I shook as Rainbow walked over to me. "Hey, let's get something to drink, alright?" she asked. She led me down to the kitchen and poured me some apple juice. I took a few sips of it. "Are you okay?" she asked.
No. He's back, he knows where I live, and he has my journal and knows everything I wrote about him. No, I'm not fine. I thought. I wanted to say that, but I couldn't. I didn't want to seem weak in front of her when it came to my parents. "Yeah, I'm okay. But I thought he died. How is he back?"
"Are you sure it was his writing?" she asked for clarification.
I nodded my head and took more sips of my drink. "I mean, it's been years since I've seen him or his writing, so I guess it could be any pony. But..." I trailed off.
"But what?"
I looked at her with worry. "But what if he returned? What if he is searching for me?" I asked, worriedly.
"Is it possible your mother did that instead?" she asked.
"Maybe. But why wouldn't she just come and get me? Why send a package?" I asked. She had no problem coming after me while I was in the hospital.
"When you think about it, it isn't unlike her. From what you told me, the only time your mother hit you was when you were in the hospital. She likes to get inside your head and psych you out." Rainbow said. "I wouldn't worry about it. She's just trying to scare you." she said, trying to reassure me.
I didn't believe her. I knew that either my mom or dad was looking for me and had found me. They wouldn't just hurt me now, they'd go after Rainbow and her brother, the two who took me in. "Rainbow...I'm scared." I said shakily.
"Hey, there's on reason to be scared." she said, sitting next to me and pulling me into a tight hug. "You've got me. The fastest Pegasus in Equestria and the Captain of the Weather Team." I laid my head on her shoulder. She was warm and her embrace caused my heart to race. "Now I know you worked hard on the dress, but I don't think we should go to the dance. I'm not going until I know you're safe." she said.
I pulled out of the hug quickly. "Oh no!" I exclaimed. "We're going to the dance. You've got a date with Long Horn and you can't miss that." I said. I didn't really want to go, but I didn't want my efforts on our dresses to go to waste. And I wanted an excuse to wear the dress and make an impression on her.
"I thought you said he was a big meanie?"
"Well, yes, but if you're going to give him a chance, then I should too." I said. I really wasn't going to give him a chance. But it sounded good. "And...I'd feel safer being with you." I quietly added.
"In that case, let's forget about the box and enjoy the night." she said. I nodded my head and looked to the ground. I was still worried about the box and what it meant for us, but I trusted Rainbow to keep us safe. "Hey, it's okay. Like I said, you have me here."
"I know." I said. "I'm just worried about you." I said. I didn't tell her that I was worried that one of my parents may come and destroy the house, hurt Felix, or hurt her. I didn't want to scare her, even though she acted like nothing did.
"Come on, I'm Rainbow Dash. No pony can beat me!" she boasted.
I looked at her worriedly. They aren't ponies though. They're monsters. I thought. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
"I'll be back. I'm going to get rid of that thing upstairs." she said, turning for the stair case.
"Ok." I said, quietly. I finished the apple juice and sighed. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. Everything is going to be fine." I said to myself. "I'll go to the dance, have a nice time with Rainbow Dash, and we'll forget this ever happened." I took a deep breath. She came back downstairs after a few minutes and sat back down at the table.
We talked for a few hours. She made me laugh and brought my mood up. It was nice to have this. She put her hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. Normally she didn't care, but I think she wanted to keep eye contact with me this time. I caught myself getting lost in her eyes. Her deep, purple eyes drew me closer and left me with a fuzzy feeling inside. Her tomboyish attitude and look just left something for me to admire.
It was soon time for us to go to the dance. Rainbow had banned me from making anymore dresses, but I was okay with it. I sent her to her changing room for her dress as I walked to the closet. I put the dress I made over myself, walked out, and waited for Rainbow. I took a deep breath, worried about what she would think of how I looked. She walked out and I couldn't help notice how gorgeous she looked. Her mane was hanging over down her neck with a small curl at the end. She looked so pretty that I almost forgot to speak.
"Do I look okay?" I asked, seeing how she blushed at me.
"Uh, yeah! Of course you do!" she exclaimed, quickly hiding her face. "But I still think mine looks cooler."
"Oh, I'm glad you like it!" I said happily. "I was afraid I overdid the lightning along the edges."
"It looks great Fluttershy." she said, smiling at me. I loved that she thought it looked good. We walked out of the house and headed to Town Hall. The entire time I was thinking about how I could impress Rainbow more. When we arrived, I lost sight of her in the crowd of ponies walking around. It was strange. I wasn't used to being around this many ponies and it made me a little uncomfortable. I hung my head low as I looked for Rainbow. I know I'd feel better being by her side.
"Hey Fluttershy! Over here!" I heard her call in front of me. I smiled and ran over to her. She was with Long Horn, but it didn't matter to me. She was next to me and I know we were going to have fun tonight. I wasn't going to let Long Horn ruin it for me.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash. I lost sight of you in all the commotion of those mares." I said to her. I turned to Long Horn. "How are you?" I asked, trying to keep my smile up. He made it difficult, but I was able to not show my dislike for him.
"I'm doing well. How about you, Flutters?" he asked.
"I'm doing well, I guess." I said. I made sure to stand close to Rainbow. I didn't trust this guy. He just gave me a bad feeling now that I saw him standing in front of me.
"Yes, well, Dasher and I are going to take a stroll real quick. We'll be back shortly." he said, taking Rainbow and dragging her away.
"It'll be okay." she whispered to me. I saw him take her to the other end of the room and I sighed. The night just started and he already was trying to keep her away from me. It hurt, knowing that Rainbow had to choose this guy to go with, but I know how her reputation is to her.
I hope everything goes alright. I thought. I don't want to be left alone here. There's just too many ponies here. I caught the stare from a mare in my Gardening class who always picked on me. She whispered something to her friends and they all laughed at me. I lowered my head lower and thought about leaving. No. I'm here with Rainbow Dash. She'll make sure I have a good time. I thought to myself. I could still feel the ponies stares and hear them snickering at me when they walked past me. I was alone right now. They probably thought I was here alone because nobody was stupid enough to ask me.
"Hey Fluttershy. Can I-" I heard Rainbow Dash ask. I looked to her as she was nudged by Long Horn. She whispered something to him and he grunted as he walked to the concession stand.
"What's wrong, Rainbow?" I asked, scared.
She took a deep breath. "You see, um...I can't...You need to..." she stammered. I saw her struggling to say it and I could see the pain in her eyes. "I can't talk to you tonight." she said quickly. "I can't be seen near you when I'm with Long Horn."
I stood there, shocked. My heart felt like it had been stabbed. And Rainbow was the one who did it. She held that knife and drove it into my chest. "But...but why?" I asked, tears streaming down my face.
"It's because I'm afraid you'll ruin my reputation here with Long Horn." she said quietly, avoiding my eyes.
Her reputation means that much to her? I thought, devastated. It means so much that she's willing to kill me emotionally? She promised she would be here for me, that she would always be there for me and not let me down. And here she was shoving me away and not wanting to be seen with me.
I felt my legs tremble as I collapsed on the ground, bawling my eyes out. I didn't care who saw. I was in too much pain to care. The only pony who cared for me and the only pony I ever loved just shoved me away. She picked me up and gave me a quick hug. She whispered something into my ear, but I was too distraught to understand her. She let go of me and walked back to Long Horn. I looked at him and saw him stand there, smiling with pride. I wanted to take his pride and break it in his flank. But all I could do was run home, crying more than I had since I was with my parents.
When I ran outside, I bumped into an orange pony. "Whoa there. Ya' alright?" she asked, blocking my path.
"I'm fine." I said quietly in between my sobs.
"Ya' sure? Did somepony do something to you while you were in there?" she asked, worriedly.
"Bucking Long Horn stole her!" I shouted. I think I frightened her a little bit, but I didn't care. She had moved out of my way and I ran past her, sobbing loudly. I flew into the air, ignoring her shouts for me to come back. I didn't care. I didn't care about anything right now. I flew harder and faster than I ever had just so I could get to my room and cry in my bed.
I flew through the window and landed on my bed, releasing the tears I had failed to keep back. Why did she do this? Do I really mean that little to her? I thought. I felt Angel place a paw on my shoulder. I looked to him and saw worry in his eyes.
"Angel, just leave me alone. Please. I'll be fine..." I said, lying to him. He hopped away and I buried my face back in my pillow. I wept. I hadn't felt this upset since I lived with my parents. Why is she doing this? I thought. Angel jumped back on the bed and walked up to the pillow. He rubbed my head a little bit. I looked at him and he was holding the journal.
"You want me to write about it?" I asked, surprised. "I don't want to ever remember this!" I shouted to him.
He shook his head and pointed to Rainbow's bed. "So...you want me to write about it so she can read it later?" I asked.
He shook his head. He moved to a previous page and pointed at it. "Entry 85: I can't believe it. All my hopes and my plans have been for nothing. She's not interested in me as anything more than a friend. I bought a beautiful dress for the dance, hoping that I could impress her. But, it turns out that she is going with a big stuck up jerk. He's the top jock at school and all he does is put people down. I'm torn between wanting to be with Rainbow Dash and wanting to move on." I read aloud.
"But, what does that have to do with what happened tonight?" I asked. I had written that yesterday after dealing with some of my thoughts about the dance.
He pointed back at the page and then to my heart. "Are you saying it came from heart. my heart?" I asked him, trying to talk between my tears.
He nodded his head. He flipped to the next page and pointed to it and back to my heart. He put the journal down and hopped back to the table. He came back with a pencil and placed it in front of me. "I guess I could write from my heart about what happened tonight..." I said quietly. I was still crying, but Angel was able to help calm me down.
I took the journal and began writing. "Entry 86: All I feel is hurt and pain. No matter what I do or what I try, I'll always be the second run. The pony that nopony could ever love. I'm useless, worthless. I feel like I'm all alone in this place. Why can't she love me like I love her? Why can't I be more like her? Why am I so stupid as to believe that I could ever amount to anything that Rainbow could love? I hope she's having fun with Long Horn..."
I finished the entry and felt terrible. I felt my tears falling down my face as they fell onto the page. They stained the paper and smudged the words. I moved the journal away from me and Angel took it. He just threw it under the bed as he started rubbing my back. "Hey, Fluttershy." I heard Rainbow Dash say.
"Rainbow Dash?" I asked, turning to her and wiping my eyes. "What do you want?" I asked.
"I...I want to apologize for what I said earlier. You were right. Long Horn is a jerk. I should never have agreed to go with him." she said, lowering her head.
I sniffed. I had to wipe my eyes again because the tears kept blocking my vision. I'm sure they were red and puffy by now. I remember her saying she would tell me about the situation later. "What was it all about, Rainbow?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from choking.
"When he pulled me off to the side, he told me I had to leave you and not talk to you. If I didn't, he was going to spread a lie about you." she said. I could hear the hurt in her voice.
"What was the lie?" I asked.
"That you were hiding from the cops and I was harboring you." she said as she walked over to my bed. She sat down next to me and held her head low. "I ditched him though. He was trying to force me to kiss him. So I told him off, embarrassing him in front of everyone in the entire room, and left." she said. "But only after I hit him a few times."
The thought of Rainbow hitting Long Horn was funny to think of. It raised my mood a little bit. I put my head on her shoulder. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
I took a deep breath. "When you told me that you were going with Long Horn, I was jealous. I wanted to spend the dance with you. So when it came time for me to find a dress, I wanted to find something absolutely beautiful and stunning." I said. "I had bought a dress before, but it wasn't really a good looking dress. It wasn't cheap and I had to sell a few of my personal things to get it. I started making this one and it took me around three days to finish it. But once I did, I was so excited that I would be able to have a dress that looked amazing. I...I wanted to impress you, Rainbow." I said, choking out the last of my words.
"You did, Fluttershy." she said, rubbing my back.
"I noticed you blushing when you saw me. I was really happy that you liked it and thought I looked good. But when we got to the dance and you told me to stay away, I felt like it was all for nothing, like I had traded in all my items for no reason whatsoever." I said, starting to cry again. There was a knock on the front door, but we ignored it. "I was very worried about what this meant for us. So many thoughts passed through my mind that I found myself hyperventilating."
"You know I would never kick you out, Fluttershy." she said, pulling me close. There was another knock on the door.
I felt her heart beat against my chest. My face flushed. "I know. But I was worried about something else. Something more than just that..." I said, slowly.
"Oh, hello there. Am I interrupting something?" I heard a voice say at the door. I jumped, startled by his sudden appearance.
"Doctor? How'd you get in here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I soniced the door." he said, putting an item in his pocket. "I love what you did with the place. Is that the White Tail forest?" he asked me, pointing to my wallpaper.
"Oh. Um, yes it is." I said quietly. Of course, you come in right as I'm about to tell her how I feel.
"Wait, wait, wait. You soniced my door? What does that even mean?" she asked, confused.
"Oh nothing bad. I just used a screwdriver to open the door. Anyways, Rainbow Dash, your parents are downstairs. Nice dress by the way." he said and walked back down the stairs.
Rainbow had a look of shock on her face with her mouth agape. "Rainbow? Is everything okay?" I asked. She jumped off the bed and ran downstairs.