Would Anypony Miss Me? Part 7

In loving memory of Nathan Maddox
Sept 25 1991 - Feb 12 2012


Twilight had just finished wiping the last tear off her eyelashes. If it was one of her friends, she'd hate to be seen in this sad condition, especially considering how late it was at night. After, quickly glancing at the mirror on her desk to make sure there were no rings under her eyes, she took in a deep breath and trotted down the steps; still unaware of whom it was that would be waiting for her at the bottom.

"Who's here to see me at this-" Twilight had cut herself off, stunned and baffled by who stood before her.

"Um… it is I, Trixie who has come to see you."

An open mouth was fixated on the lilac unicorn's face, the same one that had come across Spike at first, but with a slighter hint confusion. She wasn't quite sure how to react to this sudden appearance of the pony involved in Fluttershy's suicide attempt. There was an absence of anger in her mind set, as if she wasn't happy to see such a familiar face in her sights, filling the gaps with neutrality.

"Um, Trixie… What the hay are you- er I mean… What brings you to my place at this hour?"

"Trixie… needs to talk to you about something. I'm not sure I know how to explain this, so I only hope that you will allow Trixie to speak with you."

Twilight knew exactly where this was going. "Go on, I'm all ears." She requested.

"Well, you see I-" She paused for a brief moment as she got a nasty glance from Spike; an intimidating reminder that she was being watched closely, "I came here because I know what I did was wrong."

"Come again? You what?"

"I'm more than sure that most, if not all, of your friends know of the awful things I've said to Fluttershy the other day. I'm also most certain that none of your friend would want to speak with me because of that."

"You got that right." Spike interrupted.

Trixie's face grew sadder. "… Which is why Trixie has come to you. You see, after I learned about Miss Fluttershy's occupation in the hospital yesterday, I just felt… I-I feel so…"

Twilight raised a hoof. "Stop right there."

The lilac unicorn's expression had changed dramatically. Just those very few sentences uttered by Trixie brought fourth much concern and was on the verge of shedding some new light. In another moment, Twilight's horn lit up as she levitated a pair of stools and table out into the open library area from the other side of the room.

"Have a seat. Spike, bring us some of that daisy juice I was saving."

Spike was perplexed. "Are you serious Twilight? Why?" The only response given was an apathetic look in her eyes as she shot daggers at her dragon assistant, urging him to do as he was told. It sure as hay didn't look like she wasn't being serious. After taking the hint, Spike walked off to go get them their drinks before Trixie and Twilight sat down.

"When did you say these… things to Fluttershy?"

"It-it was three days ago when I was checking into town for a-"

"What time?" Twilight asked quickly.

"Uh? I… umm…"

"What time did you speak with her?" she raised her voice slightly.

Trixie was becoming tense, feeling this as turn into more of an interrogation than a conversation. At this point, she still hadn't even fully explained herself for her actions and was feeling as though she bore more guilt than she could handle.

"Um… it was around four o'clock, I think."

"I'm not even going to ask what things you may have said to Fluttershy, but I will ask you this." Twilight leaned forward and spoke in such a discontented tone. "Were you aware of Fluttershy's self defensive incident before you spoke to her three days ago?"

That question alone sent chills down Trixie's spine. She was now fully aware that Twilight's friend, Applejack, must've already told her about Trixie hinting to go see Fluttershy's atrocity in the fields, outside the Everfree Forest. Even without anger occupying Twilight', the blue unicorn could only sit there, already feeling so shameful that she had used that knowledge against the frail pegasus in such a cruel.

"Yes, Trixie did know, which is why I'm… I'm so sorry for what I did."

A moment of silence filled the room following Trixie's words as she had said them out loud. It lasted a bit longer when Spike stepped back into the room, placing a set of glasses and a bottle of daisy juice on the table. The three objects illuminated with Twilight's magic as she poured the liquid into each cup.

"Is there anything else I can do for this sack of a pony?" Spike said angrily.

"Go outside and take a walk to cool down. Trixie and I need some alone time."

Spike was hesitant to do as he was told; feeling more concerned about Twilight's ability to keep her emotions stable if she were left alone. If he didn't know any better, the determination in her eyes was probably all the conviction he needed to see that Twilight knew what she was doing. Regardless, he walked towards the door anyways.

The door slammed shut and the two mares were alone once again. Twilight resumed the conversation. "Did you also know that she tried to kill herself not even an hour after you had last seen her?"

That was something Trixie was completely unaware of, throwing her completely off guard. If there was ever a sinking point in her guilty conscious, she was damn well close to hitting the bottom. In Trixie's eye, the story adding up like this was as if she herself was solely responsible for hammering the final nail into Fluttershy's coffin.

Trixie's eyes swelled with moisture. "Trixie…I did not know of this…"

"Then answer me this. Why did you say those terrible things to her?

"There…. Was…" The blue unicorn took in a deep breath and yelled out in such frustration. "Trixie was having a terrible day and didn't mean to lash out like that. I feel so horrible right now that all I want to do is make amends with you and everypony for my actions."

"I'm not the one you should be making amends with."

The blue unicorn cringed at her remark, knowing it to be true, as Twilight's voice grew deeper and more soft. "If you hadn't gone and said those things to our Fluttershy, there might've been a chance to talk with her and not find her… hanging from the ceiling beam."

Trixie finally broke out into tears. "Which is why I want… no, I need to make things right. I feel so terrible inside that it's been eating me up. Please Twilight, let me do something."

"I'm not even sure if I can trust you, after what you did to make Fluttershy so desperate enough as to try and take her own life." A single tear streamed down Twilight's cheek. "But… if you want to help make things right… then there is one thing you can do."

------

"A-Angel?"

It was an impeccable moment. Fluttershy's emotions were in suspense, hanging over her head with such a rush of liberation having now known that her companion Angel was more than safe. In her hooves, she gently clenched the small bunny tightly to her own chest with his eyes closed, soft squeaks abound while Applejack spoke up.

"I found the little critter just this mornin' on ma way here. He was probably worried sick about you fer the past few days not knowing you were in the hospital and all."

Fluttershy drew her face in closer to the white bunny's body with their noses touching one another. "Oh Angel, I'm so sorry to make you worried like that. I thought you'd still be scared of me after what happened that day… I wish I could take it all back and I'm just so sorry for putting you through this."

Everypony in the room was smiling, soaking in the sensation of seeing Fluttershy flourish to such good healing. In this small peak of happiness Fluttershy began to open her eyes and calmly look at all her friends in the room, having now realized what she had said out loud.

"Does this mean you girls all know what I… did?" She squeaked.

Twlight took the initiative to make a response first. "There's no need to get distressed Fluttershy, we-"

A frown ensued, momentarily stealing away the contentment from the yellow pegasus as her pupils quickly dialated. "Does this mean you've all seen it out in the field by my house? Oh my, please believe me…. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it, honest. I was just-" She was stopped by a soft hoof pressing on her leg alongside the bed.

"Relax there sugar cube. I was the only one that saw it, don't you fret now. Everything is okay."

Fluttershy relaxed her body once again, "I'm sorry, I just don't want you all to think I'm crazy."

"Crazy? Darling, you don't look crazy at all. It looks like all you need it you to just talk to us." Said Rarity.

The lilac unicorn continued. "Listen Fluttershy, we all know what happened and we're here for you no matter what the outcome was. It's alright, because we still love you."

Shock and awe was laid before Fluttershy, turing towards everyone. "W-w-w-what? You still… love me?"

Rainbow stood up from her seat, giving a light nudge on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Yeah, there's nothing in all of Equestria that could stop us from caring about you, Just look at how much Angel love you."

Fluttershy looked down again with her soft light blue eyes, seeing small droplets of tears run down Angel's face and onto her yellow coat. They both smiled at each other; feeling the most blissful moment they could ever share together. Such kind acts brought upon by her friends deserved another, and that was when Pinkie Pie took a small box out of her saddlebag.

"Oh, and lookie here Flutter-butter. Twilight helped me make this super duper most awesome treat just for you!" No one seemed to mind her voice raising high this time.

A pink hoof extended the box with a smile, awaiting Fluttershy's response, putting more joyous feelings in her heart. "You and Twilight made this for me?"

"Yah, open it, open it!"

As carefully as she could with Angel still in her lap, she lifted the ribbon covered lid to see such a simple cupcake inside. Her heart flooded with love when she read the small, yet legible, pastry text that was written on the top, reading it out loud.

"We… Love… You…Lots?" She gasped as another tear droplet formed. "You girls made this… for me?"

"Well duh! We love you a whole bunch! That's why we made it for you silly!"

Rainbow sure as hay was shocked. "Wow Twilight, I didn't know you were into making this kinda stuff."

Twilight scratched hooves with her head tilted. "Oh, it's nothing, really. I didn't do much except pick out the colors and help get the ingredients like Pinkie asked."

The soft pegasus took a few seconds to study the cupcake's texture; perfectly made with a yellow batter that was coated in a layer of sprinkle covered pink frosting. Butterfly chocolates stuck out in perfect increments around the outer edge. It left an anticipation mixed in with the tension as Pinkie Pie just stood there, waiting for Fluttershy to take a bite.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to ruin all the hard work you did to make this for me." She squeaked.

Everyone just smiled, "I'm sure it's alright sugar cube, seeing as how cupcakes are meant ta be eatin' and all."

"Especially if it was made from a dear friend." Rarity added.

The silence behind the curtain lasted for a few seconds before Fluttershy took a soft bite into the cupcake, savoring in the taste of the love that had been put inside the pastry treat. Pinkie Pie was now left with an even bigger smile on her face, feeling enthusiastic as ever to see Fluttershy smile again; with her eyes closed cheerfully.

At this point, everypony else wanted to jump right in and present their gifts to make Fluttershy even more happy. It turned into a bit of a staring contest for the moment, nopony knowing who should go next. With a gesturing tilt of her head, Applejack motioned Spike to step up, seeing as how he'd had the roughest time controlling his sentiments in this whole ordeal.

The medium sized photo album raised high to the bed level as Spike walked forward. "Um… I wanted to- I mean Rarity and I wanted you to have this." He smiled

Putting the cupcake box gently aside, Fluttershy took the album from Spike's hands. The book was all too familiar to her, already aware of it being taken by her cottage. However, she noticed the few artistic modifications to it, with a leather engraving on the front, which spelled out: Kindness. It might have been her guess that this was all a part of her friends making the loving effort to put her mind at ease, which delighted the bottom of her heart.

"Oh, my… This is… so incredible… You really did this for me?"

Rarity just smiled, "Now, I know that you've already seen all of the pictures inside, but Spike suggested that we add a little… something extra to it. You simply must look at the last few pages and tell me what you think."

"Oh, something else? I hope it wasn't a lot of trouble for you to do-" With a flip to the back of the album, an immediate smile shone ear to ear, indulging to the delightful set of photos before her. Unlike most of the shy self portrait pictures of herself that filled half the pages, the last few pages were filled with such memorable images of her being surrounded by her friends.

On the left page, she saw an image of her in the Grand Galloping Gala dress Rarity had designed, see herself so beautifully clad.  There were so many smiles for her to gaze at inside the album, it served as an excellent reminder to Fluttershy what she meant to her friends; an unbreakable chain of bonds that could never be released. Angel smiled when he saw himself in one of the pictures.

"Where did you get these pictures of us?" She was ecstatic now, flipping over to the next page.

"Fret not dearie, these were just a few photos I took when I wanted to try out my new camera. You were the first one I wanted to see through the lens because of how... graceful and kind you are to me." Rarity giggled, "I think I can see now why Photo Finish wanted you as her model."

Fluttershy blushed with a blank expression that followed suit with another smile. "Oh… my. T-t-thank you Rarity. Thank you Spike. I really love it."

------

"Are you sure that this will help… make things right?"

"I'm more than certain that this can help make her feel happy again knowing you'll do the right thing for her."

Trixie paused to take moment of reflection for her task, "I understand. If this is what'll make Fluttershy better, then… Trixie shall do it!"

Twilight wiped the last tear that hung on her face, now able to speak clearly again. "I'm very glad to hear that you still want to help her. Do you think you can get it done before noon tomorrow?"

"The great and powerful Trixie shall make double sure that this task you've asked of me will be done in time." She paused again, now realizing that she was standing high on her hind legs with her front hooves on the table. "Sorry, Trixie did not mean to get ahead of myself. I shall leave now to go get started right away."

"Huh? But it's almost midnight, you're going out right now?" Twilight queried.

"Well staying here with you isn't going to help put Fluttershy's mind to rest." She frowned again, realizing she did it again. "Trixie apologizes again…. I only meant that I should not wait a minute longer." She trotted towards the door.

This was all very shocking to Twilight in so many ways. Not only did Trixie come in to ask for help, she wasn't in the slightest hesitant when told what she needed to do, especially at this time of night. She really was being true to her word when she said she wanted to help, but this went beyond what anypony would expect from somepony like her.

"Wait… Before you go… I have a question."

Trixie turned around, now seeing Twilight out of her seat. "Yes?"

"Um… why… why did you come to me for help? Not that I'm not grateful for it but…"

As Twilight's voice trailed off, Trixie began to finish her sentence. "Well, you see… Trixe knows how good of a friend you are with Fluttershy, which is why I said those… awful things to Fluttershy." She cringed when she spoke those words. "But I felt so heartbroken and beaten inside when I overheard you talking with your other friend outside my hotel."

"You mean Rarity?"

"Yes, that furious white unicorn you entrapped with your spell. I am most grateful that you stood up for me and felt that I had to do something when I heard Fluttershy was in the hospital because of… me."

Twilight's mind set had turned back into an apathetic state and was, once again, speaking in such a neutral tone that was neither upsetting nor remorseful, "I wasn't standing up for you, I just didn't want Rarity to get out of control."

In some sort of way, she understood Twilight's reasoning. "Regardless, I must return the favor to somepony who needs it most. Trixie has let you know when it is done tomorrow."

And with that, she walked out the front door without speaking another word; body disappearing into the darkness as Spike walked up besides her. He had a sad look on his face, but kept eyes contact with the blue unicorn while carrying something in his hand.

"Here, if you're going out there right now, you'll probably need this." The dragon outstretched his hand with a long and sturdy shovel, as Trixie gladly accepted it.

------

It was Applejack's turn, turning her head to grab the large bottle of apple cider sticking out her saddlebag. Feeling the weight of it in her mouth, it clanked on the ground, before reaching for a mug in her other pocket. "Would yeah mind helpin' me out Twi?" She gestured.

"Oh, no problem AJ."

The lilac unicorn's horn lit up as Applejack popped the cork with her teeth, levitating the bottle and pouring the stream of golden crystal like liquid out into her mug; foaming at the very top with a small bit of it streaking down the side. Being careful as not to spill anything on the bed, Twilight held the floating mug in front of Fluttershy for her to take hold of.

Rainbow stared at the sparkling goodness that was suspended in midair before her. "Applejack, you brought some of your cellar stored cider out?"

"I told yeah it wasn't fer me." The orange pony turned to Fluttershy. "Seeing as how you're able to check out of here tomorrow, I felt that now was as good as ever of a time ta give ya some of my good cider, the kind that ferments and tastes better with aging."

Angel bunny had to hop up onto Fluttershy's shoulder to be within sniffing distance of the cider, wiggling his tiny nose at the faint scent of apple liquid fragrance. A few small twitched and squeaks were made near Fluttershy's ear before she grasped the floating mug.

"Applejack, you wouldn't mind if Angel had some of your cider, would you?"

"Of course not sugar cube. You and whiskers there can have as much as ya'll like."

Taking another pause to observe the carbonated bubbles floating atop the drink, the soft pegasus drew in her cup close enough for Angel to lean forward and lap in more than a few satisfying drops. She closed her eyes again and slowly raised the mug to her muzzle, delicately letting the fizzing liquid cascade down her throat. After a few sips she dropped her head into a slouch.

Something seemed wrong for a moment when Fluttershy's mane dropped in front of her eyes, leaving her friends unable to distinguish her expression. Rainbow Dash asked in a soft voice. "Fluttershy? What's that matter?"

"Its… good…" She wimpered.

Rarity couldn't hear her quiet voice. "What was that sweetie?"  

"It tastes so good… I've never tasted anything so wonderful in my life…" Another set of tears, which were lighter than the last, were unveiling in her eyes. "…I can't even believe you all still love me even after I...I…" She couldn't finish her own sentence.

It wasn't as if she was crying to be sad, but more as in  the brink of revelation that she now realized the impact of her suicide and how it affected her friends. These kind gifts and acts of compassion were all well taken in good faith, that all anyone wanted to do was just love her more than ever with open hooves. Everyone in the room wanted to respond, but Twilight beat them to it.

"Look Fluttershy. I know you feel bad about what you did, but I'm most certain that there wasn't anything else you could've done. It wasn't your fault. Angel showed Applejack what happened and also explained how you saved him."

Spike leaned in on the opposite side of the bed to give a small hug. "You don't need to put so much guilt on your shoulders because we're here for you…. no matter what happened."

Fluttershy continued to sob, "I actually thought you'd all hate me and never ever want to see me again after what I did. That's why I tried to… kill myself." Her words brought silence to the room's atmosphere. "I never wanted to go back to being such a monster like that, but it… it just happened because I was so scared for Angel and-"

Rainbow didn't even hesitate to interrupt her sentence. "Fluttershy! You're not a monster! You're the kindest and happiest pony a friend could ask for!"

Another gentle hug was thrown onto the bedside, careful enough to not spill the half full mug still in Fluttershy's hooves. Taking the initiative, Angel took the cider cup away and placed it onto the hospital bed stand, where it would be out of the way of such a precious moment. It was a great surprise to Fluttershy that all her friends then began to gather around the white sheets and join Rainbow Dash.

Everywhere her eyes looked, she saw smiles in their faces as they each join together as one massive hug. The cheerfulness that embraced her aura began to merge into one big message, now able to see clearly, which was then spoken first by Pinkie Pie, "We're your friends no matter what Fluttershy."

Rarity adjoined with Rainbow, "There's not a thing in all of Equestria that could change that darling."

"We don't want you to leave us, we want to see you smile and just be your kind self again."

Everyone closed their eyes after Angel hopped back onto the bed and into Fluttershy's pink mane, hugging the side of her face. Her body was now covered in hugs, feeling the love that now literally surrounded every side of her. It felt so incredibly wonderful that she just didn't even know what to say.

------

"He called you a what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, because I still haven't finished yet. You see, later on that day I-"

Rainbow Dash paused to double check behind herself to make sure no one else was listening in on their conversation before continuing her story. It wasn't something she really wanted anyone else to hear, but knew it would help her friend. She took in a deep breath before speaking.

"I was angry at him. Really angry, like I don't even know what Twilight would call it."

"Angry?" Fluttershy squeeked.

Rainbow scratched the back of her head. "Yeah…. I really wanted to sock him good after what he called me, but I didn't want to make a scene like that out in flight school."

Fluttershy was becoming more curious of Rainbow's story, despite how frightened she was of its outcome. "What did… you do?" She asked.

"Well, even after things had settled down after school, I was still pumped with fury. I followed closely behind him until there wasn't anyone else around, and that's when I…I…" Rainbow looked down at Fluttershy's hoof, "I lunged at him and just started beating him senselessly."

With both hooves raised at her muzzle, Fluttershy made a small gasp under her breath. Rainbow had to pause for a second as to not upset her friend, who was looking her directly in the eye with much concern. It  was still unclear why she was being told such a story and it was already frightening her. Despite this, the timid pegasus still managed to ask Rainbow to continue.

"Well, it got kinda dark early in the afternoon so I could only see the outline of him. I had him underneath me when I landed a few good solid hit on his face, only… it wasn't him."

Fluttershy jerked her head back slightly in shock. "What? It wasn't him?"

A tear ran down Rainbow's cheek, "No… it was some other filly from our class. I had hit her so hard that all she could do was lay there and cry. I still remember her whimpering to me 'what did I do?'" Rainbow glared down at her own hooves. "And then I thought to myself, 'what did I just do?' I just beat up an innocent pony who was just trying to get home."

Leaning in closely, Fluttershy nervously came closer to Rainbow, bringing the hospital bed sheets up to her neck. Although afraid to ask anything or even say anything, she couldn't just sit there and watch Rainbow cry like this. She mustered up the courage to speak, as she knew the story wasn't over yet.

"What happened then Rainbow?"

With a tear still in her eye, Rainbow looked up and asked, "Do you remember that one day when you found me sitting by myself at Cloudsdale park?"

"Um… yes, I remember. You were crying an awful lot. I don't think I had ever seen you cry before."

"Well, when I saw who I had beat up… I-I-I panicked. I didn't know what to do. What scared me even more was that I saw what I would've done to any other pony, like there was this monster inside of me I didn't even know about, so… I ran."

"You were scared?" That sure as hay sounded familiar to her.

"All I wanted to do was be alone. I couldn't believe what I had done. I knew that pony hadn't seen my face and there never was an explanation for it to her parents." The blue pegasus was shrugging her shoulders. "I felt so bad that I just wanted to… I just needed to… and then you came by the park." She relaxed her shoulders.

They both remained silent for a few seconds. "So… that's the reason why you were so sad?"

Rainbow Dash hopped off her chair and brought her front hooves onto the bed, she was feeling frantic and overly distressed enough to say exactly what was on her mind. "Fluttershy, I still remember to this day how warm your body felt when you hugged me and said "it's okay.' It was all I needed to hear to make me stop crying."

A heavy weight of worry slowly lifted off of Fluttershy's shoulders. Reminiscing whilst listening to those words proved beyond a doubt that she meant something to Rainbow and her friends. It almost made her want to cry out of sheer joy.

"I-It was?" Fluttershy squeaked.

Rainbow continued to cry, "Your kind heart gave me such comfort even though I didn't say anything to you. You were like a warm glowing light of happiness that made me forget all about me being sad. I don't know what I would do if you were gone." She dropped her head onto Fluttershy's lap.

"Rainbow… I had no idea. I'm so sorry that I… I tried to leave you all."

With the bed sheets soaking in the tears, Rainbow jerked her shoulders up and down as she muffled her cries into the bed besides her friend's leg. "Please don't leave us Fluttershy. I couldn't be anywhere without you. I know you were sad but p-p-please try to remember that we love you."

Fluttershy brought her down to gently stroke Rainbow's mane, and smiled. "Don't worry Rainbow Dash, I'm not going anywhere."

------

"Um… Are you girls sure about this?" Fluttershy had to be guided down the path by sound since she couldn't see anything.

Rainbow Dash walked closer beside the yellow pegasus, "Trust us Fluttershy, you'll be happy when you see this."

"Yah, you won't wanna miss this." Spike added.

For the past minute and a half, all Fluttershy could guess where she was going. She knew that they had already been walking in the general direction of her cottage before they had put the blindfold over her eyes. The anticipation made her shiver with fright, not knowing where she was being lead.

Pinkie Pie began to notice Fluttershy's pace slowing down. "Come on Flutter-butter! It's alright, I promise nothing's gonna explode or scare you."

She turned her head. "Oh… okay then."

"We're almost there, so just relax and keep following the sound of our hoofs." Said Twilight.

At the last hundred feet of the walk, Fluttershy could feel the tall grass brushing up against her wings and legs; more certain now that her friends had taken her to the fields outside the Everfree Forest, where her cottage was located. Although scared at first, the company of her surrounding friends was more than enough to keep a calm nerve.

When everypony had stopped walking, Fluttershy froze. She was expecting something big, but became puzzled when no one spoke up the first few seconds. "Um… so, can I take off this blindfold?"

Rarity nodded at Twilight, who received a wink back, "Before we do sweetie, I want you to close your eyes for us first."

"Oh, okay." She squeaked.

The white cloth sheet lifted off of gentle and yellow face by the blue glow from Rarity's horn, with Fluttershy's eyes remaining shut. There was a light breeze in her mane, bring her tension to a standstill. Calm and with a clear conscious, she waited patiently for one of her friends to tell her when to open them. After all the wonderfully kind things said to her yesterday, Fluttershy felt like she could stand up to the world again.

"Alright sweetie, you can look now."

Blinking a few time to adjust to the sudden rush light in her eyes, Fluttershy started at an object that laid in front. It was hard to make out at first with half of a blurry vision, before focusing in on the grayish object. Stepping closer, she was now able to see it was a stone; flat, grey and with writing on it, by which Fluttershy read it out loud.

"'May this wonderful creature find everlasting peace.'" She paused, looking all around her, she saw it.

This was the spot. This was where she had been attacked during that day and, most likely, was also where the wolf's body was, or rather is. Noticing the soft pile of dirt in front of the stone, Fluttershy could tell that this was indeed a burial site for the creature she killed. She didn't say anything, standing there in stillness without any indication of her reaction.

Twilight broke the silence. "We… uh… thought it would be a proper thing to do instead of leaving him out here like this, so I had someone give him a proper burial."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Y-y-you did?"

"Um… yeah." Twilight continued. "She heard about your story and just um… wanted to help. She said that she wanted to give her respect to you as well."

Fluttershy dropped into her sitting stance, throwing concern at her friends as to think she was upset again, but didn't realize they were all far from the truth. Unable to see until the quiet pegasus turned around, she had the most joyous smile on her face with but a single, yet small, tear in her eye.

"Who did this?" She asked.

Twilight hesitated, not wanting to say who. "She um… ask me not to tell her name because she… just wanted to give an anonymous and kind gesture."

Fluttershy looked down. "Was it somepony I knew?"

No one said anything, even though they all knew exactly who it was that buried the wolf for Fluttershy. Despite this, it would be wise to say that she took the hint and already knew from the beginning.

"Well… that's okay with me. I just… I just don't know what to say. I'm so glad to see that we could at least do something for the wolf. At least he won't be just sitting here alone," She turned back at tombstone. "…like I was." Her smile dropped slightly.

All her friends came in close behind, gathering around her vision for another collective and comforting group hug that seemed to last a generation. They merged together as one combined force of affection that emitted such massive waves of love into Fluttershy's heart. She knew that there were friends she could count on, who would try their best to make her feel better in any way.

"You're never alone sugar cube." Applejack spoke softly, with Rainbow Dash following up.

"We don't ever want you to leave us. You're one of our best friends and it could never be the same without your kind heart."

Rarity needed to say something as well. "I know that terrible things may happen to use and that sometime it may seem like nopony can possibly understand our pains…"

"… but everypony should have a friend to go see when we are feeling this way. So you can just talk to us all you want and we'll listen." Pinkie Pie finished.

A smile resurfaced on Fluttershy's face which adjoined with all the other smiling faces around her. The darkness that once occupied these fields on that rainy morning were far behind her and could see a bright and cheerful sun beaming down on her. Life could move on for Fluttershy, knowing that nopony in Equestria is a failure who has friends.

The void of emptiness she once had was filled with so much hope. Hope for herself and her future. No matter how dire things may have seemed, she now saw that there would always be a light of comfort and joy ready to find her among the darkness. The friendship she still had truly was something that could bring her unlimited happiness, and it certainly was amazing.

"Thank you girls." She replied.

------

Editor's note:
Wow, it's finally done. The finale's finally done and all my hard work has paid off. For those who don't read the description, I am Malicious Badger, editor of this story from start to finish. It all started when I wrote a 1000 word critique on chapter 1 of WAMM, including "if you want more help, just contact me" and hey presto, I became editor. People reading this story are probably completely unaware of how many edits and changes are made to each chapter, which is why I always have a laugh at the comment whenever someone say "you're a brilliant writer" or something like that. No offence to my writer, he does write pretty decently (and I was actually impress with the last 1800 words or so of this chapter), but this story would be completely different without me.

I don't think people realize how much of an impact I've had on the story; one chapter takes 8-12 hours to edit, which entails about 200+ edits per chapter. Anyways, time to stop bitching about the job and advertising myself like a shameless whore, and say; it's definitely been a lot of work to get to where we are now, was it worth the effort? Maybe, who knows? We were able to reach out and touch many people with our words but does the work fit the reward? Probably not, but oh well. I'm not going to say it was a lot of fun to work on this ect… because it really wasn't, for the most part it was the mundane editing, and a few arguments. But I will say that I enjoyed reading the comments, even though none were ever about me ;_; I liked that I was there through it all, I like our end results (though there still I few changes I'd make), and I like what we now all have done for each other.
- M. Badger

Author's note:
I would like to thank everyone for sticking with my long and complicated story till the very end. With over 32,000 words written in total, I am quite shocked that anyone had taken an interest in my little MLP Fanfic. I originally started writing this in dedication of a classmate friend named Nathan Maddox, who had taken his own life in his college dorm on February 12th, 2012. For more information, you can simply google his name where you will find him in the Oregonian obituaries.

I would like to give a big shout out to my editor, Malicious Badger, who stuck with me for this entire project, working tirelessly to help correct many mistake's I've made and make my writing sound more authentic. Up until I started writing this, I hadn't written a single fictional story for over two years. I only hope that my writing style was at least commendable, for you see, none of this great writing could be done without some sort of help, and Malicious Badger provided just that. So please, go check out his material if you have 5 minutes of your life to spare, because this person gave such dedication to my story that he deserves some recognition, if anything, at the very least. His icon is in the description.

This story truly was a pleasure to make and I hope you all have a wonderful life with plenty of smiles ahead. With that, I leave you my final message from this moral:

When the world gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. Friendship truly is magic and has an affect beyond our imagination, it is something we all need and it is senseless to live without.