A small filly walked along a street cloud of Cloudsdale, scared of what was about to happen. In her mouth was a small piece of paper and in her eyes was fear. She didn't want to be walking down this street towards the small house at the corner but she had to. She had considered not going back to the only home she had but she knew that if she didn't it would be worse for her than if she showed them the paper.
The small filly reached the door and heard the crude sound of a pony yelling. She knew the voice and had heard it so many times but that didn't stop her from flinching at the noise and praying that this was a good day. She opened the door and was assaulted by the stale smell of alcohol and stench of old cigarette smoke. It wasn't a good day. There were never good days.
She walked into the home and spotted the familiar sight of discarded bottles laying across the floor, some of them broken, and small piles of garbage ranging from junk food bags to empty cartons meant for cigarettes. The filly walked as silently as she could through the hallway and stopped just short of the entrance of the homes living room.
Please don't call my name. Please don't notice me. Forget I exist just for a few moments. She started walking through the hall again and took a quick glance into the room. Sitting on a sofa facing away from the filly is a stallion of yellow, made dingy with lack of care. His mane was of a deep green that was oily and looked as if it hadn't been trimmed in some time. In the stallions hoof was a bottle of beer that was nearly empty. In front of the sofa and the stallion was a T.V set that showed only static.
The stallion stirred from his spot and locked eyes with the small filly. "Wheur have you benn?"
The yellow filly froze in her place as the rest of the house seemed to fade away and all she could see was the stallion in front of her. The filly shrank under the gaze of the stallion. "S-school."
The stallion got up from the sofa and walked up to the smaller pony. "Did you get in?"
She started shaking and gave him the piece of paper. He took it from her roughly and read it. "You didn't get inn. Why do ahh even bothher with you?" He raised his hoof that held the bottle. "Stupid piece of—"
He brought the bottle speeding toward the small filly and she braced for the impact.
Fluttershy awoke with a sharp gasp and drenched in an icy cold sweat. She sat up in her bed with a shaky breath as she grasped the side of her head where the bottle would have hit the small filly. She took in a few more breaths and felt herself shaking almost violently. She kept seeing the image of disappointment and hatred in the stallion’s eyes.
She shook her head hoping that the images would leave her mind but all it seemed to do was make them more vivid. She got up from her bed and headed to her kitchen hoping that if she ate or gave her mind something to focus on it would drive the nightmare out of her mind.
She made it down the stairs and made her way through the dark living room as the voice of the terrifying stallion rang through her ears. She shook her head again.
"I'm not worthless."
She reached the kitchen and turned on the light. She moved next to the counter and reached for her teapot. She filled it with shaking hooves and nearly dropped it as she placed it on the stove. She turned on the stove and set herself down at her table. She glanced around the room for a moment as she thought of something she could make to eat when her eyes fell on the letter that had scared her earlier that day. For a moment she could only stare as her breath caught in her throat.
Should I read it? What could they possibly want from me after everything that happened? Oh I wish I knew what to do. She grabbed the pile of mail and tossed it on top of the unopened letter. She looked away from the pile as a sudden flash of the dream went through her mind. An image of the bottle swinging towards here caused her to flinch.
She got up and moved to her fridge as she tried to think of anything but the dream and the letter. She opened the fridge and rummaged inside without really looking for something to eat. She jumped slightly as the kettle began to whistle.
She gathered a teacup and a tea bag for herself as she turned off the stove. She lifted the teapot but slipped and dropped it to the floor with a boom like thunder. The noise caused the image of a dark red mare with her raised hoof to flash in her mind as she heard a shrill voice in her head.
"Worthless garbage! Clean it up!"
Fluttershy closed her eyes and huddled against the wall of the kitchen, leaving the teapot to spill the hot water on the floor. Her eyes were clamped shut and her hooves over her ears as she tried to shut out the voice of the mare and stallion. Tears streamed down her face and she shook on the cold floor.
"I'm not worthless. I'm not."
Rainbow Dash landed in front of the tree cottage early in the morning. Her mind was troubling her and she knew that Fluttershy could help her. She walked up to the door and was about to knock but it opened before she could even touch it. Standing in the door way was a frantic and worried looking Angel. He was waving and gesturing for Dash to follow her.
She called out for the bunny's owner. "Fluttershy? Hey you awake?"
No answer. The mare looked down at the bunny and saw he was pointing towards the kitchen. His worried face was begging her to follow him. She nodded and did as the bunny wanted. She followed Angel into the kitchen and spotted the shivering yellow pegasus.
"Fluttershy!" Dash cried aloud in shock.
She rushed to the side of the pony and lifted her off the floor. Fluttershy jumped at her touch and looked up at the rainbow maned mare. She leaped at the pegasus and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Please don't let them take me away! I don't want to leave Ponyville!"
Dash tried to pry the yellow mare off of her but found that her grip was like a vice and she wouldn't budge. The next fact she noticed made her stop trying to remove the pegasus. She was sobbing into her fur. "Fluttershy what happened? Why are you in here on the floor?"
Fluttershy merely pointed to the pile of letters on the table. Dash glanced over but couldn't see what it was she was pointing at.
Dash looked at the yellow pegasus. "You got a few mean letters? So what, last time you had no problem."
Fluttershy shook her head and spoke in a terrified voice. "I got a letter from my parents."
Dash felt a chill run up her spine. "What did they want?"
Fluttershy shuddered. "I don't know. I didn't read it. I'm scared to find out. What if they want me to move back in or they want me to do something for them? Ohh, what if they want to make amends? I just don't know what to do."
Dash gently pried her friend of off her and walked over to the table. She found the letter with the address she wished her didn't recognize. "This is what you do."
She crumpled up the letter and tossed it into the trash. Fluttershy looked at her like she was insane. "If they wanted to make amends they should have done it years ago." Dash walked back to her friend and picked her off the ground. "But I don't think they have good intentions like that. Think about it. They write to you a few days after everypony in Eqestria finds out your dating a Wonderbolt. I think they want to get in Soarin's good books for money or favors and the way for them to do that is with you."
Fluttershy gaze fell to the floor. "Why would they do that?"
Dash lifted her friends head up. "It doesn't matter. You made the choice long ago to move on in your life without them. Just forget about that stupid letter and live your life and if another one arrives just toss it like I did."
Fluttershy felt herself becoming more bold and confident. "I wish I had done that sooner. Thank you Dash."
The rainbow mare waved her hoof passively. "No problem. Now let’s get you something to eat."
Fluttershy sat down at the table and was quickly joined by Angel. He settled on her lap and cuddled her comfortingly. Fluttershy picked up one of the letters she hadn't opened yet and began to read it. While she read Dash was moving about the kitchen with a lightning fast speed. After a minute or so she sat down at the table and looked at her friend.
"The pancakes should be done in a few minutes or so. What'cha reading?"
Fluttershy glanced up from the letter. "Oh, it’s a letter from a little filly asking me how I got so pretty." Fluttershy began to blush. "And for tips on how to tell the colt she like about her feeling for him."
Dash gave a short laugh. "Look at you giving love advice."
Fluttershy glanced down at the letter for a moment. "Maybe I could help this filly out. She really does seem to like this colt she knows." The yellow mare looked at her friend again. "Hey Dash?"
Dash got up and flipped the pancakes. "Yeah?"
"Thank you for coming over this morning. If you hadn't I might not have been able to do anything. I might have done something stupid like responding to my parents."
Dash glanced over her shoulder at her oldest friend. "No problem. I'm happy to help ya out."
Fluttershy spoke a little for firmly this time. "Dash I'm really happy that you came over, but why did you come over today?"
Dash froze for a moment and took in a deep breath. She continued cooking while she talked. "I wanted to talk to you about something but it can wait until after your crisis."
Fluttershy put down the letter and spoke firmly but still softly to her friend. "My crisis is over. What did you want to talk about?"
The cyan pegasus didn't face her friend as she placed the pancakes onto a plate. "It's nothing."
Fluttershy voice rose slightly and her voice became stern, like a mother talking to a stubborn child. "Rainbow. What is it?"
Dash turned to her friend and let out a small sigh of defeat. She knew that Fluttershy wouldn't drop the subject until she told her. For some strange reason Fluttershy was only this stubborn with her and nopony else. Dash wondered if Fluttershy would get like this with their other friends in time or only with her. Dash sat down at the table and placed a plate in front of herself and Fluttershy.
Her gaze remained locked on the food in front of her. "I just wanted to talk about..." She trailed off into silence.
Fluttershy remained just as silent save for the small throat clearing she made. Dash took the hint. "I wanted to talk to you about the fact that I've been feeling... lonely."
Fluttershy could feel the pain in her friend’s voice. She had heard it before when Dash had come to the cottage crying a few months back.
Dash was still looking at the food that had lost all appeal to her as tears slid down her cheeks. "It's just that everypony I know seems to have found a special some pony. I saw her and Caramel together and then I just..."
Dash sniffed and wiped her eyes. When she looked up at the yellow mare her eyes were quickly filling up with tears once more. "I just want to have something special like the rest of you have."
Fluttershy moved next to her friend and hugged her. The cyan pegasus wrapped her legs around her friend and cried into the yellow coat. Fluttershy whispered that everything would be fine as she thought back to the other time Dash had been like this. She had come to her doorstep crying and only after several cups of tea did Dash tell her what had happened.
Dash had confessed her feeling's for the crush she had been harboring for months. When she told her crush she was shot down quickly. The mare of her affections didn't share the feeling's Dash had and told her she never could. Dash was crushed and had come to her oldest and closest friend for support.
Fluttershy stroked the colored mane of her friend. Dash pulled away and looked at her. "It's not that I'm not happy for you guys but... I just want to feel that as well ya know?"
Fluttershy nodded. "I understand. You just need to be patient. You'll find that pony that's meant for you. Just give it a little time." Fluttershy hugged her friend again and felt the breathing of her cyan friend calm a little.
Dash returned the hug lovingly. "I know, but waiting for them still sucks."
She gave her friend a small kiss on the forehead, just as a mother or older sister would do and looked at her friend with a small smile. "I think we both are having a crisis today. Just trust me when I say that you will find that pony."
Dash smiled and nodded as she wiped her eyes. "Look at us. A couple of saps crying like foals."
The pair giggled for a moment as they sat back down at the table. Fluttershy began eating and heard Dash's voice from across the table.
"Hey Fluttershy?"
She looked up at the rainbow maned pegasus. "Yeah."
Dash blushed a little. "You're like a sister to me. You know that right?"
Fluttershy nodded. "You are my sister Dash. You have been mine since we became friends."
Dash blushed harder and glanced off to the side. "This mushy stuff stays in this room."
Fluttershy giggled and took a bite of the pancakes. She wouldn't have it any other way.