Again, Salad awoke refreshed, in a good mood, and in the shade.

Her mood wavered when she remembered who she was still with.

…come to think of it, where was the witch?

“Good morning!” Called Fluttershy, and Salad was for once glad she refrained from eye contact for reasons other than the magic stare.

Her plumage was frayed, her hair was unkempt, she shook at odd times…

It probably wasn’t a good thing for her to be hovering near a fire in her condition.

“Bucking hay, you pulled another all nighter again, didn’t you?”

“…maybe?”

“Close your eyes.” Salad growled. “And don’t open them until I tell you, or I’ll feed you your teeth.”

Trembling, the mare obeyed, and Salad busied herself with studying her face.

Dark circles. They had only had an hour or two when the wolves attacked, and they had left at dawn that day. She had three hours at the very most and she was on her third day.

Moreover, the first night she had spent most of her time pushing Salad around on a cloud, flying nonstop.

“What did you do last night?”

“…harp.”

“That’s it?”

“Y-Yes.”

The previous night hadn’t been strenuous at least, but the fact still remained the vet was due for a crash.

“You’re a bucking idiot.”

“…p-pardon?” And now that she actually had her eyes closed, she was fighting the urge to nod off.

“I can tell by looking at you. You don’t do this normally. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing!”

“Is it me? Are you staying up because of me?”

“N-no!”

“I’m supposed to be looking after you, and you’ve gone and made yourself walking dead. And now we have to make the last legs of a journey and, if what Red told me was right, climb a bucking mountain!”

“C-can I open my eyes please?”

“What?”

“B-breakfast’s burning…” Salad raised an eyebrow and looked over to the fire. The skillet was crammed full.

“…you made enough for two.”

“S-sorry?”

“…Right, you can’t take care of yourself. I’m calling the shots from here on in. After we’re done with that…” Salad said, pointing at the cooking food, “…then you’re giving me the map, and I’m getting us through this before you kill yourself.”

“U-um-“

“I’m not looking, open your eyes and do what you gotta do.”

“…alright.”

And while she was tending to that, Salad rummaged through her things.

She pulled out a length of rope, and set it down with her bags. Then she jumped into the still present cloud and lounged for a little while.

Considering what was ahead, she’d indulge.

--

Fluttershy’s thoughts came slowly. She had never been in a state like this before.

Once or twice she was too scared to go to sleep, but that wouldn’t remain for long.

Working through two nights though…

She didn’t regret it a bit. Even if Salad was unaware, she wasn’t. She’d do it again in a second.

Now all she had to do was… right, climb a mountain.

That’d be… easy…

A hoof lightly slapped the side of her face.

“Falling asleep in front of a fire is dumb, even for you.” Salad said. “Come on now.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy said, and she meant it. That was almost a disaster.

“Don’t do it again.”

“…could you please get a pla-“

“Here. Hurry up before you keel over.” Salad said, taking a plate in her teeth and holding it at the ready.

Fluttershy didn’t ‘keel over’ during breakfast. Whatever keeling over was it sounded bad.

…though she didn’t feel very good, so maybe it was a concern.

“Done? Good. Let’s get this cleaned up.” With Salad’s help, soon everything was clean and packed away, and Fluttershy was awaiting orders. Thinking was kind of hard at the moment, so orders were actually a little welcome.

“Alright, bring out the map and show me where we are and where we’re going.”

She had made sure to keep special track of the locations, and Salad nodded as she stowed the map in her own bags.

She told Fluttershy to close her eyes, and the yellow mare felt something wrap around her saddlebag strap.

When she opened her eyes again (which was getting harder and harder by the minute), she noticed the thing was a rope. The other end was in Salad’s teeth, and it almost felt like she was on a leash.

“A’ight. Go shleep in ‘a cloud.” She said around the rope.

“B-but-“ Salad spat out her end, probably for easier speaking.

“You go sleep in the cloud, and you’ll weigh like, nothing. I know where we’re going, so I’ll just tow you.”

“A-are you-“

“Yes I’m sure, now get in the bucking cloud before I throw you in.”

“O-oh…” Fluttershy said as she ducked her head and made her way to her new bed. “T-thank you.”

“You had better be thankful.” Salad muttered.

Fluttershy was only sad for a moment before she settled, and then the feeling of ‘oh Celestia I can sleep now and it’s going to be totally awesome’ overtook her entire system.

Rainbow Dash told her about this feeling before, and as her consciousness quickly faded, she could see what all the fuss was about.

--

Salad watched out of the corner of her eye as Fluttershy hopped into the cloud, snuggled into the fluff, murmured something intelligible, and fell asleep.

Mere seconds and she was already sleeping like a foal. Just as adorably too, a traitorous part of her suggested.

Just let me bucking hate you already. Salad made a frustrated grunt, more to herself than anything. You could at least snore or something.

But no, ever since the trip started, aside from the sleep thing, Fluttershy had been… Salad wouldn’t say perfect, but…

She was co-operative, constantly trying to help (even if it was unwelcome, the thought counted for something against Salad’s will), cooked awesome, was mindful of Salad’s desire to avoid her eyes…

If only Salad didn’t hate her guts, she’d be a fantastic example of eye candy to top it all off. Seriously, the doormat could be a bucking model or something.

…As Salad pulled the dead weight along, she found herself thinking of things that could’ve been.

Her first impression of the pegasus was an idiot who overreacted and responded to her problems by sticking her head in the sand until they stopped being problems.

Then the pegasus showed her the meaning of fear. That was among the most unexpected things that had ever happened in her life.

…and then Salad beat up a grizzly bear, and the mare had patched her up. Upon retrospect, Salad decided the reason she had managed to not bolt out of the chair and for the hills with Fluttershy so close might’ve had something to do with the blood loss. And even if the witch was mad at her for what happened, she did it anyway because Salad needed it done.

…if she had more time to think on it after that, instead of being thrust into a random quest so quickly…

Moreover, what might’ve happened if Salad had gotten a better impression of the mare to start?

Dangerous thinking. It’s better this way. You know what she can do.

Red said she was on the level. So did Ivan. Salad trusted them both.

…so… Fluttershy was probably on the level.

She could end you.

So could Ivan. If he attacked her, she wouldn’t be able to fight back. She’d probably just let it happen.

You wouldn’t even have the choice with her.

Salad knew at the back of her head that Fluttershy was good, and that Red and Ivan were telling the truth, and that this entire time she had been spurning the honest efforts of a kind and pure hearted mare who was earnestly trying to make up for a mistake she made. Were it not for Salad's pride, fear, and annoyance at Fluttershy's constant pressing...

…Salad could probably just forgive her then. Just, take a leap of faith, look her in the eye, say it wasn’t a big deal, and then it could all stop. Fluttershy would just go back to doing whatever she did, and Salad wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore. Red said she was safe. It’d be fine.

It can’t be that easy.

So, when Fluttershy woke up, Salad could forgive her, and then all the spontaneous good deeds could stop and she’d go back to being like everypony else.

Once guilt was out of the way, she’d go back to maybe using her for a conversation or two, and dancing around the issue of where her wing went. Irritating, but something Salad knew how to deal with.

…if the wimp knew Ivan took it, she’d probably faint.

…maybe she wouldn’t change? Another part of her piped up. Something hopeful. Salad frowned. She thought she had stopped hoping for things a long time ago.

She had dealt with ponies like Fluttershy before. Wastes of thought that couldn’t stand the very idea of anypony having a problem with them.

She lost two days of sleep. Think back to how she acted. Maybe she’s actually this nice?

Salad snorted. Nopony was that nice. Period.

Ivan and Red are. They said she is too. You trust them.

She was thinking in circles. She’d come back to that later.

She’d have plenty of time on the return trip.

--

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Salad found herself stepping onto the road leading up the mountain, found she made a wrong turn, and started back. Once she got back to Ponyville, she could sort through this mes-

…hold the phone.

Salad turned back to the mountain.

I’ve still got business on that thing. Eye on the prize.

She stepped on the road leading up the mountain and realised she left something back with Ivan that she needed, so she started back an-

What the buck?

She stepped on the road leading up the mountain and decided that this was a beautiful place to live and that she should build a-

Alright, no.

She stepped on the road leading up the mountain and it dawned on her that playing the harp was awesome and she had a harp like, right there on her back, so she should dedicate a few years to just sitting there and-

Huh. Wonder what I’ll get this time?

She stepped on the road leading up the mountain and she remembered that there was a very hot pegasus sleeping in a cloud behind her, and if she got in the cloud that was just big enough for two, she could probably start slow and Fluttershy would probably be too shocked and half asleep to say no so-

…I’ve got one hoof already in the cloud. That was close.

Salad decided tempting fate for fun was a bad idea from that point on, sat herself down a good distance from the slumbering Fluttershy, and tried to figure out what was wrong.

So, probably magic or something. What to do?

Salad hesitated, and tried stepping onto the mountain just a little to the left of the road and wondered what it would be like to have foals and decided to jump the next stallion she ca-

Whoa! Calm down mountain! Just checking! Geeze!

…She decided that hilarity would ensue if she kept trying to get onto the mountain. Hilarity for everypony but her.

And since buck everypony but her, Salad trotted over to the cloud to wake Fluttershy. Salad had hoped to keep her unconscious until the very last minute, but whatever spell the mountain had on it was getting an attitude.

It had been a good nine hours anyway.

“…mmmm, Macintosh…”

Salad recoiled and stared in disbelief.

…on one hand, I could see if she says anything else and have a load of fun at Red’s expense. On the other, I could wake her up and get this over with.

Ah, decisions…

“Wake up.” Salad said, shaking Fluttershy awake.

“…um… Salad?”

“Dream about Red later, we’ve got a problem.”

“H-how did yo-“

“Because I’m spectacular. Now this mountain’s got some kind of spell on it. Explain.”

“Um…” The pegasus took a few moments to shake the sleep from her head. “…oh.”

“Well?”

“You haven’t been invited.” Fluttershy said. “So the mountain won’t let you in.”

“I don’t suppose your reservation has a ‘plus one’ I can take? Or should I wait here?”

“N-no, you should come! Just… touch me while we step onto the road.” Fluttershy said, eyes downcast. “O-once you’re over the line…”

“Fine.” Salad sighed, quashing her suspicion at the mare's insistence as she dispersed the cloud with a kick. “Come on.”

All Salad had to do was rest a hoof on Fluttershy’s wither and hobble forward a few steps.

Fluttershy looked up for a moment.

“We made good time.” She said.

“I want this over with as soon as possible.” Salad replied.

“Well… we’re almost there now.”

“Still have the trip back. So, what’s this god thing about?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What is it? What’s it look like, what’s it do… that sort of thing.”

“Well… he protects dreams.”

“…he protects dreams.” Salad repeated, eyebrow firmly raised. “There’s a god for that?”

“There are monsters that can attack ponies while they sleep.” Fluttershy explained as they walked. Salad noticed that it was starting to get hard to focus on their surroundings, but the other pegasus didn’t seem alarmed.

If Fluttershy wasn’t scared, it was probably pretty tame.

“No joke?”

“He prevents them from doing so. Before he was awakened, those demons could appear and possess or poison the mind. While he exists, our dreams are safe.”

“Huh. Who told you that?”

“…P-Princess Celestia…”

“I should’ve known that, really.” The edges of her vision were blurring a bit. The colouring seemed just a bit off.

“Oh?”

“Red told me things. Nightmare Moon, writing letters, that she’s the one who asked you to do this, all that good stuff.”

“O-oh…” Fluttershy was embarrassed of that?

“What?”

“S-so… you know about…”

“… the Element of Kindness? Is that what you’re getting at?”

“Y-yes.”

“Well yeah. What about it?”

“If you… if you know…”

“If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Beating around the bush like that frosts my cookies.”

“…is th-“

“That’s bad.”

“Well… w-why would you be…” Fluttershy couldn’t finish. At that point though, she didn’t really need to.

“…I just am.” Salad said. “You will never have any idea just how much I hate that I feel this way.”

“…but…”

“I’m here because there’s no other option. You know that.” The scarred mare stated. “Besides that though, Red and Ivan say you’re not going to kill me. I’m having trouble really taking that, but I trust them.”

“…I… don’t like that you feel that way either.”

“I’m sure.” Said Salad. “You can’t be liked by everypony.”

“That’s not it.”

“…Well then what is it?”

“…I’m scared of them too.” Salad, before she could stop herself, whipped her gaze over to the other mare.

Fluttershy had stopped, and couldn’t bring her eyes up to meet hers.

At the back of her mind, Salad was aware they had reached the summit, but the issue as to how they scaled a mountain so fast could wait.

“You’re having me on. Wha-“

“Please.” The mare asked. “I… please let me tell you. Please don’t interrupt me. I won’t ask you for anything after this.”

“…Why?”

“I-I want… Sorry isn’t enough for this.” Tears wet the ground at Fluttershy’s feet, but weren’t visible for long.

It had started to rain.

“…I’ll listen.”

“Thank you.”

--

“Mommy!” Shouted a little yellow filly as she flung open the front door. “Sticks and Stones won’t stop pulling my hair!”

“…And?” Asked the mare from her seat.

“A-and…” Honestly, little Fluttershy hadn’t thought that far. “The… the teacher said…”

“Are you in trouble?”

“No!” The filly shouted, stamping her hoof in indignation. “No I’m not!”

“You’re being loud again.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in panic.

“N-no, I’m sorry!” she cried. “It just makes me so mad! I’m-!”

“What did I tell you about shouting at me?”

“P-please, I-!” She knew if she didn’t lower her voice, it’d be bad, but she couldn’t calm down.

The teacher said she had to tell her mom to go talk to the parents of those bullies, and Fluttershy was trying to do just that, so why-!

“Fluttershy, you aren’t doing what I told you.” Her mother’s eyes locked on hers and Fluttershy found it impossible to look anywhere else.

Her mouth opened and closed, trying to form words and ask her mother to stop, but it was hard to even breathe.

“If they’re pulling your hair, then you must have done something to make them not like you.” Her mother said. “Just like what I’m doing to you now. You only have yourself to blame.”

Fluttershy was sure she hadn’t done anything to them, but her teacher always said that her mother knew what was best for her.

And if Fluttershy disagreed, she’d get the stare again…

“Are you this loud in class?”

She couldn’t answer.

“The nail that sticks up gets hammered down. You’re making yourself noticeable and they don’t like you for it.”

“I-“

“Do not talk back to me.”

The filly cowered, trapped.

“We’re going to practice being likeable. Once I stop, you’re going to make sure I don’t even notice you until tomorrow. You’ll do your chores quietly, complete your homework, go to bed on time, and I won’t have to tell you to do any of it. And I won’t hear a peep out of you. I don’t even want to see you if you can help it. Am I clear?”

Fluttershy barely managed to nod.

“Good.” Her mother said, turning her eyes aside. “You’ll thank me for this one day.”

She was gone before her mother finished talking.

--

“…I found out I could do it too, one day.” Fluttershy said. “The day I met Mr. Grizzles, he was about to hurt a little white baby bunny by accident. So, I stopped him.

“…he… he told me later that… it was alright.” The mare’s voice started to quiver. “T-that… that I wasn’t like… her…

“A-and, and that little bunny… h-he followed me home, and… I thought… it could be…”

“You thought it could be good?” Salad finished. Fluttershy nodded.

“M-my little Angel… he’s… he’s difficult, sometimes, but… but I love him so much, and… if I didn’t… he wouldn’t…”

“…You’re not perfect.” Salad said. “You’re… you’re kind, thoughtful, you care.”

“I-“

“I believe you now. You care. You don’t… you don’t know…” The scarred mare shook her head. “Just… just look at me.”

“But-“

“I’m not asking.”

Salad watched the mare hesitate, but waited patiently for her to lift her head.

Honest blue eyes met hers as she walked forward.

“You’re… wishy washy. It’s a stupid way to say it, but I can’t come up with a smarter way right now.” Salad said, stopping a few feet from the mare. “Like before, when a problem pops up, you panic and hide until it goes away or until you can’t put it off anymore.”

“I’m sorr-“

“And you can’t do anything for yourself.” Salad continued. “I heard you couldn’t even leave the cottage until you found out I had messed up your friend. You left for her.”

“Wha-“

“You’re an indecisive timid cowardly little pile of… something.” Fluttershy’s eyes closed as she started to cry harder. Salad drew a breath before continuing.

“Looking at you now, I don’t even remember what I was afraid of.”

“…w-wha, S-Sal-“

“You aren’t perfect.” Salad repeated, still watching when Fluttershy opened her eyes again. “You thought I came out of nowhere and bruised and cut up your friend for no reason other than I’m a horrible pony. So you swooped in and wanted to make sure I never did anything like that ever again. You didn’t think about it, but you wanted me scared. You made a mistake. There were consequences.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry, please-“

“I’m not afraid anymore.” Salad said. “So we’re done with that.”

“I don’t…”

“We’re cool. So… let’s forget it happened.” Salad said. “I’m making eye contact and everything. It’s fine.”

“A-are you sure?”

“I’ve forgiven worse.” Salad said, shrugging a load off her back. “Need a minute?”

“N-no. I’m f-fine.”

“Take a minute anyway. I’m not in any hurry.” Salad settled against a boulder, taking her bags off for the first time in days.

“Nothing’ll attack us up here, right? I don’t need to keep my bags ready?”

“No…” Fluttershy said, sniffing. “T-this is a sanctuary.”

“Is that why everything’s all weird here?”

“S-sanctuaries are different for, for whatever they belong to…” The mare said, as she started to calm down. “This is a place for dreams.”

“So that’s why everything around here’s all like… wavy and stuff.”

“I guess…”

“…Alright, you’ve had a minute.” Salad said, getting up again. “Here, have a harp. Let’s get this done.”

“Alright…”

The rain seemed to fall harder, and Salad felt herself getting soaked in it, but it was warm in a way that made it feel as if it almost wasn’t even there.

She wondered how well Fluttershy could play the thing, as she set herself up to begin.

The song Fluttershy played was new to her, but the feeling Salad felt when she heard the mare play was unmistakable.

The rain didn’t slacken at all as the clouds parted and the sun shone through in patches.

I felt this. When I was sleeping.

A shape descended from above, and the sky changed to a zebra like pattern of day and night around the clouds.

And… I had a nightmare. But it stopped. It stopped when I heard this harp. Because I heard it.

“Hello, Windfish.” Fluttershy greeted as she trotted forward. A bottle of something was pulled from her saddlebags.

And she… she stayed up. All night. Playing the harp she said. Even while I was…

The supposed god was a giant whale. It returned Fluttershy’s greeting with a warbling cry of it’s own. It seemed pleased.

I called her names, right after I woke up to steaming breakfast and an exausted mare who spent the entire night making sure…

Salad could do nothing but stare dumbly at the scene in front of her. More accurately at the most unselfish pony she had ever met.

The whale turned on it’s side and Fluttershy flitted to the top, and carefully poured the bottle’s contents into the god’s eye.

They chatted while this was going on. And when the deed was done, Fluttershy returned to the ground and continued talking about this and that.

It took Salad a moment to realise she was being waved over.

Salad, still in a state of mild shock, obeyed and walked forward until she was standing next to the pegasus, just a foot or so from the god.

Fluttershy took one of Salad’s forehooves and pressed it against the Windfish’s side.

Salad felt the god idly peruse her mind, but he refrained from touching or looking at anything the mare would deem personal. Weird that she could tell. Even weirder that he could tell.

…It almost felt like Salad was introducing herself as she let it happen.

Another soft sound from the whale, one that seemed to go right through her.

Pleased to meet you.

“…Likewise.” Salad replied, barely above a whisper, as the mountain around them started to crumble.

At some point, they both had ended up on the god’s back, and Fluttershy was laughing, loud and happily, like Scootaloo once did when Ivan had took off at a run with the filly on his back.

All Salad could bring herself to do was watch the lights and stars and planets fly by in the slowest blur she had ever seen.

The display was beyond her imagination.

--

Her eyes opened and she found herself curled up at the base of the mountain.

…a dream?

…Appropriate, she figured. Given the circumstances.

Fluttershy hummed as she got to her hooves, and she looked totally rejuvenated.

“I didn’t think he’d be so happy to see me.” The pegasus said with a smile. “It feels… nice.”

“Hey.” Salad said, catching the other mare’s attention.

“Yes?”

“…what does that harp do?” the scarred pony asked. “Don’t lie to me now.”

Fluttershy looked a little like she had just been backed into a corner.

“…It… The Surf Harp can… influence sleep and dreams.” Fluttershy said. “I, um… when I found you had fallen asleep in the cloud, I wanted… to see if it would… work.”

“…and?”

“You looked… well, relaxed. And you looked good when you woke up, too.”

“And last night?”

“I was going to play for you again, but then you… were having a nightmare so, so I…”

“…I’m sorry.” Salad said, looking into the mare’s eyes. “Thank you.”

“…What are friends for?” Fluttershy asked, as her smile returned at double the volume.