It was a peaceful day in Ponyville. Every day was peaceful, but this day just seemed better to a certain white Unicorn. Rarity was walking through Ponyville revising the past days events in her head. Fluttershy finally managed to talk to Rainbow Dash about her feelings, and Rainbow went over her fear of being rejected to be with her. Storm had gone back to Cloudsdale. Such a shame, he was such a gentlecolt. Pinkie threw her biggest party yet in honour of the new couple. She let out a happy sigh. Truly life in Ponyville was good. Everypony found happiness here.

As she reached the market she saw a strangely familiar face in the crowd. She did a double take, trying to find it. There it was at the other edge of the market place, a tall bright yellow Pegasus stallion that was flanked by two other ponies who could be twins. Their sunglasses and designer jacket told Rarity they were bodyguards. When Rarity eyes rested on the taller Pegasus cutie mark, a pair of paint brush crossed, her heart skipped a beat. It was Jay Canvas, the most popular painter in Cloudsdale and Canterlot. She squealed with delighted and went to meet him, wondering what an artist like him could possibly want in a town like Ponyville.

When she got closer, she saw he was showing a picture to passing ponies asking if they knew her. Many ponies said yes but couldn’t point him to her house. When she reached him, he turned to her. She blushed; he was even more handsome in real and up close.

“Have you seen this mare, miss?” when she managed to tear her eyes away from his face and unto the picture, her breath caught in her throat. On the picture was Fluttershy, a bit younger. It must have been before she came to live to Ponyville.

“I... hum... I do know her. She’s a good friend.” She stammered at first but soon found her composure. Did he come here to get her to model for him? “Why do you want to find her, mister Canvas?” at the mention of his name, the Pegasus looked stunned, before exploding in laughter.

“I didn’t know any country folk like you would know me.” he managed to put between two laughs. Rarity was insulted but managed to remain ladylike. He was an important pony and she could make a name for herself if she managed to make friend with him. Maybe she could propose to model in place of Fluttershy, like that she would help her friend and boost her carrier. She inwardly squealed at her idea. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could place a word Jay Canvas raised a hoof to silence her.

“Well, I do not care who you are or how you know me.” Rarity was truly insulted now and was on the verge on hitting him. “But you know my sister, so show me where she lives.” Rarity’s anger disappeared as quickly as it came. His sister? It couldn’t be. She looked at the yellow Pegasus as if he had grown a second head.

“She’s your sister?” Jay facehoofed.

“Yes she is!” he practically screamed. “I just said it. Now will you show me, or not, where she lives?” he sounded impatient, like all those little foals who had everything from the start and couldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. To Rarity he was exactly that, a spoiled foal.

“Fine! I will show you. BUT only because you are her brother.” She raised her nose and close her eyes, snobing that idiot Pegasus, and made her way toward Fluttershy’s cottage. Jay’s eyelid twitched and he seemed incredibly angry but he still put a fake smile and followed Rarity followed by his two bodyguards.

***

Fluttershy enjoyed her afternoon, watching her marefriend practice her tricks around her cottage as she fed her little animals. She fed them one after the other, making sure every critter and animal had their share and ate well. From time to time, a rainbow blur would pass over her and she would lift her head to marvel at the beauty of the love of her life. She smiled sweetly. Nothing could bring her happiness down. Not even a dragon.

Except, the pony she saw coming over the hill was much worse than any dragon. She unintentionally dropped her basket of food she had been holding. Rainbow Dash had seen the strange yellow pony and felt her marefriend’s uneasiness. In the middle of her routine, she stopped mid stunt and landed abruptly next to Fluttershy. She didn’t jumped or shriek in fear. The rainbow-maned mare had never seen her like that. It wasn’t like her. Something was wrong. She linked it back to the strange pony, which was now halfway to them. He was flanked by a pissed looking Rarity and followed by two bodyguards. She turned to her lover.

“Who is he, Shy?” Fluttershy didn’t have time to answer her as the yellow pony called to them with a fake smile on his face.

“Well, hello there.” He is too cheerful. She thought she knew that smile, but it seemed so far away. Fluttershy started shaking and Rainbow Dash could clearly see fear in her eyes. As the stranger approached further, Fluttershy took a step back. The strange yellow pony stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Is this any way to treat your own brother?”

As the words came out of his mouth, Rainbow Dash immediately recognized him. He was Fluttershy older brother, Jay Canvas, biggest artist in Cloudsdale. But she never really talked to him in all the years she had been friend with Fluttershy. In fact, she never went to her marefriend’s house while they were in Cloudsdale. She never met her parents and Fluttershy always escaped the subject of her family.

Rarity stood between the two groups, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash on one side, Jay Canvas and his bodyguards on the other. Her gazed traveled between the two groups. She thought she could act as a mediator, protecting her best friends from Fluttershy’s brother and stop Rainbow Dash if things got too heated. As her thoughts played tennis between the two groups, a realization came to her mind. If Jay Canvas is her brother, does that mean her mother is the famous Silver Canvas? The most successful Pegasus designer in all of Equestria. She grinned. So that’s why she’s so good at sewing. She was beaming inwardly at her thoughts. She was friend with the daughter of one of her hero. But when she saw the state of her yellow friend, she decided against squealing with delight. Her mind went immediately back to the current situation.

Fluttershy was now shaking violently and finally gave out, dropping to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes. Her brother seemed shocked by his sister’s reaction and closed the distance between the two of them before any other pony could react. His fake smile disappeared.

“Is that how a member of the Canvas Family acts?” he screamed. “Stand up straight!” he screamed again at her, forcing her head up. His action only made Fluttershy more fearful and her marefriend angrier.

“Hey!” rainbow dash pushed the other Pegasus on the ground and stood between him and her love. “Don’t you dare touch her!”Jay’s body guard sprung into action, only to be stopped immediately by their boss.

He was taken aback by the sudden reaction of the blue pony, but he quickly regained his composure. Once standing again, he exploded in a laugh that gave shivers to anypony present, even his own bodyguard.

“My, my.” The smile he now wore was far from a fake one he wore mere minutes ago. Althought Rainbow wished it was, because his smile was filled with a sick pleasure. As if he enjoyed seeing his sister and her marefriend struggle while he knew they couldn’t do anything. “Not only have you the guts to be a fillyfooler.” He said the last word as if it was a disgusting disease. “But your ‘marefriend’ is nothing but a barbarian with the IQ of a rock.”

Rainbow’s body tensed, ready to beat some sense into this idiot. But before she could give way to her anger, she was stopped by a faint voice behind her.

“Please.” She turned to see Fluttershy, still in the same state and position. “Stop, Dashie. Just stop. I don’t want to see you hurt.” She raised her head, her pleading blue eyes meeting angry rose eyes. Rainbow sighed and relaxed. Jay chuckled.

“That’s it, be a good little fillyfooler.” Rainbow rushed to him, too fast for his bodyguard to react on time, grabbing his collar in her hoof and bringing him down the few inches he had more than her.

“You’re lucky your sister doesn’t want me to beat you, because you would already be on the moon.” The bodyguards finally reached her. They grabbed her and pinned her to the ground. “HEY! Don’t touch me! You’ll regret it! Do you know who I am? I’m the fastest flier in Equestria and the next Wonderbolt star.” Jay’s eyebrow went up at Rainbow’s last words. While she continued her rant, trying to shake off the bodyguards, Jay looked toward Rarity who was right next to them, trying to reason with her friend. He finally recognized her cutie mark. He felt stupid not seeing it before, but he wasn’t going to admit that. His devious smile appeared once again. He just had a brilliant idea, which involved his sister’s greatest weakness. He slowly walked over to his failure of a sister and whispered in her ear. She recoiled back when she saw him approaching but didn’t run away.

Rarity realized it was useless to reason with her rainbow maned friend and turned toward Fluttershy. She saw Jay whisper in her best friend’s ear. Fluttershy’s eyes were as wide as saucers and her pupil only pinpricks in the middle. Rarity was too far to hear what he was whispering, but she knew it couldn’t be good seeing his twisted smile. Before she could get closer, He walked away from her shy friend and toward her other friend. As he turned around he whipped his sister’s face with his tail, leaving a red mark on her cheek and making her cry out for the first time, putting a stop to Rainbow Dash’s rant. He passed right by Rainbow Dash, ignoring her. He turned toward Fluttershy once more, his creepy smile still on his face.

“You have until tomorrow, at noon.” He turned to his bodyguards. “Now boys, leave this... bitch... alone. Come on, I don’t want to stay in this fillyfooler nest a minute more.” He walked away not looking back. His two bodyguards released their captive and followed him soon after. Once free, Rainbow Dash ran to her marefriend already crying on Rarity’s shoulder and hugged her. Fluttershy returned the hug while Rainbow kissed the red mark on her cheek.

“I have to talk to you, Dashie.” Fluttershy’s managed to place between to sob after crying for a while. She managed to stand up and walk to her house, her lover shielding her with her wing. Rarity decided to leave them in their intimacy, but before she could walk away she heard Fluttershy’s voice.

“Please Rarity, wait here. I have to talk to you too.” With that both mares entered the cottage, leaving the white Unicorn waiting outside.

After several minutes, the silence of Fluttershy’s cottage was broken by Rainbow Dash screaming voice.

“WHAT!”

Rarity acted on instinct, rushing to the door. She knew Rainbow would never hurt a friend, especially not Fluttershy, but she still barged inside. She found Fluttershy resting on her couch, crying her eyes out while Rainbow Dash was standing in front of her, her wings flared and her whole body tensed.

“How can you do this to me?” she could see Rainbow was on the verge of crying, but she was too proud to show it. Fluttershy simply muttered ‘I’m sorry’ over and over, her eyes closed, unable to look at her marefriend. “What did he say? Did he threaten you?” she got even tenser. Fluttershy finally found the strength to look at her lover.

“Dashie, please just go. I don’t want to make you suffer.” Her voice was broken, her eyes red and puffy.

“What?” Rainbow relaxed, not bothering to hide her sadness anymore. “You’re just going to throw me out? Just like that, because your brother told you to.” The hurt blue mare simply grunted before bowling past Rarity and into the sky above. Fluttershy continued to mutter apologies. Rarity walked up to her, sitting next to her on the couch and wrapping her legs around her friend.

“Dear, tell me what he said to you.” she tried to sound soothing, but it was hard considering the only thing on her mind was to sew shut the mouth of a certain cretin Pegasus. “What did he say?” Fluttershy stopped crying, her tears running dry

.

“He didn’t threaten me.” her voice was broken, weak. Rarity was mortified at how much her friend was hurt. “He threatened you and Dashie.” The last sentence took Rarity by surprise.

“What?” Rarity couldn’t believe what she had heard. “Would you mind explaining, dear?” The yellow Pegasus closed her eyes shut as if it could stop the memories assaulting her mind.

“He... He knows hurting me or threatening me won’t work.” Her memories were filled with her brother insulting her, threatening her, even beating her. “But he knows I can’t stand other ponies suffering.” She started shaking violently again. Rarity nuzzled her, trying to comfort her. She finally stopped shaking. Rarity tried to ask more details.

“What did he say he would do?” Fluttershy looked her in the eyes for the first time.

“He would close your shop, that he would ruin you.” Rarity gasped.  “He would ban Rainbow Dash from the Wonderbolt and every major competition.” Rarity gasped again.

“Does your family really have that kind of power?” The broken yellow mare nodded grimly.

“We are the oldest and most powerful family in Cloudsdale.” Her head dropped in shame. “We have that power. And my brother has been abusing it for as long as I can remember.” Rarity couldn’t believe what she just heard.

“What about your parents?” Fluttershy started to shake again, assaulted again by memories unwanted.

“My father died when I was a filly. He was sick all his life, bedridden. I would care for him when I could. My mother didn’t really care. It was an arranged marriage, she never really loved him. My brother cares nothing for others and would force me to do all the work while he had ‘fun’ with the maids. My father was probably the only pony in my family with a heart. Every day I would go wake him up, cook him breakfast and tell him about my day before.” A sad smile appeared on her feature but disappeared as quickly as it appeared. “But one day he just didn’t wake up” Fluttershy found some well hidden tears and shed them, burying her nose in Rarity’s neck.

“My, dear, it’s horrible.” Rarity was at a loss for words. No wonder her friend was so shy and slow to socialize. She didn’t live an easy life. Rarity’s gaze was steeled with resolve. She wouldn’t allow things to come to an end so fast. “Don’t worry my dear. Big sister Rarity is there for you.” Rarity took a ridiculous heroic pose before charging outside, hot on the trail of a certain blue Pegasus.

Fluttershy was taken by surprise when Rarity charged off and didn’t have time to react.

“But... Rarity. My brother is not somepony you can face.” She said to an empty room. Seeing that her friend wouldn’t come back anytime soon, she let out sigh of resignation and went upstairs to pack her things.

***

Rainbow Dash flew forward. She didn’t car where she was going, or how fast. She just wanted to vent her anger.

WHY?! She would just give up. Just because of her brother. Who is he anyway to decide what is good and bad for is sister?

She was lost in her thought she didn’t realize her wings were starting to ache. Her breath was heavy and her lungs on fire. She still pushed herself, the pain making her forget the sadness.

She tortured herself for too long before deciding to sit on a cloud. She realized she had been flying for several hours, because before her was a beautiful sunset. But she couldn’t admire it. Her heart was in shamble. She buried her head in the cloud and screamed with all her might.

She screamed at the world, at the pain and at the bastard that drove the mare of her dream away. She gave up her effort to scream her problem away when her throat could not carry on anymore. She resigned for a muffled sob.

Rainbow Dash’s head rose when she heard her name being called. She peered down from her cloud to see an out of breath and sweaty Rarity calling her.

“Rainbow Dash! You better get down here right now.” Rarity had the look of a mother scolding her child. Rainbow Dash simply grunted and rolled back in the middle of her cloud. Still, she answered Rarity.

“She left me, Rarity.” Rainbow voice was filled with pain and started breaking. “She’s just going to listen to that flankhole!” she punctuated the last word with a punch in the cloud. “I was happy. She was happy. And he came and ruined it all.”

“Do you know he didn’t threaten her?...” Rainbow Dash flew back down landing in front of Rarity. Her whole body tensed, her wings flaring and her hooves digging in the ground.

“WHAT!” her eyes were filling with anger, but Rarity knew it was more than that. She felt betrayed. “She just gave me up! Just like tha-” Rarity lifted a hoof to stop her friend.

“He did not threaten ‘her’, he threatened me and you.” all trace of anger subsided almost immediately from Rainbow Dash’s body and mind. She slumped down, dazed.

“He... he threatened me?” she couldn’t believe it. Using such a backstabbing tactics against his own sister. He was even worse than she thought.

“He would ban you from the Wonderbolt and every major competition.” Rainbow was in such a daze she practically didn’t hear her friend.

“I give up.” Rainbow’s head dropped down in shame. The sudden answer surprised Rarity so much she needed to do a double take.

“Excuse me?” She lifted her friend’s head with a gentle hoof. “What did you say?”

“I said: I give up.” Her voice was broken, just as much as her heart. She turned around and began walking away toward Ponyville. She couldn’t take it anymore. She just wanted to end it all.  But Rarity couldn’t accept it. She planted herself before the blue Pegasus.

“Who are you and what have you done to Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow’s answer came in the form of an angry glare. She tried to walk around Rarity, but the Unicorn would have none of it. She stood again in the path of her friend. Her voice was gentler than her previous tone. “Darling, I believe she is ready to suffer for you. More than you imagine. So what are you going to do? Let both of you suffer because of a flankhole decided to? Or are you going to stand up for the mare of your life.” At the question, Rainbow froze.

What would I do? What CAN I do? She sat down assaulted by a thousand thoughts. If I assault him, I’m going to get arrested. But I can’t negotiate, he has everything. She strained her mind to find a solution. Rarity simply put a hoof on her shoulder, and whispered in her hear.

“Whatever you do dear, do it for her.” with that Rarity walked back to Ponyville. She was in dire need of a bath.

***

During that time, in a dark cottage at the edge of the Everfree forest, a yellow Pegasus was saying her farewells to her belongings and animal friends. She sat in the middle of her bedroom, lit by a single candle, the darkness of the night invading her house. She had gone through many things in her closet.

A certain picture book left her crying once more. It contained all the pictures she and her friends took during their time together. The last pages were too painful for her. They contained all the pictures they took at Pinkie’s party for their coming out and their newly formed couple. When she looked trough it she quickly realized she would never see her friends again. Neither would she see Rainbow Dash. As that thought passed through her mind, she remembered an old box, hidden in the dark of her closet. A box she hadn’t opened for several years. Never since she came to Ponyville.

She reached inside her closet once more, bringing out a dusty black box. The box opened with a loud ‘squeak’ and revealed its treasure. A raged blue doll with a mane the colour of the full spectrum. It was the first thing she ever sewed together. She took it out and squeezed her close to her chest, sobbing silently, the memories of her last day in Cloudsdale flooding her mind.

***

A younger looking Fluttershy stood in the hallway of a luxurious cloud mansion. In front of her were two giant doors with signs reading ‘Do not disturb’ and ‘Silver Canvas workshop’. It was her mother’s workshop. Usually she would be scared witless of disturbing her mother. But for once she did something her mother would be proud. She put all her knowledge and effort in making the best doll she could. She was a little embarrassed by the fact it was actually her friend, Rainbow Dash, which was the model for it.

Will she pick up on my feelings if I show it to her? That simple thought managed to break her courage. But as she retreated, her mother opened the door. Her eyes were blue like her filly, but much colder. Her coat was a washed out orange and her mane, originally pink, had become grey with age. Her gaze was off steel and an everlasting frown adorned her face. She never seemed to be happy about anything, or sad for that matter, always... angry at something.  But Fluttershy never found the guts to ask her why she was always frowning.

“What is it?” Her tone was as cold as her eyes. It sent shivers through the filly’s body, making her shake. Desperate to hide her creation, Fluttershy tried to hide it under her wing, but she wasn’t fast enough. Her mother saw the doll and managed to quickly take it away. She held it in her hoof, examining it from all perspective. Her face relaxed a bit, letting her filly hope for the best.

“What is this?” she asked as if in another world. The little filly smiled.

“It’s a doll.” She exclaimed with pride before retreating behind her bangs in embarrassment. “Do you like it?” her mother couldn’t take her eyes off the doll.

“It’s... It’s...” the yellow Pegasus smiled in expectation. “Horrible.” She ripped open the small Rainbow Dash effigy, before letting it fall on the cloud floor, her stuffing escaping their prison. “I will not accept that my daughter make such petty toys. You should follow my example and design clothing, you ignorant filly.” Her tone wasn’t angry, just dead cold. The old mare slammed the doors in the face of her own filly.

Fluttershy slowly took the remains of her first and most important creation. She felt as if her mother had ripped her heart open. She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing out of her eyes, and didn’t want to. She ran to her room and gently closed her door, not wanting her brother to be mad at her. At the thought of her brother, her sides began to hurt once more where he had kicked her, the day before. She threw herself on her small bed.

Her room wasn’t like her brother’s or her mother’s, it was small, simple and, most important, quiet. Just outside her window she could hear birds sing for her. Any other day she would sing with them. One of her few moments where she could be herself was with small animals, mostly birds, which lived in the cloud gardens of her family estate. She cried, trying to repair her doll. After a couple hours of love and hard work she managed to bring her back to her former beauty. She stared dreamily at it; Imaging all sorts of adventures with Rainbow Dash outside of her mansion; About how Rainbow Dash would swoop down from the sky to rescue her from the witch that was her mother. Just like a knight in shining armour saving a princess. But they were only that, fantasies.

She jumped, as if struck by lightning. She had an idea. A dangerous Idea, but she had to do it. For herself, for Rainbow, and for all the animals she loved. She was going to... runaway.

She quietly stuffed her doll and other belongings in her saddle bags before exiting through her window. Being a Pegasus made that part that much easier. She went up to her bird friends to say her goodbyes.

“Good bye, little friend. Don’t worry you’re going to be happy here even without me.” the birds in front of her just stared at her. “Oooh... Don’t make those faces... you know I can’t resist ‘the face’.” The birds continued to stare. She gave up in front of the power of ‘the face’. “Okay you can come with me.” all the birds began to happily chirp but were soon silenced by Fluttershy.

After getting out of her estate, while being followed by a flock of birds, saying hello to all the gardeners and helping one of them, she set off in a random direction.

A direction, which at that time, she didn’t know was Ponyville.

***

Jay Canvas stood in front of a limousine chariot, just outside Ponyville, taping his hoof on the dirt road in impatience. An expression of displeasure adorned his normally handsome features. Soon after, his face lit up in an evil smile as he saw his sister appear on the dirt road. She looked sad and beaten but he didn’t care. He had won and in his little twisted mind that was all that counted. When she was finally within earshot, he called out to her.

“I knew you would listen to reason, dear sister.” He chuckled, truly happy for his sister’s pain. “Mom is waiting.” He gestured at the limousine. Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks.

Mother is here? Oh my goodness. She started to panic, a state of mind she had mastered over the years. If her mother was here it could mean nothing good.

But before any of the siblings could do anything, a rainbow blur fell from the sky landing square on the limousine, scaring the two pullers and making a dent on the roof. Fluttershy’s heart fluttered while her brother gritted his teeth. It was Rainbow Dash, standing atop a multi million bits limousine carriage, a serious expression painted on her face. She gestured toward the yellow stallion.

“YOU!” she said in a commanding voice. “You will let Fluttershy go.” She stepped down from the limousine and closed the distance between him and herself. “And you will leave us alone. Understood?” she glared at him with all her might, while he exploded in an evil laugh.

“You really think I’m going to listen to you, fillyfooler!” at the last word her lost his smile and glared back. “I could have you arrested for talking to me. I can make your life a living hell!” Rainbow dash never flinched.

“Do what you want.” Jay lost his composure at her statement.

“What?” was all he could answer. Rainbow Dash smiled gently and looked over at a blushing Fluttershy, locking their eyes together.

“As long as I’m with her, you can make my life hell. Because with her... it will never feel like it.” She punctuated her sentence with a wink to her blushing marefriend. Jay growled.

“Then I’ll ban you from the Wonderbolt!” a desperate smile replaced his evil one when Rainbow Dash didn’t react to the threat.

“Do what you want. I know the Wonderbolt won’t listen to a spoiled foal like you.”

“T-T-Then you’ll go to prison.” He stammered pushed in a corner by the mare’s stare.

“Then you’ll see me again went I get out.” Jay’s expression turned to one of pure anger. He never lost. But the mare was clearly winning.

“Fine!” he gestured to one of the limousine puller. “Shield, take that mare to the nearest police station.” The puller nodded and he unhooked himself from the limousine.

But before her could make it halfway to Rainbow Dash he was stopped by a commanding voice.

“Stop, Shield.” The voice was soft, but carried an enormous weight. “I will settle this matter.” Rainbow looked to whom that voice belonged and found the answer behind her.

Stepping out of the limousine was an exact replica of Fluttershy, only older. Her gaze was cold and hard. Both Jay and Fluttershy bowed slightly.

“Mother.” Jay muttered angrily. Rainbow Dash sat there, stunned to meet for the first time Fluttershy’s mom. Jay quickly went to his mother’s side. “I was going to get that trash out of th-“ Silver Canvas interrupted her son with a simple glare.

“I shall put an end to this matter. Go wait in the limousine.” Her tone harsh and cold. Her son couldn’t talk back and simply went inside the limousine looking extremely displeased, slamming the door.

The old mare stared at Rainbow Dash with such intensity the younger Pegasus lost all confidence in herself. She felt as if the older mare could read everything about her, all the way down to her most secret thoughts. As if she was judging her and had all the rights to do it. It was an experience she didn’t want to relive. Silver Canvas walked around the blue mare, examining her as if she was a piece of ugly clothing.

After what seemed an eternity to Dash, she spoke.

“So you are the one who stole my precious daughter’s heart.” Rainbow couldn’t answer any other way than truthfully.

“Yes. And I love her with all my might.” The old mare simply nodded before walking toward Fluttershy. The shy Pegasus recoiled a bit, but stood her ground staring back at her mother.

“Fluttershy, do you love this mare as much as she loves you?” she gave her daughter the same stare she gave the cyan Pegasus. Fluttershy nodded firmly.

“Yes, mother, I do.” A small smile crept on her face as she glanced at the mare of her life. Her mother simply turned around, her back facing her daughter.

“I’m not heartless, my dear.” Fluttershy felt her heart soared. “But I have our honour to uphold.” And crashed brutally. Her eyes filled with dread. “I will do something I never wanted to do.” Fluttershy’s mind filled with all sorts of punishments imaginable and unimaginable. Her mother finally faced her. “Fluttershy” She said ceremonially “you are now expulsed from the Canvas family.” The timid mare stood there, mouth agape.

“Mother?” her mother walked back to her limousine, the puller having reattached himself. “What does that mean?” Fluttershy ran toward the chariot, but her mother closed the door. The window opened, her mother didn’t even spare a glance at her own daughter.

“You will be erased from every family register. It will be as if you never existed.” With those cold words she pulled up her window, leaving Fluttershy to stare at her own reflection. Only behind its protection, did the old mare allowed herself to shed the tears she held back.

The limousine sped away, leaving the two mares in its wake. They looked at each other, and quickly hugged one another. Rainbow kissed the mare of her dream and kept her close to her heart. Fluttershy started to cry.

“She abandoned me.” seeing her marefriend crying was a torture to Rainbow Dash. “How could she?” her sobs were cut short by the lips of her lover. Once the kiss broken, they lost themselves in each other’s eyes. Rainbow Dash smiled sweetly.

“I’m your family, Shy. And never will I abandon you. Never will I hurt you. And never will I hate you.”

Both mares made their way back to their house, trying to forget the events of the day and to look ahead.

Maybe it’s not so bad to finally be free of them? Fluttershy thought. She looked at her marefriend. She was smiling, her chest pumped and her wing beating lightly with pride. She was indeed proud of herself. Fluttershy giggled and nuzzle her lover.

Rainbow turned to Fluttershy, seeing her happy smile and peaceful face.

“What are you thinking about, Shy?” Fluttershy happily sighed.

“Nothing.” She answered dreamingly.

My knight in shining armour.

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FIN