Mistress Do Well: Fractured Elements
by milesprower06

Reflection

It was days like today that made Rainbow seriously doubt that her efforts here were going to have any real effect.

She had been back in Ponyville for just over a week now. Settling in had gone fairly quickly. Thunderlane, who had taken her position as Weather Director, immediately offered it back to her. She had to admit, it felt absolutely great to have a job again. Something to go and accomplish day in, day out.

But she didn't move back into her cloud mansion, opting to stay in the library with Twilight, feeling it was a better way to start the healing process. She had taken the guest bed as her own, not wanting to move too quickly in her relationship with Twilight. Everything was so incredibly fragile right now.

With some convincing, Carrot Cake and Cup Cake allowed Pinkie to return to Sugarcube Corner as a baker, letting her live in her old room upstairs. She was no longer Ponyville's premier party planner, opting to take a much lower profile in the confectionery's daily operations. The biggest change in Pinkie was her mane and tail; they had not retained their signature unkempt poofiness, and had instead returned to it's flat 'depressed' style that she had in her fillyhood.

Applejack was welcomed back to Sweet Apple Acres with no major issues. Her family had the foresight to keep her at the farm doing chores, while Big Mac tended to the kiosk in town. Though she spent time with her when she came to the farm, Applejack rarely said anything to Rainbow, who knew that the farmer was trying to fight through her shame.

Nothing had changed with Twilight, who spent 90% of her time either at Sweet Apple Acres or Golden Oaks Library. As for Fluttershy... Well, that was the thing. Rainbow didn't know what Fluttershy was up to, which was why she was out here on the outskirts of town, approaching her cottage; to find out. She was quite clear that they were to spend a little time together each and every day, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward it was. Yet, she had not seen Fluttershy in three days.

Coming up the front walk, Rainbow could immediately tell that the cottage was derelict. The vegetation all around the property was overgrown; depending on the angle you looked from, you wouldn't even know there was a house there. As she crossed the bridge over the creek, she saw rotted wooden planks scattered around the lawn; remains of birdhouses that had been blown out of the trees during the winter storms, and never picked up. Lastly, the most obvious sign was the entire place needed a fresh coat of paint. She walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Fluttershy, are you in there?"

No answer. She knocked again, listening for any sound coming from inside. After waiting several more seconds, Rainbow tried the handle.

It was unlocked.

She turned it fully, and slowly opened the door. It rotated on its hinges with an awful creaking noise, and she stepped inside. Indeed, the state of the cottage's exterior painted a good picture of the lifelessness on the inside. It was it's regular "homey" feel, and not the banquet hall setting Discord had turned it into. Dust was on nearly everything. Rainbow slowly walked through the main area of the house, taking in the dilapidated state of it all. Her full-length mirror on the back wall had been covered with a cloth tarp. Forgotten food dishes lined the walls, and Rainbow had to fight back a pang of guilt, as she recalled that she was the reason that all of her animals had run off, apparently, never to return.

She came to the kitchen, where she finally saw a sign of recent activity. There was a pot on the stove, and the oatmeal inside looked only a few hours old. A quick check of the faucet showed that the water was still working. Going back to the living area, Rainbow passed the bathroom, and her concern rose as she saw another cloth covering the mirror above the sink. She came to the stairs to the second floor, and carefully ascended them, not confident in the condition of the wood, but they seemed sturdy enough.

She walked into Fluttershy's room, and again saw signs of activity in the form of sheets that weren't covered in dust, and yet another mirror covered. But something else grabbed her attention; the nightstand on the right side of the bed, and the shards of glass on the floor around it. She approached the nightstand, and saw the source of the broken glass: a face-down, broken picture frame. Rainbow carefully lifted the frame up, and failed to hold back a gasp when she saw the photograph that it held.

Fluttershy and Rarity on their first date.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Rainbow recalled that day nearly two and a half years ago. Fluttershy was incredibly nervous and timid, but it was Rainbow who had given her the encouragement she needed to finally ask Rarity out. She was so overjoyed when the fashionista had said yes. They had arranged to have a nice dinner out the very next night. Fluttershy had spent all day picking out the perfect dress, which was, obviously, one of the outfits Rarity had made for her. Rarity had arrived to pick her up, in an equally stunning outfit, and just before they left for their evening together, Fluttershy asked Rainbow to take a picture of them.

It now felt like a lifetime ago.

Now determined to find her former best friend, Rainbow set the frame back down on the nightstand, exited to the hall, began to descend the stairs, and her search lasted all of five seconds when she saw Fluttershy standing in the open doorway.

The timid pegasus turned to leave in a hurry.

"Do you really think there's the slightest chance I won't catch you?" Rainbow asked, anticipating her withdrawal. Rainbow came down the second half of the stairs as Fluttershy reluctantly turned back around, averting her gaze.

"Fluttershy, what's going on here?" Rainbow asked, motioning to the state of her friend's cabin.

"You've been back for a few days, and it doesn't look like you've done anything here; just eating and sleeping. So if you haven't been straightening up around here, which still wouldn't be a good excuse in my book, what have you been doing?"

Rainbow impatiently awaited an answer, as Fluttershy continued staring at the ground.

"Look at me, Fluttershy."

The animal caretaker merely shuffled her hooves on the floor.

"Fluttershy, look at me." Rainbow told her. A few seconds later, she brought her hoof up under Fluttershy's chin, and she quivered, as her eyes finally met Dash's.

"What did I say in the library? 'You're going to look at me every day, We're going to be there for each other and help each other.' I haven't seen you in three days."

"I... I don't want your help, Dash." Fluttershy said, gently removing Dash's hoof from her face.

Rainbow looked at her friend, eyes full of uncertainty.

"You don't want my help." Rainbow said, repeating what she was just told.

"N-no. I don't."

Another five seconds passed in silence.

"Yes you do. Because you're still here."

Fluttershy remained quiet, unsure of how to reply.

"I didn't say this was going to be easy. I said we were going to hate it at times. This is the only way, Fluttershy. Don't you see? You've been wandering the forest alone, even these past three days, coming back here only to sleep and eat, and you can't even look at yourself," she said, motioning to the covered mirror near the back wall.

"It starts with a first step," Rainbow said, guiding her towards the covered full-length mirror. She left Fluttershy standing in front of it, then walked over to pull the cover off. She took one corner of the cloth in her hooves, then turned to Fluttershy.

"Look at yourself, and accept who you are, what you've done, and what you can do to fix it."

With that, she pulled the cover off the mirror, and Fluttershy stared fearfully at her reflection.

It was a full 10 seconds of Fluttershy taking in shaking, shallow breaths. After that, she closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. Rainbow stepped away from the mirror and began to walk back towards her.

"Now that wasn't so bad, right? Just the first step-"

Without warning, Fluttershy's eyes opened, full of fury, and she charged towards the mirror, knocking Rainbow to the floor, and she slammed into her reflection, knocking the mirror over and landing on top of it. She raised her right hoof above her head and smashed it down on the mirror with a scream, cracking the surface. She repeated this immediately and numerous times, screaming.

"Weak! Pathetic! Useless!!!"

"You! Monster! You! Fucking! Monster!"

Fluttershy was powerless standing on the other side of Twilight's magical force field on the upper floor of the library. She couldn't do anything but stand in horror, and watch Rarity and Twilight duel, and it wasn't long before Twilight gained the upper hand, and was now mercilessly beating the motionless unicorn on the floor in front of one of the bookshelves. Without warning, there was a sharp crack and a flash of light, sending Twilight flying to the other end of the room.

When the light died down, Twilight was in a crumpled heap on the floor. The force field melted away, and Fluttershy jumped over the railing, forgetting her plucked feathers, and she crashed to the ground floor. She got up, and went to Rarity, who was barely breathing, and whose face was unrecognizable, covered in blood.

Spike was equally in shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened before his eyes.

Fluttershy was on the verge of a panic attack. She raced out the door into the morning. She heard Spike scream for a doctor as she galloped towards Carousel Boutique. She ran through the front door, and ran up to Rarity's room, where she found Opal laying on the bed.

"Come on, Opal sweetie. You're coming with me to my house. That's it, let's go."

Rainbow was stunned for just a moment as she saw Fluttershy brutally attack her own reflection on the tipped mirror, shattering the glass, and soon her hoof became bloody, but it did nothing to slow her assault. She ran over to the hysterical Pegasus and pulled her off of the mirror. Her screams turned to sobs as Rainbow lead her to the bathroom, where she sat her on the edge of the bathtub while she fetched a first aid kit from the cabinet.

She opened the first aid kit, and turned on the bath faucet to lukewarm, running Fluttershy's cuts under it until they ran clean, double checking to make sure no bits of broken mirror had gotten lodged under the skin. As gently as she could, she applied bandages to her cuts and wrapped her foreleg in gauze. With that done, she shut off the faucet, and did the only thing that seemed appropriate, and pulled Fluttershy into a hug as the distraught mare cried into her polychromatic mane.

“I'm...I'm so so sorry, Rainbow Dash. I...I really thought she was g-going to help you. I trusted her...I...I thought...I thought she loved me...” Fluttershy choked out.

"I know she did in the beginning, and I think part of her always did."

Fluttershy was positively beaming under the starry night sky. She had never felt happier.

"Listening to Rainbow telling me to swallow my fears was the best thing that I have ever done." she said, looking over and smiling at her date, and...she hoped against hope, her marefriend.

"It's amazing what can happen when you speak your mind, darling. I've had feelings for you for quite some time, but I wasn't sure if you felt the same way."

"You have?"

"Why of course! I don't have weekly spa visits with just anypony, you know."

Together, they walked up to Fluttershy's cottage, and the time for the evening to end came much too soon, as they arrived at Fluttershy's front door.

"I had an amazing time tonight, Rarity." Fluttershy said, blushing at the cheeks.

"As did I, sweetheart. We'll have to do it again."

Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat.

"So, does this mean you and me...we're, well, you know..."

Rarity stepped forward, and kissed the yellow Pegasus on the cheek, before giving her a smile, and departed down the walk.

Fluttershy, certain that the butterflies on her flank had migrated to the inside of her stomach, fumbled with the door, got it open, then stepped inside. She went over to the couch, and plopped down, giving a content sigh, and laying down after the greatest evening of her life.

This felt like the start of something wonderful...