Lifting Your Hoof Back Up
"Okay this is it, here goes nothing." Rainbow Dash said to herself, on the line of being nerve-wracked and all. Her hooves were sweaty and stained with dirt by the time she reached the nature-preserved cottage. She knew she was always a confident and bold mare who hardly ever felt uneasy over minuscule details, but the pony she would be confronting at the moment is nothing like Rainbow Dash had ever been.
"I don't know how Fluttershy even deals with this. When did these stuffs ever became so, icky?" She rapidly opened and closed her wings to check if she was clean enough.
Just as the wooden door creaked open, Rainbow Dash straightened herself up to make herself look proper. A pony with pink mane and yellow toned fur stepped out, a neutral face held her in before she saw who it was.
"Oh hi Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad to see you!" Fluttershy exclaimed, and the two pegasi nuzzled each other on the cheeks before heading back into Fluttershy's cottage.
Inside the cottage, birds of all species chirped restlessly inside their metal cages. Tiny rodents ran across the wooden floor enjoying their time playing tag. Harry the bear scrubbed his back with his claws while lying down, so that the smaller animals can rest on him and have even more space to play. Rainbow Dash, knowing she is no expert on animals, chose to stay away from these creatures and observed them at a safe distance. She could not help but smile at revisiting her old friend's home of wonder.
"How has your week been so far, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked as she got themselves two cups of tea. Angel Bunny finished nibbling on his carrot before hopping off the kitchen table. Closing her eyes, the cyan pegasus reached for the teacup. She took a quick warm sip as the liquid steam entered her nostrils.
"Not bad, I did a couple of laps around Sweet Apple Acres both running and flying. Although it may seem a bit much at first, but once you're on the go, it's easy as counting one to ten!"
Fluttershy smiled. "That sounded really fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, I mean, anything can be done once you put you heart to it."
"I suppose you're right." She reached for her own cup and took a slow sip of tea. Rainbow Dash winced in silence, frustrated that her friend did not get the jab of where this conversation had been going so far. She knew all too well of what happened with her confrontation with the minotaur brute Iron Will. His workshop of assertive training revealed the animal caretaker's dreadful darkness, and at one point unleashing that darkness. Because of that, Fluttershy had almost lost support from her friends and possibly even rest of Ponyville.
After all, where else had this simple conversation been going so far?
"Look Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash's voice died down once Fluttershy's animals paused their engagements to stare at the mare, knowing that her tone grew serious. Fluttershy did the same, only in a more concerned manner.
"Wow, I didn't expect this to happen." The athlete scratched her head awkwardly. "Um, let's take this outside, heh?"
Once they were outside in the cool environment near the Everfree Forest, approximately two hours before Celestia will have lifted the sun to its climatic point. Rainbow Dash sniffed the fresh air that gently stroked her neck. Fluttershy did the same, only to have her mane brushed diligently as if she recognized the nature of the wind itself.
Rainbow was amazed, but said nothing as they distanced themselves further from the cottage full of noisy woodland creatures. At a certain point they began to slow down (thanks to Rainbow Dash's urging motion, indirectly and awkwardly hinting the idea), and Rainbow took a deep breath before revealing to her friend the real reason why she visited her.
"You know, I heard about that recent thing you had with, uh." She staggered along the lines, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the discussion so far: the topic on what she might call "touchy" for her animal loving friend. Fluttershy obviously, was confused by Rainbow's unusual action and asked her for clarification,
"Whomever are you talking about?"
"Uh, well, I mean it's that big guy..."
"Big guy?"
"Yeah, and he was pretty muscular, had two horns and all."
Fluttershy tapped her chin in thought, Rainbow Dash awkwardly gave her a gawky smile as she waited.
"You mean Iron Will?"
"Y-y-y-yes!" The mare stuttered. "That was who I meant!"
"Um, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy was now up on her friend's face, who responded with an uncomfortable look. She gave Rainbow Dash a penetrated stare before she pulled herself back and put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh no! You must've been bullied by that meanie too!"
"Well, that was not what I meant." Rainbow hoofed her own face, this time finally seeking the courage to speak her point. "But you were under his influence for awhile, weren't you?"
"About that —" Fluttershy proceeded to look up at the relaxing clouds, smiling as she closed her eyes " — he taught me quite a lot, to be honest."
"But did you like, actually accept them?"
"Well, I guess that he could've done a much better job at it, but everypony makes mistakes."
"Oh." Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. She looked to the opposite direction from Fluttershy and whistled. "If that's so."
The two pegasi strolled by the tall Everfree trees in silence for awhile, until Rainbow Dash resumed onto the topic once more.
"What did he do to you?"
"Well, um, I think it's best if we don't talk about it."
"Fluttershy — " she walked in front of the yellow pegasus and stopped in her tracks " — this is your best friend Rainbow Dash, remember? The one who got you away from bullies like Hoops back in flight school. You don't deserve those stupid harassing with a kind heart like yours!
"I'll be the one to stay by your side no matter where, and I absolutely can't let a minotaur like Iron Will change you for who you already are!"
This time it was Fluttershy who was shocked. "You-you knew all about this already?"
"From what Pinkie Pie and Rarity have told me," Rainbow practiced her breathing exercise. Again, she did not sound like her usual self. "Yeah, I have."
Fluttershy sighed, "You know, I've changed and now I'm back. I've gotten over with it until you brought this up again."
She wanted to cry, but if she did she knew the scenario would become more than dramatic. The water in her eyes was never a thing to start from first place. Rainbow Dash turned away, her head hung low in guilt. Maybe she was just a bit too harsh on her best friend, she knew that Fluttershy was a sensitive pony to begin with all these years, and she should not deserve any emotional pain from anyone.
"Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy wiped her eyes, and slid her hoof across the grass with delicate gentleness. "I'm so sorry. I should've known better not to hurt my friends. Only through Iron Will's training I have realized that the passive and quiet me had a horrible monster locked inside an iron cage. She would rage at my soul from time to time, but my ears would hear otherwise."
Rainbow Dash was still frowning, but still wrapped her hoof around her best friend. The texture of her yellow fur felt soft, fuzzy and anywhere along the lines of being comfortable. Birds from nearby Everfree trees flew over to comfort their caretaker, but Rainbow Dash upheld her promise on this to be a "private conversation", so she signaled her hoof to fend them off.
"But I guess the quieter somepony is, the harsher reality can be for them when they lose track of who they once were."
"Shh, it's okay 'Shy. It's okay." Rainbow reassured, "I don't want other animals coming over again just to see us in this place."
"You're right, Rainbow Dash, I'll try not to either..." Fluttershy let go of her friend, and the two continued to walk down the path next to the Everfree. The last thing they would want to do is to actually enter the dreadful forest full of unpleasant surprises.
As Rainbow Dash grew more uneasy about this tense conversation, she could not help but think about her different personality from Fluttershy just by looking at the forest. She knew that it would only be selfish if they were to go in the forest just for her fun and wild adventures, while leaving Fluttershy in a tearful breakdown: lost, scared and worried for her at the same time. And if they kept on volleying each other with worries, neither mare would ever live a stable life since.
Although the Everfree Forest had nothing to do with their conversation, Rainbow Dash just did not want to involve her differences with Fluttershy's lest of a conflict where neither side can reach to a consensus.
"I've actually came to talk to you about a similar time, when you acted like... Well, that."
Fluttershy stopped her emotional trauma, and looked up at her friend again. "W-what do you mean?"
"Hey, I know I was kinda overreacting about your assertive training with that stupid minotaur, but I don't know if it was really him who showed you your, erm, other side."
The other mare put her hoof to her chin and looked to her side. "I don't think I have any idea on what you're talking about, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and hovered in front of her again. "Fine, want me to spell it out for you?" She landed back down and took out a picture frame with a photo of a filly sized Fluttershy and another pegasus from their flight school. The frame was cracked all over, but to the pink maned mare it was more than just the frame that was damaged.
She gasped, "W-where did you get that from?"
"Duh, who else? I knew that you were up to something with him, so I would often check to see how you were doing. And on that day I picked up this broken frame."
"Him?" Fluttershy asked, before a seiche of old memories arose in her mind.
"Finally, I have the proper tool to chase them away, those dirty raccoons!"
She let out a short, but frustrated scream.
"But. I. This." Fluttershy sighed in defeat. Closing her eyes, she raised a hoof to express her surrender. "You're right, I should've known better not to make myself visible to strangers—" She timidly looked up at her friend, who was baffled by her words. "Not that you are one, Rainbow Dash, but just in case because strangers never get on your good side."
"All I knew was that you damaged the picture frame," Rainbow continued, "but why would you do it?"
Fluttershy wanted to answer desperately, but Rainbow Dash continued her train of thought.
"Out of all the ponies, I would never even expect you to act so violently when upset."
"Oh you don't understand, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy turned her head to the side, covering her face with her cherry blossomed mane in shame. "This was all just a little bit of misunderstanding.."
"They do nothing for us except for taking our food and causing a mess to me and my family!"
"Please Bright! They are innocent and harmless to us!" A young Fluttershy cried, holding her friend by the hooves, as he reached for a metal stick to chase a family of raccoons away. The colt resisted and shouted back at her,
"Hooves off, Fluttershy! You don't understand my struggle in poverty! My mother had to stay home and care for my grandpa, while I had to go out and find work to feed our family. We're already full of mess and now we're gonna have these goons staying with us?!"
"It was a long story..." Fluttershy looked up into the clouds once more, but this time she was not tranquil at all. Rainbow Dash could see her heart beating behind her yellow coat of skin, waiting to burst out anytime.
"But they won't find anywhere else to reside at! Your home is the only place where the poor things can have access to both shelter and food! The leaked pipeline can serve as a source of water—"
"You're annoying, you know that?" The hot headed colt turned around to face her friend in hostility. "You're stuck up quiet when those idiots like Hoops, Dumb Bell and Score were teasing and humiliating us, yet now when I'm trying to get business done you suddenly choose to get in my way! What is wrong with you?!"
"His name was Burning Bright, a very social and brave pony who never seemed to quit when his feelings were vulnerable."
"That seems pretty familiar like somepony." Rainbow Dash sarcastically wondered, waiting for an open compliment.
Fluttershy gave her friend a tiny smirk."And you're not the brave nor open minded pony whom I know of."
She giggled as Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out.
"Burning Bright was the first pony who accepted my nature of shyness, and we quickly became friends. Although I could not bring up the courage to talk with any of his other and different friends."
"Often the times while Bright chatted with others during lunchtime, I would sit by myself at a corner of the table. Not wanting me to feel left out, Bright would pull me over to hang out with his friends, and it only pressured me further. I tried looking into his eyes to convince him, but his confident smirk always erased my prays for help."
The two mares sat by a short grassy hill next to the dirt road just on the outskirts of the Everfree. They both gazed up into the empty sky: one was finding herself inside her own past, and the other was looking for ways to help her friend out. Fluttershy let out a tiny gasp, in need of the fresh air filled with fine white dandelions, and then continued.
"Overtime, although Bright and I were still close, he had his own values and perspectives. He believed that he was doing the right thing whenever he decides to do something." She sighed. "I knew, he knew, everypony knew that he was doing his best to carry his family on his hunches. The only male left who was able to find a job and feed his own kind."
"So what happened then?" Rainbow Dash asked, now curious with the case.
"Gradually, Burning Bright no longer had the charisma that he once had back in flight school. Instead, he became angrier and less tolerant towards ponies around him, including me."
"Once he started acting recklessly and taking his recklessness onto other ponies, he bit more than he could chew."
Panting with sweat, Burning Bright tossed the metal pole aside, with Fluttershy crying against the wall full of cracks. The raccoon family was no longer there, as they evacuated outside, leaving a trail of red substances that no foals like Fluttershy wanted to imagine. Burning did not mind, for he was full of red himself, eager to hurt anyone who gets in his name and family's way.
"Burning... I could not believe this... You're so mean..."
"I did what I have to whenever is necessary, Fluttershy. You were lucky that you didn't get in my path, otherwise I would've dealt with you first."
Fluttershy sobbed. "H-how could you do this?! Why are you hurting others without being sad about it? What have they done to you?"
"... Nothing, nothing particular." The flaming colt tried to keep his cool, but even under his profession choices of diction, his hot breath was futile against a female's ability to read emotions. Weeping, Fluttershy dashed out of Burning Bright's house, into the flooding rainstorm.
"Afterwards I found the injured raccoon family by a lonely tree, but sooner or later I realized that they could not keep themselves here in Equestria any longer. So I dug up nice little sanctuaries for each of them to rest peacefully in."
Rainbow Dash could feel both her and Fluttershy's heart ache when she heard her friend's last sentence. She wanted to fly elsewhere and drop the depressing conversation once and for all. But Rainbow brought it upon herself, so she must take all responsibilities for her actions. Instead of fleeing, she chose to make a comment.
"That Burning Bright guy sure sounded scary." Rainbow shook her head with her eyes closed. "But that still didn't explain why you had this cracked picture frame?"
"I guess my dramatic buildup was too long, wasn't it?" Fluttershy closed her eyes as well, and sighed once more. "Now you can probably figure out why he made me so, peeved."
This only made Rainbow Dash flinch, she did not expect her passive friend to use such vulgar language.
"But everything didn't stop there yet, that was only a buildup. The real moment came when he took his negativity out on me in an awfully indirect way."
"N-no, w-why did this h-h-have to happen?!"
"What happened Opus?" A filly cried out loud, "Are you alright?!"
"H-help! Please!"
A whole crowd of foals gathered up around Opus Light, who was injured in such a horrifying way that nopony dared to take another step toward him. Fluttershy managed to squeeze past other ponies without any filly or colt drama. Once she managed to retrieve the news with her own eyes, she wished to never have them opened again...
"Opus Light was brutally beaten, his ribs shattered, his skin bled through his light blue fur, he just completely lost his form!" Fluttershy put her hooves in front of her face to prevent any incoming tears. Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, she was not expecting any of this coming from the mouth of her fragile and softhearted friend. Nevertheless she wanted to know the absolute truth.
"Lemme guess, Burning Bright?"
The pink maned mare slowly nodded without looking back at her best friend. "Bright knew what became of his working class family, so he was very careful of other ponies or himself doing illegal things such as animal abuse or using drugs. Unfortunately he involved himself with many of our schoolmates by the means of hurting them."
"Social justice warrior, huh?"
"I'm afraid so, Rainbow Dash." She shook her head. "I'm afraid so."
"He-he-he asked me if I had been drinking alcoholic root cider, and I knew lying would only get me worse. So I-I..." The colt cried furiously. A couple of fillies and colts picked him up quietly, because they feared the one and only red coated colt as well, and took Opus Light to the nearest medical center.
"But Burning Bright was really obsessed with being socially ethical, and so he proceeded to hurt him anyway, leaving Opus Light by himself at a remote cloud by the outskirts of Cloudsdale until some ponies spotted him all alone by himself."
Rainbow Dash was not convinced of Burning Bright's actions. "Well, Opus was kinda bad in his own way."
"But was it enough for him to be harmed? He didn't deserve a punishment that only brought him closer to his end. He was a nice pony in school, he loved to socialize and contribute to our middle school by the means of charity to the sick, leisure to the old and hugs for the young. I know Opus was wrong for acting out of his age but..."
"But was it enough for him to be harmed?" She repeated the same question once more. Rainbow Dash reached her hoof to pet Fluttershy, gently stroking her mane and damp yellow fur.
"Fluttershy calm down, it's okay." Now it was the hot blooded mare to keep her quiet friend's cool, but it only made Fluttershy overthink more.
"Why is it so hard for ponies to act for the better? Burning Bright didn't do anything wrong. He was just trying to protect his family. He just wanted everything to go smoothly as possible for others too, but whatever there was inside him became a monster."
"It isn't fair, Rainbow Dash... It really isn't..."
She proceeded to hug her cyan friend in plea for sympathy. Rainbow Dash respected her kindness for her friends, just like Burning Bright, but she knew that Fluttershy would never hurt other ponies over their own needs, even if they represent a sense of morality and justice in society.
"Was it why you chose to break this picture frame, Fluttershy? That was Burning Bright inside the picture, right?" Rainbow's voice seemed soft, low and almost as smooth as the chirping of untamed birds. She sounded like a song waving over the clouds, and two angelic wings shielding over her.
She sobbed before responding. "Yes, yes it is."
"Fluttershy, I wanted to ask—"
Barely skinning off Zephyr Breeze's ear, a high pitched noise of shattering glass can be heard throughout the Shy family's house. The foals' parents rushed upstairs, concerned of their children. Zephyr flopped over, scuttling his hooves backwards toward the exit of Fluttershy's room. Right before the Shy's eyes, a wooden picture frame was violently split apart as if it was the doing of a vicious wild timberwolf. Along with many tiny pieces of shards spilled over the floor. Still backing off, Zephyr was ordered to get a broom to sweep up the mess.
"What's going on honey?" Mrs. Shy asked, attempting to pick her daughter up, only to have her hoof slapped away in anger.
"Hooves. Off!"
Awkward and frustrated, Mr. Shy walked up and stood in front of her.
"Fluttershy, you know that is not how you should talk to your mother. We just wanted to know what was going on between you and your little brother, so tell mommy and daddy why you behaved like this."
"Make me mad, and I'll hurt you right back!"
And before her parents could react toward her "other" demon, she quickly grabbed the damaged picture frame and fled outside the house crying away, leaving a trail of tears down to her melancholy.
"I felt shameful holding a memory that can only reveal me as a 'friend' of that brute, back at the time I've always thought him to be a big bully; or a scary tyrant." She sighed. "And so I had no choice, but to drop that photo frame somewhere else in the clouds, but I didn't expect it to land in your hooves, Rainbow Dash."
"That explains everything, 'Shy." Rainbow Dash let go of her friend, who by now had already dried her tears, but now it was her turn to have the watery eyes. "I'm so sorry that it had to happen to you."
The two mares got up and continued to walk down the lane beside the great Everfree Forest, not a whisper was to be found between them for a couple of minutes, retracing over what they've just talked about. But in the end they lived under the same torn-apart roof. Both mares wished of wanting to forget about it all. Unexpectedly, Fluttershy was the one to break the silence first.
"Well, actually. If it weren't for you Rainbow Dash, I would've never had my guilt released from my iron caged ribs. I felt as if I was a tyrant myself."
"I'm glad that I can help, Fluttershy, although I really didn't do that much."
"But I knew that it must've been hard dealing with not only yourself, but the idea of having to give up on a friend who only wanted the better for himself and others, which I'll bet anypony can find it to be admirable. But his method to bring the 'better' was wrong, and with the wrong ideas his life in society became less valued."
"Sometime later, I heard... I heard, that he..." She caught on to her breath before continuing, "Bright passed away in an attempt to fight off a gang of ruthless griffons... All for a timid and scared filly, who was trapped and pushed over like me, who couldn't help herself to do anything."
"No you're not like that, 'Shy. Stop being so hard on yourself." She went over to hug her friend once more, hooves tightly around her body.
"If I can trust just anything in this whole world, Rainbow Dash: It is you guys, you five brave ponies who would put your life on the front line, protecting for a good cause, and not at the wrong ponies. I'm glad that I moved on with life after Burning Bright was gone, although he will forever hold a special place in my heart, for his kind intentions."
"I knew what I did to my parents and my brother was wrong, and I have regretted that day since it happened. I guess that was why I chose to be friends with Burning Bright, we both had our own frustrations to hold on to, and we just happened to be two extreme poles planted in the same planet."
"Are you saying that you're not brave and passionate for others?"
"That 'me' returned to haunt Rarity and Pinkie just awhile ago, I can't stand up for myself yet I turn against my friends when I lose fear of other ponies. Oh what is wrong with me?!"
"Fluttershy, this is your fillyhood friend Rainbow Dash remember?" Rainbow Dash repeated the same phrase again. "I have seen you treating other ponies gently, unlike anypony else I've met before in my whole entire life. You can just about tolerate anything and anyone even under extreme conditions."
"Even if it was the awesome me, I would probably lose it and just run away to my comfort zone: which is always up in the clouds, acting high and standing tall above other ponies."
"They say that us mares were meant to be made fragile and insecure, Fluttershy, and sometimes I feel as if those stupid stereotypes are true whenever I feel down."
Fluttershy was stunned, she did not expect those words to fly out of a strong and confident athlete like Rainbow Dash. But she remained still and had her self control in check.
"But that can happen to anypony, we were not meant to be perfect!"
"I only stay quiet because I'm scared of the consequences if I speak up." Fluttershy disagreed in a concerned manner. "Ponies will be angry, just like Bright, who went so far to have his own ground stood on."
"Well Fluttershy, you shouldn't change yourself for the sake of other ponies, but if you see your own weaknesses..."
Her voice died down once the wind picked up the rustling leaves from the Everfree trees. It was quiet, and the complex mortal beings of four limbs spoke no more as mother nature breathed into their faces. Songs of birds lingered through their ears once again, and the childhood friends knew their place: that they were one step closer to home.
"... Then you should keep trying to overcome them, without having to show your rosy heart full of thorns. No matter how many times it takes and no matter how much it hurts, you cannot end up like that Burning Bright."
"You're saying, to change for the better?"
The rainbow maned mare shrugged. "Eh, I guess. I'm not a fussy pony who likes to make dramatic quotes anyway."
Fluttershy giggled. "Aw that is so like you, Rainbow Dash. Always out there to save the world with your boldness, a fast flyer for a strong mind and a passionate heart."
She rubbed her rainbow mane. Rainbow Dash chuckled and almost blushed in response.
"I guess I have to go now, Tank's still waiting for me to feed him. You know how turtles—"
"Tortoise." She corrected.
"Right, tortoise. Anyway, Angel must've been waiting for you to come home and feed your animal friends too. So you better hurry along before this forest turns scarily dark."
"Don't worry about me, Rainbow Dash, I'll get home in no time. You should take care and get home safe!"
"You too 'Shy!"
And the two pegasi nuzzled each other with gentle love before they decided to call it a day. Within a flash, Rainbow Dash was gone into the falling sun while it still shimmered above the horizon. Fluttershy watched her friend enter the troposphere before her skin sank into the color of the blue sky, and prepared to trot home.
"Change for the better hm?" Slightly she swayed her head from side to side, remembering what Rainbow had told her. Eventually she thought about her fillyhood friend, whose image still resided peacefully in the broken picture frame that was dangling in the kind mare's mouth.