Just as Fluttershy prepared to cry out Teridax’s name, the spirit of shadow seemed to exit the reaches of her mind, leaving her back to where she was: standing in front of her best friends, unable to respond to wherever they’d left her off last time she spoke to them.
The pegasus shook her head—as if cleansing her thoughts of the conversation she had just shared with Teridax—and asked, “I’m sorry—what did you say, again?”
She wasn’t sure, but Fluttershy thought she could hear somebody chortling from behind Twilight. Looking over her friend’s head, she realized it was Rainbow Dash making such rude noises. Rainbow! she thought, resisting the urge to yell as the other pegasus within the vicinity resisted the urge to burst out laughing.
Seriously? thought Rainbow Dash. How long did it take her to realize that she zoned out?
Before Fluttershy could make any sort of response, Rarity’s thoughts cut in: Poor dear must be getting sick! Who knows what it could be if it’s causing her to think people are condemning her behind her back?
Then she could hear Pinkie’s thoughts making their way through. Why’s she acting so crazy? she wondered. Oh—is it because she’s gonna give us all a surprise when this is all over? That’d be great!
And again came Dash’s thoughts. She’s been through a lot, but I think she’s finally lost her mind.
Twilight found herself compelled to repeat what she had said to Fluttershy just a moment ago, but instead stood in awe of the angered look screwing up her friend’s face. “Fluttershy?” she asked. “A-are you okay?”
Her teeth grinding, her nose scrunched, and her eyelids twitching as they shut themselves tight, Fluttershy let out all her frustrations and all her anger with a sharp, “No!” from her mouth.
“No, Twilight—I’m not okay! I’m everything but okay! All you ever think about is how entertaining it is to make fun of me! All you ever think about is how I’ve gone crazy; well, I’m not crazy! Don’t ask me how, but—I know what you’re all thinking of me. None of it is good. Nothing you ever say of me is good!” And with that, the pony collapsed to the ground, weeping into her front hooves as she crashed.
“Fluttershy!” gasped Twilight. “Don’t be like that.” She paused and came down to Fluttershy’s eye level. “Fluttershy, we're your friends."
"She's right, Fluttershy," added Applejack, almost tempted to pat the weeping pony's hair. "No one here has nothin' against you, Sugarcube."
Do not be swayed by their trickery! demanded Teridax. They will bring you down to their level if you are not careful.
I'm sorry, replied Fluttershy. I just don't know what to do.
Don't let them lie to you!
Lie? If there was anything Fluttershy couldn’t comprehend, it was realizing she had listened to the liar’s mouth. But to realize she now stood before multiple liars—one of them representing the element of Honesty, no less—drew her blood to a boil, dried her tears up in an instant. Realizing this, Fluttershy curled up her lip in a snarl.
“You know what?” the pegasus began as she lifted her face from her hooves. Her red eyes shot directly at Twilight. “You wanna know something, little princess?” she snarled, stomping forward and obstructing almost the entirety of Twilight’s field of view. “Yes you did say something.” As she stood nose-to-nose with the unicorn, the stones behind her rumbled and shifted minutely in their sleep.
The pegasus raised her voice: “You said, ‘Oh no,’ as if there’s something to be worried about!”
Stunned by simply hearing such words fly out of Fluttershy’s mouth, Twilight took a few steps back. “Y-you heard that?” she asked. “But—that was—I didn’t even—”
“Yes you did!” interrupted Fluttershy. “I heard you loud and clear!”
Disgusted, Rarity attempted to step back in and confront Fluttershy, but found herself coated beneath Rainbow Dash’s shadow when she lifted herself up in the air and demanded, “Okay, Fluttershy—quit yelling at Twilight like that! You know it’s not—”
And there quickly came an echoing voice into the pony’s head. I will win you everything when you join me. It is your destiny to join me.
The voice made her tremble. My destiny? Daring as she was, Rainbow Dash couldn't bring herself to swallow her pride and move forward, to confront her friend when even in light of such disrespect toward her own friends.
Not Rainbow Dash, too! thought Twilight. If she’s not brave enough to stand in the face of this danger, probably nobody here is. Ironically, Fluttershy seemed the only capable pony at that moment.
In her anger, Fluttershy started grinding her teeth and bending her head down to her friends' shrinking bodies. One thumping heartbeat after another came to pass—and it seemed that with every ticking second, Fluttershy's friends took a small step backward. Fluttershy herself found it harder and harder to keep her demons away, to summon her once prevalent modesty—but she didn't care. She didn't care if her friends saw her as nothing other than a Shadow of her former self, didn't care what they'd labels they dare throw at her.
I don’t need to care what they think! she told herself. I don’t need anybody—anybody but you, dear Teridax.
But as such thoughts poisoned her mind, Fluttershy noticed that Teridax seemed to have disappeared from her now unguided thoughts. Teridax? she said. Where did you go, Teridax? It was while searching for the deity when a familiar face appeared—the likes of which pulled her gaze away from her friends and toward the hilly terrain.
A peach-colored pony made her way through the grass and toward the rocks, so it seemed to Fluttershy. The stranger’s velvety-red hair blossomed out from the grass—and once her hair shined bright within the daylight sky, she came to a halt.
“Who is that?” thought Fluttershy out loud. “She looks so familiar but—”