Fluttershy soared down towards Ponyville, her eyes peering into every window, every street, looking for the purple mare she so desperately needed to speak to. Ponies trotted down the streets, carrying saddlebags filled with clothing they recently purchased. Others were observing the fruit carts, handing over a couple bits for a bushel of apples. Behind one of the fruit stands stood an orange mare with blond hair that was in complete disarray. Atop her head stood a brown country hat, that Flutters so obviously recognized. Expecting nothing but casualty, she flew down to greet her beloved friend.
" Oh Applejack!" Fluttershy declared, relieved. "I've been looking everywhere for Twilight! Have you seen her?"
Applejack gazed at her with a slightly perplexed expression. "Ah'm mighty sorry, but, who are you?"
"It's me, Fluttershy!" she replied, smiling with relief.
"You're Fluttershy?!" Her friend's pupils grew the size of a watermelon. "Why, It's so great to meet you! I'm Applejack!"
"We've already met," she chirped, slightly shocked at her friend's unusual response.
"We have?" She questioned. "Why, I think I'd remember meeting a skilled flier like you."
Impatience emerged from her mind as she thrust her hoof out to softly hit AJ's shoulder. "Nice prank, AJ. Let me guess, Rainbow Dash put you up to this." Fluttershy failed to swallow her incoming giggle.
"Listen, I respect you, Honest!" Applejack backed away."But ah've never met you, or this Twilight you speak of."
Fear cloaked Fluttershy's mane as a sense of realization overtook her. This darned alternate timeline had messed up her treasured friendships too! What ELSE had it done? Fluttershy jammed her hind leg into AJ's cart, furious as a griffon. She didn't realize what she had done until squashed apples and the remnants of the cart lay smashed and destroyed. She cautiously backed away. "Oh, um, sorry....."
Before she knew it, AJ was throwing apples like a mad mare, Fluttershy her intended target. She felt a slight ache of pain in her right side, where a bruise formed where an apple had been pelted at. AJ's next several throws were slightly off aim, and hit two nearby ponies walking nearby. Bon Bon, one of the victims, became enraged with fury. Nobody messed with her, because she turned into a maniac when she didn't get her way. The best background pony of them all wasn't going to get away with apple assault.
Bon Bon and the other victim, Carrot Top, Dove into a nearby vegetable cart, and emerged with a hoof full of tomatoes. Fluttershy watched as Applejack shuddered, hiding behind the wreckage of her cart. Bon Bon thrusted a tomato at the mare, hitting her in the muzzle. AJ growled. More apples and tomatoes were pelted, each being on aim, injuring their opponent. A large group of school fillies and colts saw the fight, and decided to get in on the fun. Cheerilee, the teacher with them, sighed.
"Come on, every pony! Let's go back to the schoolhouse and........."
Before any pony knew it, a mass vegetable war had started up in the middle of the intersection. Flutters let out a squeal that could be heard to nopony else but herself, for she knew she was the catalyst of this dilemma. All she wanted to do was gallop home, lock the doors, and cry heavily under the sheets of her bed. All of this, because of that dream diamond....
That was when it hit her. She left behind her crazy ambitions, and made a mad dash for the antique shop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fluttershy burst through the doors of the antique shop, only to find a lazy store clerk napping on a table, drool escaping his lips. Ew. Some ponies in her life simply lacked poise and grace. She set this thought aside, and let out a muffled squeal that was just enough to wake the sleeping Stallion.
"Huh, what?" He mumbled, grasping reality with his hooves once again. "Oh, that nightmare was awful. Hot Dogs, walking around, eating lettuce..."
Fluttershy twitched at his active imagination. What was a hot dog? She sighed. "Um, I was wondering if you could tell me a little about this dream diamond." She dove into her saddlebags, retrieving the crystalized artifact. "I bought it several days ago, and I'm confused."
The stallion's expression changed like a reflex, cringing up in sudden realization. A look of deja vu crossed his face, toying with his emotions, twisting a and spinning his brain into mush. He looked at Fluttershy observantly, as if he was trying to translate an internal presence that had landed in his skull. Fearfully, the clerk spoke. "Come with me." he slowly walked over to a door in the back of the shop, labeled DO NOT ENTER. Fluttershy reluctantly followed, unsure of where they were going.
The two ponies tip-hoofed down an old set of stairs, the floorboards creaking every step. The wallpaper wilted and ripped, cloaking the walls in destruction and darkness. Very few light could be seen, besides a few rays squeaking their way through the tight openings of the ceiling. It wasn't until several staircases later that a significant source of light was visible, illuminating brightly among the cluttered room it supplied light to.
Fluttershy stepped off the stairs, her hooves swimming in the soft, wool carpet. Test tubes serenaded on their racks as blasts of chemical air shooted out their beakers and tubes. The shopkeeper whistled a tune, as if he was attempting to harmonize with his musical potions. "Oh, this?" He asked her, though she never questioned him. "This is an old experiment I've been working on. If you're never going to do anything with your second life, you might as well make up for the lost time by trying something new..."
"In English please," Fluttershy interrupted, not very found of anything beyond the basics.
"Oh, sorry for confusing you," he said, taking the dream diamond from Fluttershy's possession. He slipped it into a cupboard below his desk, careful not to break the priceless gem. "Tell me the truth, did this, "dream diamond", completely turn your life around?"
"Well ya," she responded, thinking it was obvious. " What does that have to do with anything?"
"IT'S A MIRACLE!" The clerk shouted, nearly knocking over a beaker or two. " another victim, that is actually in my alternate timeline! GENIUS!"
Fluttershy scrunched up her muzzle in confusion. "Um, I'm not sure I'm following..."
"OK FINE," she yelled, though careful not to be heard."I'll explain it in idiot terms." Fluttershy was deeply offended, wanting to flap the stallion in the face for saying something so crude, but since she was still the element of kindness, she refrained from producing violence.
"As you probably know, when you wished for something on the dream diamond, you were transported to another timeline, where your wish came true," he explained thoroughly, assuring that Fluttershy was following. " Well for some crazy reason, you were transported to the same timeline I am in, for I too was a victim of the dream diamond."
Flutters nearly choked on her own saliva upon hearing this news. HOW IN EQUESTRIA WAS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? She began to hyperventilate feverishly.
"Now yellow mare, calm yourself," the stallion reassured. "It's not like the universe is going to collapse on us in the next 24 hours. Anyways, after you hear MY story, I can hear all about your suffering."
"Ok.." she said, drowning in utmost fear while her trans-dimensional friend had a conversation with her.
"Anyways.." He began," I was simply walking through the Phillydelphia Diamond mines, when I came across a strange, ominous rock. Curious, I picked it up, careful to make sure no security guards saw it, and walked slowly away. Then I thought, what's the need to hide it? It's not like they would've wanted it. After that, I went to work, where I was shamefully fired..." Fluttershy's empathetic characteristics came pouring out at the thought of this, covering her eyes to make sure nobody saw her tears.
"It's not that bad!" He consoled, careful not to disrupt her. "Calm down. We really must get on with the story. I was sad and ashamed. That's when the rock began to glow suspiciously. I thought it was just a reflection in the light, but I was still entranced by its beauty, so I wished,'Please get me a job, somewhere, somehow, and I will be eternally grateful.' The rock transported me to Ponyville, but I didn't know that it changed everything about me besides my unemployment." He quickly galloped over to the cupboard that Fluttershy's dream diamond was in, and retrieved another identical one, just slightly smaller.
"Well, that's certainly peculiar.." She responded, still unable to take the whole situation in. "It was nice meeting you and all, but I really must get going. I have flying practice, and I need to go speak to Twilight Sparkle about this curse we have here."
"Who's Twilight?"
"There's no time to explain," She responded, taking the diamond from his grasp and stuffing it in her saddlebag. She began trotting up the stairs at a fast, rushed pace.
"BUT WAIT! I FORGOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE TIME CONTINUUM CUR..."
A wooden door was heard slamming shut overhead.
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Spitfire sat impatiently on the training ground, her hoof watch ticking away, as well as her students' patience. A bright sunny forecast was recorded that day, and although the students were eager to stretch their wings, a certain pink haired pegasus mare was holding up the entire team.
"What is up with Fluttershy this week?" Spitfire questioned, glancing at her students to make sure there weren't any other absences. "This is the second day in a row she has been late to class, and It's a penalty to all of us."
A turquoise mare soared over to the group, wings outstretched and blond hair blown back in the wind. She landed roughly on the landing area. Barely sticking it.
"You know if I was grading that you'd have a very poor score," added Spitfire. "Now, where's that lazy partner of yours?
"I searched her dorm, Spitfire," she responded."I couldn't find her anywhere. She must be down by Ponyville."
"Thank you for searching, Lightning Dust," said Spitfire, putting a dark red check near Fluttershy's photo on her clipboard. "Now, I suggest we begin with several hundred laps around the expanse.."
"I'M HERE!" Shouted a sweaty Fluttershy, her face burning like asphalt. "I had a, family situation."
"You're lucky you're here today," she responded, scribbling out the red mark. "If I didn't get a response from you today on the Best Young Flyer's Competition, I would've skipped you and moved on to my second choice, which is..." she scanned the list accordingly. "Lightning Dust."
Fluttershy glanced over at raving mad Lightning Dust, who had just purposely stepped on another stallion's tail to let out her anger. I see why Rainbow Dash always hated her, she thought to herself.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOSING OFF FOR, FLUTTER-SHY!" yelled Spitfire in her loud, coaching voice. "Go get to your laps!"
"Oh, yea, sorry..."
The morning seemed to go off without a hitch. Drills were conducted, we took turns on the dizitron, nothing out of the sort. That was until Spitfire called Flutters over to talk. Fearfully, she flapped over to her supposed mentor, expecting lots of annoying lecturing.
"So, are you excited about the Best Young Flyer's competition in a few months?" she asked positively. Fluttershy looked at her blankly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't give it a second thought. I've been so sidetracked.."
"I'm sure you have," she interrupted. "With the 1,000th Summer Sun Celebration coming up in a couple of days, I'm sure you've been busy socializing with visitors coming to Ponyville this year." Once again, Fluttershy's expression was in a state of confusion.
"I don't mean to correct you, but, Isn't it the 1,003rd? In Manehatten?"
"Nope. It's 1,000 on the nose," She corrected. "and Princess Celestia is sending her prized student here to foresee the preparations. I think her name is Twilight. Being in Canterlot all the time, I know pretty much all the ponies."
Fluttershy backed away. "and what about Luna?"
"Who?"
Fluttershy Choked.