mylittlejamjar | 05 Butterflies [Audio]

Flanks and fetlocks... right at the turn of the month...

[Sorry, Fluttershy, feel free to ignore the mare cursing to herself under a facehoof.]

Did you happen to know which Rarity?

[It's all right, she's not paying too much attention to it.]

N...N-No...I'm sorry, I'm...I-I'm not sure which one...

...Great. So it could be the one that already disappeared once before...

[...Or it could be the one that is actually useful in a fight. Flare keeps that second sentiment to herself.

Then again, having overheard the gossip... she can deduce this pretty easily.]

Where was she staying last you knew?

[Because only one of them wasn't ~~dating Zetta~~helping Zetta recover from the attack on Cálice.]

A-At...her shop...at the Carousel Boutique...

[Despite herself, Flare lets out a slight sigh of relief. She wasn't as close to the native Rarity as she was the Dame. In fact, they never really talked at all.

That was actually probably a bad thing on its own. Hn, something else to put up on her speculation list.]

...Well, looking on the bright side, she's been through this before. She vanished once, and came back... so there's no saying she won't come back again. You just gotta hold out faith, yeah?

[She sniffles a little.] R-Really...? Th-That's...happened here too...?

[How many times could Rarity put her through something like this?]

You're...

[Oh, flanks and fetlocks. This is a new Fluttershy.]

...You haven't been here long, have you.

I-I've...been here a couple of months now...I think...

B-But yes, I...I guess I'm still newer than the...other Fluttershys...

I...I've been to another world, though...a-and this kind of thing happened there...too...

[Doesn't make it any easier, though.]

It's...

[Sun and moon, nobody had told her about Cálice, had they...]

...It's different here from the other places, from everything I've heard.

I mean, it's the same idea, but the... rhyme and reason is different.

[Flare takes a deep breath, and drops bombshell #1. Hopefully she won't be forced to drop #2.]

For starters, the Rarity that just vanished was the one that has always lived here. Not an offworlder like you and me.

I-I...I know... [Unfortunately, they had.

The news about Rarity surprises her though.]

R...R-Really...? Th-That was...That was the Rarity that...lived here...?

[The one that was supposed to be here...that belonged here.

And she was gone.]

[Flare nods solemnly.]

She's not the only one of the element bearers to've been taken like that, either.

[She's not going to name names unless it's asked. Fluttershy really won't like the answer.]

[Honestly, she really really doesn't want to ask.

But she has to know.]

Wh-Who...Who else has...?

Status is unknown on the native Dash and Pinkie Pie; they both went traveling abroad, but nopony's heard from them in months. Pretty sure the AJ that's here isn't the one that grew up here, though, and...

[She trails off.

Fluttershy, she really doesn't want to tell you this.]

[Unfortunately, she already knows about that too.]

Fluttershy...this world's Fluttershy...sh-she's gone too...

[In some ways, it's... well, it takes pressure off of her to hear Fluttershy say that. Regardless, she nods hesitantly.]

Rarity came back, though. Which means any of them can come back. Even her, a second time.

M-Mm...B-But even if they do...u-until then, they're...th-they're trapped with her...? With...th-the Pale Pony...

...I...

[Flare chokes back some sort of noise. She'd heard about what happened to Kreutzer at the Equestrian Games, even if it was garbled by the shock of the situation. She'd heard about what Jappleack saw in her first voyage.

She wasn't sure if she should correct the other pegasus, or not.]

[Her ears twitch a little, and there's a sudden feeling of dread rising in her as she glances at the other pony.]

Wh...Wh-What is it...?

[There is something telling her she's better off not finding out. But she needed to know.]

[Honesty is love felt for one's self, even with one's many flaws. Honesty means resolving to be as true in word as you can be, but truer in deed. Honesty does not mean hurting ponies with truths they aren't ready to handle.

Flare closes her eyes.]

If I tell you, it will hurt. You'll be afraid, both for your friends in the situation, and those still here, those at perpetual risk. If you're anything like me, it'll start eating at you, making you lose sight of what's important, lose sight of the way to help fix the problem. I hope you're not like me, but I don't know ya well enough to be sure.

You're pretty much right, anyway - th'Pale Pony's basically got 'em hostage until they can bust free or until we can fix this thing.

[She hesitates, about to protest that the other pegasus wouldn't tell her. But she stays silent for a moment, considering that there was probably a good reason for her not to know.]

O-Okay...

Rarity's s...

[Flare cuts herself off. Safe? No, that wasn't true. She didn't know what went on inside the Pale Pony, but it couldn't be good if it freaked out Japple and the supposed spirit of Nemo Vantas. But she still wanted to reassure Fluttershy. This was one of the other pegasus's best friends, after all, assuming her world was like the standards.]

Rarity's a smart mare. She'll be okay. So will all the others. S'better to focus on what we can do here to help, y'know?

...M-Mm...[She nodded.] Y-You're right...

[It still hurts, though.]

You want any company...?

[Celestia knows she could've used company when she lost someone close to her.]

[She hated to ask...but...]

I-If you...don't mind...

The treehou--

[Flare catches herself. Right. This wasn't Posey's house in this Equestria, even if it was in the same place and served more or less the same purpose.]

--That is to say, you're at your place, right?

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]

[vis]