Chapter 4
Sophmore year was probably the craziest year CHS had ever seen.
At first everything had been the same as when summer vacation had started. Sunset Shimmer was ruling the school, everyone was generally miserable, and my only real friend was Fluttershy. And it seemed like things were just going to keep going down that path until we graduated, and I hated it.
That was until another new girl showed up and in the span of a week, dethroned Sunset Shimmer and saved the fate of another world.
Twilight Sparkle was one hell of a girl.
Pony.
One hell of a pony princess.
Thanks to her our circle of friends was as strong as it had ever been. Sure, there was a close call of almost being obliterated by a giant fireball, but we survived and were stronger than ever for it. I even got to fly on a pair of wings, how cool was that?
It was even cooler that Fluttershy had wings with me, like it was destiny or something.
Having the group back together was everything I had dreamed it would be too. Having it just be me and Fluttershy was awesome, and I probably could have lived the rest of my life with just her by my side, but there was something that you couldn't get by only having one other friend. Just that small bit of spark that made living so much fun.
Twilight would've probably called it the magic of friendship or something. As corny as it was, it was certainly effective.
The strangest part of it all was the promise we had made to her, and the addition of a new friend to our group. Sunset Shimmer wouldn't have been my first pick for a new friend to the group, but everyone deserves second chances.
...Well not everyone, but the worst thing Sunset Shimmer had done (or I assumed at the time) was be a high school bully. And if nothing else, Fluttershy was the first one who had given her a chance to redeem herself. So if Fluttershy was cool with her, then I would be too.
And to be honest, hanging out with Sunset wasn't all that bad. I expected her to still be haughty and egotistical, ready to be manipulative and sneak her way back to the top if she could.
But no, she seemed genuinely remorseful for her action and was actually trying hard to be a nice person. As if she had been a nice girl all along, just she had been blinded by power, fame, and greed. Her actions were the result of who she thought she wanted to be, not who she actually was.
That was pretty cool honestly. It's not often you find people who can take off their mask and just present themselves as who they are.
I did that of course, because I was awesome, and that's what made me respect her. If she was going to put herself on the firing line like that, then I was going to give her a chance.
Not enough of one to have her sing in the band just yet, she still had to earn that spot. But if things kept going the way they were, it was only a matter of time for sure.
About two weeks after the Fall Formal, it just ended up working out that Sunset and I were hanging out alone after school. Pinkie had started part time at Sugarcube Corner, AJ had farm work (as usual), Fluttershy was needed at the clinic, and Rarity had been inspired to work on a new line that demanded her undivided attention.
So, seeing as I hadn't gotten to spend any time with reformed Sunset one on one yet, I figured this was a perfect opportunity to gauge how far along she had come so far. Then once I was done, I was planning to have Fluttershy over for a family dinner. My parents loved having her over, it made it really easy to invite her on a whim.
“So, Dash...” Sunset spoke up after our last conversation had died down and we'd been quiet for a bit, “You're really close to Fluttershy, right?”
“I've known her since we were kids, so you could say that. She's been my best friend longer than anyone else.” I spoke fondly, taking a sip of the shake I had ordered.
“...So, you two are really close. She tells you everything?” Sunset tilted her head, a sad look crossing her face.
“Uh, maybe?” I raised an eyebrow confused, before getting defensive, “Who wants to know?”
“Look, I promise, I'm not trying to start any trouble here, so if you don't want to tell me anything you don't have to. I'm probably crossing some line here with asking this but...” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck and looked away awkwardly. She took a deep breath and leaned in closer, speaking quieter so that only I could hear her, “Do you know anything about her bruises?”
My heart stopped. Those were not the words I had expected to hear from Sunset Shimmer. That was a topic even I was avoiding with Fluttershy, but she had brought it up.
“What do YOU know about them?” I glared at her, not liking where this was going.
Sunset shrunk back at the gaze, but stayed level enough to keep chatting. “I don't actually know, and that's why I'm asking. I really am trying to be a good friend to all of you, and I'm asking out of genuine concern. I don't know where she got them, and they looked... Bad.” Sunset rubbed the back of her hand as she looked away ashamed.
“I didn't even know she had new bruises.” I put my shake down harder than I intended, but I didn't care about the spots of drink on the table. I leaned in glaring, “How do you know she had new ones?”
“It was back during my first few months at CHS, when I was still... You know, being a horribly awful person and trying to get as much dirt on people as I could.” Sunset winced at her own admission. I could tell she was feeling the guilt, but I wasn't about to give her any sympathy over it. “I don't think you ever knew, but... Fluttershy was someone I... Ashamedly picked on too. And one day I was...” Sunset groaned, lowering her head as she ran fingers through her hair. “I was feeling crueler than usual and I cornered her in the bathroom. I kind of liked the way her new jacket looked and I... Was planning on taking it from her.”
The hand holding my shake squeezed the glass so tightly I thought for a moment it might break. Sunset quickly held up her hand, as she must've felt my intense gaze on her.
“And I'm sorry I did it! But I'm bringing it up for a reason!” Sunset shook her head, lowering her hand as she continued, though she never met my gaze. “I did take it, I ripped it off of her. But that was when I saw them... Dark bruises on her arm and back...” Sunset bit her lip as she looked back up at me, pain clear in her eyes. “I was so taken aback by them I didn't even really know what to do. She just begged me for her jacket back and I didn't feel like having it anymore. I tossed it back to her and left.
“She hasn't worn any long-sleeved jackets in a while though, and I haven't seen any bruises recently. But she definitely had them, and I'm worried that... Maybe I wasn't the only one picking on Fluttershy.” Sunset shook her head and shrunk in her seat more, “Back then I didn't care much... But now that I'm her friend... I'm genuinely worried about her getting hurt like that again.”
I stared at Sunset Shimmer, mulling her story over in my head. It had to take a lot of guts for her to have told me that, seeing as if I had known she was bullying Fluttershy during her reign, I would have happily gotten expelled defending Shy's honor.
If anything I was loathing myself for not realizing sooner that, of COURSE Sunset had been picking on Fluttershy. She would've been an easy target. But the anger I was feeling for all of that was melting away, and being replaced with another dread.
Someone was hurting Fluttershy.
And maybe they hadn't hurt her recently, but she'd had bruises for a long time now.
Ever since we were kids.
“Sunset...” I whispered, “Do you have any ideas as to who it was?”
“I... Thought about investigating it once but...” Sunset winced, “I thought about doing it to try and blackmail her. I decided against it because, as bad as I was, I didn't want to be a monster. I didn't want to go that far.” She shook her head. “So... No, I never looked into it. I was... Kind of hoping you might know, so that we could make sure they don't hurt her ever again.”
Someone that could hurt Fluttershy. Someone that she would deny hurting her, or would cover up what they had done to her.
There was only one person in my mind that fit that description.
Someone that had been with her for all these years.
Someone that would have started doing it when we were kids.
“I have to go.” I said getting up. I couldn't be here any longer, I needed to see Fluttershy.
I think Sunset said something as I left, but whatever it was I didn't care. I needed to see Fluttershy. I needed to talk to her.
I knew where she was today, volunteering her time at the animal clinic. Unlike the shelter, I couldn't help her much there as I wasn't any good at caring for animals. Cleaning up was easy, but making them feel comfortable to get the help they needed, that was all Shy's thing.
It wasn't a long trip to the clinic though, I was there before I even knew my feet had taken me there. I walked into the front room and the receptionist recognized me. I'd been there plenty of times to pick her up when her shift had ended, but they were surprised to see me so early.
I asked to see Fluttershy if she wasn't busy, and the lady went back to check. Soon enough, she appeared through the side doors, wearing the white scrubs and a smile on her face. She looked at my face and must have seen my mood, as her smile fell into a frown.
“Rainbow Dash? What's wrong?” She asked quietly, walking up to me.
“I just...” I tried to speak as a lump formed in my throat. I shook it off and took a deep breath, clearing my thoughts. “We need to talk Shy. Somewhere private. It's important.”
“Oh... Well, it is quiet at the clinic right now, I was mostly organizing things in the back.” She looked back at the receptionist who gave her a smile and nod, letting her know it was okay to take a break. “I guess it's fine. We can talk in one of the rooms.”
Fluttershy led me to one of the animal check-up rooms, closing the door behind us. I knew from experience that the rooms were designed to prevent as much noise from escaping, so it was the perfect place to have a quiet conversation.
“Well uhm... What is it Dash?” Fluttershy asked nervously, scrunching up the edges of her scrubs in her hands. She could tell what I wanted to talk about wasn't going to be anything good. An instinct from years of friendship.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and went for it. I had to know the truth.
“Fluttershy... Has someone been hurting you?” Blunt and tactless. It's what people came to expect from me. I was never any good with words.
Fluttershy opened her eyes in shock, squeezing her scrubs tighter as she looked away. “N-No? W-Why would you ask that...” She was nervous, way more nervous than she had been before. She was already shrinking away, hiding from me. I wasn't going to let her.
“Fluttershy... It's been something I've been avoiding for a long time now.” I tightened my hands into fists, forcing myself to keep talking. “When we were kids... You ran away from me because of a bruise on your arm. When we met again, you were still wearing those long sleeved clothes from when we were young. At first I didn't think anything of it, but the thought of what happened when you ran away still haunted me. And now...
“And now... Sunset told me that she saw those bruises on you again last year. That means someone's been hurting you, and could still be hurting you.” I stepped forward. “Now are you going to tell me or not?”
Fluttershy was visibly shaking, withdrawing into herself. Her hands were gripping her arms as she looked away. “N-No, you're wrong...” She stuttered, tears threatening to escape. “I-I just fell-”
“I've fallen more times than I can count! I know what a bruise from a fall looks like!” I raised my voice more than I intended, and she shrunk back, muttering apologies under her breath that I didn't hear. “You don't get those kind of injuries unless someone is hitting you Fluttershy! You have to tell me!”
“NO!” Fluttershy cried, curling up where she was, “No one is hurting me! I'm fine! Everything is fine! I deserve it anyway! Just leave me alone!”
Those words were like a dagger that hit me in the heart. But I couldn't ignore what she had just said.
She had just admitted it.
In her sobbing panic, she admitted that he had been hurting her.
“Fluttershy, Fluttershy!” I called out, gripping her shoulder as she squirmed. She was hysterically sobbing as I tried to calm her down, leaning in close to her. This time I wouldn't leave her, this time I would be there for her.
“Fluttershy, you don't deserve to be hurt.” I pulled her into a tight hug, pressing her head against my chest. I felt her shuddering breaths hit my chest as her arms squeezed tightly around me. Her whole body shook as she struggled to take breaths, hiccuping between her sobs. “I don't care what you did or what happened, there is no excuse for anyone to have laid a finger against you.”
“Y-You're wrong...” Fluttershy hiccuped, her tears still flowing strong. “I do deserve it. I did something wrong, something I can't ever take back.” She shuddered, squeezing me tight. “I can't take it back... I can only accept this.”
“Stop that!” I demanded, harsher than I wanted to as I squeezed her tight. “Stop saying you deserve to be hurt. You don't. You're the sweetest, kindest, most gentle person I know. You try to help everyone, even those that have hurt you. Don't try to tell me you deserve this...”
Fluttershy went quiet, save for the hiccups of her sobs. I gently stroked the back of her head, trying to calm her down. It was several minutes before she calmed down enough to speak. But when she did, I don't know if I was ready to hear it. She squeezed my shirt tight, and in a muffled voice, she said quietly,
“...I killed my mother...”
“W-What?” I blinked, unable to even properly register what she had said.
“I did it...” Fluttershy shuddered again, fresh tears leaking onto my shirt. “I went to her room, to let her know that Dad was almost done with dinner... And she...” Fluttershy sobbed and squeezed my shirt tighter, “She said she was so tired, and that there was only one way to fix her.” She buried her face deeper into my shirt. “So she gave me a pillow and told me to hold it over her face... That it would help her sleep...”
The air caught in my throat, realizing where this was going.
“It didn't feel right... But I did as my mother asked...” Fluttershy sobbed, though I was certain I heard a laugh with it. “I was so stupid... I knew better and yet I did it anyway. I killed my mother Rainbow Dash... I killed her.” Fluttershy laughed again, though her tears didn't stop. “And so Dad started beating me. Because that's what a parent does. When their child is bad, they punish them.” She laughed again, harder this time. “I'm an awful child, who deserves to be hurt. He's doing the right thing. I deserve it. Don't you see? Now you know the truth.”
I was stunned at first, unable to really process it.
All of the questions I had been asking myself since childhood suddenly had answers. What happened to her mother, where the bruises came from, why she disappeared one day, why she stopped talking to me, why she looked so empty, even why her father moved away from Cloudsdale.
Everything made a sick, twisted sense. It was like a lead weight in my stomach. It made me want to be sick.
“I'm sorry... I never told you...” Fluttershy hiccuped again, her sobs growing more desperate as she continued, “I just... I knew that... If I told you... You wouldn't... Want to be friends... Anymore...” Fluttershy shook her head, not looking up at me. “I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...”
That was enough. I'd heard enough of Fluttershy apologizing.
“Fluttershy...” I spoke, my voice hitching, “There's... Something I've been hiding from you too. Something I've been hiding because... I thought if I told you, we wouldn't be friends anymore...”
“W-What?” Fluttershy asked confused, pulling her head back to finally look up at me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she sniffed at the dribble from her nose.
“Listen. I don't...” I gulped down the lump in my throat, “I don't agree with you at all. We were kids back then, not even preteens. We didn't know what was going on in the world around us.” I gripped her shoulders and gave her a smile. I'm not sure when it happened, but I felt my cheeks had gotten wet. “We had to listen to our parents, and what you did... You did it because you trusted your Mother. You loved her Shy, you did it for her. And what your father did...” I scowled, “What he did was the kind of thing only a monster does.”
“B-But-” She tried to counter, but I didn't let her.
“You can't blame yourself for what happened back then, and you can't claim that being hurt is something you deserve.” I shook my head and sniffed. “I won't let you. I won't let you believe any of that for a moment. And I won't let him lay a finger on you ever again.” I smiled at her.
“I won't let anyone hurt you ever again Shy... Because I love you.” I chuckled, “And not like 'I love you like a friend' or 'like a sister' or anything like that... I love you, from the bottom of my heart. And I've been afraid you wouldn't feel the same way.
“But I don't care now. You can love someone else, you can hate me with all of your might, you could never want anything to do with me ever again.” I lifted my hands and ran them through her hair, smiling at her, unable to stop the tears from falling down my face. “But I won't ever let him touch you again, you hear me? You're Fluttershy. The kindest, sweetest, most wonderful girl on the planet. No one is ever going to lay a finger on you again, okay? I swear that to you.”
Fluttershy stared at me dumbfounded, unable to say anything.
Then her face twisted, and her lips quivered. She hiccuped again as the tears started again, her face contorting into sobbing before she buried her face in my shirt again. I held her close, stroking her hair as I cried with her.
I'm not ashamed to admit I cried with her.
There was so much that had been pent up for so long, between the both of us, and it was all out in the open now. We let it out, and we hugged each other tightly.
I already knew that this wouldn't fix everything. I knew that we still had to make sure her Father never touched her again, and that she would deal with this guilt and pain all of her life. I knew all of that, but I didn't care. I wanted to be her guardian, I wanted to protect her.
Fluttershy means everything to me. And I will always be there for her.
“T-Thank you...” Fluttershy quietly murmured once we had both stopped sobbing. We just sat there in each others embrace.
“Any time Shy.” I smiled, gently resting my head against hers as I rubbed her head.
“I uhm...” Fluttershy fidgeted, scrunching up her scrubs in her hands again, “I... Don't know if I feel the same way as you...” She spoke up, and I felt a little twinge of pain in my heart. I knew rejection was a possibility, but I could take it with stride if I had to.
“But uhm...” She spoke again, gulping her own nervousness away, “I-If you don't think it'll hurt our freindship...” Her cheeks burned as she looked away, “I-I might be willing... T-to try...”
My heart skipped a beat. This was one hell of an emotional roller coaster.
“R-Really? You mean it?” I said, not trying to sound too excited.
“Mhmm.” She nodded with a sniff, rubbing at her nose with the back of her hand. “I'm sorry, this probably wasn't how you wanted your love confession to go.”
“You kidding?” I chuckled squeezing her tight, “You know how I am. I probably would've never gotten it out if we didn't have some kind of emotional breakdown like this.”
Fluttershy giggled a little, “I suppose that's true. We can't make a habit out of this though. A relationship is built on trust, so... We should be more honest with each other in the future.” She said those words softly. I could tell she was meaning it as much for me as she was herself.
“Yeah. Yeah, we will be.” I nodded, gently stroking her hair. “One thing at a time. We don't have to rush it. Not when there are more important things to take care of now.” Like how was I going to beat her father within an inch of his life without getting thrown in jail?
Ah, no judge would convict me once they heard the full story.
“Uhm... How long have we been in here?” Fluttershy asked, rubbing at her puffy eyes. I pulled out my phone and checked the time.
“About an hour.” I chuckled.
“Oh... Uh, they're... Probably wondering what's going on.” Fluttershy cleared her throat as she stood up, straightening out her scrubs as best she could. “This might be awkward to explain...”
“It's not like we did anything naughty.” I chuckled, standing back up and brushing my own shirt. It was soaked and clinging to my chest pretty tightly.
“N-No, but that doesn't make it any less awkward.” Fluttershy shook her head, her own cheeks burning.
“Well, we'll just go out and explain that we had a bit of a 'girls moment' together.” I grinned, wrapping my arms around her. I could stare into her eyes all day if given the chance, even if they were red and puffy from crying. “And then maybe we can explain later that we started dating.”
“Dating...” Fluttershy sounded out the words as she blushed. “We... We really are then aren't we? I just agreed to that, didn't I?”
“You sure did.” I said with a proud grin. I couldn't have been happier that she said yes.
“Gosh... It almost doesn't feel real.” She put a hand up to her chin in thought as she blinked. “So much happened all at once... Are you sure I'm not dreaming?”
“Here, let's find out.” I chuckled and leaned in to her. I pressed my lips gently against hers, feeling the warmth of her mouth again mine.
It really was everything I could have ever dreamed of. It was soft and cushiony, and tasted so perfectly sweet. It was like pressing my lips against a heavenly cloud.
And to my joy, Fluttershy kissed me back. It only lasted a couple of seconds, but when we broke apart, we were both smiling.
“That was... Nice.” Fluttershy whispered.
“And more where that came from.” I said back.
That was the day that I officially started dating Fluttershy. It was one of the saddest days of my life, but also one of the happiest. Even now I can't really described what happened, other than that something happened.
And I'm glad that it did.
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An amazing story. Great job
Did you enter the contest?
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Thank you!
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I did! At least I'm pretty sure I followed the submission guidelines. Story with more than 1,750 words, that passed submission completely, and is in the Contest folder of the group. Should fit all the requirement hehe.
It's really good to see you writing again. :) I'm saving this so I can read it later, I've loved all your other Flutterdash stories so I'm sure this will be great too.
Incredible story. Great job.
7616242
It really HAS been too long since I last did a FlutterDash story, it was good to get the pair back together again hehe
7616336
Coming from me, pure fluff is actually pretty rare to get from me hehe
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Thank you!
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That is pretty strange coming from me, usually people have a whole slew of problems to point out haha. I will try to fix any 'it's' in the story though, those have always been a bane on my existence!
Me wasn't there originally.
The only bit that didn't sit quite right with me was Dash internally planning to beat up Fluttershy's father. Dammit girl, I don't care how righteous a beating it would be, you don't take matters into your own hands in situations like this, you get on the phone and CALL THE COPS.
That aside, this story is great. If I could like it twice, I would.
=/... conditioning and self abuse. hard to break through. good story
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I am with you with it definitely being something that you should leave to the authorities, but her thinking about it in that moment is a tame thought all things considered, and I do not doubt that she would never enact on it though. Considering the situation and trying to give it comparison, one of my ex's, when we were dating for a bit over a month, opened up about her two previous boyfriends and how they manipulated her. Both of them were older than her by a couple years and tried their best to get any form of sex out of her. It got so bad that one of the pricks forced her hand down his pants and he tried to wank with it. She was 16 at that time.
When I heard that shit, I was fucking livid. My never enacted plans for this knob-end were not far off of beating him within an inch of his life like Rainbow here.
Rainbow, especially with her hot headed behaviour honestly has an incredibly tame reaction for what Fluttershy has been through. I can see that not including it or not expanding on it is probably a better choice for the story when considering how much it actually matters to the plot, but personally I would have a more extreme reaction in this situation, as many of us would if we were also put in a similar situation, and as some of us may have been.
But, the implied justice and happy ending are more powerful than an explained one so it is all an incredible tale none the less.
Fantastic work SamRose!
Whoo! Childhood friend / teenage drama FlutterDash is best FlutterDash!
Although now that we've actually seen Fluttershy's parents in the show, picturing the abuse angle is a bit hard.
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Yeaaaaah, I know what you meaaaaan. I've just had this headcanon for Fluttershy's family for so long it's hard for me to see it otherwise, even with the show revealing them finally heh.
It's definitely why I left the descriptions vague. Change just enough for my headcanons to fit, but not enough detail for people to be forced to imagine completely new people if they don't want to heh. Plus I always REALLY liked the idea of Fluttershy's father being a Doctor and that being where she got her veterinarian inspiration from, so I ran with that for this fic hehe.
I'm glad you liked it though! And I agree, Childhood and Drama FlutterDash really is best!
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Thanks for catching all the grammar mistakes, I've fixed all the ones pointed out now!
Wow... just... wow.
I read this all the way through, and I am SO happy I did. This was a great story, and it might have been the story that got me to support Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as a ship, at least in the EQG world.
By the way, feel honored, for your story took me THERE...
This made me giggle.
Anyway, this was a really sweet story.
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I'm glad you enjoyed the story! It warms my heart to see people liking my stories!
7617685
This is fair! The story was written more "Telling you about the events" rather than "This is how the events happened" so I completely get where you're coming from. Thanks for the critic though, I'll keep it in mind in the future!
7615844 your welcome
Hit me right in the feels. I wish I had a Rainbow Dash to protect me from my monsters when I was younger.
I think it was a good choice to end the story on a realistic high note. So many other abuse stories continue on with the hero saving the day and the abuser getting their comeuppance. In real life, domestic/child abuse rarely seems to have a happy ending. But yeah, really good story that earned a thumbs up from me!
Most of the hardest drama is happening in the background, as this story focuses solely on the feelings from Rainbow's point of view.
Heavy themes, but I would dare to say that you handled it quite well. Great job on that!
Domestic violence is never an easy thing to handle. Luckily for Shy, she knows where to get support now.
Wow....I wasn't really expecting THAT revelation when it came to abuse stories, especially with Fluttershy. Good lord, poor Fluttershy, she needed help FAST. And the the perspective that you gave between her and Rainbow Dash was surprisingly good. It seemed out of left field to me that Fluttershy went from being almost emotionally dead, to being her perky self, but when you offered her side of the story, it made a tragic kind of sense, how she was psychologically molded to accept the abuse from her father.
Also, I'm glad how you introduced Sunset as a minor plot point to alert Rainbow Dash, especially from both the perspective of her pre-EG1 story, and afterwards. It's nice to see that there were traces of the new Sunset within her, even though she was a bully. Even when you're trying to intimidate someone, there are some wounds you don't open up, even for personal gain. I really liked that dimension of Sunset.
Overall, nice job dude.
*whistles* that was a roller coaster for sure! I'd love to see a follow up some day (and to see Shys father either get his comeuppance or make things right)
Man, a feature? You made it again!
Best FlutterDash story I've ever read.
I ship them in the Equestria Girls universe now.
Also, this is my headcanon now.
Awesome story. I'm glad I found the time to read it.
CALLED IT!
See, in the beginning of the story, Fluttershy's father had pulled Rainbow away from Fluttershy. The way it was described showed that Fluttershy's father was being aggressive towards Rainbow. Rainbow didn't do anything wrong, though. So either he just really hates Rainbow (which might've kind of prevented her and Fluttershy from having as good of a relationship as described earlier in the fic, so we can rule that out), or he's really mad about something that happened while the Shy family was absent from their home. Also, Fluttershy's dad, quote on quote:
There was not a clear reason yet as to what happened that would make Fluttershy's dad so aggressive all of the sudden, so we can assume that SOMETHING happened while they were gone. Most likely involving Fluttershy.
Later in the story, we saw that Fluttershy had a bruise. Sunset Shimmer wasn't around yet, so it couldn't've been Sunset who gave her the bruise. And judging by the likelihood of Fluttershy being abused in a fic like this (not saying there's anything wrong with putting that in a fic, btw), it seemed safe to assume that Fluttershy was being abused by her father.
But why would he do that?
Well, by now, it's obvious if you read chapter four. She killed her mother. But imagine yourself before you read the final chapter. You may or may not have expected it.
What did Fluttershy's father have against her? She must've done something to piss him off big time (TRIGGERED) unless he had some kind of psychotic mental disorder or was just a complete douchebag. Coincidentally, Fluttershy's father started showing signs of aggression soon after Fluttershy's mother died. So one could assume that Fluttershy did at least something to contribute to the death of her mother, if not smothering her thinking that she was actually helping her get sleep.
Wow. Looking back on what I just typed, that's some really messy logic.
This story was great!
I never expected Fluttershy to be the killer.
But during her years of growing up. Has she ever considered suicide for her actions? Cause for the way she behaved after her mothers death. I could definitely sense it.
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Thanks man!
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Always glad to spread around the FlutterDash love! Thank you for enjoying the story!
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These are always my favorite type of posts to read, thank you all for caring about my story enough to discuss it like this! It really wamrs my heart to see people able to see the full picture and understand where I was going with it in my head. I love it so much!
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Most likely she had some thoughts like that, but with Fluttershy being the way she is, she likely wouldn't ever admit them to her friends. Or if she did, it'd be for a very good reason and only if she had to tell them. I've considered the idea of maybe writing a version from Fluttershy's perspective, but it'd be really taxing on me emotionally to write it from the victim's point of view. So who knows.
I do have some idea for a story in the future that might involve those themes though, though maybe not directly Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash related like this story is.
Nice characters, nice writing, all good.
Finished it. A fantastic fic Sam. c: I felt the middle two chapters were a little weaker, but this last chapter was fantastic. You are the reason I came to appreciate Flutterdash, and now you've made me appreciate them in EG as well. Kudos man.
This was a really nice story, that dealt sensitively with some dark issues. Nicely done.
There really needs to be more 1st person Equestria Girls stories on this site.
I reviewed this story as part of Read It Now #95.
My review can be found here.
You know, this story reminds me of Home of the Blues by Owl City. I'm glad it ended the way it did. I don't know if I could take any more depressing stuff right now. I needed this. Kudos.
I read the first chapter and went "Hmmmmm... Her mom dies from 'illness', Shy's dad is a big-shot doc and starts beating her, and she withdraws from others... This sounds like Silent Ponyville." Fast forward to Chapter 3 and I thought "So it's still happening... She thinks she deserves it? So she did mercy-kill her mother! This is Silent Ponyville!"
Then I read the final author's note. Called it!
You had my rapt attention every second of this story. Not only that, but you managed to make me shed a few tears. Quite a feat, making a stoic cry. Marvelously well done. Without a doubt this shall be favorites.
I can't belive I almost didn't read this. I'm not one for much sad stories however, something drew me to this one. And I'm overly glad it did. I was hooked right away, even though it started out heavy. And the story continued to capture me in mystery and emotions. Something was always happening.
My god, did I love the main 5 meeting and the introduction to Sunset. It gave us the timeline but kept us within Rainbows Pov of it all. Which was an interesting turn.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this story.
It's funny, you took me right back for a while there. And in the fourth chapter it became obvious why. That's one heck of a nostalgia rush.
You've never been the best technical writer. That's simple and factual. It's something a lot of people in fanfiction are willing to overlook, and I'm not. It's probably why I'm not around much any more. But I've found, starting right back at Silent Ponyville, that I can overlook that quality in your stories. When you write, you write from the heart. You reach out and touch something visceral and true about the world, and you handle it with an honesty and sincerity that makes your stories compelling.
I don't read much on this site anymore, but I'm glad I found this. Thank you.
I've read a lot of RD stories and I got to say that I can really relate to Dash in this fic, myself. Thanks for this fic.
you need to update this also i think you should at the sunset tag as it seems she will likely be a major character in this story based on what is written so far
You can has review!
Wow... I feel physically drained just from reading this. But I loved it anyway.
Esas palabras fueron como un puñal que me golpeó en el corazón.
Acaso predices mis emociones
Primero senti el dolor y después lei la la linea que describió mi dolor