It was around 6:00 PM. Luna had just finished raising her moon. She reached over and picked up a box and was about to fly off through the window towards Ponyville when Celestia approached her.
“What are you taking with you?” Celestia asked Luna with a warm smile, she loved to see her sister’s first adventure in friendship and finally that she was happy, it was heart-warming to her.
“What am I taking?” Luna smiled. “Just something I made.” Luna looked to the black box with a blue ribbon. It was Fluttershy’s present. “Somehow…” she looked up and smiled. “I just wanted to repay her kindness to me, so… I made this.” She smiled to the gift, it was something special, just like the last night she spent with her.
“So… what is it?” Celestia asked curiously, she wanted to know what was going on in her little sister’s mind.
“You’ll find out later.” Luna smiled warmly at the gift. “But right now, I have to visit my friend.” Luna said, hugging the present happily and smiling happily.
“Well… Okay, then. See you tomorrow… and, sister…” Celestia looked to Luna with a warm smile.
“Yes, Celly?” she replied.
“I’m proud of you.” Celestia said, giving Luna a hug, nothing was better than seeing her little sister happy, after all those years without her, it was just too perfect for her, and it was really real, she couldn’t believe what was happening, but it finally happened, her little sister was happy,
“Thank you, sister.” Luna smiled as she flew through the window.
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“Oh, Angel. I really hope she likes the dinner…” Fluttershy said to Angel, a worried look on her face. “I really do… I wonder what would happen if she doesn’t like it, it could-“ she began to breathe faster, she was incredibly worried about tonight, she didn’t want to mess things up.
Angel was tapping his paw on his owner hooves; it was quite annoying to see her worried like that.
“Right, breathe deeply.” Fluttershy said as she began to take deep breaths. “She will be here soon, so I just have to remain cal-“ Suddenly a knock on the door of her cottage interrupted her sentence.
*knock knock*
“It’s her! Oh my, I better get going!” Fluttershy rushed over and opened the door, she didn’t want to keep her friend waiting.
“Hi.” Luna said blushing , wow, she hadn’t expected that, she was embarrassed in front of her, she was looking so nice, her mane was glittering, it was beautiful.
“Hi.” Fluttershy was blushing too, Luna was looking so nice, her eyes were just like the night, so deep that she found it beautiful and calm at the same time, her eyebrows were looking nice, it reminded her a little of Rarity’s, and a thought went to Flutterhy’s mind. ”Did she arrange her look just for me?”
The two mares just stared at each other for a moment, neither of them knew what to say, the two were looking so beautiful, it was like they were in a formal party.
“You look beautiful…” she said as a pink tint appeared on her cheeks, Fluttershy was looking beautiful. The two mares didn’t say anything for a few moments, it was that awkward silence “Awkward…” Luna thought to herself, was it normal for her to say that to her? “Did I say something wrong?”
“Thank you, you look nice too.” She said as she tried to hide her blush behind her pink mane. “Um… Do you want to come in? I was just finishing up dinner.” Fluttershy said as she hid behind her mane. “Strange… Why I am acting so shy around her? I’m usually not THIS shy…”Fluttershy thought to herself, worried.
“Of course. Thank you for asking.” Luna replied as she entered the cottage.
“So… um… how was your day?” Fluttershy asked in her soft voice as she closed the door gently behind Luna.
“It was good, but kind of boring. Celly doesn’t stay at the castle much, so I’m alone most of the time. Well, almost alone. The castle is filled with guards and butlers. And when sheis at the castle she keeps picking on me.” Luna sighed, it was boring, she didn’t want to leave the castle either, only for special occasions, her sister always had arrangements, everyday, but it was no big deal, she could manage to stay on her own in any case. Besides, it was upsetting that her sister was never at the castle, she was so busy, but she couldn’t blame her, she just missed her sometimes.
“It must be really hard for you to stay alone in Canterlot…” She sighed “it must be awful, I stay here in my cottage almost every day alone, sometimes I don’t feel like I hang out with my friends enough…” she took a long breath “and I think I know how you feel not having many ponies around you…” Fluttershy said with a sad tone in her voice, only thinking about that made her sad, she didn’t like to be all alone.
“You do?” Luna asked Fluttershy curiously as she sat down on the sofa.
“Yes.” Fluttershy sighed and sat next to Luna. “It’s just awful. I’m not comfortable staying around other ponies for too long. I just don’t know why…” Fluttershy looked down with sorrow clear on her face.
“Don’t be sad. Have you talked about this with your friends?” Luna asked, she was feeling concerned about her friend, it reminded her of herself.
“Well… only one time, but I didn’t say too much about it…” Fluttershy sighed. “My fillyhood was hard. Ponies laughed at me… and… and…” she just couldn’t finish the sentence, it was too painful for her and it hurt deeply in her heart, she was the laughing stock back in those awful days, she just wanted to forget it, but it was too hard, it was too painful to forget, every night before she slept she thought about that.
“Shh… It’s okay. You can count on me.” Luna placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I will never laugh at you.” Luna gave her friend a warm smile, if she was getting help from the element of kindness, she wanted to help her too, thats what friends do, right?
Fluttershy forced a smile and took a deep breath. “I think I have to open up about myself more… hehe…” she shed a tear. It broke Luna’s heart to see Fluttershy like this. She didn’t have to say anything at all. She would never laugh at her. Still, she didn’t know if feeling sad for her friend was good, but she thought It must just be a part of friendship, but she knew that her friend was not having a good time, she was almost crying, she wanted to do something for her, she wanted to give her the same safe feeling she had to Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy… you don’t have to talk about it unless you really want to.” Luna spoke with concern in her voice.
“No, no… I have to say this. Well… If you want to listen to me, of course…” Fluttershy looked down.
“Well… anything you need, I’m here for you, okay?” Luna said as she hugged her gently.
“Okay.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Oh, I almost forgot about your socks.” Luna grinned as she returned the socks to Fluttershy. “I guess I forgot to take them back off and return them to you before I left.” Luna chuckled softly.
“Oh, thank you. I saw you flying off with them, but I didn’t want to call you back.” Fluttershy grinned.
“Why not?” Luna asked curiously, did she want her to keep the socks? It was confusing for her.
“Because you looked cute in them. And you said you liked them a lot.” Fluttershy smiled sheepishly at Luna, she indeed looked cute, it was more cute than a baby filly, she blushed a little but Luna didn’t see it, she found Luna so adorable with them that she wanted her to use the socks more often.
Luna blushed heavily this time. ”Did she say I looked cute with them? Celly told me that I looked cute with them too, is that true?” she blushed more and closed her eyes with her forehooves. “Thank you.” She was too embarrassed to show herself.
Fluttershy laughed. “Thank you for returning them.” It was the most adorable thing she ever saw, she just wanted to hug her, but that would be too odd, and she thought. ”Too odd…” she blushed lightly.
“It’s okay.” Luna replied. “I… made you something.” Luna looked down. “Yesterday… did you see it?” Luna asked.
Fluttershy blushed. “Yes. I didn’t know you could do that with the stars, and… it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Really?” Luna asked happily.
“Yes. Thank you very much.” Fluttershy smiled and looked down. “…best friend.”
Luna couldn’t stop herself, she hugged Fluttershy tightly. “I’m glad you liked it.” Luna said as she pulled away from Fluttershy and looked down. “…best friend.” Luna said, looking up at her friend and smiling.
“There is so much I want to talk to you about.” Fluttershy broke the silence.
“Then let’s talk, best friend.” The two mares laughed softly at each other.
“Luna…” Fluttershy began.
“Yes, Fluttershy?” she replied.
“I want to talk with you.” Fluttershy dropped her head and hid herself behind her mane, slightly sad. A tear fell from her eye.
“What do you want to talk about? You can talk to me whenever you feel you need to.” Luna placed her hoof back onto Fluttershy’s shoulder.
Fluttershy smiled sheepishly. “Well... I want to talk about my fillyhood...” she sighed. “I feel like I need to talk about it...” she took another breath.
“It’s okay, I’m here for you.” Luna smiled warmly.
“Thank you. Well...” she sighed. “I don’t know how and where to start.” She dropped her face.
“What exactly about your fillyhood do you want to talk about?” Luna asked gently.
Fluttershy took a deep breath. “I... couldn’t make any friends.” she continued. “And…” she paused and began to cry softly.
“Shh… Don’t be upset. I’m here, remember?” Luna spoke softly. “I won’t let you down, believe me.” She smiled.
Fluttershy nodded and wiped away her tears. She took a breath and continued. “My fillyhood was just awful…” she paused.
“Fluttershy, are you really sure you want to talk about this with me? I mean… If this hurts you, you can talk about this later.” Luna said, concerned.
“Oh no… I have to talk about this… I just have… I really want to open up about it…” Fluttershy sighed. “I just…” Fluttershy stopped.
“Shh…” Luna hugged Fluttershy.
“…It hurts, I… I want it to go away.” She cried out loud, as she cried on Luna’s shoulder.
It broke Luna’s heart to hear that. It hurt her to see her friend like that. It was too painful to watch that. She wanted to make Fluttershy feel better, she was willing to…
“They… they laughed at me.” Fluttershy cried more.
“Shh…” Luna was almost crying watching Fluttershy. It was just too painful. She hadn’t felt this upset since… her banishment…
Fluttershy was sobbing on Luna’s mane. “They…” she continued.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy. I’m not going to laugh at you.” Luna said soothingly as she shed a tear.
“They called me names…” Fluttershy finished.
“Shh…” Luna began. “If it makes you feel better I brought something for you.” She finished.
“You… you did?” Fluttershy asked, still sobbing.
“Yes.” Luna smiled as her horn lit up and a black and gray striped box with a beautiful blue ribbon tied around it floated over to Fluttershy. The ribbon had little blue butterflies on it that were barely visible against the blue ribbon.
“What is it?” Fluttershy sheepishly smiled as she wiped away her tears.
“If you don’t open it I guess you’ll never know.” Luna laughed softy.
That laugh seemed to soothe Fluttershy. It brought peace to her heart and raised her spirit. She didn’t know what it meant, but she felt good.
Fluttershy removed the ribbon carefully and opened the box. She began to take a look at the present. She liked, no, she loved it.
“Do you like it?” Luna asked Fluttershy.
“I… I love it.” Fluttershy smiled as she put it on. It was a beautiful green sweater made from a soft and warm fabric.
“I made it myself.” Luna said sheepishly with a soft voice.
“Really? It must’ve taken forever.” Fluttershy replied.
“Well… I think it was worth it. I like to see you happy.” Luna said, blushing.
“That’s very kind of you.” Fluttershy hugged Luna lovingly.
“You are the Element of Kindness. Sometimes you deserve some kindness, so… I made it just for you.” Luna finished.
“Thank you. I love it.” Fluttershy smiled warmly.
“I made it last night. I was a little tired, but I wanted to finish it.” Luna replied smiling sheepishly.
“Oh, you didn’t need to do that, Luna. I’m fine just having your friendship.” Fluttershy said sheepishly.
“I just thought you’d like to have something in return for your kindness. You deserve even more.” Luna said, smiling.
“But I already have it.” Fluttershy said softly.
“Really? What is it?” Luna asked curiously.
“You.” Fluttershy blushed heavily as she saw Luna look away. She could see Luna was blushing too. “So…” Fluttershy continued. “If you made it last night I suppose you must be tired.” Fluttershy said, a little concerned.
“Well… I’ve been staying up late these days…” Luna said as she lowered her face, a look of sadness on it.
“You can talk to me. You helped me and I want to help you too. I'm happy to listen.” Fluttershy said in a calm voice.
Luna smiled at Fluttershy “I’m having trouble getting to sleep.” She sighed as she looked down.
“Can you tell me why? Um… Is there something keeping you from sleeping?” Fluttershy asked.
“…Yes…” Luna replied.
“Do you want to tell me about it? Um… You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course.” Fluttershy said, concerned.
“Actually… yes, I trust you enough to tell you.” Luna replied, smiling warmly.
Fluttershy smiled happily. “So… how do you feel?” Fluttershy asked.
“I kind of don’t feel anything, but I still feel something…” she replied.
“So you know what it is?” Fluttershy asked.
“I… I feel…” Luna said, shedding tears. “…Empty…” she finished, her voice full of pain.