Fluttershy returned home to her cottage shortly after dark. Her front door swung open without a sound. Whichever pony had repaired it had done a splendid job. If only her life could be fixed as easily as her door. The bald spot on her floor from her lack-of-rug stuck out like a sprained wing. She'd have to remember to buy a new one, though putting in the effort felt like a waste of time.

Applejack was right, without her cutie mark she really couldn't tend to the animals, not as they deserved, anyway. They didn't depend on her; they depended on her talent, which she no longer had. She felt so useless. Perhaps it would be best if she gave up and moved away until all of this was over. Would it ever end, though? Perhaps she could end herself early...

Fluttershy shuddered and went straight to her bathroom mirror. She wasn't sure she recognized the mare looking back at her. Her crying made her eyes look redder than normal; her cheeks were still damp; her mane was in disarray. Was she really dying? She didn't feel unhealthy. She didn't look unhealthy. Her numbers had checked out thus far, but at the same time she didn't feel relieved. It was almost like she didn't want to keep living.

Fluttershy shook her head to banish that terrible thought. She left her bathroom and went to check up on the few animals that were still hanging around. The birds in their houses had already settled in for a good night's sleep. The chickens outside had settled down and retreated to their coop. And... those were the only ones she saw. Just the animals that lived here were still around. That was disappointing, but not a huge surprise considering how Spike was. She didn't blame them for not sticking around after he'd started belching fire.

There was still one more she hadn't seen yet, though, and she expected, no, depended on him to be around. “Angel Bunny? Where are you?”

An excited thumping noise drew her attention. She poked her head in the kitchen and saw him sitting on the counter-top.

“Oh there you are. What are you doing all the way up there?” Fluttershy walked in and watched him hop over and tap his paw on a cookbook that was lying open. “What's this? I wonder how that fell down.” Fluttershy closed the book and put it back on the shelf. “Thanks, Angel. Um... Angel?”

He froze. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. He looked like he was in shock.

“What's wrong, Angel?” She leaned down to nudge him with her nose and he responded by kicking her in the face and hopping off in anger.

His blow was as soft as a pillow but as painful as a tax audit. Fluttershy choked back her tears and ran sobbing onto her bed. “N-not even Angel Bunny likes me anymore...” With her head buried under her pillows, she cried herself to sleep.

Sleep, elusive sleep, wonderful sleep... even in sleep she couldn't find solace. Her night terrors returned and she felt restricted and confined. She was no longer suffocating, but felt starved and thirsty. Her phantom hunger pains were so intense that she woke up in the middle of the night and gnawed off half a head of lettuce. It did no good. As soon as she crawled back into bed her night terrors returned with a vengeance. When the rooster crowed, she was already awake, staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.

I should get up now. She closed her eyes.

A horrendous crashing awakened Fluttershy with a start. She threw off the covers and ran to the kitchen. “Harry, is that you?” It wasn't the bear; it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were buried under a heap of pots and pans. “Girls? What are you doing here?”

“Good morning, Fluttershy. We're going to be Cutie Mark Crusader Animal Caretakers!” Apple Bloom noisily dug into the pile of kitchenware and pulled on an orange hoof. Scootaloo popped out with a pot still on her head and the two went tumbling backwards.

Scootaloo straightened herself out and wore the pot like a soldier. “Yeah, even though you came back early, Applejack said that we could still do this. You're totally okay with that, right?”

Sweetie Belle dug herself out and struggled with a strainer that got wrapped in her tail. They were making so much noise that they were rapidly ensuring that there wouldn't be any animals around for them to care for. “Yeah, isn't this exciting!? I wonder what our cutie marks will be? Do you think we'll all get butterflies like yours?”

Fluttershy shrunk back and hid behind the door frame. Only her head was poking out. So nopony had told them the news yet. Fluttershy frowned. “Um, girls, I...”

“Yes, Fluttershy?” Sweetie Belle looked up at her with big, wide, innocent eyes.

“I, um, you keep doing whatever you're doing. I'll be right back.” Fluttershy closed the door behind her.

“Keep doing what we're doing?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I thought we were making a mess,” Scootaloo said.

The door creaked open and Fluttershy came out wearing a blue dress. It was the long, flowing kind that reached down to the ground and, most importantly, completely covered her flanks. “Now, girls, I appreciate your being here; I'm sure you all mean well but–” The frowns of the fillies' faces tugged at Fluttershy's heart. “–um... just what are you doing in the kitchen?”

They glanced at each other. At least they weren't getting kicked out yet. “Um.” Sweetie Belle stepped forward. “We were going to make toast.”

“Toast? For the animals?” Fluttershy looked at the pile of pots and pans on the floor. Why did they drag that stuff out if they were only going to make toast?

“Er, no, for us,” Scootaloo admitted.

“Have you already fed the animals?” Fluttershy asked.

“We were going to finish, honest! But all that feeding made us realize just how hungry we were and we decided to take a break,” Apple Bloom said.

“Er, right.” Fluttershy surveyed the kitchen. At least they hadn't done any other damage. There was a pitcher full of greenish liquid with white things floating in it, though. “What is that?”

“It's cabbage juice!”

“With marshmallows!”

“Do you like it? We made it ourselves.”

The three of them looked up at her, grinning.

Fluttershy sniffed at the juice. It smelt burnt, somehow. “I... see. Say, why don't you three finish up setting out food for the animals and let me fix the snacks, okay?”

“Aw, okay,” the three of them said. Fluttershy made shooing motions and waited for all of them to leave before spilling the contents of that pitcher down the drain. She'd make some proper juice and they'd probably never know the difference.

Those three needed supervision, but Fluttershy didn't have time to foalsit today. Applejack was fine with them being on their own, though? That didn't seem quite right. At least all the excitement was distracting her from her own problems.

While putting the pots and pans away, she frowned at her strainer. The poor thing was fully tangled with hair. Had Sweetie Belle ever brushed her tail? She set it aside for a thorough cleaning. Shrieks pierced through the wall and Fluttershy dropped what she was doing to run over there.

The three fillies cowered on the couch in fear of a large centipede. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and returned with a broom in her mouth which she used to sweep it out the door. Normally, she'd be more gentle, but she wanted to discourage it from returning and couldn't ask it not to.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom said.

“That was scary,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Pfft. I wasn't scared,” Scootaloo said, shaking.

“Really, girls? It was just a centipede.” Fluttershy set the broom up against the wall. She wasn't one to admonish another pony for being scared but that was just ridiculous.

“But it was so big and icky.”

“And creepy and crawly.”

“And—and, totally not scary at all!”

“Now girls, if you want to get cutie marks in animal care, you can't just pick the soft, fluffy ones. You have to care for the 'creepy, crawly' ones too.” Fluttershy stared at them while their enthusiasm deflated and they morosely checked their flanks. She frowned. They really couldn't be left unsupervised yet, and Applejack, of all ponies, should know that. So why–?

A rapping on her door caught her attention. “Come in.”

The door swung open and a yellow earth pony with curly orange hair stepped in. It was Carrot Top. Fluttershy often saw her in the market selling carrots and other vegetables. She had a weak grin on her face and looked apologetic when she spotted the Crusaders huddled up on the couch. “Sorry I'm late, but I ran into Bon Bon on my way over and you wouldn't believe what she had to say about Blossomforth.”

“Oh?” Fluttershy asked. She wasn't really curious, but Carrot Top was going to tell her anyway. That mare really loved her gossip.

“Oh, indeed! You know how she loves to do all those fancy stretches and twists? Well, Bon Bon saw her pigging out on the food yesterday. She ordered twice as many rice balls a she normally does.” Carrot Top leaned forward and put a hoof on the side of her mouth as if to whisper, but everypony in the room could hear her anyway. “She's obviously fattening herself up to be a professional su-mare wrestler.”

“Woah.” Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide.

“So cool,” Scootaloo said.

“Uh, What's a su-mare?” Apple Bloom asked.

Carrot Top giggled. “It's a monstrous pony the size of a house that can wrest entire mountains from the ground.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Um, I don't think that's–”

“Wow! Ah wanna su-mare cutie mark!” Apple Bloom yelled.

“Can you show us how to get one?” Scootaloo asked.

The fillies crowded around Carrot Top and Fluttershy backed off.

“Um, I'll just–” Fluttershy pointed at the front door.

Carrot Top nodded. “That's fine, dear. I'll watch them from here. Good luck on getting your cutie mark back.”

Fluttershy winced and froze in place. Wide eyes stared at her in horror.

“ 'Get yer cutie mark back!?' ” Apple Bloom reared her head back.

“What happened to your cutie mark?” Sweetie Belle looked up at Fluttershy and pressed her hooves together, begging for an answer.

“You haven't heard yet?” Carrot Top pressed her hooves on her cheeks and squeed.

Fluttershy frowned. “Um, I don't think you should–”

Carrot Top stood on her hind legs and wrapped a pink floral tablecloth around herself as a makeshift cloak. She was sort-of-imposing. “They say that a demon escaped from Tarturus and gobbled it up in the middle of the night!”

The girls screeched and cowered behind the couch.

“That's not what happened!” Fluttershy's frown deepened.

Scootaloo straightened out her pot-helmet. She frowned at Carrot Top. “Yeah! Don't make things up.”

“Don't scare us like that,” Apple Bloom said.

“Fluttershy, you, still have your cutie mark, right?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Fluttershy kept her wings firmly clamped against her sides. She was glad she had that dress on. “Er, no demons whatsoever. You won't have to worry about the likes of them. Cerberus is safely guarding the gates of Tartarus for us.” Fluttershy inched towards the exit.

“You still have it, though, right?” Sweetie Belle asked again.

“Um, well, it's just...” Fluttershy paused to think. She could lie and leave them happy and ignorant or horrify them with the truth. She was apprehensive either way. As much as she wanted to see them happy, she had a certain obligation to tell the truth, didn't she? Perhaps she needed to hear herself tell the truth too, as much as it hurt her to talk about it. Lying would only make her empty inside, and she had far too much of that feeling already. Besides, this way she could give them her version of the story instead of letting Carrot Top fill their minds with baseless rumors. “You remember Shoeshine, right? Blue earth pony, white hair?–” they nodded “–Well, she's calling herself 'Linky' now, and she was the one who stole my cutie mark, not some demon. I don't know how she did it but–” Fluttershy pulled up her dress to expose her flank. “–it really is gone.”

Stunned silence filled the room. It swept their breath away like a riptide pulling them out to sea.

Fluttershy let her dress fall back to the floor. “I'm sorry you had to see that. I really am.”

“You're–” Scootaloo started.

“–a blank flank!?” Apple Bloom finished.

Fluttershy felt tears well up in her eyes. “I didn't want to be. I-it's horrible. I'm sorry.” She averted her eyes and curled up on the ground facing away from so they wouldn't have to see her cry. They, however, had other plans. She heard their little hoofsteps as they walked around her. They crowded in front of her.

“Aw, cheer up, Fluttershy. Being a blank flank isn't so bad,” Scootaloo said. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow.

“It's... not?” Fluttershy sniffled.

“Sure. It means you're full of potential!” Sweetie Belle said. She grinned.

“This isn't the same as not having earned a cutie mark yet.” Fluttershy stood up and stared blankly into space. “I don't feel full of potential.”

“Don't be silly, I bet you have all sorts of other talents to discover,” Apple Bloom said.

“Like, you could get a cutie mark for that scary 'stare' of yours,” Scootaloo said.

“Um...”

“Or how about a cutie mark in singing?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

In spite of herself, Fluttershy smiled. “Thanks for the suggestions, girls, but I'm not going to try for a different cutie mark. I want my old one back.”

“Why not earn your cutie mark back the same way ya earned it in the first place?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Somehow, I don't think it's going to be that easy,” Fluttershy said. Her face cast itself in shadow.

“Have you tried that?” Carrot Top asked.

“Uh, well, not as such, no... but I already know that talent is gone.”

“Still, it'd be worth trying.” Carrot Top shrugged.

“Hey, if ya want yer old cutie mark back so bad, maybe heart's desire would work for you?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Isn't that the stuff that gave you cutie pox and forced you to perform all the talents that appeared?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom frowned. “Maybe Zecora could fix it up the right way?”

“Zecora...” Fluttershy looked distant again. Her attention snapped back to reality when somepony else knocked on her door. “Come in.”

Rarity opened the door. Her eyes lit up. “Fluttershy, darling, you look so elegant today. That dress really brings out your eyes. Is there a special occasion?”

“Thanks, Rarity, but, um, no.” Fluttershy drooped her head. “I guess I just don't want ponies to stare at my blank flank. That's all.”

Rarity pursed her lips. “Darling, that's nothing to be ashamed of, but if you want to stay covered up that's fine too.” Rarity looked around the room and nodded at the other ponies. “Good morning, Carrot Top. Hello kids. Sorry to take Fluttershy away from you all, but we've made an appointment to get her, erm, 'condition' examined and that simply cannot wait.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. She looked down at the Crusaders. “Thanks, girls, you've given me a lot to think about.” She scooped them up for a group hug, which Scootaloo wasn't too fond of but the others enjoyed it. Before stepping out, she nodded at Carrot Top. “And thank you too for watching over them.”