Fluttershy did not wait up; she flew through the forest recklessly. She ducked under branches and flew over bushes lined with thorns. She twisted to slide between forked tree trunks. Any small mistake and she could crash and break her neck. It was almost like she was trying to–

She pulled up and came to a stop. Her heart thudded in her chest. She didn't recognize where she was. The trees here were spooky with dark hollows that looked like screaming faces. They glowed with an eerie reddish light that pierced her soul. Their gaze was cold, like death. Join us... Gnarly limbs reached out for her.

Fluttershy dove down but failed to land before her wings locked up from fear. She flopped heavily on the dry, cracked soil and kicked up a cloud of dust as she skidded to a halt. The barren, leafless trees creaked and groaned. No escape... The voice invaded her head and clung to her mind like cobwebs.

Terrified and unable to see in the dust, Fluttershy buried her head under her forelegs and trembled. Roots reached up from the ground. They grew towards her, and she was too petrified to move. Become of us...

A light flashed next to her. Fluttershy peeked open an eye to see Twilight appear next to her.

“Fluttershy, are you—eeeeeek!”

The entire world flashed magenta and lurched out from under her. Fluttershy blinked and rubbed her eyes. The evil trees were gone and they were both back at her cottage. Twilight panted heavily.

“Um, thanks. Are you okay?” Fluttershy stood up awkwardly. Her breathing was shallow and she shook her head to clear the cobwebs.

“A moment.” Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Twilight contorted her face in anger. “Fluttershy, you–!”

Fluttershy winced. Twilight was going to yell at her, of course. She deserved it. But Twilight's voice trailed off and the expected tirade never came. Instead, she felt a hoof wrap around her neck. Fluttershy opened her eyes and stood there blankly while Twilight hugged her.

“Fluttershy, you had me really worried there.” Twilight's voice nearly cracked from emotion. Now Fluttershy felt really bad.

“I, um, sorry.”

“Look, I don't blame you for running out, but please, stick to the path. It's there for a reason.” Twilight let Fluttershy go, who nodded in response.

“Twilight, I-I...” Fluttershy looked away. She leaned against the wire mesh around her chicken coop. The birds had gathered back in inside. She could hear them bedding down for the night. Fluttershy often came here to listen to them gossip and sing sweet nothings to each other. It just sounded like random clucking to her now. She strained her ears, but that was all she could hear.

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Am I really going to be this way forever? Am I really never going to get my cutie mark back?”

“What? You can't give up hope now! I know things look bleak but we are making progress.” Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes, whose frown was constant and she didn't blink. Dejected, Twilight looked away and scuffed her hoof in the dirt. “It, just doesn't look that way... yet.”

“Can you hear the chickens, Twilight? Do you know what they're saying?” Fluttershy waved a hoof at the coop.

“They're, um, I know they cluck a lot, but... no, I don't understand them.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath and cleared her throat.

“I am feeling very blue; these are birds that I once knew.
I taught them songs of joy and cheer.
My love for them was quite sincere.
They rambled in their cutesy way.
I used to hear what they did say.

“But now I hear just empty noise; there's nothing there—no more joys.
Their songs are lost to my deaf ears.
My love for them just disappears.
They squabble and it hurts to hear.
There's nothing for me to endear.

“My loss is now absolute; those birds don't even look cute.
I still know them from before.
My love I want to restore.
But I feel empty like a void.
All I know has been destroyed.

“Now I cry and now I shake. My old love? Flat and fake.
‘That's not true,’ you'd think to say,
but my feelings aren't astray.
Want to know how I feel now?
I'm hollow from my tail to brow.

“Nothing passes that divide. I'm empty on my inside.
When I try to reach across,
all I reach is my great loss.
I'm falling down into despair.
I'm an empty, broken mare.”

Silence hung between them. Twilight stared at Fluttershy with wide eyes. Fluttershy's eyes drooped and her frown deepened. Twilight raised a hoof, then lowered it. She glanced down then raised her head high.

“I know that you're in a bind,
but there's more to life you'll find.
How to begin? Let's review:
You bring joy by being you.
You are healthy as a horse.
Your friends still love you, of course.

“Your whole life might seem astray,
But there's no need to feel that way.
Don't dwell on that which you've lost.
You've still joy you can't exhaust.
Others love you as you are.
Just be you and you're a star.

“You feel down and you feel blue?
Here's a thought that's just for you:
You see the sky up above?
Use your wings; fly like a dove.
Fly around and be outside.
Movement keeps you occupied.

“That's no cure I will admit,
but don't give up; do not quit.
Walk in life along with us.
You're quite healthy; that's a plus.
Breathe in and feel your heart beat.
You're not empty; you're complete.

“Most of all, you have us too.
We'll do anything for you.
We'll help you cope with the pain;
You're not alone in your strain.
While the world might be cruel,
amongst us, you are a jewel.”

Fluttershy's eyes became misty and she pulled Twilight into a hug. “Twilight, I don't know what I'd do without you.”

“Nothing drastic, I'd hope.” They remained together while the sunlight filtered through the trees and cast long shadows on the ground. Somepony's tummy rumbled; it could have been either of them, or both. “Do you want to get supper?” Twilight asked. “I mostly skipped lunch to do my research.”

“Yes, I'd like that. I haven't had much food today either.” Fluttershy let Twilight go and the two of them walked inside.

Her cottage was empty since the Crusaders and their foalsitter had left, but signs of their efforts to care for the animals were visible around the room. Every critter had been given at least one carrot, whether they could eat them or not. Fluttershy shook her head. At least they'd been given real food too, even if the portions were wrong and some items were mixed up. For some reason, there was no squabbling over the misplaced food. A lumpy rattlesnake slept contentedly in the corner.

Fluttershy let them be and went into her kitchen.

A little sorting in the refrigerator showed her that she'd run out of pickles and the marshmallows had been plundered. Her half-eaten head of lettuce from last night was still in there, but she'd rather fix something more presentable to share with Twilight. Her stock of leafy vegetables was nearly depleted, but she did have some raw hay that she could fry up into burgers.

She heated up her frying pan and dropped a cube of butter in it to melt while she diced up the hay and mixed in the eggs. The aroma of her cooking was enough to attract attention and she felt a little paw tap on her hind leg. “Hmm?”

She flipped over the burger in the pan so it wouldn't get burnt and twisted around to see who was there. A white rabbit looked up at her. “Angel Bunny!” She abandoned her cooking and bent down to nuzzle him. Her ears perked up when she heard his tummy grumble. “What? Did they forget to feed you?” Angel hopped over and kicked at the closed refrigerator door.

Fluttershy yelled, “Twilight, can you take over for me cooking the hay burgers? I need to take care of Angel.”

Twilight's hooves clopped as she walked in. “Wow, Flutterhy, I didn't know that you were fond of fast food.”

“I'm not usually.” Fluttershy frowned as she pulled open the refrigerator again and scanned her meager supplies. “But with so many ponies around I've been pretty much cleaned out.”

Fluttershy picked out the remaining half of a tomato that she'd previously sliced up for the burgers. Angel eagerly watched from below as she diced the remaining portion to use for the start of a salad. Next, she pulled out her gnawed-on head of lettuce. She held it in the air and frowned. Angel was drooling on the floor. “I can't really give Angel my leftovers,” she said and put it back. Angel frantically waved his arms in the air.

“Is there a problem, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. Sizzling and popping filled the air as Twilight dropped a fresh patty on the frying pan.

“Well, it seems that I've run out of leafy greens to make salad with.”

Twilight briefly looked over her shoulder before returning to the stove. “What about that cucumber in the back?”

Fluttershy pulled it out and her ears drooped. Apparently, it had been in her refrigerator a bit too long; it was slimy. To Angel Bunny's horror, she tossed it in the trash can. Angel Bunny hopped over and tried climbing the waste receptacle, but alas, it was animal-proof.

Twilight turned off the stove and assembled the greasy hay-burgers with her magic. “Mmm, these smell really good. If you don't mind, I'm going to take them in the other room and get started.”

“That's fine, um...” Fluttershy rested her chin on the kitchen counter and stared at the nearly-empty salad bowl with only a bit of tomato in it. “I'll join you soon, I guess.” She picked up the bowl and held it over Angel, who reached his arms out expectantly. Frowning, she twisted her head and put the bowl in the refrigerator, shutting the door after she'd done so. Angel freaked out and pounded on the closed door. “Sorry,but there wasn't enough food there to make a salad worthy of my Angel Bunny.”

Angel burst into tears and pounded on the door again.

“I know, Angel, but where am I going to get proper rabbit food at this time of night?”

“What the heck!? Why is everything covered in carrots?” That was Twilight's voice from the other room.

Fluttershy giggled. “Of course, how silly of me.” She picked Angel up, who didn't protest, and carried him into her living room. Twilight was clearing some carrots off the table to make room for her stack of hay-burgers. Fluttershy set Angel down and nudged a carrot towards him.

The white rabbit had probably hopped past those carrots several times, but didn't think of them as food until Fluttershy rolled one towards him. He sniffed at it and took a small bite. His eyes popped open and he gnashed at the carrot as he stuffed it in his mouth, spraying the floor with little orange bits.

“Whoa! Don't eat so fast. You don't want to get a tummy ache.”

“Mrmpth?” said Twilight, as she stuffed her second burger in her mouth.

Fluttershy gave Twilight a half-lidded stare as she took a seat and picked up a burger for herself. With knife and fork, she cut it into pieces and took a dainty little bites like a proper lady.

Twilight gulped down her entire second burger and took a huge bite out of a third. She watched Fluttershy stab a burger chunk with her fork and pop it into her mouth. Talking with her mouth full, Twilight said, “Wow, I've never seen anypony eat hay burgers like that before.”

“Neither have I, Twilight. Neither have I.”

A small rude burp pulled Fluttershy's attention away from Twilight's even ruder see-food. Angel Bunny flopped on his back and rubbed his bulging tummy in satisfaction. Fluttershy smiled. “You look so perfect, Angel Bunny. I wish I could capture that look of satisfaction on you forever.” She felt something swell up inside of her when she looked at him—pride, perhaps?

“Heh, you really do love that bunny—” Twilight jerked and stared straight at Fluttershy. She dropped her remaining hay burger. “—Fluttershy! Your eyes!”

“Huh? What about them?” Startled, Fluttershy forgot about Angel Bunny and met Twilight's gaze.

“It's... well...” The unicorn blinked, then squinted. She remained locked in her friend's gaze, but eventually gave up trying to pinpoint what was bothering her. “It's probably nothing.”

“What? What's nothing?” Fluttershy asked.

“It's just, well, for a moment I thought I saw something in your eyes.”

“What? What did you see?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and went back to finishing off her burger. “It was probably just the reflection of the sunset off your eyes. I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably gone now.”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned and turned to look over her shoulder. The open window was behind her, along with the sun. Had she turned to face that way when she looked at Angel? She wasn't sure. “Wait, 'probably gone?' Is something still there?”

Twilight shrugged. “I thought there was at first, but the more I look, the more I think it was just a trick of the light. You already have enough to worry about. Just relax and enjoy your supper. You have to keep your health up, after all.”

“Oh, right, of course.”

Despite the grossness of Twilight's eating habits, Fluttershy really was quite hungry and remained silent while she finished off her hay burger. Twilight leaned back in her chair, tossed her hooves on the table, and let out a huge belch. Fluttershy winced and flattened her ears. “You've been hanging around Spike too much,” she mumbled.

“Oh, heh-heh.” Twilight blushed and wiped the crumbs from her mouth. “Sorry, I'm not usually this way. I just turn into an eating monster around fast food; that's all.”

“That's for sure.” Fluttershy stood up to collect the dirty dishes. “Well, thank you for staying for supper, but it's time for me to think about heading to bed. You still have that report to send off, right?”

“My report!?” Twilight jerked and her eyes popped open. She stuck her head out the window and watched the sun sink below the horizon. “Gah! I was supposed to send that an hour ago! It's late! It's late! It's late!”

“Twilight, I don't think that's such a big—”

“I got so caught up with cooking the burgers that I forgot all about it!” Twilight’s mane started to spring out of place. Fluttershy held her tongue. The panicking unicorn hopped off her chair and paused briefly at the door before running off into the night. “Thanks-for-supper.-It-was-great.-Take-care-and-see-you-tomorrow.-Goodbye.”

“Bye.” Fluttershy waved a hoof at the dust cloud friend kicked up behind her.

She set her dirty dishes back down and walked over to close the door. Along the way, she smiled at Angel Bunny napping on the floor. The rabbit had fallen asleep directly in the center of the non-discolored portion of her floor left exposed by her lack-of-rug. It was almost as if he'd been framed in a picture. Fluttershy picked him up and carried him over to his basket where he could sleep off his food coma more comfortably. Watching his little chest rise and fall made her yawn.

She smacked her lips and shook her head. With bleary eyes, she looked at the dirty dishes piled on her table. “I can always clean that up tomorrow...”

Yawning again, she walked over to the bathroom to prepare herself for bed. The reflection of a weary pegasus was there to greet her. Fluttershy frowned. There was something about it that seemed off. She examined herself more closely.

“Huh, that is odd.” Fluttershy forced her eyelids open to get a better look at her eyes. She saw herself everyday and spotted the difference that Twilight couldn't quite identify. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but there was more to them than that. A faint red ring wrapped around the outside of her iris. It was barely perceptible. “What in the world could that be?”

Fluttershy wondered, perhaps, if she should chase after Twilight to ask about it, but the mere thought of yet more strenuous activity made her legs feel like lead. Besides, the longer she looked at her eyes the fainter the ring became. Perhaps it really was nothing, after all.

Yawning again, Fluttershy brushed her teeth and pulled on a pair of pajamas. Crawling into bed, she tapped on the lampshade to turn it off. A thought occurred to her just before she drifted off to sleep. She stared at the butterfly patterns on her blanket. I wonder if my cutie mark's okay?