Chapter 70: When You Were Young

Princess Luna had to leave the library a few moments after she had started up Dusk's lightning wings. She had said a few words, “As much as I hate going back to the Day Court, I promised my sister that I would be back as soon as possible.” before waving good bye and teleporting back to Canterlot in a flash of dark blue magic. Dusk’s wings had returned back to normal a few seconds after the Princess had gone.

The original excitement and euphoria from the group (especially from Rarity and Dusk) had worn down and was replaced with a strange feeling of satisfaction, possibly attributed to the solving of the now confirmed lightning wings. But with no reason to stay in the home, and Twilight wanting to study about magical lightning, they were soon separated, with Rarity leaving first, “So I can get a head start on a new dress that I am creating.” (While obviously saying her good byes as well.)

Dusk and Fluttershy stayed for just a little bit longer, mainly because of Twilight’s constant questioning about Dusk’s wings. They had planned on leaving earlier, but...

"So what does it feel like when your wings are like that?"

"It's like a faint tingling feeling, mainly inside the wings. There's no other way to explain it."

"Mm hmm, so how faint is it?"

"*sigh* ...Very. I thought you were supposed to be studying about the subject of magical lightning.”

“I am.”

It had been like this for for the past five minutes, with Twilight asking various questions to Dusk about his electric wings. Fluttershy didn't really seem to mind too much though, since she was content to just browse the Romance section of the library. Dusk took a quick glance at that particular section, and he found it rather unsurprising that there were only a small amount of paperback books there. They don’t really seem like the librarian’s kind of thing anyway. Unfortunately, he was forced to pry away from his distraction as Twilight asks even more questions about his wings...

‘Buck me, seriously. Just finish already?!’

“So do you know when the lightning is just about to appear, do you feel anything beforehand?”

“No...”

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It had taken the mare another excruciatingly long ten minutes of questioning, the stallion was finally allowed to go back home with Fluttershy. Twilight had let the pegasus borrow one of her own saddle bags to hold her books in. Dusk had not inquired for the names of the books, except for one certain novel.

"Fluttershy, have you ever heard of the book known as ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’?”

“Umm... yes...” She begins to visibly blush, “Rarity owns the book, and she told me it was a great read... so I borrowed it. I... didn’t like it.” She was really red, both embarrassed and flustered at the same time.

“Uh huh, okay. I was just going to ask you if you borrowed it but...” He wanted to ask her one more thing about the book, “So what didn’t you like about it? Was it the overly descriptive and disgusting feelings/emotions, the lack of a proper story, or the use of plot.” He had a faint suave tone on the last word, emphasizing it’s double meaning.

She had heard, and understood everything he had just said, “Um, a little bit of everything that you said really.”

“Thought so."

A small silence pass over the two, as they continue to walk towards the cottage, out of the vicinity of the town. All that could be heard were the softened hoofsteps on the path, and the calls of the birds that inhabit the surrounding area.

"So umm... Fluttershy, I need to answer an important question about our relationship." As soon as he finishes, he could see that Fluttershy is looking at him with question. He had a feeling that this would end badly, but... "We've already gone this far into our relationship. I've moved into your home, (Its not like I had a choice anyway) and we already share the same bed, we've even had sex twice despite only being together for only three weeks. So I have to ask, do you think you should introduce me to your parents?"

She looks downtrodden as she begins to stare at the ground "...no..."

'What?' He was quite intrigued with her answer, he didn't expect a straight up 'no' from her, "Why not?"

"..I'll tell you when we get back." She says miserably, gaze unmoving.

"Um.. okay..." He didn't like this one bit, especially since it made her become this sad so quickly. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to hear what she had to say now, but he knows that he has already gone too far to stop now. He had no choice, but to slowly walk back to the cottage. He takes a quick look back at Fluttershy, and could see her bottom lip quiver for a few seconds.

'Do you want me to feel any worse?'

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After five minutes of near silence, the two had made it to the cottage still in a depressive mood. All the feeling; the passion, is now gone, replaced with an awful tension. By no means was this a strain on their  relationship, since they both knew that it was just a harmless question, but Dusk still felt remorseful after what he has done.

With a sigh, and a somber expression, he asks the question he has been dreading, "So Fluttershy, are you ready?"

She sits herself down onto the lounge as she speaks. "Dusk, there is no need to feel so bad about it. You know that it isn't your fault right?" There was a unusually happy tone on her sad visage, and it brought Dusk a bittersweet smile.

"Heh, I know, but its good to have a second pony think so too.” Now that he felt slightly uplifted, he could continue, “So uhh, do you think you could tell me why you don’t want me to see your parents?”

She nods in acceptance as she begins, “Well um... I don’t get along with my parents too well. My parents were... mean to me as a filly...” Her expression turns into a sad frown, as she recalls memories from years ago. “I was a failure to them, and they hated me because of that."

'What?'

"Aren't you being a bit harsh on yourself Fluttershy?" He realises how hypocritical he sounded, but he didn't dwell on that fact. "Why would your parents think that?"

"Because I couldn't fly well." She sees the stallion's jaw drop as she continues her recollection of her past. "My parents were one of the richest and most influential ponies in Cloudsdale, and I was supposedly tarnishing their reputation with my poor flight skills. That is what they told me when I was a filly."

"You can't be serious." He was shocked that somepony could be so selfish, especially to somepony so sweet. He could see her go more deep into depression as she goes on.

"When I kept on failing my flight classes, they beat me as punishment, they neglected me, just because I wasn't strong enough to fly properly. *sigh* Have you ever heard the story of how I got my cutie mark?"

Confused by the strange change in subject, he just says that he hasn't. She explains to him about Rainbow Dash's race and why her friend had raced against the bullies. She had also told him about the fall, and when she had met Rarity for the first time. The mood in the room ended up rising considerably at that point. But the feeling went away as soon as Fluttershy started to tell him when Rainbow had found her, and brought her back up to Cloudsdale...

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(Eight Years Ago)

Perspective: Fluttershy

“...I'm glad that I found you Fluttershy, but I have to ask, how did you end up on the ground anyway?”

"Um... I fell."

"What?!"

Fluttershy and her new friend (?) were conversing outside of her parents' manor. (Which amazed the younger, more headstrong Rainbow Dash, because of the sheer size of the home)

But all was not well about hours ago, for the rainbow maned filly. As soon as the euphoria of the Rainboom went away, she could tell something was wrong when she couldn't see Fluttershy in the crowd, but that's a story for another day.

Back in the present time, Rainbow had asked a question that bugged her, "So Fluttershy, how did you end up on the ground anyway?"

She timidly responds, "I-I think either you or those bullies pushed me off the cloud as the race began."

"Really? Oh jeez, I'm sorry Fluttershy?" She felt a great deal of remorse for the yellow pegasus. "Oh gosh, I didn't know, I swear."

"That's okay, Rainbow, you couldn't have known at the time. And... um, thanks for standing up for me." She had never had anypony stand up for her before. She liked the feeling of security.

"Heh, no worries Fluttershy. Well, I think I gotta go now, parents and all. Seeya." She then takes off into the skies of Cloudsdale, leaving the other pegasi before she could even complete a wave. When the rainbow maned mare was only a speck in the distance, Fluttershy had decided that it would be a good idea to go inside the manor.

She had grabbed her house key, (from the unexplainable expanse of inter-dimentional space which everypony seemed to have) and opened the finely crafted, mahogany doors of the house. As she walked inside, she saw the wooden, old-style, upper class furniture that surrounded the main room. She had gotten accustomed to her parents taste in design years ago, but she still hated it. It was so drab; so boring, even for her tastes. The worst part, is that this same style of furniture was scattered across the whole house, and it was horrible.

Another thing she didn't like, was how her parents almost never are her as she walked inside. In fact, half the times they never greeted her. She always used to of excuses why this they did this, and it made herself feel better.'I'm sure that they are doing for us anyway.' She was able to live with all of the abuse, and loneliness with this kind of mindset.

She still loved her parents.

She had walked through the kitchen, passed the guest room, and walked downstairs towards her mother's workshop, where she toiled seemingly without end. She was a famous seamstress in Cloudsdale, who rose to fame after she introduced a new line of fashion to the world, and she still does custom dresses for famous pegasi to this day.

Her mother had the same bodily features as her daughter, with a yellow coat, and a pink mane, but they were both a few shades darker than the younger counterpart. Her eyes had become a dulled yellow colour, which were focused on the incomplete dress on her workbench. Her cutie mark was a needle and thread, which clearly shows that her special talent involves sewing, and things like that. There was a light gray streak in her long, stylized mane, but this was the only sign of aging on the mare's body, since her figure was still as thin and slender as it was in her youth. Needless to say, she aged well. It is clear that Fluttershy received most of her traits from her mother. Everything, except for her personality...

So Fluttershy had walked into her mother's workshop as she did every evening, "Hello mum." She calmly said, waving a hoof towards the mare.

She looked at her daughter, and said, "Good afternoon Fluttershy, I presume that you had a good day at school."

The filly nodded, "Uh... Y-Yeah, I did."

This is usually where their conversation ends, but the seamstress noticed something about Fluttershy that she had never seen before, "Fluttershy, if I may ask, how did you get your cutie mark?"

The filly didn't seem to notice the lack of enthusiasm from her parent, since her family didn't place much importance on such a.thing. "I got it when I helped the animals, which were scared by the rainboom on the ground."

"On the ground you say... so would you kindly tell me, why you were on the ground in the first place?"

"Umm... well..." Fluttershy had just realised what she had said, and how costly it would be for her. "I... fell."

“You... fell?”

The filly knew that this would end badly, “Somepony accidentally pushed me of a cloud and I couldn’t fly back up to Cloudsdale, and I was about to hit the ground when a swarm of butterflies saved me. So while I was down there, I started to-”

“At tut. I’ve heard enough.” Said the mare, with a calm, but cold tone. “So you’re telling me, that you needed a swarm of freaking butterflies to save you rather than fly yourself.”

“B-But-”

“Well that does it Fluttershy. You are a failure; a lost cause; useless. Your father and I have been trying to get you to fly for years. Years Fluttershy, and you know what you have achieved? Nothing. That's what."  She was instilling an immense amount of fear into the filly, and she knew it. "You have no use to us. You tarnish our reputation, especially your father's, since he is known as a racer whose daughter can't even fly.  You may be of my own flesh and blood, but sometimes we need to cut the fat. Get out.”

Fluttershy was weeping now, as she cowers away from her mother, who is towering her. "B-B-But mum-"

The mare grabs a slightly worn belt, with her mouth and whips Fluttershy on the side. "Leave, now!"

She began to cry on the spot, the shock and grief immobilising her to the spot. The pain of it was horrible. It took the mother a second whip to finally get the filly to run out of the house. The mare felt absolutely no remorse, only worrying about the time that was wasted in this encounter. She hated inefficiencies...

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(Present Time)

Perspective: Dusk

"...but despite all that, I still love them. I know that they were bad to me, but they are still my parents." Despite her melancholic expression, he could see that she harboured no anger towards her parents.

'I know that you are the Element of Kindness, but come on, seriously?!'

"Fluttershy, I would like you to tell me where they live." He says in a dark tone, feeling an immense hatred inside of him.

"Umm... what for?"

"So I could get them to give you the respect that you deserve," His voice then becomes more crazed, "Or a buck in the face, whatever they deserve..."

"Wait no!"

Author’s Note: Yay, another Dark chapter. [Sarcasm]

At my school, we were visited by a famous Australian artist, who has written a few international award winning books. (His name escapes me) I learnt a few things that would completely change my story synopsis for Opportunity of a Lifetime, Once in a Lifetime, as well as other planned fics.

Also, I’ve been slower with my updates, because I’ve been slightly overloaded with homework, and since I now have 19 new games to play on my PC, and about 6 more on the Xbox. (The Orange Box, Humble Bundle 5 etc) The next chapter may take a bit longer, since I will be beginning another fic. Next Chapter: Chapter 70.5: Help Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes