mylittlejamjar | 05 Butterflies [Audio]

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...

[Flare lowers herself a little to reach over and help Fluttershy with wiping those tears away.]

I may not be the best with the whole "bein' social" thing, but... well, makin' new friends doesn't mean the friends you already have are less your friends.

[...It's at that point, and that point alone, that the mare's mind registers that she never really introduced herself to dragonfly Fluttershy, except that she thought the yellow pegasus made a cute couple with the younger Donatello but Cadence insisted her heart belonged to someone named 'Chris'.

Shipping probably wasn't the best way to say "hello".]

Uhm... sorry. About everything being sudden. Name's Flare Star if you'd never gotten it out of my big mouth before.

[She smiled shyly, nodding.] M-Mm...someone's heart...is big enough to hold all the friends they make...

[With her tears gone, she takes a deep breath to calm herself.]

I-I've...heard you around town, but...I-I think this is the first time we've ever...r-really talked...

I-It's...really nice to meet you...

[If only the circumstances could have been better.]

[Flare smiles, nodding her head. Bad circumstances made better, a cloud used for its silver lining.]

Don't be afraid to stand up to me; I like it when my friends call me out if and when I'm being a jerk.

[And again, it nags at the back of her head, so she can't help but ask.]

...speaking of being a jerk and getting called on it... I've already gotten three strikes, but if I've got a fourth swing at the plate, there's no harm in asking...

S'the name "Posey" mean anything t'you?

Edited 2014-11-09 11:11 (UTC)

O...O-Okay... [Admittedly, standing up to her friends isn't something she was quite good at yet, but she's getting better.

The odd request has her thinking a little, tilting her head curiously.]

M-Mm...n-no, I...I don't think so...

[With that, Flare sighs and hangs her head. The resemblance is just so uncanny, it really bugs her.]

She was... someone back from my Equestria. I guess you could call her a friend, though we had our differences. She looked a lot like you... same mane, same coat, even lived in about the same place, but it was a house built out of a tree, sort of like the Golden Oaks is. She was an earth pony, too, not a pegasus. Three pink tulips as a cutie mark.

[Proxy element of Kindness, though Flare manages to keep from blurting that out. No point in confusing poor Fluttershy.]

She was a little older than me... about your age when I was still a blank flank.

I have a lot t'thank her for. And a lot t'blame her for. A lot to say in general. S'been about twenty years since I saw her last, though, since I never got a chance t'go back to Ponyville after movin' to Fillydelphia.

O-Oh...I'm sorry...I-I...I wish I could help you...

[The timidness - and that blasted apology - catches Flare off guard. Despite herself, she chuckles and shakes her head.]

It's fine. In a way it helps t'get it off my chest, the same way sometimes a pony just has t'have a good cry.

[She's not trying to hold it against Fluttershy or anything, just stating facts.]

The fact you - all four of you, honestly - remind me so much of her, and you're all just about the right age to be her foal...

[Flare sits down and shakes her head again.]

It's not important. Even if the weird hunch was right, my Equestria isn't anything at all like most of 'em.

05 Butterflies [Audio]

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