Something Happened

by SamRose

Chapter 1

When we were kids, something happened.

I didn't notice what had happened at first, but I did when I realized my best friend had vanished.

The day before she had disappeared, we had hung out like normal. She had been over at my house, trying to escape from the stress that was going on at her house.

Her mom was sick and no one in their family was handling it very well. She wanted to be there for her mother, but at the same time her mother had changed from being sick. Some days her mom didn't recognize her, some days she would yell and scream, some days she would ignore her completely, and then other days she was completely normal.

It was the normal days that made her scared the most. On the normal days, the feeling that the small bit of happiness they had would disappear and be gone forever.

That was where I came in, of course. I had known her for years, we had been practically inseparable since we had met. And so when she was scared, when she was sad, when she was nervous, I was the one who would take care of her. I would put a smile back on her face, even if she didn't know she needed one. When life got to be too much, I was the pillar that would keep her supported.

And I did all of that because she really was my best friend, in every way.

She was the one person I could tell everything to, and she wouldn't judge me or think me strange no matter what it was. She seemed to get me in a way that no one else did. She saw me for who I was, not the bratty kid everyone else seemed to think I was.

She wasn't a jock like me, she wasn't into music like me, she didn't even like video games or TV like me. We were so different you would think it was crazy that we were best friends.

I hated going on walks in the woods, but she loved them. I hated taking care of animals, but nothing made her feel more alive. She didn't like sharing her opinions, where I loved shouting them from the rooftop.

But she would always make sure I was happy doing whatever it is we were doing. If we were playing video games, she was content to watch me and cheer me on. If we were listening to music she would always listen to everything I liked, even if they weren't to her tastes. If there was a soccer game going on, she would be in the bleachers at every game cheering me on the loudest. If I had something I wanted to yell about, she would listen to me no matter how long I ranted for.

And as any good friend did, I returned the favor by doing what she loved. I would turn walks in the woods into small adventures, I made a game out of taking care of animals at the shelter to try and get the highest score (even if she always beat me at that), and on the days she just wanted to sit quietly I would sit with her and just watch the day pass by.

She was my best friend, and I didn't realize how much she meant to me back then. I was too young to really understand that. I just felt like we would be friends forever and nothing could change that.

That was why when I didn't hear from her for a few days, I noticed how quiet and lonely it got without her around. She didn't say much to begin with, but her presence spoke the loudest in my life.

I tried calling her at first, but she never picked up. I asked my parents if they knew why she wasn't answering, but they wouldn't tell me anything. She stopped showing up at school and I couldn't contact her in any way.

When I was tired of it, I tried visiting her house myself, to get the answer from someone. But no one ever answered the door. I visited the house every day for a week, waiting for someone to answer, to tell me what was going on.

There had been rumors at school, whispers that something bad had happened to her. Her mother had been sick, so everyone assumed she must have died and that was why she was absent. But if that was the reason, she would still have been at her house.

Something wasn't right and I didn't know what it was.

I felt so lost, so helpless.

I hated it.

I was her best friend.

If something had happened to her, I was the one who was supposed to help.

Then, one day, she did return home. I had been sitting on her porch, waiting for someone to show up and explain what was going on to me. I was waiting, when a cop car pulled up into the driveway, and she stepped out of it.

I was so happy, I didn't know where she had been or why, I was just happy that she was here.

“FLUTTERSHY!” I had yelled, hopping to my feet and rushing over to her. She had looked up in surprise as I threw my arms around her. She stiffened in my embrace, a sense of cold distance between us despite my holding her. I pulled back and looked at her, seeing the look of emptiness that was on her face.

Not sadness, not despair, not fear.

Emptiness.

As if there was nothing inside of her anymore. As if she was a million miles away despite her body being right here.

I tried to ask what was wrong, but I was pulled away by her father. He had roughly gripped the back of my shirt and pulled me away from his daughter. I stumbled back and sat on his front lawn, looking up at him.

His eyes were fierce, like a predator staring down his prey. I had never seen him look that way before, a man with such a ferocious stare. I had visited their house so many times, and the older man had always been so incredibly nice, sometimes nicer than my own father. I was certain he had always looked at me like a second daughter, but the look in his eyes said I was the last person he ever wanted to be around.

The cop car pulled away, and her father grabbed her hand, roughly dragging her back into the house. She didn't even look at me as they entered. I just sat there, dumbfounded by what had happened, still processing what was going on.

Everything was wrong and I didn't know why.

At some point I had gone home and I had asked my parents again what was going on. When I told them what happened, they relented and told me something. Fluttershy's mom had died, and so the police had wanted to make sure of her cause of death and that was why she had been gone for so long.

I didn't like that answer.

I imagined if it was my mom who had died from a disease. I would yell and scream and cry and break things and vent my anger at the world for having taken her from me.

Then I imagined if I was Fluttershy.

She would be crying, despairing, mourning the loss of her mother. She would be smothering herself in animals, shying away from social activities, and trying to make sense of everything.

But more than anything, she would be looking to her best friend for help. She would be wanting me to be there as a shoulder to cry on, to bring some normalcy to her life.

But she was empty.

She was empty and that scared me.

I didn't know what to do and I was lost.

The funeral was held only a few days later. I'll always remember that day, it'll be burned into my memory forever. The image of Fluttershy, dressed in all black, looking at her Mother's coffin. Her eyes were tired, with bags hanging underneath them as if she hadn't slept since she had come home. Her skin was pale, as if she was malnourished or sick. Her hair lacked it's vibrant glow, one of the traits that made her shine so brightly despite being so reserved.

She looked like she was the one who had died that day, not her mother.

It had been an overcast day. The clouds had been threatening to rain but never did. Everyone was dressed the same, black clothes in respect and mourning. I had never been to an event with so many people where it was so quiet.

Apparently most of them were friends or alumni of Fluttershy's father. He had made a name for himself as some famous doctor, and they all knew what he had been struggling with when his own wife had succumbed to a disease he couldn't save her from.

At least that's what my mom had told me when I had asked her who everyone was.

I had kept my distance from Fluttershy for the funeral, uncertain of what to do, of what to say. She still had that hollow, empty look in her eyes that scared me. She didn't shed a single tear for her mother when she had paid her respects, or even when people went up one by one to say their final words.

Fluttershy's grandma had been the loudest, wailing about how her daughter deserved so much better in life. I didn't listen to it, I hated her screechy voice. She had eventually been dragged off by another one of the adults when they realized she was making a scene.

I don't know how long I had stopped paying attention for, but at some point when I turned to check on Fluttershy she had disappeared. Confused, I got up with the excuse of needing the bathroom and wandered out to find her.

The funeral had been held out in the cemetery, so I didn't know where she was hiding, it could have been anywhere. That didn't stop me from looking though, and I don't know how long I looked for her, but I refused to give up until I found her.

I eventually did. She was hiding underneath a large oak tree that had been around for far longer than the cemetery had been there. Even from a distance it wasn't hard to spot her unique hair.

She was curled up under the tree, head buried in her knees, as if trying to make the world around her disappear. I walked up slowly, not wanting to scare her, and ended up sitting down next to her. She didn't flinch or even acknowledge me, she only sat there curled up, trying to be as small as possible.

I didn't know what to say, so I just sat there with her for a while. I watched the storm clouds move by slowly, always threatening to rain but never pouring. Even with my best friend right there next to me, I still felt helpless and lost. My best friend was hurting and it didn't feel like there was anything I could do for her.

Ultimately I decided that even if I didn't know what to say, I had to say something.

“Hey, Fluttershy...” I said just above a whisper, looking over at her. She shifted just enough for me to realize she had heard me, but she didn't move from her spot. “I can't begin to imagine how you're feeling, but... I want you to know that I'm here for you.” The awkward words of a kid who was trying to help, but didn't know what was needed of her. “I know things are sad right now, but after this, we'll try and make things normal again, okay?” I gave her my best smile if she happened to look at me.

“We'll go to my house and play video games again for sure. There's this awesome new game coming out next week that I really wanted to share with you! A-and I've got a soccer game coming up after that! You can come and cheer me on like you always do!” I tried to sound chipper, upbeat. I wanted my best friend to be happy, to feel something, anything.

Fluttershy's head finally moved, turning to look up at me from over the edge of her arm. Her eyes were still dulled over, but she had acknowledged me. I thought that was all I needed.

“Come on Shy, let's do something fun together, just the two of!” I said, leaning in closer. “There's some woods just down the way from here, we can go on a nature walk, just like you like! It'll be fun!” I reached out and grabbed her arm, wanting to just make her happy.

She cried out in pain when I squeezed her arm. I opened my eyes in shock, and in that state I forgot to let go. Her other arm lashed out and grabbed mine, pulling at it and struggling for me to let go as she cried out in terror.

I didn't know what to do, I was just as scared as she was and I reached out and grabbed her other arm, trying to just calm her down. I had done it to try and help, but I only made things worse as she screamed louder and tears stream from her eyes. She struggled and we ended up stumbling over, her falling down onto the grass on her back and me on top of her, finally letting go of her arms.

I sat up, shocked and confused, unable to process what had just happened. I looked down at Fluttershy, who was whimpering and crying, curled up on her side on the grass. The sleeve of her shirt had rolled up some, and she was squeezing it tight.

On her arm I could see a large discolored spot, one I was all too familiar with.

A bruise.

“Fluttershy, what happened?” I asked, reaching out towards her arm.

Immediately she cried out and tugged her shirt sleeve down, scrambling back onto her feet. She turned to me, her eyes no longer empty but filled with something new.

Fear.

She was afraid. She was scared and terrified more than I'd ever seen her before. The tears streaming down her face weren't just of pain and sadness, but of unbridled terror.

“Fluttershy-”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” She screamed. In that next moment she had turned and fled, running away from me.

I held out my hand, wanting to beg her to stop, but the words never escaped my throat. I just watched her run away until she vanished from my sight. And then I gripped the grass in front of me, unable to control my own emotions.

My face was soaked from the rain, I had told myself.

I didn't see her again until she finally returned to school the next week. And in that time I almost didn't recognize her.

Her skin looked healthier, but the bags under her eyes were more pronounced and heavier than ever before. She normally kept her hair up in a pony tail, but she let it loose now, her bangs covering half of her face. She started wearing long sleeved clothes and ankle-length skirts. It was as if she was trying to hide herself from the world.

Of course I tried talking to her, trying to get her to open up to me, but she was more distant than ever. I didn't know what to do or what to say. It felt like I had lost my best friend.

It hurt. It hurt so much to have the person I was the closest to so near, but so far away.

I tried to move on after that. I tried to ignore her ignoring me, but anytime I saw her I only remembered all the fun times we'd had together followed by her screaming at me to leave her alone. It hurt to remember and then realize how things were now.

I heard kids starting to spread rumors about Fluttershy, but anytime I heard them I screamed at them. My best friend might not have been talking to me anymore, but I wasn't about to let anyone bad mouth her.

This didn't earn me any new friends. As Fluttershy had isolated herself more and more, I found myself just as isolated. The other kids stopped talking to me, stopped wanting to hang out with me.

I didn't care though. I didn't want any of them. I wanted Fluttershy.

Soccer was one of the few things I found that could take my mind off of her. At practice all my issues felt miles away. I could take my frustrations out on the field, and no one would question why. They would just see an athlete striving to be better than ever, and to an extent that was true.

I wanted to always be better. I had to be great.

No, I had to be better than great.

I had to be awesome.

If I was awesome, I could get Fluttershy back. If I was awesome, I could fix her. If I was awesome, I could make everything better. If I was awesome, then we could be friends again.

That's what I told myself, and that was my motivation to get better. I got better at Soccer, I got better at being social, I got better at school, I even started learning to play the guitar.

Because someone who was awesome was awesome at everything.

My training had paid off to some extent. There was a big soccer game, the last one of my elementary school career, and I wanted it to be the best thing anyone in the bleachers had ever seen. I was putting my everything into the game, but the other school seemed to be better than us. In that game I was feeling myself getting worn down, feeling myself being beaten.

I hated it. I hated the feeling of losing. I had lost Fluttershy, I didn't want to lose anything else.

I looked out into the crowd, looking at the spot where she used to cheer for me.

She was sitting there.

My eyes opened in shock. I don't know if she realized I had noticed her, but she was there. She sat quietly, half of her face hidden, but she was watching me. She was watching me play. And even if she wasn't cheering for the moment, in my mind I could still hear her loud cries from the bleachers.

There was no way I was going to lose now. I couldn't lose in front of Fluttershy. She needed to see that I was awesome, that I was someone worth relying on, that I was someone who could protect her.

That with my best friend watching, I could do anything.

The game was neck and neck, and it was a struggle to catch up. But I did it, I caught us up with the enemy team. The didn't make it easy on me, and once they realized I was a threat, they did everything in their power to try and take me down.

I didn't let them though. And in what felt like a miracle, I made the winning shot of the game.

The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers and I raised my hands up in triumph. I turned to the crowd and grinned for everyone to see, to cheer me on. But my eyes were only focused on one spot, on the girl I cared about the most.

She was smiling.

For the first time in months, I saw a smile on her face.

And I couldn't have been happier.

My team came and congratulated me, and I celebrated with them. I tried to keep it short though, they weren't the ones I wanted to celebrate with at the moment. The moment I could, I broke free and went looking for Fluttershy.

She had left the bleachers and I figured she had to be walking home. Ever since the funeral she had been going straight home a lot, and right then I wanted nothing more than to just thank her for being there. I wanted her to know that I still cared about her, and that I wanted to be there for her.

I didn't find her that day. I had ran all the way to her home, hoping that she'd be willing to talk to me, that we could be friends again.

When I got to her house, my heart sank.

There was a for sale sign outside of her house, with a large 'Sold' sticker slapped onto it.

I didn't know. I had no idea that my best friend was leaving.

On her lawn, I broke down, unable to believe it to be true.

The rain soaked my face again, even on that bright, sunshiny day.

Comments

[Spiral-bound]

Oh, a FlutterDash story! Time to settle in for some heartwarming and fluffy feels--

...

...Oh.

That wasn't fluffy at all...

[HiddenMaster]

7616336 That was more or less my initial reaction on this. Granted, this description and the spoiler warning clued me in this wasn't going to be all fluff, but I wasn't quite expecting this.

Still, excellently written first chapter, although I feel there was more summary and exposition than actually showing-you're just setting us up for the next chapters when we should be getting into the meat of the story or better yet just get directly into scene. As it, I feel distanced from Rainbow Dash when I should be feeling more sympathy for her and Fluttershy than ever.

[Novi]

Bright, sunshiny day.
Isn't that some old song?

[Misty Horse]

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