''And you say you keep having these...nightmares?''
From my laid back position on the couch belonging to the mare whom I was talking to, I closed my eyes and sighed.
''Yes.''
''Mmm-hmm.'' She nodded, lightly brushing aside the soft pink curtain that made her mane out of her left, soft blue-green eye with a butter hoof. ''And you think it's because of her?'' I nodded slowly and she scribbled something down with a quill she held in her mouth on a notepad she had in her hoof.
This mare, Fluttershy, was surprisingly up for the challenge of being my personal therapist and unexpectedly, she seemed to have a good knowledge on how to tutor 'patients' such as myself when the need rises.
At the moment, I was laid down on her couch with her beside me in an armchair made from environmentally friendly wicker. Her little cottage was a rather homely place for a pegasus, seeing as our kind prefer to live in the clouds. But because Fluttershy is Fluttershy and the 'shy' part suits her really well, she chose to live on the ground instead. Everypony has a preference, I guess.
All around her living room, beautifully aged furniture stood in their respectful places. Between me and her was a brown oak coffee table and beside her chair was a small desk holding a two cups of tea, one hers and one mine, and next to the mugs were some small notes on these sessions we have been having for a week or so now.
Animals roamed around here and there, such as mice and rats and birds, and in various places screwed into the roof were bird houses and small platforms and perches for them to land on.
''Alright, I think I know what the problem is.'' She said, placing her quill and paper aside to the desk next to her chair and cupping her hooves professionally, looking directly at me. ''Rainbow Strike, I think you are too bottled up with your emotions.'' She said in that soft, calm and beautiful voice of hers.
My ear perked slightly and I sat up from my laying position to stare her in the eyes.
Too bottled up? R-Really? ''How...how do you mean, Fluttershy?'' I asked her and she simply smiled.
''Well, truthfully, as a friend, I think that you have issues letting go of your feelings. To me, and to Rainbow Dash for that matter, you have trouble letting go of all of your negative emotions and feelings for what's been done to you and your marefriend.''
I sighed heavily, slumping in my seat. I stared at my bandaged hooves and stayed quiet for a moment before speaking. ''I know, Fluttershy. I know.'' I said lowly. ''Rainbow Dash is an awesome sister to me. I just don't feel all that comfortable with getting all sappy and emotional when it comes to this kind of thing, y'know?'' She giggled at that.
''You know what, Strike, I do. Rainbow does the same thing.'' I laughed a bit. Me and Rainbow were more like twins than regular brothers and sisters.
''Yeah, I suppose. Things have been slow for me these past days and I don't know what to do. I mean, I was completely happy and was living the dream and I lived in the big city with my fiance where I used to be in a band with her. Now look at me, I'm a wreck.'' I said glumly.
It was true, though. I did have a wonderful life, all negatives aside, and it was the best time ever! Fluttershy was also right. I do have trouble letting go of my problems and emotions. It wasn't exactly a cake walk for me after I lost my one and only true love and even the mention of her name was enough to make my eyes sting and my heart pang with the break within it that I knew would never heal.
I looked up to her, seeing her still smiling that glamorous white at me. It brought a smile to my own lips, if not, a weak one. ''So...what do you propose?''
She reached a hoof to my shoulder. ''I propose that you talk about this with your sister. After all, you two are probably the closest siblings I've ever met. Aside from Pinkie and her siblings.'' I smiled a little more. Me and Dash truly were good with each other as a brother-sister team. At this point in time, the only thing that put me off the thought of talking to her about this was the uneasy feeling that followed in my gut.
I already talked with her and her friends back at Twilight's old library (when it was still there, anyway) about what I've done and where I've been all these years and in doing so made one of them hate me to bits (namely, Pinkie Pie) and if that happened then, what would this do?
Maybe I worry too much, too? Yeah, probably...
''Hey, lighten up, Strike. Believe me, I know it isn't easy going through what you're going through, but you still got us to talk to if you need us.'' She assured me. ''How are those doing by the way?'' She asked looking down to my bandaged up hooves with a sympathetic look in her eyes.
''Could be better.'' I said, letting her take my left hoof in her own as she carefully undid the bindings from my elbow to the end of my hoof at the bottom. I winced at the cold air that touched the singed skin.
My fur hadn't grown back fully and my skin was still reddened underneath from the electrical damage they received all that time ago. They were scarred and wrinkled, an ugly mess of an example of what high voltage, white-hot electricity can do to your body if it comes into close proximity of you.
Even though Fluttershy took me on as a 'patient' to tutor through the therapy sessions we share together, she has also been nursing my hooves with all the medical knowledge she had and she was the perfect candidate for a personal medic as well as a therapist because of all the things and methods she knew of the subject because she was also a veterinarian.
She certainly was a gifted pegasus for a shy mare. And a cute one, too. I thought to myself.
Using a specially developed dermatological solution, she applied it to my hooves and I immediately felt a burning, tingling sensation that made me cringe with the painful feeling.
''Try to relax, I know it hurts.'' She said in an almost motherly, soothing tone. Though I was uncontrollably tensed up at the tingling, burning sensation running through my hooves, I managed to keep myself from gritting my teeth from the pain.
Fluttershy spent around five to ten minutes applying the substance to my hooves and then left the room to get her first aid kit, coming back and opening it to take out fresh, clean bandages to replace the old ones.
If anything hurt other than the pain I felt each time that never went away when I or somepony else took off my bandages, it was the fact that I knew my burns would never heal. I was officially stuck with them. It may be a downside in my life, but I still was me, if not only a little changed from the things that I've been put through in my lifetime.
I thanked Fluttershy and gave her a friendly hug that she gladly returned. Sharing a smile, we both sat for a while in conversation whilst we finished our tea. We shared laughs and memories of the past and then when we were directed into a conversation concerning our friends, an uneasy thought came into my mind, one that I knew I had to ask Fluttershy if she knew anything of, seeing as how close she was to the mare in thought.
''Hey, Fluttershy? D-Does Pinkie Pie still hate me?'' I asked with a frown. Fluttershy's eyes widened for a moment and she gagged on the final sips of her tea, her cheeks bubbling up cutely and she made an 'eep' sound before she managed to swallow her mouthful.
''N-No. No, I don't think so. Why in Equestria would you think that?'' She asked with a shocked expression from the strange question. Placing my own cup aside, I looked her in the eyes.
''Ever since I told you girls my story, she hasn't spoken to me since. It's like she absolutely hates me and I honestly can't blame her for feeling that way, Fluttershy. She has every right to be upset with me and I don't hold anything against her.'' I slowly wiped my eyes with a hoof, a tear or two staining the newly applied bandage surrounding it.
''Oh, Strike, she doesn't hate you. As a matter of fact, she doesn't hate anypony. I'm sure it's some kind of misunderstanding.'' She reassured me but I didn't believe it, nor did I plan to anytime soon.
''I don't believe that, Fluttershy. I was only hoping that you may know seeing as you two are like really close friends. She's my sister's friend, too, and the feeling of her hating me over something as painful as what happened is so unbearable and it creates awkward tension between us. It just isn't right, like, at all.'' I slumped again and felt the hooves of Fluttershy wrap around me in a hug.
''Oh, I'm sorry, Strike. I didn't realize that you felt so strongly about it.'' She released me from the hug and looked into my emerald eyes. ''Listen, if it means anything, what if I talk to Pinkie on your behalf and try to find out how she feels? If that's alright with you, that is.''
''Thanks but no thanks, Fluttershy. If I'm going to do this, I need to do it myself. As much as I appreciate the offer, it's about time I start doing things myself if I'm to get my life back on the right tracks.'' I returned the hug and got up from my seat. ''Well, I think I've taken enough of your time. I need to get back to my studio. Sweetie and her friends are probably waiting for me to teach them.'' I said as I walked for the door.
''That sounds wonderful, Strike.'' She said with a warm smile. ''At least you're doing something you enjoy and you get to teach others what you know along the way. When we meet again, tell me about it, I'm sure it'll be a great story!''
''Yeah, I bet it will be. Sweetie is already becoming a better singer and it's hardly even been through the second week!'' We shared a laugh and I thanked her for the tea and said my goodbye's before leaving and heading through the door, closing it on my way out and heading back to my music studio where the three, anxious fillies are probably waiting for my arrival.
With what I had in mind to teach them, I'm sure today will be one of the best they have ever had with an instrument.