Independence Eternal

by Leafdoggy

Home

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Day Ten

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The sunlight hits Fluttershy harshly when it wakes her up. She yawns and tries to stretch the tiredness away, but a flash of pain puts an end to that idea. It quickly hits her that sleeping in a treehouse with a broken leg may not have been the best idea.

Still, it does wake her up. She cradles her aching leg for a moment, and once the throbbing stops she sits up and takes a look around. It’s still early morning, and the wind whistles a peaceful tune through the open windows, surrounding them with the sound of rustling leaves and swaying trees.

Surprisingly, Fluttershy sees that Dusty is already awake, off in a corner with her head buried in a tattered old notebook. She sits and watches for a moment as Dusty flips through the pages. Seeing her staring blankly at the old book, Fluttershy can’t help but want to go to her, comfort her.

It’s hard for her to actually do it, though. She feels glued to the floor, unable to think of what to do. Worrying that she might say the wrong thing, or get too close, and make things worse.

Still, she has to try. She pushes herself up, her weight feeling like lead as she fights off pain and anxiety, and walks over to sit next to Dusty.

“Good morning,” Fluttershy says.

“Huh?” Dusty looks up in shock, then sighs in a sort of melancholic relief when she sees Fluttershy. “Oh, right. Yeah. Good morning.”

“Are you feeling alright?” Fluttershy asks.

Dusty shrugs and looks back down at the book. Fluttershy sits down next to her, careful not to get too close but still close enough for Dusty to know she’s there, and waits for a response. Dusty never comes up with one, though. She just stares down at the torn and scribbled out pages, flipping through to random pages with no rhyme or reason.

“I thought you couldn’t read that anymore?”

“I can’t,” Dusty tells her.

“So you’re just…”

“Mm-hm.”

“Would you like to talk about it?” Fluttershy asks.

Dusty shuts the book and pushes it away. “Nah.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy says.

There’s a beat of silence. The air is heavy around them.

“Well, can I talk to you about some things?”

“Do what you want,” Dusty tells her.

“Mm…” Fluttershy hums in thought for a moment.

“Sorry,” Dusty says. “I just meant… Go ahead.”

“I don’t like being angry,” Fluttershy says. “Not for more than a moment, anyway. It makes me feel sick, like… I don’t know. Just sick.”

Her voice trails off, and they sit in silence for a minute as she thinks of what to say next.

“I’m still angry at you,” she continues. “I can’t help it. I hate it, it frustrates me so much, but it’s still true.”

“You have plenty of reasons to be angry at me,” Dusty tells her.

“That doesn’t mean I want to be angry, though.” Fluttershy sighs.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say with all this,” Dusty says.

“I’m not trying to say anything,” Fluttershy replies. “I’m just… Talking.”

“Oh.”

They fall into another silence, one that lasts several minutes. The wind outside picks up, and the sound of rustling leaves drowns the forest. Dusty taps on the cover of the tattered book. Fluttershy tries to stretch her leg without hurting herself.

“It wasn’t right,” Dusty says after a while.

“Hm?”

“Ripping up the book, changing my name… It’s my fault she’s gone.”

“You were in pain,” Fluttershy says. “You did what you had to do.”

“I should have saved something,” Dusty says. “Hidden it away somewhere instead of destroying it all.”

Fluttershy gives her a sympathetic hum.

“I mean, how the heck do I make up for that?” Dusty continues. “

“I’m not sure,” Fluttershy says. “Maybe, if you come home with me, you could… Ask Rainbow Dash?”

“I threw her away, why would she want to talk to me?” Dusty drops her head into her hooves.

“I know Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy tells her. “She’s a good pony, she’ll want to talk to you. If nothing else, she won’t be able to stop herself from being curious.”

Dusty lets out a terse, dry laugh. “Great, I’d get to be poked and prodded before I’m cast out.” She sighs and stands up. “We should go find breakfast.”

“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy says, and she joins Dusty on a trip into Ponyville.

The streets feel a lot less confining with another pony, Fluttershy finds. Houses don’t stare down at her, they just look ahead. The roads don’t seem to stretch on forever, the dust kicked up by the wind doesn’t threaten her. Now that she’s not alone, it really is just an empty town.

“I know I brought you apples,” Dusty says, “but that was just cuz I didn’t know what you like. I usually scrounge around inside the houses.”

“You haven’t run out yet?”

“There were more ponies here than you’d think,” Dusty says. “I’m probably running low, but I haven’t gone hungry yet.”

“Did you have a plan for when you ran out?”

“Leave Ponyville, I guess.” Dusty shrugs. “I bet the trains still work, but even if they don’t I could just follow the tracks for a while.”

“I suppose that would have worked,” Fluttershy admits. “Luckily, now you won’t have to go all that way.”

“Yeah…” Dusty sighs. “Fluttershy, do you… Do you really want me to go with you?”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy says. “At least, I’m pretty sure I do. I know I can’t leave you here, and… I’d like to try to be your friend, Dusty.”

“You get why I’m scared, though, right?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy tells her. “I still think you should try, though.”

“Try how?”

“Like… Talk to Twilight,” Fluttershy says. “See if you can work your way up to it. I know it’s hard, but if you can just get through that one spell it’ll all be over.”

“I’ll try,” Dusty tells her. “For you.”

So, a few minutes later, they’re walking up to the grand old tree that houses the library. Fluttershy leads the way, with Dusty slinking nervously several lengths behind her. The smell of freshly made food hits Fluttershy as she opens the door, and her stomach rumbles impatiently, drawing her all the way inside.

In a far corner of the library, Twilight had been staring dejectedly into a bowl of oatmeal, her head leaning heavily on one hoof. She looks up at the sound of the door, though, and perks up when she sees Fluttershy. “You’re back!” she cheers. “You had me worried.”

“Sorry,” Fluttershy says. “Um, listen, there’s something I need to ask you to do.”

“Wh—” Twilight starts, but her jaw drops when Dusty walks inside. She gasps, and Fluttershy thinks she can see tears starting to glisten in her eyes as she dashes towards her old friend. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouts. “I missed you so much, I—”

Before Twilight can reach her, Dusty flinches and launches into the air and out of her reach. “Please don’t,” she mumbles, her voice trailing off nervously.

Twilight skids to a halt. “Rainbow Dash...” she says. “Are you… Afraid of me?”

“Of course I am,” Dusty says. “You destroyed my entire life.”

“But it was an accident,” Twilight pleads. “I would never, ever hurt my friends.”

“You already did,” Dusty tells her, “and I won’t let you do it again.”

“I-” Twilight frowns and sits on the floor. “I understand.” She swallows and nods slowly. “Okay. No magic.”

Fluttershy smiles softly at Dusty and beckons her down, and slowly Dusty falls out of the air. Then she moves to stand behind Fluttershy, giving Twilight a wide berth as she does.

Twilight looks up at her meekly. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash.”

“Please don’t call me that,” Dusty mumbles under her breath.

“What?” Twilight asks.

“I’m not Rainbow Dash. She’s gone. I’m just Dusty.”

“She isn’t gone, though,” Twilight says. “You aren’t gone. Whatever happened, we can help you if you’ll just come home.”

“Fluttershy, I don’t think this is working,” Dusty whispers.

“Please, just a bit longer,” Fluttershy pleads.

“Just look at me,” Twilight pleads. “I’m your friend. I would never hurt you.”

“I don’t know you,” Dusty says.

“You do,” Twilight says. “We’ve always been friends. Please, I… I can show you! I’ve done it before, I know how to. There’s no possible way for me to mess it up, I swear.”

“No magic!” Dusty takes a step away from her. “If that’s all you have, I should just leave.”

Fluttershy puts a hoof on Dusty’s shoulder to try to calm her down. “She isn’t going to do anything,” Fluttershy assures her. “She’s just stressed.”

“No, right, I’m sorry,” Twilight says. “Please, just let me take you home so you’re not alone! Even if you never talk to me again.”

“You wouldn’t even be sending me home,” Dusty tells her.

“W-What?”

“If I go anywhere, it’s with Fluttershy,” Dusty says.

“But what about your friends?” Twilight asks. “They all miss you so much.”

“They’re not my friends,” Dusty says. “I don’t remember any of them. I can’t go pretend to be somepony I’m not just to make a group of strangers less sad about losing their friend.”

“None of them would expect you not to have changed,” Twilight says.

“You’ve been doing that this whole time! At least Fluttershy will use my name. If I go, I’m going with my friend.”

“Is that really what you want?” Twilight asks. “To just completely give up on who you used to be, on your old life?”

“Yes!” Dusty snaps at her. “I wanna move on, like you should have done years ago.”

“I could never,” Twilight says. “Not while there was any chance of finding you. I can’t just abandon a friend.”

“It isn’t abandoning me if it’s been fifteen years,” Dusty replies. “That’s just accepting that it’s too late. Your friend has been gone for years.”

“How could I possibly accept that?” Twilight asks. “You’re standing right in front of me!”

“Do you think I want this face?” Dusty shakes her head in frustration. “I’m not gonna go torture myself pretending to be your friend.”

“Nopony is going to try to make you change,” Twilight assures her. “If they do, you don’t even have to talk to them, I just want you home.”

Dusty groans in frustration. “What you want isn’t my problem! Just let me be happy. Let me go to a place that already has a Rainbow Dash, so then I won’t be expected to be her too. Let me go somewhere that I won’t have ponies swarming over me asking me to relive all the pain I’ve ever been through. Just let me go, Twilight.”

“I can’t,” Twilight says. “There must be something I can do to get you to come back to us.”

“There isn’t.”

“What about just a week,” Twilight asks, “or even a day? Just give us a chance.”

“No!”

“What if… What if Fluttershy came too?” Twilight begs. “Just come for a day, with Fluttershy, so our friends can try to remind you how much you mean to us all.”

“Why can’t you just stop?” Dusty shouts. “I don’t know you, I’m not your friend, I don’t want to be your friend, and after I go with Fluttershy I never want to see you again!"

Twilight’s jaw drops in shock, and it takes her a second to react. Tears start to stream down her face before she can bring herself to talk again, and she desperately wipes her eyes.. “I-I’m sorry, Ra-” She catches herself. “Dusty. I’m sorry.”

Dusty clenches her eyes shut and growls in frustration. “No!” she yells. “You can’t do that! You can’t just pretend to care about who I say I am when you think it might get you what you want!”

“I wasn’t!” Twilight says. “I promise, I wasn’t doing that.”

“Why would I ever believe you?” Dusty asks. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but I just can’t do this. I need to leave.”

“Dusty…” Fluttershy frowns sympathetically.

“Dusty, no, wait!” Twilight begs. “Don’t do this to yourself, just let me help you, please!”

“No!” Dusty shouts, and she blasts the door open with a forceful buck.

An instant later, a bolt of magic flies through the air.

Fluttershy can’t process what happened at first. All the sees are the lights, the smoke, the chaos. Then she sees Twilight crying, and recognizes the magic. Finally, she looks through the smoke, and sees that the spot Dusty had been in is empty.

“What did you do?” Fluttershy demands, running over to Twilight. “What did you do?”

Twilight sniffs hard. “I did what I had to,” she says bleakly. “I couldn’t let her stay here. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t see any other way.”

Fluttershy sits down in front of Twilight and holds her shoulders. “Twilight, please. I know that you’re hurting, but I need to know that she’s safe. I need to know where she is.”

“I did what she wanted,” Twilight says. “I sent her to your home.”

Fluttershy takes a few deep breaths, then sighs. “Okay. She’ll be okay. Nopony there will hurt her. Everything is… It’s okay.”

Twilight lets out a sob as she buries her head in her hooves, and hearing it snaps Fluttershy back to her senses. She walks over and lies next to Twilight, wrapping a wing around her comfortingly. “I’m sorry you had to go through all this,” Fluttershy says. “Thank you for doing what she wanted.”

“Mm…”

“Maybe someday she’ll visit,” Fluttershy says, “or maybe she’ll write you letters. When she feels safe.”

“But not as Rainbow Dash,” Twilight murmurs.

“No,” Fluttershy says, “not as Rainbow Dash. I’m sorry, Twilight.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight says with a sniffle. “Make sure she’s happy, alright?”

“Of course.”

“I think I’m about ready to send you home.”

Twilight stands up, closes her eyes, and concentrates for a moment. The silence is long and thick, but eventually her eyes open again and she nods. “Goodbye, Fluttershy,” she says.

“Goodb—”

Then Fluttershy is gone, and Twilight lays back down on the floor and puts her head in her hooves.

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“—ye.”

Fluttershy jumps in shock as everything changes. She’s still in the library, but it’s different, brighter. More notably, though, is the cacophony of voices coming from Twilight’s loft.

She moves to head up to them, but before she can she’s tackled off her hooves. She flies through the air before skidding across the floor, caught in a vice-like hug. Somehow, miraculously, Pinkie had even knocked into her without hurting her leg at all.

Fluttershy looks down to see her friend grinning uncontrollably through tears. “You’re back,” Pinkie says. “You’re back!”

Fluttershy smiles softly, and tears start to form in her eyes, too. “I missed you too,” she says. “Please be careful of my leg, though.”

Pinkie springs up off of her and wipes her eyes. “She’s back!” she shouts up to the others, and the voices all quiet down. One by one, four more familiar faces pop out over the edge of the loft, looking down at her. First Applejack, then Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and finally, Twilight.

They all make a dash for her, shouting excitedly to see her back, but her eye is drawn away when a fifth face peers down at her. Dusty, looking meek and exhausted, catches her eye, and Fluttershy gives her a reassuring smile.

Then the mob skids to a stop in front of her, having just barely seen her leg and stopping themselves from tackling her like Pinkie had. Instead they all just push in uncomfortably close, each wearing some manner of relief and joy on their face, and bombard her with questions.

“Where’d you go?” Applejack asks.

“What happened to your leg?” says Twilight.

“Did you replace me?” Rainbow Dash slyly demands.

“How could you let that happen to your mane?” Rarity gawks.

“E-Everypony, please, settle down,” Fluttershy says. She can’t help but laugh a bit at the sight of all her friends, especially with the overwhelming feelings washing over her. “Oh, I missed you all so much.”

“We missed you too,” Twilight says. “Are you okay?”

“Of course she’s not okay,” Applejack says, “look at her! She needs a doctor.”

“I’m alright, really,” Fluttershy tells them. “I just hurt it a little, it’s not that bad. I’d like to make sure Dusty is okay first.”

“Dusty?” Rarity asks.

“Oh, right.” Fluttershy waves for Dusty to come down and join them. “Everypony,” she says as Dusty settles down next to her, “this is Dusty. It, um, kind of looked like you had already met when I got here?”

“‘Met’ is a strong word,” Rainbow Dash says. “She barely said a word.”

“The white one kept trying to take my hood,” Dusty tells Fluttershy quietly.

“That’s Rarity,” Fluttershy says.

“Yes,” Rarity says, “and I just want to spruce it up a tad!”

“So, uh,” Rainbow Dash says, “that’s… Me, right? I’m not going crazy?”

“Kind of,” Fluttershy says. “I’ll explain later.”

“Darn right you will,” Applejack tells her, “cuz I’m takin you to see a doctor.”

“I don’t need one!” Fluttershy says. “I'm fine, see?” To prove it, she tries to wave her injured leg, but the sudden jolt of pain nearly brings her to her knees. “Okay, I’m not fine, but I’m also not leaving. I have to be here for her, I can’t—”

Then the rest of the pain crashes back into her, followed by a crushing wave of exhaustion, and it’s too much. Before she can finish her sentence, her vision goes black and she passes out.

Applejack catches her before she topples over. “Y’all gotta learn to listen to me,” she says. “Now will somepony help me carry her to the hospital?”

“Is she going to be alright?” Dusty asks.

“She’ll be fine,” Pinkie says. Then she bounces over and wraps a leg around her. “So, Dusty, what’s your story? I gotta get to know my new friend.” Dusty looks wide-eyed at her for a moment, then relaxes as a tiny smile graces her face. For the first time in what feels like forever, things are looking up for her.

Comments

[Replica Knight]

Man, I need to start o er again to understand what is going on