Drained.

That’s the only adjective everypony in Fluttershy’s house felt. Fluttershy and Rainbow’s disastrous outing to the animal lover’s family left everypony involved with shared physical emptiness. However,
individual-wise, it was a motley cavalcade of emotion.

Rarity was sitting outside of Fluttershy’s bedroom door. The yellow pegasus locked everypony out of her room and was sobbing uncontrollably. The incident with her brother’s outburst and Rainbow’s departure had left her a broken shell of a mare. Rarity was banging on the door, trying to console her troubled friend, but to no avail. The fashionista’s knocks were becoming frantic, as anxiousness over what had just transpired began to affect bodily movement.

“Rainbow better not have meant what I think she meant!” the white unicorn thought to herself. ‘She thinks leaving Fluttershy will end her misery? Ugh! That mare is the impossible, and I am going to simply LOSE IT with her!!’

Downstairs, the atmosphere was almost completely silent. Fluttershy’s cries were more muffled as everypony in the living area reacted to the situation without speaking.

Applejack and Saltlick had returned from chasing after Saltine and were sitting on opposite ends of the couch. AJ was tapping her hooves frantically on the cushioning, feeling a mix of agitation at the pony who made Fluttershy cry, exasperation at how the situation was completely out of her control, and (most of all) concern as to where in Equestria Rainbow had darted off to.

Fox Trottingham was “content” to pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. The fuming breaths coming from her nasal cavities indicated her complete and utter rage directed at her husband. For any party curious, after the incident in Fluttershy’s bedroom, Saltine trotted off to Sweet Apple Acres to retrieve his sons. However, Foxy refused to speak to, let alone travel with the stallion who had two homophobic outbursts within 24 hours, so she stayed behind; as did Saltlick, who was still trying to figure out just what the hay was going on.

Saltlick’s eyes were wide, but he remained motionless. As expected, the revelation that your son is a mean spirited jackass and that your daughter is in a secret relationship with another mare wasn’t the easiest thing to process. Witnessing his son dramatically walk out and leaving himself and his daughter-in-law behind, the aging Stallion wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise, and afterward, he didn’t have much to say. So it became a shock to both mares in the room when he finally said something.

“I honestly didn’t see it coming. I mean, I guess I should have seen the signs or something, but....no. This is honestly coming out of left field.”

Applejack turned to her friend with a lamentful look in her eyes. “Ah honestly tried to tell ya, but we came inside and saw this mess before I could say it. Look, please don’t be mad at Fluttershy, she...”

The cowpony was silenced by Saltlick’s hoof. “There’s no way I’m gonna be mad at my sugarcube, especially something like this. Let me tell you, Applejack. It doesn’t matter to me one bit who Flutters loves. I just want her to be happy, any daddy wants his filly too, and if it means it’s a mare, then that’s fine.”

As Saltlick removed his hoof from Applejack’s mouth, the farmer gave a warm grin. At least Fluttershy had somepony in her family who understood, and it was made even better than that it was her own dad. The two embraced in a hug with Applejack giving a couple of pats on the aging stallion’s back. Foxy, at this point, had ceased her huffing and puffing, letting warmth overpower her previously indignant disposition.

As Applejack let go of her friend, Saltlick proceeded to hop off the couch, making his way upstairs. Applejack and Foxy followed closely, curious as to what the bartender was up to.

Rarity was still trying desperately to get Fluttershy to open the door. The pegasus was no longer crying, but was instead utterly silent at her friend’s pleas to be allowed inside her room. Inside, the animal-lover was engaged in a fetal position on her bed, the bags on her eyes black as the ace of spades. The only sounds coming from her were the occasional sniffle. At this point, Fluttershy had ceased anything resembling a thought process, as thinking about the events that had just transpired was completely unbearable for such a tender pony as herself. Not even Angel Bunny’s desperate tugging at her mane could get her to snap out of her waking comatose. The little white rabbit tried with all of his might to get his “mama” out of her funk, but to no avail. Tears began to develop in his beady black eyes as he pulled at Fluttershy’s mane harder and harder.

‘This is all Rainbow Dash’s fault!’ Angel thought to himself, sadness and desperation quickly shifting to anger. ‘I and the bitch-queen shouldn’t have to be the ones trying to make Mama feel better, but what does Dash do? Run off! Without giving two thoughts as to how she’ll feel! She better grovel her flank off to Mama if she expects to crawl back here!’

On the other side of the door, Rarity was getting exhausted as her knocks on the door became slower and slower, and eventually, the unicorn’s hoof slided off the door and onto the floor. The fashionista was sweating, panting, and exasperated. All this attempted consolation had worn her out. Thankfully, a change in guard was about to occur.

To the surprise of Rarity, Saltlick was leading the charge upstairs. Although was relieved to see some cavalry arrive, she didn’t believe it yield positive results.

“I’ve tried everything, Saltlick. She just won’t come out. It’s hopeless.” The unicorn slumped lower and lower until she was lying completely on the floor.

Saltlick retorted with a chuckle. “Rarity, let me tell you something. Friendship is great and all, but it can’t hold a candle to family. There are some things that she desperately needs to hear from me.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but moved aside to allow Saltlick access to the door. The burnt-orange bartender gave a light tap at the door and softly uttered, “Hey, sugarcube. It’s your daddy. Do you mind if I come inside?”

There was no reply briefly. All four ponies in the hallway held their breaths waiting for some sort of response. To their relief, tiny footsteps were heard and the door crept open to reveal Angel Bunny standing at the hooves of Fluttershy’s father. The rabbit gave an icy cold stare, very suspicious of the stallion’s intentions, as he had seen how Saltine had acted. However, Angel backed down and stepped aside when Fluttershy softly instructed him to let the party inside.

The four ponies slowly made their way into the bedroom, feeling the tension of the scene weigh down upon them. Aside from the hoofsteps, the room was dead silent. Saltlick began to make his way to the bed, where Fluttershy was still in her fetal position. Rarity and Applejack had seen Fluttershy in vulnerable states (it was Fluttershy for chrissake), but never in one that left her so emotionally stunted. Both ponies were incredibly anxious to see if Saltlick could break his daughter’s barrier.

As graceful as he was coming into the room, Saltlick just plopped his flank onto Fluttershy’s bed like a pony getting on his couch after a long day at work, the ring of the springs in the mattress resonating in the still silent room. The aging bartender ran his hoof delicately up and down his daughter’s back. A little smile came across the stallion's face.

"Hey, kiddo. You wanna talk about it?"

Fluttershy’s sniffles began to get louder as the tears began to come back on. “D-dad...Saltine....he...he said....”

“Shh, shhh. Don’t mind what your brother said. That doesn’t matter, because I’m here.” Saltlick moved his hoof to Fluttershy’s face and wiped away some of her tears from her cheeks.

“You know, I’ve read about Rainbow Dash in the papers, like her win at the Young Flier’s Competition, and that sonic rainboom she does. I guess you could say I’m one of her fans. Reading about her, she kind of reminds me of...”
“Mom?” Fluttershy cut-off.

A smile came across the stallion’s face. “A-ha! So I’m not crazy! So tell me, does Rainbow Dash kind of have an ego?”

Fluttershy hesitated to respond, but ultimately replied, “Um...yes. She calls herself the “most awesome pony in all of Equestria”. Being cool is very important to her.”

“And is she a really reckless flier like Mom?”

“At flight camp, her nickname was Rainbow Crash.”

“And is she a terrible-ass cook?”

Fluttershy turned on her back at looked up at her father, a smile developing on her face. “I’ve practically banned her from my kitchen.”

Saltlick’s smile got bigger. “Does Rainbow Dash, even with all her faults, still give you all the love in the world? Does she still make you feel like the most special pony in all of Equestria. Most of all, does she give you the same feelings of warmth and joy that your mother gave me from the day we met until the day I die?”

Fluttershy’s lips began to tremble and the tears started back up. “Yes, yes and yes.”

Immediately, yellow pegasus perched up to her father and hugged him tightly. She then proceeded to cry a river on his shoulder. The stallion patted his daughter lightly on the back, letting out shushes into her ear. These tears were tears of joy, but also that of stress and sadness. There were still burning questions on Fluttershy’s (and everypony’s, for that matter) mind.

Where did Rainbow Dash fly off to? Was she even coming back? Next Chapter: 12. Crushed and Crushes Estimated time remaining: 53 Minutes