Fluttershy had been content to live her life in relative solitude on the outskirts of Ponyville.

Sure, the days had been a lot longer since the Princess had assumed the title of Queen, and that had thrown a very large wrench into the cycle of nature itself, but both the flora and fauna had adapted quick enough, much to Fluttershy's great relief.

The pale yellow pegasus had to remember that most Equestrian wildlife was exceptionally flexible. It was a natural result of flourishing among a race that had been controlling the weather for millennia, to say nothing of the naturally ambient magic surrounding Equestria and how that too affected the plants and animals.

Whatever changes the Queen had put into place over the last few years, they hadn't been enough to uproot the meek pegasus mare's quiet way of life, and for that, Fluttershy was thankful.

She had her animals to take care of, she had her small cottage, she had her oldest friend to keep her company, and that was enough. The only thing that worried her at all was the well-being of said oldest friend. It still tore at her heart to see Rainbow Dash suffering even after all these years, and Fluttershy could see it, no matter how hard the embittered cyan pegasus tried to hide it.

After they'd lived together for so many years, there wasn't much they could hide from each other. Lately, for some reason she couldn't fathom, Fluttershy would often ruminate on both past events and her present situation with Rainbow whenever the mare in question was out and about.

Today hadn't been any different, and Fluttershy's mind wandered as she poured various types of feed for her animal friends. She hadn't even noticed when Bella, who'd been curled up resting in the corner, peeked one eye open, frowned, pushed the bowl away, and yawned before getting comfortable and closing her eyes once more.

Generally Fluttershy tended to spoil her mocha colored ferret with something a bit more palatable, but she'd been distracted lately. She couldn't put her hoof on what it was, but something felt off. It felt like the air around her was thickening with some kind of tension she couldn't quite place.

And then she heard it.

Dozens of animals stopped what they were doing as the distant sound tore through the air. It was a cry—loud, shrill, and otherworldly, much like the cry Fluttershy and so many others had heard so long ago.

In fact, many would've said it was the exact same cry, an alien shriek that had caused so much horror and despair among the pegasi of Cloudsdale. There wasn't a pegasus from the city that didn't know it, and now the horrid sound rang out again to torment the poor yellow pegasus.

She dropped the large bag of lettuce she'd been about to feed the rabbits, her wings locked up and her body frozen in terror. Her eyes widened as nightmarish memories came flooding back into her mind.

She began to shiver uncontrollably, and as the flashes of events long since past overwhelmed her she let out a small shaky whimper. The whimper turned into a full on scream of terror as the front door of her cottage was suddenly and violently slammed open.

Dozens of animals squeaked and squawked and roared as they scrambled and scattered to get away from something they didn't understand. The majority of them were already agitated by the unnatural cry, and Fluttershy herself was in too much distress to calm their nerves like she would've normally.

She instead fell to her stomach, her hooves instinctively covering her head, her body and whimpering voice shaking with fear. Not even the familiar scratch of her friend's voice could break her free of her fear induced paralysis.

It was only when she found herself wrapped in a warm, comforting embrace that the paralysis broke. Finally recognizing the voice whispering reassuring words in her ear, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves tightly around the mare and sobbed openly into her chest.

All the while unaware that the mare she was crying into was shaking almost as much as she was. Distracted as both mares were, neither of them noticed the far off, yet intense flash of light amongst the trees of the dense forest nearby.

While Fluttershy shivered and sobbed purely out of fear, Rainbow Dash herself shook with suppressed rage at what she'd heard on her way back to her friend's home.

Her useless, misshapen wings twitched with an old ache and old fears, both sensations brought back to the forefront of her mind, at the familiar memories and sound that plagued her. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow pushed the aches and fears down in favor of the growing hate and sense of purpose she was beginning to feel.

Nevertheless, the rainbow maned pegasus continued to hold Fluttershy until her sobs once more became quiet whimpers. A few more moments later, those too died down into small sniffles, and Rainbow Dash looked down at Fluttershy with a concerned frown.

"You okay now?" Rainbow asked quietly, pushing back her own feelings for the moment, "if you need more time, we can—"

"No," came Fluttershy's small muffled voice, "no, I'm... I-I'll be fine in a moment. Just..."

She fell silent and Rainbow Dash waited patiently.

A few seconds later, Fluttershy gave a loud sniff and a tiny nod before reluctantly pulling back. Rainbow Dash allowed a small, slightly forced grin to cross her face for a second before letting it fall back into a grim frown.

The distant shriek had since stopped and with it, the panicking animals had settled down somewhat, though it was easy to see many of them were still on edge. With the relative silence returned, Rainbow Spoke again.

"You heard that," Rainbow stated, "the freaky scream from before."

Fluttershy nodded, her eyes drifting toward Rainbow's mangled wings, then passing them to look down at her own hooves. She shuddered again before looking back up at Rainbow, a look of fear and worry in her eyes.

"It sounded like it came from the forest," she nearly whispered, "Rainbow, what do we do? I'm sure the rest of the town heard that too, a-and I think they might send some ponies to... t-to investigate."

"And if they do, I'm gonna volunteer," Rainbow replied firmly, "heck, I'm going whether they send somepony or not."

"What?! Rainbow, no!" Fluttershy cried, grabbing her crippled friend by the shoulders, "I know you're still upset about what happened, but you can't go! You saw that thing! You saw... y-you saw what it did to all those pegasi... to you," more tears began to well up in her eyes, though they didn't yet fall, "what would you even do in your condition, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash said nothing at first, simply staring at Fluttershy as she stared back, her eyes pleading. After a moment Rainbow looked away and towards the front door, still wide open from her earlier entry.

Fluttershy waited for a response, hoping... praying that the cyan mare would see reason. One of Rainbow's ears twitched a few times, and though Fluttershy couldn't see her face, she could tell the other pegasus was thinking.

Rainbow Dash continued to stare out at the grassy field past the doorway, and the barely discernible forest further in the distance for a few seconds longer, then let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash finally replied as she turned back and pushed Fluttershy's hooves away, "to tell you the truth, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I have to do something. I can't just sit here while that thing is out there, you know I wouldn't be able to."

"But... Rainbow, you—"

"I can't fly anymore because of that thing, Fluttershy!" Rainbow suddenly shouted. She paused and lowered her gaze before looking back at her crippled wings and markless flank, "I can't... not like I used to... not even close."

She turned back to Fluttershy, a fire burning in her rosy eyes.

"I don't know what that thing was or where it came from," Rainbow turned away from Fluttershy and began resolutely trotting towards the door as she spoke, "but it took everything away from me, it killed all those pegasi, and then it just... vanished. It's not fair, it's not right, Fluttershy, and now that its back, who knows what it'll do? Something needs to be done, and I'm gonna do something about it."

"Rainbow Dash, stop!"

The cyan mare froze at Fluttershy's tone and reflexively made to turn back to the other pegasus, but stopped herself just short. She knew what she'd see if she turned around to face Fluttershy now, and she knew she wouldn't be able to resist anymore. Instead, she hung her head, but remained facing forward.

"...I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Rainbow replied softly, "I promise I'll make it back out of that forest, no matter what happens, alright?" she raised her head and took a step through the doorway, "I'll figure this out, just gimme a little bit of time."

And with that, she trotted the rest of the way out of the cottage.

Fluttershy watched her go for several moments until she was out of sight, then fell to her haunches. It was only now that the tears came, falling silently as she continued to look out the doorway towards the horizon.

"Oh, Rainbow," she muttered to nopony, "you lost so much... but you didn't lose everything... not even close," she squeezed her eyes shut and sank further to the ground, "there are still ponies out there that care about you. I'm still here, and you still have a future, even if it isn't the one you wanted."

She fell silent, wishing she could've told her oldest friend as much face to face, and kicking herself for the fact that she didn't. Instead she'd tried to coerce Rainbow Dash into staying, and even then, it didn't work.

Now Rainbow had left, gone off to most likely die at the hooves of whatever that monstrosity was, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't go after her, surely. Just thinking about what might've been out there sent her shivering all over again.

Fluttershy felt sick with worry and self-loathing for her own inaction, but what could she do?

The despondent pegasus squeaked in surprise, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by the ferret that had hopped on her back. It deftly crawled its way up her neck and settled atop her mane before poking its head down in front of her face.

"B-Bella?" Fluttershy sniffed, staring cross-eyed at the frowning ferret above her. Her eyes widened in realization a second later, "Oh! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Bella. You and the others must've been terrified! I didn't mean to—"

She was interrupted by a series of stern chatters from her pet ferret. Fluttershy watched, stunned as Bella dropped down from her head and onto the wooden floor in front of her.

"Bella, you don't understand," Fluttershy replied, taking a step back and looking away, "it's not like I don't want to be there for Rainbow, but what can I do? That... that... whatever it is... it scares me."

Bella raised herself on to her hind legs and gestured to the open doorway, chattering and glaring at her owner all the while. Fluttershy shrank back even further before looking outside. She remained that way for a good minute or so before she felt tiny paws on her legs.

She looked down to see Bella staring up at her with an expectant frown. When Fluttershy didn't respond right away, the ferret breathed out a sigh and turned away from her, scurrying towards, and out, the open doorway.

"Wha—Bella, wait!" Fluttershy cried out in alarm, "where are you going?"

She took a step forward, hoof raised in protest, but Bella didn't stop until she was outside. Once she was out, she stopped and turned to give Fluttershy one last look. She let out a single squeak before scurrying off once more.

Fluttershy stood frozen in shock at what she'd heard. A low growl from somewhere behind her caught her attention and she turned to see many of her animal companions eyeing her with varying expressions of concern.

She looked back at them all, her wide eyes shifting from one creature to the other. She could tell that many were worried for her safety, but still more gave her encouraging nods or chirps or squeaks or growls, urging her to act.

Fluttershy slowly shook her head and looked back to the doorway. She bit her lip, indecision wrapping about her like a shroud. Several thoughts ran through her head, but in the end, it was one simple question that spurred her into action.

Am I really going to let Rainbow Dash go into the Everfree to face that thing alone, where she has every chance of never coming back?

"No."

Once that question had crossed her mind, the answer was instantaneous. That monster had taken far too many lives as it was, and Fluttershy would be damned to Tartarus if she let Rainbow Dash suffer the same fate, not when she'd already managed to survive once.

Fluttershy wouldn't risk a second miracle, no matter how scared she was. The fear of losing her oldest and closest friend was far greater she found. With that in mind, she shored up every single ounce of conviction she could muster and followed Bella's lead, quickly trotting out the door before she lost her nerve.

I don't know how this is going to end, but it won't be with your death, Rainbow... that's my promise, and I'll keep it, no matter what I have to do.

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