mylittlejamjar | 05 Butterflies [Audio]

[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?

M-Mm...right, th...th-the cottage...

[The cottage that was both hers and not.]

[It isn't long before Flare's there - wings are pretty good for added speed, even if you're not the best flyer to graduate from Cloudsdale Academy.

She knocks on the door uncertainly, as the thought suddenly settles into her mind - the Flutters were at the commune, but there were still two Fluttershies other than that. Did they both live here? How would she be able to differentiate? Hm. Makes sudden drastic hugs probably not the best option.]

[Luckily the other Fluttershy isn't in at the moment. The one that opens the door is wearing the dragonfly hairclip, which may or may not have been visible in her scroll post.

Still, as she looks up at Flare with large, sad eyes, it might not even matter which Fluttershy it is. She's upset, and needs cheering up.]

[The look gives her all the incentive she needs, all the proof she needs.

She might be a fair deal larger than the other pegasus, but regardless, Flare scoops Fluttershy up into a firm hug.

She briefly heard about how Discord almost fouled up the Equestrian Games after the native Fluttershy disappeared, and she knew how bad a place she and Harvey were in after Liz vanished. So she knows just how badly Fluttershy needed someone there for her.]

[She sniffled a little, burying into Flare as she returned the hug, holding on with everything she had.

If it was any other time, she would have been embarrassed about clinging so hard to someone she just barely knew. But at the moment, it really didn't seem to matter. All that she knew was Rarity was gone, and she was hurt and upset and was glad that she wasn't alone right now.]

[Flare doesn't say anything. Not yet, not right now. What she does do, however, is unfurl her wings, using them to try to doublehug the distraught mare. To be there, to anchor.

It was something she'd learned in the last few months. Some weren't destined to be up in the limelight. Some ponies existed to stand back a bit and anchor others. Keep them sane, keep them from breaking down. That was, in her own way, her role. Not percussion, but a countermelody.]

[She sobbed, gratefully accepting the extra warmth as she continued to cry, her body shuddering in the other mare's hold.

And it takes a while...a long while, but eventually it does seem to help: her body seems to calm a little, and her cries soften to a whimper now and again.

She doesn't let go, though, almost afraid in a way that something...someone would be lost if she does.]

[This time, Flare finally does speak, taking a deep breath.]

The ground is there. I'm there. Everything is in one piece, and I know it can seem like it will shatter at any moment. I've seen ponies get taken. But you've got to have faith.

[Flare lapses into a quiet introspection at that ...That really was what the difference was, wasn't it? They even wore their manes the same way. Even had the same surprising strength hidden behind the relatively small, meek form.]

In something, anything. Even if it's that the sun will rise tomorrow.

[She sniffled a little, and at length she nodded.]

I-I know...i-it's just...hard...sometimes...

I know it is.

[Flare sighs, quietly, and reaches up to give the smaller mare's back a pat.]

You weren't here a couple of months back, were you? You got to miss me and my coltfriend making utter asses of ourselves in public after bein' where you are right now. Because we didn't have anyone but each other. Each other and a keg of the hardest cider Ponyville could offer, rather.

Mm...I-It...must have been difficult for...you both...

She was like family to me. She was family to him. We got drunk, got provoked by someone else from his world into near fits of violence, almost blabbed a lot of secrets for everypony to hear.

[She thankfully avoided losing a friend FOREVERRRRRRR, though mostly because she didn't ACTUALLY blab what she was keeping secret for Donatello, simply implied it heavily.]

He ended up locked up at home over a month, and I had to slowly pull myself out of the pit on my own. Sure, we had a few people show concern, but we had just as many scolding us for how foalish we'd acted after losing someone so close to us.

[Flare sighs, and glances aside, slowly letting Fluttershy go.]

I don't want anypony else to go through that.

Mm... [She sniffled.] I'm sorry...I'm sorry I didn't...I-I mean, I-I wasn't...

[Flare reaches out, placing a hoof lightly on Fluttershy's nose.]

Shh. You didn't do anything wrong. You cared for a friend. That's all you did. Is that a bad thing?

M-Mm...n-no, I guess...

You guess?

[Flare cracks a slight smile and shakes her head.]

Friendship is magic. Friendship will set us free.

[It's her own personal creed at this point - another point of introspection, she'd never been able to keep going without a mantra, a dogma of some sort. Not since the Everfree...]

It's not something to be unsure about. You make friends, and you care for them, and... yeah. It hurts when something happens that separates you from them. But that's why you have to keep going... so that you can see them again, on the other side of whatever hardship is keeping you apart.

[After a moment, she glanced up at Flare. How many times has she told others that when friends disappeared in the Digital World? Or even here?

How many times has she tried to tell herself that?

No matter how much it hurts if they leave...making those friends was always worth it.

Which is why, eventually she managed a small smile, as she tried to wipe the rest of her tears away.]

Mm...r-right...

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