Lightning Will Strike Twice... · 9:35am Jun 12th, 2015
The lands of Equestria were vast. Fluttershy knew this very well. Once before she has climbed one of the many mountain peaks of Equestria near her hometown and could see nothing but stretches of land everywhere. Even then, what she had seen before is but a small sliver of what she had explored. Fluttershy looked out of the window from her flying carriage, driven by team of strong pegasi. Her adventure across the lands has taken her to the northernmost borders of the country, which was not an easy trip, even by flight.
As her ride slowly started to make its descent, Fluttershy could see the snowy rooftops of Trotterdam, a village built near the base of a mountain. Judging by sight, Fluttershy guessed the size of the place was perhaps double the size of Ponyville. Fluttershy could no longer see all the white roofs as the carriage sets down on a landing pad on the outskirts of town, where the Flight Travel Station was at. As she exited the carriage, she could already feel the cold settling onto her body. The flakes of snow on the ground clung to the sole of her hooves and the lowest edges of her green dress, the frigid air giving her the slight chills. As she breathed outward, she could see fogs floating away from her mouth.
After taking in a few more breaths of air, Fluttershy lifted up her left arm. Wrapped comfortably around the forehoof was a cotton wristband and hanging from it on a string was a small gold trinket in the shape of a harp. She breathed on it once before beginning to sing a few slow but short musical tones. A small moment of beauty that could stir the cold and brighten the bitter. At the end, the small trinket began to glow intensely white and grew into proportions just big enough for Fluttershy to hold with one arm. As the glow faded away, the trinket revealed itself to be an actual harp, adorn with colorful strings and two ropes of elegant vines wrapped around the forefront of the instrument, one green and the other pink. Fluttershy plunk a string of musical notes from the golden harp, singing another beautiful tune all the while. Woven from the music, a soothing warm feeling trickled down her body, protecting her from the cold with its embrace.
‘I’m so glad I learned the Tune of Warmth a while back. This dress isn’t enough to keep me from the cold,’ Fluttershy thought as she hummed a few more tunes, shrinking her harp down to trinket size. She turned towards the kind pegasi who driven her carriage and thanked them before making her way into town. Upon reaching the village, she took a look around and noted the darken exteriors of the wooden buildings. As she walked closer to one, she could see the walls were made of dark oak and the roofs made of dark clay tiles. She recognized them as such since Twilight had the tendency to pop out tidbits of details on their adventures together. ‘And for now I’m alone. That is until my friends log online of course.’ Fluttershy took in a deep breath as she remembered the times when she and her friends were all still beginners to this virtual world of Equestria, learning the ways of the RPG. Time that seemed so long ago yet were just a couple months past. As of right now, Fluttershy was strong enough to make her own adventures. Even as a Support-type class, being level 43 was no joke. A little bit of ingenuity and she can handle monsters around her level on her own. Of course, she still doesn’t mind having the company of her friends.
“Still, this quest can’t be completed by a party of six,” Fluttershy said to herself.
With a bit of haste, Fluttershy continued onward towards the nearest tavern, hoping to glean some information from the locals. The sun was close to setting, casting its orange light on the snowy expanse, but there were still some NPCs going about on their business. After asking a few for directions, Fluttershy found her way to the town’s tavern fairly quick. Already a bit of regret started to sink in as she could hear shouts of anger and unrest coming from inside. With folded ears, Fluttershy took a step backwards, rubbing her harp slightly with her right arm. The feeling of her instrument immediately comforted her.
“Well, in comes the maiden,” Fluttershy muttered with a breath before pushing the tavern’s door, stepping into a familiar atmosphere of lit wax candles and the scent of sour apples.
So context. Next new story will be a one-shot side story of Equestrian Earth. It's going to center around Fluttershy and how she plays the game by herself. It will also explore NPC interactions and what they're like.
But where is the Lightning?
Ooooh! It's baaaack~!
Too bad I'll be out of town, most likely.
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It'll happen.
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Eh if it's just for a few days, don't worry about it. I'm only posting one more sample before releasing the whole story on Fimfic. Probably take about a week or two.
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Oh, don't worry, that might very well be the timeframe I'm talking about. Either way, I'll probably read it as soon as I get back or be too tired to care regardless.