"Come on, come on, I want to see how it looks!" Rarity gently teased Fluttershy while she tried on the outfit Rarity picked out for her. After school (and much to Rarity's surprise), Fluttershy was waiting for her at her locker. It looked like Rarity had gotten through to her. The two had left and gotten into Rarity's mother's van. Her mother gasped when she saw Fluttershy's eye. Fluttershy looked down and thought of backing out; but Rarity just put her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder and asked her mom to take them to the mall.

Once there; Rarity wasted no time. They went straight to the salon where Fluttershy got her hair, nails and make-up done. The beautician did her best to cover up the black eye; and did a really good job of it. After she was done, you could barely notice that something was wrong. Then it was on to the clothing stores. Rarity let Fluttershy pick some things out at first but grew frustrated by her picks. So Rarity decided this time she would pick for her.

The outfit Rarity picked was a tan vest with a white back, a pair of distressed skinny jeans, and a pair of strappy, wedge sandals. Fluttershy had protested, but not overwhelmingly. She eventually agreed to try it on and went into the changing room. After what seemed like forever; Rarity started to needle her friend into hurrying up.

"Rarity, I don't think this is really me," Fluttershy called out in a mixture of fear and embarrassment.

"No offense darling, but you don't know what really is you and what isn't. Now let me see."

Fluttershy pulled back the curtain and stood in front of Rarity, turned around, and asked, "Well?"

Rarity gasped. "Oh darling, you look AMAZING!"

Fluttershy smiled briefly before starting to complain again. "I feel ridiculous. The pants are too tight. I can barely move. And the vest is crushing my boobs."

Rarity smiled. She knew her friend was protesting just for show. "No honey, it's showing the world you have boobs. As for the pants; limited mobility is worth it for what it's doing for your butt there. No offense, but that booty is banging!"

Fluttershy smiled again. She was really starting to feel emotionally good again. She knew Rarity meant what she said. But more than that; the fact that Rarity was going to these lengths to cheer her up, was the best thing of all. "Please don't try to talk street again," she gently teased back.

"Fine." Rarity feigned indignation. "Just remember, beauty is pain."

"If that's the case, I must be the most beautiful girl in the world right now."

"Ha, ha. So are you going to get it or not?"

Fluttershy looked at herself in the mirror again. The truth was, with her new hairdo, make-up, and this outfit; she really did look great. She struck a few different poses and was amazed at how good she did look. She always did try to look good, but still stay understated as to try to not arouse her mother's anger. Although, she always knew that was an impossible mission. But now, seeing herself like this, she felt pride in herself for the first time and felt every inch the beautiful girl she was.

"Yeah, yes, I'll take it!" The pride and power came pouring out in her voice.

"Good, because I already paid for it while you were trying it on. Rarity knows best darling, always remember that."

"Oh Rarity, you shouldn't have!"

"Please, it was my pleasure. Now let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

"I don't think I can in this outfit," Fluttershy sounded serious, and on one level, slightly was; but mostly she was joking.

"Eh, you're a vegan, lettuce and water shouldn't hurt - too much. Come now sweetie, Rarity needs her num-nums."

*************************************************************************************************************

"You got to report her you know." Rarity looked Fluttershy straight in the eye as she told her. They sat in the food court; their food now mostly eaten. Rarity let most of their meal go without saying a word; but now she felt she had to speak up. While not likely, maybe she could succeed where Rainbow had failed.

Fluttershy looked down at the table. "Rarity, please, I don't want to talk about it."

"Honey, you got to do something. If you don't, the next time she hurts you, make-up probably won't be able to cover it up."

"If I do; then what? Where will I go? A foster home? I haven't seen my dad in years. I don't even know where he is. Obviously he doesn't want anything to do with me. So what do I do? It's easy to say report her, but without any resources, I have nothing." Now all the depression was coming back. Fluttershy felt alone, trapped, and empty inside.

"I'm sure Rainbow's family will take you in. And if not them, then mine will."

"You can't guarantee that Rarity."

"Yes I can and I will. You got to save yourself Fluttershy. And I and everyone else is here to support you."

"Fllluhttershy!" The voice came out of nowhere. It was slow, a bit stuttered, and too loud. It was also somewhat familiar. The girls looked around and saw the source. It was their school's janitor.

Some called him Bulk Biceps. Some called him satirically buttercup. No one knew his real name. All they knew was he was huge. He had, in fact, been a soldier. He was serving in Afghanistan when he took a shot to the head. It didn't kill him, but it did leave him with a metal plate, brain damage, and a purple heart.

"Oh hi Bulk." Fluttershy said with more than a hint of happiness in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

He walked over to their table. "I . . . came . . . to . . . see . . . Godzilla. It's . . . playing . . . here. You . . . look . . . very . . . nice."

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "Oh thank you Bulk. You look very nice yourself. It's nice to see you out of your uniform."

"Thhhhank . . . you . . . Fluttershy. Would . . . you . . . two . . . like . . . to . . . join . . . me?"

"Oh, no thank you Bulk. We got to get back to Rarity's house and get started on our homework. Maybe another time."

"O k. Have . . . a . . . good . . . night." He smiled and walked away.

Rarity watched Fluttershy watch Bulk walk away. Fluttershy was blushing and twirling her hair. "Need a minute?" she asked.

Fluttershy immediately looked embarrassed. "Ah, I'm ok."

"Is that what you're calling it? You know he's about twenty-five right?"

"He's also perfect," Fluttershy cooed. "He's sweet, nice, caring, tall, has those large, defined, muscles, he's all man!" Fluttershy growled out the last part of the sentence in a primal way.

"Well, well; still waters do run deep. All man or not; he's off limits. Or, more appropriate, you're off limits to him. At least for another two years or so."

"I can dream to then."

"Not if you don't make it. If you won't report your mom for you or us, do it for him."

Fluttershy looked down again and then over to Bulk standing in line. She really did think he was perfect; brain damage or not. It was foolish to think she had any future with him. But it was fun to imagine. But what good was even that? Rarity was right. If she didn't do something, she probably wouldn't be around for much longer.

Fluttershy turned back to Rarity and said, "I want to call the cops."

**************************************************************************************************************

Crystal Shy heard a knock at her door. She looked at the clock on the wall. It said 7:30. Must be that whore daughter of mine , she thought to herself. She slowly got up and made her way to the door. "Girl I'm gonna bash your brains in you little piece of . . .," she stopped dead as she saw it was two cops standing at her door.

"No need to ask any questions," the one cop said to the other. "Crystal Shy, you are under arrest for abusing your daughter Fluttershy."

****************************************************************************************************************

Twilight sat on her bed in darkness. It felt good; the darkness. She could pretend there was nothing around her; that she had no body. She was merely a mind, floating free in an eternal, infinite void. It was probably the only place she wanted to be right now.

Sunset opened the door and knocked on it. It was merely a courtesy. "You ok?" she asked.

"I can't blame her. I put everyone at risk because of my actions. I didn't even talk it over with any pony. I didn't want to. I was going to do what I wanted to do regardless. At least by not talking to anyone, I could have plausible deniability to myself. I didn't think. I betrayed my friends and my station. I am, or was, a princess. I should have known better." Twilight never looked up while she talked. She just stared at the floor; her hands folded in her lap.

Sunset walked over and sat beside her on the bed. She put her arm around her. "And if I never would have left in the first place and tried to take over Equestria, none of this would have happened. But as you said, we all made mistakes. Now we just got to try to put our big girl panties on and fix things as best as possible.

"As I see it, the Equestrian security forces should be able to handle the Sirens now that they know about them. Also, you have two years. Two years no matter what. You can spend that time beating yourself up or you can take the time and live. You got me, Pinkie, Sonata, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. You also have Flash who loves you. That's not nothing. It my not be royalty, but it's nothing to sneeze at either."

Twilight nodded. "No more lies." She turned to Sunset. "May I use your phone?"

"Sure." Sunset was confused but got up and got her phone for Twilight.

Twilight took it and dialed Flash. "Hello? Flash? Yeah, hi honey. Um, I need to talk to you. No, I'm not breaking up with you. I got something to tell you. Something about me. But first, what do you think about ponies?"

Author's Notes:

Rainbow Rocks came out in 2014, so that's the year I'm starting the story in. I'm going to do a few minor time jumps then jump forward to 2016 for the final act.