//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Fluttershy's Foal? // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 11 ___________________________________________________________ Fluttershy sighed as she (with Twilight riding atop her back), Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Speed Strike, stepped off the train in Ponyville station. The rest of their time visiting Braeburn had definitely been interesting. With all their memories restored, both he and Fluttershy found it very hard to look each other in the eye. Fluttershy, of course, had more things on her mind, that did not help with the renewed awkwardness that had come between her and Applejack’s cousin. Fluttershy could now remember everything about raising Twilight from birth. It both thrilled and weirded her out, having memories of herself interacting with her friend as a full-grown mare, as well as remembering carrying her around for eleven months and the year that followed. It was actually a bit embarrassing, remembering how over protective of the little Alicorn this version of herself had been, regardless of the time mostly being when Twilight was a unicorn foal. A unicorn foal who somehow had gotten her Cutie Mark before birth, but a unicorn foal, all the same. She blushed just thinking about how much she’d fretted over her foal’s safety. Sure, it made sense that she’d be worried, but it really showed how she’d grown as a pony in their original timeline compared to the her that had been created in this timeline. Dash seemed the most out of it after Fluttershy, though, always seeming shocked whenever seeing Twilight as a foal after having gotten her old memories back. “Well, if you’ll excuse us, Lady Fluttershy,” Speed Strike said, bowing to the yellow Pegasus. “Scootaloo and I will be returning to her aunts’ house.” He then gave a slightly uncertain nod to Twilight, the idea that the foal before him having an adult mind and understanding everything still seeming to unnerve him a little, “Princess.” With that, the two headed off, leaving Fluttershy, Dash and Twilight on their own as they headed back towards the castle. “This is just… wow,” Dash muttered as the three of them made their way through town, it not escaping any of their notice the confused and uncertain looks of each Ponyville resident they passed. “Both sets of memories. It’s just… this is so bizarre.” “Teww me aboudit,” Twilight muttered, her frown furrowed in confusion as she sat atop her mother’s back. Dash cringe slightly. “That feels really weird too.” She shook her head. “I mean, I have my memories back, so I understand why Twi can talk… but the fact I understand her, with the memories this reality gave me, it’s just… ya know?” Fluttershy gave a small squeak. True, she was used to being able to understand Twilight, but with her other memories now in place, it did feel a bit weirder than it already had. They reached the castle, the two white unicorn guards standing out front saluting the trio. “Lady Fluttershy,” the one on the left said, before nodding with slight uncertainty to the foal on her back, hesitation entering his voice for a moment. “Your Highness. The rest of the Element Bearers have already arrived and are awaiting the three of you in the throne room.” Shortly after they had gotten their memories back, Fluttershy had asked Speed Strike to send three of his guards out to meet with the rest of their friends, to meet at the castle once they’d finished their time with their families. The three nodded to the guards, before heading inside. When they reached the throne room, they found Pinkie, Rarity and AJ sitting in their respective thrones. Upon seeing the three of them enter, the others waved. “Hi, guys!” Pinkie cheered, waving more energetically than the other two. “Glad you got to meet Screwball. She’s fun, right?” That made Dash and Fluttershy pause mid-step, them and Twilight turning their eyes to the pink mare. “How did you know we met a filly named Screwball?” Dash asked uncertainly, her tone clearly showing she wasn’t really sure she wanted to know the answer to that question. Pinkie waved a hoof. “Eh, we go way back. She showed me the other world a long time ago. Even got the mirror set up so we can go in and out whenever we want, just like Twi had back in the old world.” There was silence for several long moments, before everypony in the room decided it was better to leave that can of worms alone and NEVER OPEN IT! Dash moved over to her throne at sat down. As Fluttershy moved towards hers, however, Twilight flew off her back, give her own, currently far too big, throne a try, out of foolish curiosity, she deduced, if nothing else. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, but smiled and sat down on her own throne just moments before Twilight landed on hers. “Now, fiwst owdew o’ buishness,” the little Alicorn set, glancing around at all of them, intent to ask about their time away, before her eyes caught something. The Cutie Marks above each of the others’ thrones were glowing Glancing behind her, so was the one above her, as was the one on her body. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, before crystal shot out from each of their thrones, coming together in the centre of the star in the middle of the room, before more crystal burst from the point of contact, spreading out in a circle, before stopping, revealing a large crystal table, with a magical projection of a map that looked like it covered all of Equestria. They all just sat there for several long moments, their jaws hanging open. “Wh… what in tarnation just happened?” Applejack finally managed after about half a minute of total silence. “Dis ish amashing!” Twilight cheered, flying up and looking around the map, her eyes furrowed in interest. “It’s wike a whowe map o’ Equestwia!” “Hi, Mom and Dad!” Pinkie giggled, leaning down to what they all recognized as the projection of her family’s rock farm. Suddenly, the glow of their Cutie Marks grew brighter, before projections of them flew into the air, before moving to one very specific spot on the map. Fluttershy blinked, looking around the map in confusion. “But if this is Ponyville, why are our Cutie Marks over there?” Twilight landed back on her throne and frowned, tapping her chin, before rolling her eyes as the daws that came from several of her friends. She guessed looking serious was out of the question for the next couple years. “I don’t know. But it seems wike da map wants us to find ouw. Da Twee, da chest, dis castle, and now da map. How can we not fowwow it?” Dash flew over the map, grinning. “Y’know what? There’s a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!” Applejack tilted her hat. “Aw, shoot, Ah reckon yer right.” Pinkie Pie looked up. “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets,” she smiled, “but okay!” Rarity sighed, before nodding. “Very well.” “Mama?” Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who looked around at them all, before nodding. “I may be Twilight’s mother now, but I know I wouldn’t be able to convince her to stay and I would be a horrible mother to send her out on her own. So, I’ll go too.” “Gweat!” Twilight cheered, flying over and hugging the mare. “Wooks Wike it’s time fow a woad twip.” “And we can talk about our times away while on the train,” Dash said, flying into the air. Twilight blinked, noticing something flash over Fluttershy’s eyes as she looked up at the cyan Pegasus. “Dash?” They all paused in the doorway, the mare in question glancing back. Yeah, Shy?” Fluttershy gave a slight frown. “How come you came to Appleloosa instead of going to see your parents?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow. Why did that matter to her? Dash had just chosen to hang out with Scootaloo. Why was Fluttershy question Dash hanging out with her sister instead of going to visit her parents? Her confusion grew as a look passed over the rest of their friends, Dash looking a little downtrodden, rubbing the back of her neck. “They were away on vacation in Las Pegasus. I didn’t want to interrupt their time there. I’ll just go visit them when they get back.” Twilight looked around at her friends, feeling like she was missing something. They were all acting off all of a sudden. Her train of thought was pulled off the tracks, however, when she felt a slight tug on her tail as Flutterhsy brought her down onto the Pegasus’ back, before moving over to the now grounded Pegasus and wrapped a wing around her. ___________________________________________________________ The six of them stood looking down at where the map had sent them.  “It’s just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk,” Applejack observed. Rarity cringed. “It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes. Or any architectural flourishes.” “I think it’s lovely,” Fluttershy murmured. Pinkie Pie glared. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.” The others all looked to her. “I know smiles. And those smiles?” she pointed down at the ponies they could see in the village, who all indeed had very unnerving smiles. “They’re just not right.” Twilight shook her head, pointing down. “Fowget da smiwes. wook at da Cuwie Mawks.” They all looked closer, before noticing each and every pony with a Cutie Mark had the exact same one, a pair of grey rectangles, looking like an equals sign. Rainbow’s expression became slightly uncertain. “Okay, that’s weird.” Twilight frowned. “An entiwe viwage wit da same Cuwie Mawk? How can dat be? Rainbow grinned. “I bet there’s some sort of horrific monster behind it.” Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. “Wha’ makes you say dat?” Rainbow’s grin widened. “‘Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super-awesome!” Twilight deadpanned. “O’ couwse you wouwd.” Dash frowned, leaning down to her. “Hey, listen, Twi, I don’t need any lip from a foal, ya got that.” “Ah reckon we just ought ta head into town and talk to some locals, find out what’s goin’ on,” Applejack said quickly to stop a fight she could easily see coming. She remembered the last time Twilight as a foal lost her temper. It did not end well. Diamond Tiara learned foals aren’t like dolls. “Great idea, AJ. Let’s go!” Dash cheered, shooting off towards the town before anypony could stop her. Rolling their eyes, the others followed, though Twilight couldn’t help hearing Pinkie saying as they moved down the hill, “Those smiles are bad news.” The fact Pinkie Pie was saying smiles were a bad thing left the little princess feeling very anxious… which was not at all helped when they reached the town and everypony called out “welcome” in a way that made the fur on Twilight’s body stand on end. Fluttershy didn’t feel to notice this reaction either, her motherly instincts telling her something was making Twilight scared, even if it seemed things looked perfectly lovely around the town. Had she not been Twilight’s mother, she likely would’ve just enjoyed the pleasantness, but Twilight was thankful her mother was taking her reaction into consideration. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was her connection to the Element of Magic, because she was an Alicorn, because she was a foal, or all of the above, but something was really making her skin crawl, even if she couldn’t figure out what it was. Dash, however, was clearly more focused on her disappointment of how nothing seemed overly dangerous enough for her. “Ugh. Thanks a lot, map.” A stallion with a blue coat and darker blue mane stepped forward, leaning a bit too close to Twilight for either her or Fluttershy’s likely, the latter lifting her wings to slightly shield her foal. “Welcome! Pardon my forwardness, but is that foal an Alicorn?” Applejack nodded, giving a friendly smile. “That there’s the Princess of Friendship!” The pony’s smile deepened. “Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place for friendship.” Twilight squeaked and Fluttershy stiffened and alarm bell neither understood going off in their heads. Another pony, a white stallion, stepped forward while the other moved over to stand in front of Ratrity and continued dto give that smile that made Twilight’s skin bristle as if she were covered in bugs. “What brings you to town?” Fluttershy glanced to Twilight, before speaking uncertainly. “We’re not entirely sure.” The white stallion nodded. “I see. Well, all are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond, and this is Party Favour,” he indicted to the other stallion. Applejack nodded. “Howdy, Double Diamond. Ah’m Applejack, and this here’s Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and her daughter, Twilight Sparkle.” Double Diamond moved a bit closer. “And you all have your own unique Cutie Marks.” Twilight managed to get a bit of her confidence back, doing the breathing tequnice Cadance had taught her, before tapping her mother’s neck and asking her to translate without letting on she was actually the one asking. “If you don’t mind,” Fluttershy asked, “has there been any sort of... trouble here, lately?” Double Diamond just continued to smile. “Trouble? Why, I don’t think we’ve ever had trouble in our little village.” Party Favor nodded, his smile becoming a little more unsettling for some reason. “It’s true. You’ll see. Hm.” “Perhaps you’d care to speak to our founder, Starlight Glimmer,” Double Diamond offered, indicating for them to follow. Pinkie Pie frowned as they followed the stallion. “I’ve got my eye on them. Something’s rotten in... whatever the name of this village is that we’re in right now!” They reached a house that, unlike all the others, wasn’t part of a straight line. Twilight frowned, wondering why. Double Diamond led them inside, before knocking on another door. “Starlight, we have some new visitors.” Fluttershy nuzzled Twilight, who felt much calmer than she had before as Rainbow said something to Applejack. The door opened, revealing a pony that caused Twilight to do a double take. Her colours were very similar to that of one of the Sirens from in the other world, but she was clearly a pony, so couldn’t be the same being… right? “Welcome!” said mare called, walking up to them. “I’m so pleased to have you here.” Double Diamond pointed to each of them in turn. “This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and her daughter, Twilight Sparkle.” Starlight Glimmer looked to Twilight, who fluffed her wings to get at a small itch. “Forgive my bluntness, but I’m assuming it’s Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don’t get many Alicorns around here.” “Yes, but Twilight is fine,” Fluttershy translated automatically as Twilight spoke, before blushing, hoping nopony would figure it out, saying to cover her tracks, “She prefers just Twilight.” After a bit more chatting, during which Starlight told them the village was willing to welcome anypony who wished to learn, true friendship for the first time, as she put it, Starlight gave them a small tour of town, leading it being very heavily hinted to the currently in Mama Bear Protective Mood Fluttershy, that Starlight was just expecting them to want to give up their own Cutie Marks. True, she didn’t really see a problem with these ponies having chosen to live this way, but that didn’t mean it was the way to live for every pony. Twilight certainly seemed more uncomfortable the longer they were there. Not to mention, the idea of giving up her own Cutie Mark didn’t sit well with her, which she confessed to Twilight in murmurs. Twilight stayed on her mother’s back the whole time they were there. She didn’t trust that something wouldn’t go wrong if she left her mother’s side, even for a moment. Her gut instinct that something was wrong was all but confirmed when a mare named Sugar Belle secretively whispered for them to come into her house, making it clear she was worried about something. Getting Pinkie Pie to eat the large amount of muffins they’d ordered so they’d have an excuse to go inside the bakery gave them a good cover. “Nice wowk, Pinkie,” the foal sat as they went inside. There was a small thumping sound from behind them, Pinkie Pie, saying in a clearly shocked and rather unhappy tone, “I’ve accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than that...” That made Twilight feel a bit bad, but when Applejack had said Pinkie’s stomach was the only one likely to handle the muffins, it seemed she’d been right. If even Pinkie couldn’t find something positive to say about them, there wasn’t much chance they’d have been able to eat them at all. “Hello?” Applejack called out as they all stepped into a dark basement, stepping out into a circle of light in the middle of the wrong. “Sugar Belle?” “Thank you for coming!” said mare’s voice spoke from the darkness, herself, Party Favour and a Pegasus mare with a grey and white mane and deep-blue coat they’d met named Nigh Glider stepped forward. “Why did you want us to come down here?” Fluttershy translated for Twilight. Sugar Belle smiled. “So nopony could see what’s about to happen.” The three started moving in, causing the other six to brace themselves, before Party Favour asked Fluttershy politely, “Is your daughter really the Princess of Friendship?” Night Glider flew right up to their faces. “Do you know Princess Celestia?” “I love your Cutie Mark!” Sugar Belle said wistfully, touching Pinkie’s rump. “How can you be friends with different Cutie Marks?” Night Glider asked Dash. “Don’t you end up hating each other? Sugar Belle went up to Rarity. “Oh, look at this one! This one’s great too! I’d love to have my special talent back even just for a day!” her expression saddened. “Make something besides those disgusting muffins...” Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “So what’s stopping you? Go get your Cutie Marks back.” Party Favour looked to the other two. “Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean actually having it put back on? That seems extreme.” Sugar Belle wilted. “I’m not sure Starlight would like that. She wants us all to be happy in our sameness.” “How do you take somepony’s Cutie Mark anyway?” Fluttershy translated. Night Glider got a wistful expression that didn’t enthuse the rest of them. “The cutie unmarking is a beautiful experience! Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these,” she finished by indicating to the equals marks. “But nopony should keep you from your Cutie Mark. It represents such an essential part of who you are,” Rarity decided to translate for Twilight this time. Night Glider shook her head. “Oh, we’re not kept from them. They’re in the vault up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents.” Half an hour later, Starlight Glimmer led them up into a cave, before declaring. “Just through here! Behold! Our Cutie Mark vault!” The other mares and foal were shocked by the wall of Cutie Marks before them. Starlight moved over to a fancy looking stick of wood. “And here is the Staff of Sameness. It was one of the great Mage Meadowbrook’s nine enchanted items.” Twilight’s eyebrows narrowed. Wait. Meadowbrook didn’t have nine enchanted items. Only eight. She was sure of that. “We are incredibly fortunate to have it here. This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves from our marks!” Starlight frowned slightly. “I’m curious – how did the subject of the vault come up?” “Oh, some ponies were telling us how much they missed their Cutie Marks, and—” “Pinkie!” Twilight snapped. Pinkie puts her hooves over her mouth. “Oops...” Starlight’s smile became far less friendly. “Were they? Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking,” her eyes narrowed, “don’t you?” Rarity laughed nervously. “Well, w-we certainly didn’t intend to cause any disruptions to your charming little—” “Good,” Starlight cut her off. “Let’s just make sure of that, shall we?” Twilight looked around, seeing all the village ponies coming out form the darkness, boxing them in. “It’s a twap!” she cried, leaping into the air, lighting her horn. Starlight didn’t seemed phased by the foal Alicorn, firing a beam of magic from the staff held in her own magic. It hit Twilight, halting her in place. The feeling was so painful; Twilight hadn’t ever felt anything like it. It felt like something was being pulled right out of her. Suddenly, her foal instincts took over. She felt something welling up inside of her, before she opened her mouth and loud out a loud wail, accidently blending it with the Royal Canterlot Voice. The soundwaves were so strong; it startled everypony into freezing in place, along with the magical glass holding back the Cutie Marks to crack. “What?” Starlight cried, turning around and gaping at the cracks. However, nopony had any time to try registering beyond that. The room filled with a white light, before, holding Twilight protectively in his arms, with a look of pure rage on his face, was Discord. “What in Equestria is that?!” Starlight cried in alarm, her eyes wide with fear. “Discord?” Fluttershy gaped along with the rest of her friends. “Wh-why are you here?” Discord stroked Twilight for a few moments, before looking to the Alicorn’s mother. “Did you really think, after I made such a huge mistake, I would leave Twilight unprotected? I placed a charm on her that would alert me whenever she was in utter distress. Not to mention I felt the magical disturbance caused by her cries blending with her emotions. Now,” Twilight suddenly appeared in Fluttershy’s forelimbs, while Starlight was hovering in front of the draconequus. “I see right through your ruse, Starlight Glimmer, even if you yourself don’t see it. I think you and I need to have a little word with princess Celestia.” There was another flash of light, and they were both gone.