20 – Rifts and Reunions
Chapter Twenty
Rifts and Reunions
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There was a little mouse. Fluttershy was surprised to see it, because for all the animals they had rehomed to the castle, Twilight had drawn the line at mice. Still, there was a little mouse scurrying about. He stopped to look up at Fluttershy for a moment, then went back on his way.
“Hello, little friend,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Are you lost?”
The mouse let out a squeak, then he ran off. Fluttershy decided to follow him. If he was lost, he probably needed a little bit of help. The crystal castle was not a place for mice, after all.
She followed him upstairs to the seldom-used third floor, curious to see where they ended up. He’d occasionally stop and sniff the air, but he seemed to know where he was going. Fluttershy followed.
He led them to a room Fluttershy had never seen before. It was a big ballroom, and Fluttershy hadn’t ever known it was there. She looked around in wonder, then focussed when she saw her mouse friend was getting away from her.
He turned to her and squeaked, then ran into a small hole in the wall. Fluttershy got down on her stomach to look inside, but it was too dark. Still, it didn’t seem scary. It was filled with warmth, and she decided to try and go after the mouse.
It was a tight fit, but Fluttershy was a small pony. Little by little, she shimmied into the mouse hole. With a look around, she realized she could see after all, and that it seemed to be a tunnel. She started walking, keeping an eye out for the mouse as she did.
She hummed to herself as she walked through the tunnel. It was such a cozy little place, it made her feel warm all over. Eventually she did run into the mouse again, although he was now wearing a vest and standing on two legs.
“Hello, little one.” Fluttershy giggled. They were the same size now that she was in the mouse hole. “Or not so little one. I like your vest, it makes you look very handsome.”
The mouse opened a door, and Fluttershy followed him through. They were back in her cottage, with all her animal friends around her. They were all dressed up for the occasion.
“Hello, everyone,” Fluttershy said. “It’s so nice to see you all!”
“Fluttershy, you’re just in time for tea!” Angel Bunny hopped over to her and smiled. “Come take a seat, the hummingbirds made it special just for you.”
“Oh, how lovely! Of course I’d love some tea.”
“Tea does sound quite nice,” a new voice said. This one didn’t belong here, and it made Fluttershy frown. “Is there room for one more?”
“Hello, Luna,” Fluttershy said as she turned to face the princess. “This is a dream.”
“Yes, a rather lovely one, I might add.”
Fluttershy sighed. “I should have known. Angel is never that friendly.”
As usual, Luna’s arrival made the dream fog lift, and Fluttershy’s thoughts became more lucid. Little by little, details of the waking world seeped into Fluttershy’s head. She had written to Luna asking to meet her in dreams, and Luna had accepted. And now, here she was.
For the first time in many years, Fluttershy was not happy to see Luna. She had asked her here for a reason, and it was not a social one.
Luna seemed to realize that. “I was surprised to see your message. The Princess Summit is less than a month away, after all.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I needed to talk with you. It couldn’t wait that long.”
Luna took a seat at a nearby table while the animals served tea for two. “I hope there is nothing wrong.”
“There is.” Fluttershy took a seat as well. “Stormy Skies is dead. But you probably already know that.”
Luna bowed her head. “I have heard, yes. As you know, I had my ponies keep an eye on him, and I was notified of his passing. I imagine you must have some complicated feelings at the news.”
Fluttershy took a sip of the tea. She had grown accustomed to eating and drinking in dreams, so she was used to how the flavor was strange and difficult to place. It was, after all, an idea of tea rather than actual tea.
“I didn’t feel much of anything when I found out,” Fluttershy explained. “I felt like I should have felt something. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or upset, actually. But I didn’t feel anything at all.”
“He wasn’t part of your life anymore,” Luna said gently. “It is okay to feel disconnected from him.”
“I know. That isn’t what I wanted to talk about.”
“I see. In that case, please continue.” Luna sipped on her tea while allowing Fluttershy to speak.
Not that it was easy to talk about. Not when she knew she wouldn’t like the answer. Fluttershy pressed on. “Twilight and I went to Cloudsdale to go through his things, which I inherited. It was hard being in his apartment, but it wasn’t a long trip, and I was able to get things that belonged to my mom, as well as some nice pictures of her.”
“I’m glad something positive came out of it.”
“We also spoke to one of his neighbors. It was kind of funny. Hearing her describe him, he sounded a lot like me. He liked her cat, and he was quiet and shy. So unlike how he was when I knew him.”
“I see. And now you’re wondering if he really changed?”
That wasn’t what Fluttershy had wanted to talk about, but there was perhaps something she could learn about there. “You had ponies watching him. Did he become a better pony?”
Luna was silent for a moment, then answered. “The ponies I had watching him were mostly doing so from a distance. I can say he never tried to do anything… reprehensible again. But I do not know what he was like as a pony.”
“And now we never will know…” Fluttershy sipped on her tea.
“It troubles you to not know? Fluttershy, you need not worry about him. After what he did to you, no matter what he did afterwards –”
“I’m glad I never have to see him again.” Fluttershy turned to look at Luna. “He could become a national hero, and I would still never want to see him. This isn’t about me wanting to have him back in my life or anything, even if he did find a way to become a good pony.”
Fluttershy winced as she said it. The very idea that Stormy Skies could be called a good pony was a challenge for Fluttershy to accept. Luna took notice. “You are right to remain angry with him.”
“Do you think… there’s anything a pony can’t come back from?” Fluttershy met Luna’s eyes. This answer was important. “I don’t mean that I would have wanted to see him again, but I want to know if he could be a… well, at least an okay pony. A normal pony who goes about his life and doesn’t bother other ponies much. With friends and a job and all that, just living day to day like everypony else.”
“I… I do not know if he was that kind of pony. I know he never hurt anypony else, and that is all I know. I’m sorry I have no closure for you.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “That wasn’t what I asked, Luna. I don’t want to know if he did, I want to know if it’s possible. If even a pony like him can turn himself around. Is there anything a pony can do that’s so bad that they can’t come back from it?”
Luna hesitated. “It is… complicated. But it was you and Twilight and all your friends who taught me that it was okay to forgive myself for the things I had done. I do not know if it is my place to make a judgement on someone else after I myself have done horrible things and then was forgiven for them.”
Fluttershy bowed her head. “But you did make a judgement.”
Luna scrunched up her eyes. “I do not follow. Are you angry at me for keeping watch on him? I assure you, the ponies I had watching him did nothing to impede his life.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “He had nightmares. Terrible ones, every night. His neighbor said he woke up screaming about them sometimes.”
Luna’s face was expressionless. “I see.”
“You do, don’t you? You know what I’m saying.”
“You’re saying I did that.”
“Did you?” Fluttershy didn’t need to ask, but she still did. Part of her wanted Luna to deny it. To say that at worst, she ignored his nightmares. That she was guilty of nothing but inaction.
“I did. You are right, the nightmares were my doing. In light of a proper punishment for him, I thought it prudent to do something.”
Fluttershy nodded. She had known, of course. “You put a Tantabus in his dreams.”
“Yes. I… I see this upsets you, but I will give you nothing but the truth. I did do this.”
For the first time, Fluttershy’s voice carried her anger. “You didn’t even ask me.”
Luna set her teacup down. “I did not think you wanted to know. I thought you had suffered enough, that you did not need to know anything beyond that it was taken care of.”
“That was all I wanted to know. But then… then I didn’t think you would do anything like that!”
Luna was silent for a moment. She looked off to the side, and Fluttershy realized that all the animals were gone. The dream had felt warm and comforting, now it felt cold and lonely. “I am sorry I have upset you. I did not think this would burden you so.”
“Burden me?” Fluttershy shook her head. “My conscience is clean. I didn’t do anything. This is about what you did.”
“Very well. But I would like to understand, why does this upset you so? You endured terrible nightmares for years despite being innocent. Why was it not just that he should have to do the same?”
“Because I was able to heal! I did have terrible nightmares. Every night at first. But little by little, I got better. The nightmares came less and less often, and when they started to come back because I was with Twilight, you helped me then.”
“Of course, it is my duty.”
“A duty you ignored when it was hard,” Fluttershy shot back. “So let’s say you were right, maybe he did deserve to feel what I felt. You could have given him nightmares for a while, then made them go away. I didn’t have nightmares every night for six bucking years, Luna!”
Luna bowed her head. “You are wise, as always, Fluttershy. I was in the wrong.”
“You killed him.”
Luna recoiled. “I did not! Nothing but the nightmares were my doing!”
Fluttershy shook her head. “He died of an overdose, but the only drug he ever talked about taking was alcohol. But he wrote in his journal about killing himself to stop the nightmares. Luna, he wasn’t an addict who went too far one night, he got the pills specifically to kill himself, and that was because of what you did to him!”
For once, Luna seemed to be speechless.
“You didn’t just kill him! You made him do it himself!”
“I did what I did for you!” Luna rose to her hooves. “I was looking out for you!”
Fluttershy flew into the air so that they would be eye to eye. “No! He wasn’t a threat to me anymore! All you had to do was make sure he wasn’t a threat to anyone else either!”
Luna stamped her hoof and glared. “He deserved to pay for what he did to you.”
The room got dark for a moment, and Luna was gone. In her place stood a different pony, and yet, the same pony. Fluttershy locked eyes with Nightmare Moon.
Then it was over. The light returned, and Luna was back. She seemed to know what Fluttershy had seen, as she recoiled back in horror. “Is… is that how you see me?”
Fluttershy stopped flying, landing on the floor and looking away. She did not answer, she didn’t feel like she had to.
“I would never! I would not!” Luna shook her head wildly and looked pleadingly into Fluttershy’s eyes. “I would not prey on the weak like before!”
“You did, though.” Fluttershy looked up at her. Luna was one of her closest friends, the pony she looked up to more than anypony else. “I don’t think you are who I always thought you were.”
“Fluttershy…”
“I would like you to leave my dream now.”
“Please, don’t… We can talk about this.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “No. Goodbye, Luna.”
Luna bowed her head, and Fluttershy turned away. “Goodbye, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gave no answer, and when she turned back, Luna was gone. Fluttershy was all alone, in a dream that felt even colder than before. But she was still lucid in the dream world, which meant she could shape it as she wanted.
Fluttershy walked up to the door of her cottage and opened it. Instead of stepping outside into the front yard, she was in a different house altogether. One she had long since left behind, and had never expected to set hoof in again.
She looked around her childhood home. She had been so afraid here, but now she knew there was no reason to be afraid. Stormy Skies was not going to be here, this was a nice visit.
She walked around a little, remembering things here and there, then she walked to her parents’ bedroom. She pushed the door open gently.
A mare who looked a lot like Fluttershy was sitting on the bed, working on her embroidery. She smiled as Fluttershy stepped in, and Fluttershy couldn’t keep the tears from coming.
“Fluttershy,” Breezy Day said. “My little Fluttershy. You’ve gotten so big!”
“Hi, Mama,” Fluttershy said, inhaling sharply as she cried. “I have so much to tell you.”
Breezy Day set aside the embroidery. “Come sit here with me. I want to hear about everything.”
Fluttershy walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. There was so much she needed to tell her mom. About her wives, about their daughter, all the friends she had made, and all the things she had done.
But mostly, she wanted one thing more than anything else. She sat on the bed and hugged her mom. “I’ve missed you, Mama.”
Breezy Day stroked Fluttershy’s mane. “I’ve missed you too, my dear. I love you, Fluttershy, and I’m so proud of you.”
Fluttershy nodded her head as the tears kept coming. “I love you too, Mama.”
“There there.” Breezy held onto Fluttershy and hummed soothingly until Fluttershy felt like she could talk. “Now, why don’t you tell me about what you’ve been up to these days?”
Fluttershy smiled, and she did just that.
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That.....ooof. You fucked up, Luna.
10606246
For now I'll just say that yeah, Luna did indeed fuck up.
There's something particularly interesting about people siding with Fluttershy here, but we'll go into that in a few chapters
10606273
I mean, Luna clearly had good intentions. She wanted to protect Fluttershy and make sure that Stormy Skies was never able to hurt anyone again. I just agree that she went too far in driving him to suicide. I suppose she accomplished her goal, but it may have cost her Fluttershy's friendship....I hope that isn't the case. Especially after this conversation about if it's possible for a person to turn around and be better no matter what they've done. Luna made a mistake, but....I hope it just didn't cost her everything.
10606287
There's something else, something from an older story that everyone seems to have forgotten. But I've said too much, that'll come up within a few chapters
Luna behaves like a child and an adult at the same time and tries to decide what is best for others without their consent.
Like when she thought ist was best for Amber to Break up with her.
10606502
I mean, in that instance Amber specifically ran away from Luna and then sent Sunset in to get their stuff because they didn't want to talk to her. That wasn't really Luna deciding what was right for Amber so much as their decision. Now, that's not to defend her here, where she should absolutely have talked with Fluttershy before this
I certainly hope that Fluttershy and Luna can make up over this
10606638
All I'll say is that we'll see them talk about this another time in this story, so things won't be left quite where they are. That's probably pretty obvious, but we'll have to wait and see what happens
Well that was a short chapter but it went how I expected it Luna as in the wrong,she may have done it to help fluttershy but as our dear yellow pegasus pointed out she should've told her. Now we see a rift for between the two and only time will tell if they can mend it, by the whay what was that whole Luna tuning into nightmare moon bit about. Any way excellent chapter as always.
10606880
We'll see more of this situation before too long, but first we have someone else to check in on in the next chapter...
Because it was in Fluttershy's dream, so Fluttershy's perception of things influence what happens. So in that moment, Fluttershy thought Luna sounded like Nightmare Moon...
Holy fucking shit.
Kricks. You beautiful bastard (I mean this as endearingly as possible). Fantastic chapter once again. This one hit HARD. Luna really messed up, and seeing Fluttershy call her out on it like that was tough. Cannot wait to see where this goes. Oh my god
10606976
Hehe I'm glad this chapter had such an impact on you, it's one that I'm very happy with
So this chapter like on a technical and writing level i like it strongly and I think that in the context of your existing work It’s great and it fits.
The .... caveat I have and it’s my problem less than yours is that I can’t quite wrap my head around Luna doing this even though In the context of the world you established it makes sense. To be clear I haven’t read all of your works for similar reasons so.... yeah I’ve enjoyed your work, I think you’re a damn good writer But I’m having another “krickis wrenched a knife into me and I don’t know how I feel now moment” :P
10607114
It will be the last reveal of this level in this fic, though. There's only four more chapters to go in this story, and they mostly deal with wrapping up the already running plot lines rather than dropping anymore bombs like this one. Unless this right here is enough to get you to step away from the story, you're through the worst of what this fic has to offer.
That's fair. I diverge very strongly in tone to the show, which is something I very much like, both writing and reading. I consider WWB more similar to Puella Magi Madoka Magica (probably my favorite TV show) than to MLP in that it's deceptively cute on the outside, being that it's an MLP fanwork and thus uses candy colored magic horses as its core cast, but it can be get very dark and there's a layer of reality to it that's not going to be everyone's thing. I know quite a lot of people who choose not to read my stories because of this. All I can really say is that this isn't the first time things and characters took a dark turn, and it for damn sure won't be the last
Thanks for the chapter! I’m really conflicted on how I feel. On one hand I can understand what Luna did was wrong, but on the other I think I would have done the same thing.
10607365
It's a complicated situation and I can agree with having conflicted feelings. I originally had this planned to basically be nothing but a speed bump for Luna and Shy, and they'd be over it in a chapter or so, so I was also team Luna on this one. One of my proofreaders convinced me to do things differently and have this be more of an issue, arguing the points that Fluttershy makes, and I came around to realize that while my own feelings go a certain way, that wasn't how Fluttershy would feel about it. We'll get both Twilight's and Sunset's thoughts on this soon to see it from different angles, but I do agree that Fluttershy's right to feel the way she does. While I have a hard time generating sympathy for someone like Stormy Skies, what Luna did was wrong.
10607151
Roger :)
See this is why fan fiction is so great.
Even if MLP lasted 90 years they still wouldn't tell a story like this one. With the dark aspects and dividing ideas.
Quite a few new commenters so this could count as spoilers. Maybe?
Twilight knows about the tantabus in Stormie Skies' dreams from years ago when Luna told her.
Sunset from earlier in this very fic is okay with a more violent form of justice unlike Twilight.
Fluttershy didn't know Twilight knew about the bad dreams, dreams that if Twilight had told Shy about maybe Stormy would still be alive. And Luna could not have blood on her hooves.
I remember also a line when Twilight found out the truth about Stormy and immediatly wanting to kill him in a painful way. And Sunset wanting and succeeding in hurting human Stormy Skies.
So maybe the bearer of the element of kindness is the only one who is against violence, or her friends being violent.
Seems we have an argument ahead of us between the three wives.
Oh, and I've never seen the original Alice in wonderland movie so I've no idea what the start of the dream is a reference to. Still great chapter.
10609233
You're the first person to catch on that Twilight already knew about this, or at least the first person to comment as such. What gets me about this is that it means readers knew about it too, despite the fact that the general consensus now being that Luna fucked up while before the general consensus was that Luna was in the right. We'll explore that more later, as well as each of the wives' reactions.
The dream isn't a reference to anything, although it does have certain similarities to Alice, which I only realize now that you mentioned it. Offhand, I don't think I've ever used a dream as a reference, I just like doing weird dream sequences
It's actually incredibly hard to understand Fluttershy and why she thinks she has the upper hoof in the argument here. Stormy Skies isn't anypony that she had any say over, while as the ruler over him, Luna has much more say in how a threat to her nation should be handled. Luna never physically restricted him, he was not bound from trying to seek out a possible cause to unrelenting nightmares by any other than himself. Other than the testimony of Flutters, multiple written admissions of what he did could be found. Even if she's progressed a lot since Inner Strength, Fluttershy very obviously is threatened by him. Stormy committed incest/rape and went unpunished for it because of the age and mental state of his victim. Fluttershy wants to put a band-aid on there being a rapist on the loose, and Luna's actions led to that pony isolating and dying for what they had done, and not through the involvement of either of them. Stormy Skies had a very clear thought process in how he decided to come to decide what the dreams meant and how he wanted to get rid of them. The only real ground that Fluttershy might be able to stand on here is that what Luna did was technically extralegal... but other than that? She isn't coming across very well here, and is effectively defending her own rapist. I know that this is something she's going to have complex feelings about, but I really hope that she can come to her senses.
Again, this is incredibly irrational for Fluttershy to claim. Luna gave an incestuous foal rapist uncontrollable nightmares. He wasn't non-threatening or weak. He was a predator. I think it would be incredibly wrong for Fluttershy to go leaping into Luna's forelegs and cry out 'my hero' or something along that line, but after writing across the worlds and knowing her double's situation, surely she'll come to realize how important this is? Human Fluttershy barely got justice. She's unlikely to get any real inheritance and is a nearly anonymous woman (when compared to a pony princess) in a world where injustice is common for people in her situation. Even though her Stormy Skies is also dead, she's not in a better place with any better resources. In fact, she's probably worse off right now, and yet she still recognizes that he was a monster and a predator. But this Fluttershy? She's showing such serious lapses in judgment, and it isn't as though Luna were interfering in something she previously had no privy into, she's been so vital to Fluttershy and fighting for her and helping her shoulder this burden. Fluttershy's stance only makes sense if one thinks that rapists shouldn't ever face any judgment or repercussions for their crimes, and so on. Maybe it's a matter of each Fluttershy being so entrenched in their respective cultures, but human Shy really ought to sit down and tell pony Shy that she really needs to make some sense here.
10704700
Human fluttershy isn't as well known as princess fluttershy but she still well known being a song writer for a upcoming band which is getting very popular. But human fluttershy was very mean to sunset who she broke up with and sunset didn't even know about her suicide or she would have been there for her. She tried to be strong for her but fluttershy pushed her away. did she really expect her to stick around for her to change her mind about her supposed girlfriend
Ah, good, misery and heartache. I've been missing some of that lately.
Another brilliantly done chapter that while short, it still had such an emotional and interesting thought-provoking moments as it didn’t quite land on a black and white scale as both sides had a footing that would make person question who was right and was it wrong? A highlight of your ways with words as always author
11231854
This comment means a lot to me. I was recently talking with another author, lamenting how when we write drama, people always want to assign blame. I like these difficult situations where you can see both sides, and I think by now I've gotten pretty good at it. Still, if you look through the comments you'll find a lot of people putting their weight fully behind one or the other and not understanding the opposition's POV. So I'm glad you enjoy the complexities at work here, means a lot to me!
God damn it Luna.
What you did was completely wrong Luna!
Yeah...I'd say Luna perhaps went a bit too far. Though I'd say in retrospect it was probably too hard to tell at the time when she started, it's also true that nobody really bothered to check on the guy after this started. Probably nary a second thought about it - she just wanted him to suffer. Dude was condemned from day one.
Anyways, Flutters is gonna need a bit of time apart from her for now. I have the feeling they'll be back on speaking terms again eventually.