch." Fluttershy said, opening the door a little bit wider in an inviting manner. Her smile almost lighting up the area. Twilight hesitated for a minute, before reluctantly walking inside her cottage. Fluttershy's cottage was actually pretty clean. So she didn't mind company. She doesn't really like to make messes anyway, the only one that actually does enjoy it is Angel, but she didn't know where he was at the moment. Probably outside roaming or something. She was sure he was fine. She took a seat on her couch, taking another bite of her salad. Twilight sat right next to her. A little too close. It made Fluttershy a little bit uncomfortable, so she scooted farther down the couch, a little smile on her face. "Twilight, I've been looking for you and the girls all day! Where have you all been? I couldn't find any of you anywhere...!" Twilight didn't want to answer. She wanted to hold off telling her, because she knew that it would break Fluttershy's heart. She didn't really know what to expect from Fluttershy. She wondered if it was possible to drown in tears... "Um, they've been...around." Twilight said, trying to think of something on the spot, while not exactly lying. "You probably just didn't see us or something" An airy "Ohh" noise came out from behind Fluttershy's mouth. Well, it is possible after all. Ponyville was pretty busy today. Maybe she did just miss them? "Oh, ok. Good thing you showed up! I was starting to get a little worried, like something happened to you girls or something." Fluttershy took another bite of her food. While Twilight just it her lip. Oh how she really didn't want to do this... "Haha...yeah..." Twilight let out a very fake laugh. Fluttershy noticed how weird it was, but didn't question it. "So, what brings you here?" Fluttershy asked, trying not to sound rude. Since that was exactly what she was trying not to do. Twilight bit her lip just a little bit harder due to nervousness. Fluttershy was starting to get curious as to why Twilight was acting the way she was. Maybe she was hungry too? "Fluttershy...I think it's time I told you what's going on..." Twilight said glumly. Fluttershy didn't like the sound of that at all. She tilted her head in wonder. "What do you have to tell me?" Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. She hoped Fluttershy would take this well, although it was almost guaranteed that she wouldn't. "Something's happened with Pinkie Pie..." Twilight said. A hurt look appeared on Fluttershy's face. H-Happened? "Oh..." To Twilight's surprise, Fluttershy didn't ask the questions that the other ponies had asked such as "What happened? Where is she? Did something happen?" Or anything of the sorts. Perhaps maybe she didn't want to know? "Yes. She is currently in the hospital right now. She's been in a very bad accident. No one knows what happened exactly." Twilight finished. But it had seemed that Fluttershy had already began to go back into the mechanisms of her mind. Pinkie...b-but I just talked to her the other day! She thought. Her throat tightened to the point where she thought she was going to choke. "B-B-But..." Fluttershy's throat was so constricted that she could barely speak. "I'm sorry Fluttershy..." "I-Is she going to...you know..." Fluttershy gulped and turned away from Twilight, her eyes watering. "...alright?" Twilight was dying inside. This was absolutely killing her having to tell her all this. Somepony had to, though, and since Rarity made that remark earlier, she decided that she's going to be the one to have to do it. "No one knows. She could take up within the next few minutes...or a few months from now. Even longer." Twilight hated how blunt she was, but then again, she was glad she got the message out the way she had. A few tears fell onto the couch right over where Fluttershy sat. I...I can't believe...Pinkie might not ever be okay again? The feeling of abandonment grew inside Fluttershy's insides. Yet she knew there was nothing that could be helped. Fluttershy reached across the couch and hugged Twilight Sparkle, catching her off guard that she almost sent them both on the floor. She sobbed loudly into into her shoulder, barely taking breathes in-between cries. Fluttershy at first didn't want to accept it, she wanted to believe that she'd be okay, that she'd always been okay. Pinkie is always okay when she visits her, always energetic and giggly. Fluttershy just wanted to hear her voice one more time... Twilight patted her back comfortingly. "It's going to be alright-" "No!" She sobbed. Twilight did a double-take at what just came out of Fluttershy's mouth. "It's not..." "Yes she is. Pinkie's a strong mare. She can make it through this." Twilight said. Still rubbing her back. Fluttershy knew this. Pinkie was pretty strong, after all. Most Earth Ponies were. But Pinkie was different. She was strong emotionally, physically, and even mentally. Yes, it may not seem like it, but it's one of those things that a friend just knows. She knew Pinkie was strong enough to get out of this, but Fluttershy herself didn't feel strong enough to get through this. It felt like someone stabbed her heart with the most dull knife they could find, and buried it in her heart both painfully, and where it counted. "I...I know..." Fluttershy said, trying her best to calm down. She may be upset, but she still thought about Twilight enough to think about how she felt right now, and how she probably didn't want to have Fluttershy crying on her shoulder for an hour. So she broke their hug. Fluttershy sat there on the couch, sniffling excessively. "Don't worry...she'll be okay..." Twilight knows that she had just said this a moment ago, but she felt like Fluttershy needed to be told again. She didn't like seeing her friends cry, and neither did Fluttershy. "C-Can I see her?" Fluttershy asked, wiping away some of the excess tears on her face. She didn't like looking like a mess. Twilight didn't think this was a good idea at all. She was actually afraid of what would happen. Fluttershy would probably have a heart attack, after all. Just the sight of Pinkie Pie would make her burst into tears. But that's just a guess. "Um...I don't-" "Twilight, please. I can handle it. I just really want to see my friend Pinkie Pie right now..." She said, interrupting Twilight. Twilight didn't know how to respond. Her conscience told her yes, that it's the right thing to do. But logic told her no. Her mind was entirely conflicted. "I really don't think that's a good idea..." "Twilight, please..." Fluttershy's eyes started to water again as she gave her a saddened look. Twilight gave a defeated groan in her head. She can't say no to someone like Fluttershy and mean it.... "Alright..." Twilight said, she had no idea how this would turn out. Fluttershy just sniffled before giving a half-hearted smile. "Thank you." "Visitation hours are almost over...So it's better that we don't waste time." Twilight said, looking at the clock. It was five o'clock. Fluttershy just nodded, they both got up from their seats from the couch and made their way towards the door. ***** Twilight and Fluttershy appeared in the hallway, right outside Pinkie Pie's room. Before Fluttershy was about to make her way inside, Twilight blocked her path. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Twilight asked once again. She had already asked multiple times on the way there, but she wanted to make sure that Fluttershy was completely up for this. "Yes, Twilight." She said. Twilight groaned and moved from in front of her spot in front of the door. Fluttershy took a deep breathe and took a step inside the room. And stopped. Twilight walked in behind her, a new addition to the room was that there were now four chairs around the room, two on each side of the room, facing Pinkie's hospital bed. She was surprised when she saw that Rainbow Dash had returned, and was sitting in the chair closest to Pinkie, while Applejack sat next to her. Rarity was on the other side of the room, watching as Fluttershy entered the room, a worried look on her face. Fluttershy saw Pinkie Pie lying there. Red, blood stained bandages covering her forehead and her chest area. Blood. Pinkie Pie's blood. I don't feel well... Fluttershy's eyes rolled to the top of her head and she fell over onto the hospital floor with a THUMP. Her mane landing and covering the side of her face as she did so. She saw as her friends rushed to her side before everything went black. ***** "F-Fluttershy! Are you okay!?" Rainbow Dash was yelling at her now. Fluttershy's head hurt. She must've smacked it against the ground when she had fallen. She opened her eyes to see the worried looks from her friends meet hers. She was in the one chair that was unoccupied. Her friends must have put her there, because she sure doesn't remember walking. "What...happened?" Fluttershy said, rubbing her throbbing head. Rainbow Dash hugged her. "I thought we might've lost you too." "You fainted. I knew this was a bad idea..." Twilight said, actually answering the question. "Can you stand?" Fluttershy nodded, queuing Applejack to swiftly help her to her feet. Fluttershy wobbled for a second before regaining her balance. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect blood..." Fluttershy said. Twilight thought Fluttershy's lack of common sense was astounding at this moment. Fluttershy looked back over at Pinkie Pie, who was still unmoving on the bed. She walked over to her, trying her best to ignore the blood stained bandages that had previously made her collapse. Tears swelled up in her eyes, and her friends just watched her as she got ready to let out all of her emotions, everyone knew it was imminent. She walked over to the side of Pinkie Pie's hospital bed, and rested her forehead and hooves on Pinkie's chest. She decided to just let the tears flow, not even trying to corral her emotions. She cried endlessly. She wanted to know that Pinkie was going to be fine. That'd she's wake up any second now. But alas, she didn't. Fluttershy's hopes for Pinkie waking up were falling as each individual minute passed by. Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it in anymore, even though knowing it was a bad time. "What was the last thing you said to-" "Rainbow!" Rarity yelled at her. "Now is not the time for that!" Rainbow Dash retreated, noticing her mistake. There was no way Fluttershy was going to talk during this state. But Fluttershy did know what she said to her last. She remembered it as if it had just happened, and she would never forget it. ~*~*~ "Fluttershy~" Pinkie Pie called to her from outside her cottage door. Fluttershy was in the middle of making dinner for her and her animal friends, but she didn't want to leave Pinkie outside. Alone. When it was almost dark. So she quick ran over to the door and opened it. "Oh, hi Pinkie." Fluttershy said shyly. Pinkie was almost shaking with excitement. "Hi Fluttershy! I was wondering something!" "Um, what would that be?" "Um...hold on I forget..." She said, bringing her hoof to her mouth in deep thought, they stood there in a weird silence as Pinkie tried to remember. "Oh yeah! Did you ever try one of my mufficakes? Or cuppin? I still haven't decided on a name yet!" She asked her. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so..." She said meekly. Pinkie beamed. "Oh! Well here!" She took a 'mufficake' out no seemingly no where and put it in Fluttershy's hooves. "I made one just for you! They're extra tasty!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Fluttershy didn't know what to say, so she just took a small bite out of it. It exhilarated her taste buds. It was actually pretty good! "Pinkie, this tastes really good!" Fluttershy exclaimed, chewing her current bite before taking another. Pinkie blushed. "Thanks! I try my best. If you ever want some more, I'm going to be making a lot more down at SugarCube Corner!" Pinkie Pie cheered. Fluttershy smiled at her. If only she was as outgoing as Pinkie was. "I'm currently making dinner, Pinkie, if you'd like to come on for some in an eat you can...if, um, that's okay with you." Fluttershy went back to her timid ways, and Pinkie jumped with joy. "Well sure! It'll be fun! I can help cook if you want!" Pinkie said, bolting into the cottage with such a speed that it almost messed up Fluttershy's mane. The meal Fluttershy was originally going to make was much more time consuming than both her and Pinkie would had preferred. So she scrapped it and, within minutes, just made some sandwiches for the two of them, with a hint of apple and other veggies. "Mmm! This looks really good! Thanks Fluttershy!" Pinkie said, before taking a large enough bite that managed to only leave half of the sandwich left. Fluttershy was amazed by the ponies big mouth. But then again, she wasn't. "Oh it's no problem at all!" Fluttershy said, leaving the sandwich on her plate. She wasn't really hungry, all of a sudden. "Hey Pinkie, I just wanted to ask you a question. Pinkie was in the middle of chewing, so she just raised an eyebrow. "How do you make so many friends?" It took Pinkie a few seconds to ponder an answer, and to also chew and swallow her food before responding. "Make friends? It's easy!" She said. "Not for me it isn't..." Fluttershy said, dejectedly. Pinkie gave her a look of understanding. "I was in you're position once. I used to live on a rock farm remember? No fun, no friends, just rocks. But then one day my life changed." She took a drink of a nearby glass of water before continuing, washing down her food. "The thing is, the amount of friends you have shouldn't matter. It's the quality." She said. Fluttershy thought about the other girls, and that, yes. When it comes down to it they are quality friends. "But then why do you have so many? If it's not about the amount? Aren't you friends with everyone in Ponyville?" Fluttershy asked. Pinkie just shrugged. "Sometimes there are ponies who don't or can't have any friends. Everyone needs at least one friend, and if no ones going to step up to be said friend, then I gladly will. As long as I can make others smile, one way or another, I'll be happy." Pinkie responded. Fluttershy smiled at the pink pony, who was not finishing up the rest of her sandwich. "That's really nice of you Pinkie." Fluttershy said sweetly, staring at her food. She scooted the plate over to Pinkie Pie, who wolfed it down within seconds. Pinkie just shrugged. "I don't do it because I enjoy it, I do it because it's the right thing to do." Pinkie looked at the clock, and Fluttershy swore she saw Pinkie's hair expand as a shocked look appeared on her face as she noticed the clock. "Uh oh! I gotta go! Mr. and Mrs. Cake are expecting me!" Pinkie Pie got up from her seat and headed for the door. "Thanks Fluttershy! See you later!" She said, before bouncing out the door. Fluttershy gave a sincere smile on her face as she also got up from her seat and shut the door behind Pinkie. ~*~*~ Tears continued to stream down her face, and onto Pinkie's bandages at the thought of what she had said to her just the night before. It broke her heart. She never knew why she did what she did. But Fluttershy never knew that it was because she cared so much for every pony. Fluttershy had a new found respect for Pinkie Pie tonight. But with everything that's going on right now, it only felt like she was being torn apart. "Are ya okay, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked her from the other side of the room. "Please Pinkie...come back...." Fluttershy cried, ignoring Applejack. Her heart felt like it was shattering into a thousand pieces. But even if Pinkie pie were to pass, Fluttershy will never forget what she told her that day. Never in a thousand years.