I woke up to a knock at her door. Fluttershy's eyes moved a little as she rustled in her sleep. I yawned as another knock came from the door. I got out of the bed and walked to the door groggily. I opened it, expecting to see Fluttershy's dad, but instead saw two officers.
My heart sank. It must be about my parents. It's the only explanation for why they would come here. I thought to myself. "Hello. What's up? I asked as I rubbed my eyes, trying to act like I was too tired to care who was at the door.
The officers looked at each other. "We're looking for Fluttershy. Have you seen her?" one of them said as he lowered himself to my eye level. He had ginger red hair and was pretty skinny for an officer.
I yawned again. "She's in here on the floor." I said. The officer rose up and looked at his partner who was wearing a blue suit. He had spiky hair and an hourglass for a cutie mark. "If you're an officer, why is your cutie mark an hourglass and not something officery?" I asked.
"Oh, well you see, I help them when it comes to timey wimey things." he said as he entered the room. I gave a confused look to the other officer. He just smiled at me and patted my head. On the list of things I hate, that's about the third thing. It makes me feel small and insignificant. I turned back and looked at Fluttershy who jumped awake when the officer and the weird pony gave her a nudge.
"It's okay. Don't worry." the spiky haired pony said.
"What's...what's going on here?" Fluttershy asked as she started to curl back up into a ball, scared out of her mind. "Who are you two?" Fluttershy asked, quivering.
"I'm the Doctor. How are you tonight, Fluttershy?" The Doctor asked.
"I'm okay I guess. Um...what are you doing here, Mr. Doctor?" Fluttershy asked.
"Just Doctor, thank you." he said as he went around her room picking toys up and sniffing them. He was a very odd pony. "I am here to ask a few questions." he said, placing the toy back.
"What kind of questions?" I blurted out.
The Doctor looked at me quizzically. "Just about a certain pony. You must be..." he trailed off.
"I'm Rainbow Dash." I said pridefully.
"Ah yes. I've heard about you. Was it you who caused that Sonic Rainboom?" he asked as he reached into his coat pocket for something.
"The one and only!" I exclaimed happily. He pulled a little metal stick out of his pocket and pointed it at me. It made a low buzzing sound. "Hey! What gives?" I yelled as I moved away from it.
He popped it open and he peered into the side of it. "That's incredible. You have a very strong bone structure for such a little filly. No wonder you didn't get ripped apart when you pulled off that feat." he said.
"I guess so." I said, confused about what he meant by strong bone structure.
"Now, Fluttershy, tell me about your father." he said quietly.
Fluttershy looked at me as she sunk back into her ball. "Oh. Well he's...very nice and kind." she stammered.
"Does he drink a lot?" he asked.
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment and glanced sideways at me. "Not often." she said.
"Has he ever hit you or anything like that?" he asked. Fluttershy shrank further and shook her head. "No." she quickly said.
The Doctor nodded his head. "Ah I see. Well...um...you see he...he was out tonight drunk flying. He crashed into a storm cloud and was knocked unconscious. He fell to the ground and he..." he trailed off. He looked down and turned his head to me. I knew what happened. I had seen another filly at our school fly into a storm cloud by accident once. She wasn't paying attention and ran straight into one. She plummeted to the ground but was caught by one of the flying instructors. Her blonde mane was singed and her grey fur burned. She wasn't the same after the event. Her eyes were pointed in different directions and she was clumsier.
I shook my head. No. It couldn't have happened. No. He may have been a complete jerkwad but he was still her father. The Doctor nodded his head. I looked at Fluttershy who was still curled up in a ball. I walked over to her and put a hoof on her back.
The Doctor looked back at her. "I'm sorry. But your father was found falling into the Ghastly Gorge. When we arrived, he was dead."
Usually when somepony hears that their parent has died, you would expect tears, crying, and a lot mopping. But, for Fluttershy, who is such a shy pony, just looked at me. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me. Her eyes weren't filled with sadness. I swore what I saw was relief. Relief that whatever her father had put her through was finally over.
What in the name of Celestia did he do to her? I thought, shocked by the possibilities. I rubbed her back as we sat in silence.
"Are you okay?" the ginger haired officer asked. Fluttershy nodded her head.
"Yes. I'm okay." she whispered. No tears. No trembling. Nothing. In fact, this was the most relaxed I had seen her when her father would be brought up. In all honesty, it frightened me. Never had my parents abused me. I was disciplined when I did something I shouldn't, such as lie or kick my brother, but never did it make me fear my parents.
The Doctor looked at his partner who just shrugged. "Maybe she's just in shock." he whispered.
"Maybe. Or maybe there's more to the story. But, we have more important matters to attend to. Like those two ponies who disappeared yesterday. Where did they run off to? And for what purpose?" The Doctor asked to nopony in particular.
I knew who they were talking about, but I was too concerned about Fluttershy's father and what he did to her. Parents are supposed to be loving and caring...Why is Fluttershy so calm? I thought to myself, worried. When I got really down to thinking about it, it made sense. I mean, why was Fluttershy so shy? It had to be her parents who had done something, Celestia knows what, to make her afraid of everything.
The two officers left without another word. I sat next to a very quiet Fluttershy. "Are you okay? You look...relaxed..." I asked slowly. She didn't respond. "Fluttershy? You're starting to freak me out a little." I said. She looked at me with tense eyes.
She stood up and walked over to the bed. She knelt down and picked something up from underneath it. It looked like a book of some sort. She turned to me and held the book tightly in her mouth. She walked over to me and placed it in front my hooves. "Rainbow Dash. You are the one friend I really have. If I show you this, you have to promise, no, swear you won't tell a single soul." she said glaring me down.
I'm not going to lie here, I was scared out of my mind. Never, and I mean, NEVER, have I seen her get like this. It was really frightening. The only light in the room came from the moon, which made the entire confrontation even more eerie. "I swear, Fluttershy. I mean, you're practically family." I replied.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened the book and pointed at a picture of a bruise on her front foreleg. "This. This is why I'm so relaxed. This is why I'm not bawling my eyes out." she said. She flipped another page. This time it had words. I bent down to read it and gasped as I realized what it said.
"Today was my birthday. My parents did something amazing today. They only hit me once! I was happy when they said I could go to my room. It meant I would be able to fly the next morning. Tomorrow's a big day too. It's my first day of flight school. I learned to fly pretty early on, but I wasn't old enough to actually go to a flight school. I'm so excited!" I read aloud. I fell on my rear with a thump, shocked at what I had read.
Fluttershy flipped another page. I looked away right as I saw it. I couldn't stand the sight of it. She closed the book and slid it beneath her bed. "I never wanted him to die. He was still my father and I still love him. But now, I know that it's over. I won't be able to live in fear anymore." she said as she sat in front of me.
I looked at her. "Why didn't you tell anypony?" I asked.
"I didn't want him to get in trouble. He said that if I told anyone he would hit me harder next time. If I ran away, he would find me and make me wish that I'd die..." she said, letting a tear rise into her eyes.
"What about your mother?" I asked. She had never seemed to care about Fluttershy, especially when she was throwing her pictures like baseballs.
"She never hit me." Fluttershy said, a tiny grin rising on her face. "But she encouraged him. She would cheer him on sometimes." she said as the grin disappeared quickly. She started to rub her foreleg. I'm guessing some awful memory in the past was creeping its ugly head.
I was beyond shocked. I don't have the words to make you understand how shocked I had become. I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to take her somewhere, anywhere away from here. "Why didn't you tell me at least? I'm your best friend for ponies sake." I said.
"I couldn't. You would have told somepony." she said. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I would have. I didn't say anything before because it was all an assumption. For all I knew, they were only like that when they drank. Now I know how wrong I was. It wasn't just when they were drunk, it was constant.
I sat there, trying to imagine what she went through. There was a cry from outside our door. Her mother must have awoken from her drunken sleep and talked to the officers. She stormed into the room and started shouting at Fluttershy. "IT'S YOUR FAULT! YOU'RE THE REASON HE DIED!" she shouted, forcing Fluttershy into a protective ball again.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, trying to protect my friend.
"LEAVE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME AT THIS HOUSE! GET OUT!" she roared in my face. What I did next...I've been ashamed of it ever since. I bolted straight out the window. I flew high into the clouds and hugged one as tightly as I could.