To Make Old Friends

by Incidental Pegasus No. 5


The Last Unicorn

"No luck, huh?"

"No." With no reason to stay any longer, Fluttershy had left the party and met up with Cloud Kicker. The two friends were on their way to dinner, and Fluttershy was describing her experience at the gallery.

"So now what?"

"Go home, I guess. I don't even know where to begin looking for the last pony. We can do that just as well back there."

"That other pony– what's she like again?"

Fluttershy shared as much as she could make out from Other Fluttershy's memories about the purple unicorn mare. "She might not be like the memories at all, though. The others haven't been, especially not 'Valencia'." When Cloud Kicker suggested that it sounded like Other Fluttershy had the better set, Fluttershy couldn't bring herself to disagree.

After walking in silence for a while, Cloud Kicker asked, "So, if these other ponies are so different, what about Other Cloud Kicker? What am I like?"

Fluttershy froze. She didn't know how to answer that. Going by the memories, Other Fluttershy barely even knew Cloud Kicker. She'd hoped that she wouldn't have to say anything about that, but now it looked like she didn't have a choice.

"Oh, um, well... Cloud Kicker... the, uh, the thing about that..."

"It's alright, Fluttershy. I'm not going to get mad if you tell me she's a jerk or something."

"No, it-it's not that." Fluttershy steeled herself for her friend's reaction. "I don't–"

"Wait." Cloud Kicker pointed a hoof at something. "What's that?"

Fluttershy tried to ask what she meant, but the lavender pegasus had sped up and was squeezing her way through the crowds. It wasn't easy, but she did her best to keep up.

"Excuse me, sir... I'm really sorry... If I could just get by... Pardon me..."

Before long, Cloud Kicker reached an intersection where ponies were packed so tightly she couldn't force her way through. She took to the air, and Fluttershy followed after her, pushing herself to catch up.

"What are you doing?"

"See that?" Cloud Kicker asked, gesturing at something off in the crowd below. Fluttershy didn't. "I thought I saw that pony you're looking for back when we passed the library. I've been trying to follow her." Fluttershy looked again, and spotted a vibrant purple coat amongst the herd. They flew on, ignoring the stares and exclamations of surprise from the ponies below. Up ahead, Purple Coat turned a corner, and the two pegasi sped up. Cloud Kicker rounded the corner first, and had to stop short to avoid flying into a construction scaffold. Fluttershy wasn't as fortunate, however, and slammed right into Cloud Kicker's side.

Momentarily dazed, the two ponies lost track of Purple Coat. They soared up above the buildings and split up to search for her. Fluttershy spotted her heading down a side street, and signaled to Cloud Kicker. "That's it," the lavender pegasus vowed, "I'm not letting her get away again." She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to fly as fast as she could. Fluttershy tried to keep up, but she was never as quick as her friend.

Cloud Kicker approached where Purple Coat was walking and swooped down in front of her. "Excuse me, miss, if I could have a moment of your ti– oh. Heh. I, uh, I think I may have mistaken you for somepony else. Sorry about that." When Fluttershy caught up, she realized the reason for Cloud Kicker's sheepish grin.

The first thing Fluttershy noticed about the pony they were following was that, coat color aside, there wasn't that much resemblance with the pony she was looking for. The second thing Fluttershy noticed about the pony was that he was a stallion.

In retrospect, that probably should have been the first thing.

----------------------------

The Royal Wings was an unpretentious Trottingham-style pub a few blocks from the hotel. The concierge had recommended it to Cloud Kicker as a place with a laid-back atmosphere that served good food and refreshing cider. She had thought it sounded like just the thing for Fluttershy after her time at the gallery earlier.

They had hardly begun their meals – a daffodil and lily sandwich and tomato soup for Fluttershy and a hayburger for Cloud Kicker – when a booming voice came from over by the bar.

"Hey, CK! What's up?"

The speaker came over to their table – an incredibly enthusiastic white unicorn. She had a short, spiky mane in alternating shades of blue and a pair of linked musical notes on her flank.

"Hi, Vinyl," Cloud Kicker responded, clearly surprised to see the new mare there. "Fluttershy, this is Vinyl Scratch, from Ponyville. Vinyl, this is my friend, Fluttershy. She's also my –"

"Co-worker," Fluttershy interrupted. Cloud Kicker gave her a look, but didn't say anything. "Ponyville weather, that's us. It's nice to meet you, Miss Scratch." Fluttershy wondered why the unicorn was wearing sunglasses even though it was starting to get dark out and also they were indoors, but she thought it would be rude to ask.

"You too, Flutters. And please, my friends call me Vinyl."

"Anyway, Vinyl," Cloud Kicker asked, "What are you doing in Manehattan?"

"I was in the studio earlier layin' down some new tracks. Right now, I'm killing time until Tavi's done with whatever fancy society party she's working at. Some kinda art thing or something. But I could ask you the same question."

"We came to meet somepony," she explained, glossing over the issue of why they had. She began describing their time in the city, frequently "forgetting" details and pretending to seek clarification from Fluttershy to make sure she wasn't saying anything to Vinyl that might embarrass her friend. When she described their pursuit of the unlucky stallion, she couldn't help but laugh at her own folly. "I feel bad for startling the guy, I do, but fortunately he had a sense of humor about it. He didn't even mind that I called him 'miss'."

"You thought he was?"

"I thought he was this pony we're trying to find. He looked enough like her, at least from a distance." She described the stallion, as well as Fluttershy's mysterious unicorn.

"Makes sense." Vinyl Scratch chuckled. "Y'know, that pony kinda sounds like my cousin."

Fluttershy and Cloud Kicker exchanged glances. "Y-your cousin?"

"Yeah, appearance-wise, anyway. It's not like Sparks would ever pull her head out of her, uh, her books long enough to make it all the way out here."

"If you don't mind, would you tell us more about your cousin?"

Vinyl Scratch frowned. "Sure, but I don't know why anypony'd care. Her name's Twilight Sparkle, and she goes to that big unicorn school in Canterlot. You'd just be wasting your time looking for her, though. Not everypony likes to rock as hard as I do, and that's cool, I get that, but that mare is seriously no fun. I mean, at all."

----------------------------

Fluttershy and Cloud Kicker headed for the train station as soon as they were finished with dinner. An overnight train was due to leave for Canterlot soon, and they were able to secure a pair of berths. As they searched for their platform, Fluttershy noticed that Cloud Kicker looked pensive. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. I was just wondering..." Cloud Kicker trailed off. She seemed to be debating with herself whether or not to say something, before evidently deciding in favor of it. "When we were talking to Vinyl before, you didn't want me to tell her that you were my boss. This isn't the first time I've seen you avoid talking about your job. I don't understand why. Being a town weather manager is a big accomplishment."

"It is," Fluttershy sighed, "but it's not my accomplishment. I'm sure you've heard the rumors. It seems like everypony else on the team has." She paused, waiting, and Cloud Kicker responded with a slight, almost embarrassed, nod. "They're true. I didn't earn the job, and I don't deserve it."

Cloud Kicker inhaled sharply, rebuking herself for her decision. "You shouldn't beat yourself up like that. You're right, I have heard the rumors, but I don't care. What's important is that you're good at your job, not how you got it, and nopony did that for you." Fluttershy didn't answer. Eager to change the subject, Cloud Kicker asked, "So, what do you think about this Twilight Sparkle? Could she really be the one you're looking for?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy admitted. "That would be really..."

"Lucky?"

"Yeah. But even if she isn't, the unicorn school in Canterlot is probably the best place to check. Somepony there should at least have heard of her... I hope."

"We'll find her."

"Thanks." Fluttershy's smile had returned, and she and Cloud Kicker made their way on board. Neither had taken any notice of anypony in the crowd of the depot, but there was one who noticed them.

What's she doing here?

----------------------------

Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was located in the heart of Canterlot's historic district. Normally, Fluttershy would have been very hesitant about travelling to Equestria's capital, but after Manehattan, it felt like a welcome respite. Canterlot may have been the larger city, but it was less crowded, and less claustrophobic, and it didn't seem actively hostile to the idea of nature. Parks and gardens were spread out in harmony with the colorful, white-walled buildings.

One such park lay before them at an entrance to the school's grounds. On a bench, a pair of unicorn mares sat talking.

"Sometimes I think double-majoring was a mistake," said the one on the left, a turquoise pony sitting in a way that Fluttershy thought looked very uncomfortable. "I have so little free time lately, and when I do, I'm too burnt out to do half of what I'd like. I can't even tell you the last time I wrote to Bon Bon."

The strangely-seated pony's conversation partner was a pony with a coat in a light shade of purple and a darker purple mane. Cloud Kicker made a gesture as if to ask, "Her?", but Fluttershy shook her head.

"Well, music's what you really want to do after graduation, right? Your special talent and all? You could always just drop the cryptozoology."

The first pony rolled her eyes. "'Cryptozoology' is for made-up creatures, Sparkler. They're real, or at least they used to be."

"Of course they are."

"Scoff if you like, but –"

"Oh, I will, Lyra. I will."

"But my latest research is showing real promise."

"Sure, just like the research from before was, and the research from before that." With that, the conversation came to a halt. Throughout, neither had entirely stopped smiling, suggesting this was just the latest in a long history of friendly sparring over Lyra's unconventional theory, whatever it was. To Fluttershy, this seemed like a good time to interrupt.

"Excuse me, I was wondering if either of you knew where to find somepony named Twilight Sparkle."

Both unicorns reacted with a start at the name.

"Did you just say you were looking for Twilight Sparkle?" asked Sparkler.

Lyra added, "Are you friends of hers?"

Fluttershy wasn't quite sure how to answer that. If Twilight Sparkle really was who she was looking for, then, in a way, it did feel like she was her friend. On the other hoof, they'd never actually met. The unicorns were looking at her expectantly. She decided to play it safe. "W-well, I guess you could say that."

"Wait a minute. Twilight has friends? Twilight Sparkle? Would you two mind waiting here for a few minutes? I need to go find Twinkleshine. That pony owes me five bits."

"Sparkler!"

"I was kidding! Mostly. Not about the five bits. You can vouch that you met them if she asks, right, Lyra?"

Lyra ignored the question. "Twilight Sparkle's in Galaxy Hall, Room 214."

----------------------------

Fluttershy nervously stood before the door with the brass nameplate with 214 engraved on it. This was, hopefully, it. Behind the door lay, quite possibly, the last of the five ponies she was looking for. Everything she had tried with the others hadn't worked. This time, she would just be straightforward, explain what was going on. If Twilight Sparkle thought she was crazy, so be it. As a student here, she would probably be better equipped to understand what was going on better than anypony. If this didn't work...

It had to work. It just had to.

Fluttershy steeled herself. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and lightly rapped on the door with her hoof. A wordless expression of annoyance came from inside. After a few moments, the door opened. Standing there was a unicorn mare with a bright purple coat. Heavy bags hung below bloodshot purple eyes that narrowed in irritation as she scowled. The hairs of her mane, likewise purple, stuck out in all different directions. It didn't look like she had brushed it this morning, or possibly at any point that week. Next to her, a large ceramic mug hung in the air, surrounded by a magical magenta aura.

----------------------------

"Philomena!" Fluttershy called the bird's name as she charged down the path from her cottage to Ponyville proper, Twilight Sparkle by her side.

"I don't understand how that bird can move so fast," the scholarly pony gulped out between breaths. Somehow, Philomena had managed to put enough distance between herself and Fluttershy's house that the pair of ponies couldn't see her anywhere.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle arrived at the edge of town. The bad news was that there was no sign of Princess Celestia's sick pet. The good news was that there also wasn't any sign of the royal guards either.

"This is bad," Twilight said. "This is very, very bad. We have to find Philomena before anypony else does, no matter what. I'm not going to let one of my friends get banished and then thrown in a dungeon in the place she was banished to."

Fluttershy wasn't nearly as certain that either banishment or dungeons were going to be involved as Twilight was, but whatever was going to happen, she would deal with it later. There was an animal in trouble, and it needed her. "Right now, making sure Philomena's alright is what's important. That's the whole reason I took her. As long as she's healthy, I won't have been banished for nothing."

"Fluttershy, listen. If it comes to that... I'll tell Princess Celestia I'm the one that did it. She's known me a lot longer; she won't banish me. Probably."

Fluttershy was touched, but she wasn't going to let one of her friends sacrifice themselves for her mistakes. There wasn't any time to argue about it, though. "Thank you, Twilight, but let's not worry about that unless we have to. Let's just find Philomena."

Reluctantly, Twilight agreed. She figured that it wouldn't be easy to convince Fluttershy, and they didn't have time to discuss it right now.

After several minutes of searching, where Philomena had been spotted more than once, only to give them the slip, Twilight was quickly losing hope. "It's only a matter of time before one of the guards spots her, and then it'll be all over." She turned to Fluttershy. "Even though I'm probably going to be banished to some desolate wasteland, I can't think of anything I would have done differently."

"Neither can I."

"If we're lucky, maybe we'll get banished to the same place."

"I'd like that." Fluttershy realized what she had just said, but her attempts to clarify that she wouldn't really like to be banished were cut off when she was enveloped by Twilight's magically aura and dragged into a nearby bush to hide her from the passing guards.

----------------------------

This time, Fluttershy's return to reality brought her the sight of a closed door, the "214" plaque staring her in the face. Undeterred, she knocked again. Irritated grumbling could be heard from the other side. Eventually, the door opened again, and the purple unicorn stood before her again.

"Oh. You again. Is this just another challenge to a staring contest, or are you actually going to speak this time?" Without the intrusion of Other Fluttershy's memories, Fluttershy was able to catch a glance at Twilight's room. There were books everywhere. The bookcases were, naturally, filled with books, but there were books on the desk, books on top of the dresser, books in stacks on the floor, and even books on the bed. Beyond that, there was precious little else to indicate somepony was actually living here. Even the bed had simply a sheet and a pillow. If not for the disarray some of the books were left in, the warrior pegasi of the pre-classical era would be proud of the room's austerity. Fluttershy was so focused on taking everything in, she nearly didn't notice the door beginning to close as the unicorn muttered something about her time being wasted.

"Wait, please. I'm sorry. Twilight Sparkle? M-my name is Fluttershy, and I need your help."

Twilight stood incredulous. "You want my help?"

"Oh, yes. I don't think there's anypony who would be able to help me like you could."

"Why?"

"May I come in? I'd be happy to explain everything."

Twilight seemed to be mulling over the suggestion. "Fine," she said begrudgingly.

Inside, Fluttershy's initial impressions of the room were largely confirmed. She did, however, notice two things. Firstly, like herself and Pinkamina, Twilight didn't have a cutie mark. The other thing was the sole evidence in the room of equine habitation. On the desk lay a pair of picture frames. In one, a young filly, obviously Twilight herself, was holding a piece of paper and smiling. Standing behind her was an adult unicorn couple, a blue stallion and a light gray mare with a purple and white striped mane. The other picture showed a slightly older Twilight. She was wearing a too-large helmet, the helmet of a royal guard cadet and bracing it with a hoof to keep it from falling off. By her side stood a white-coated older unicorn colt who, from the look of things, Fluttershy assumed must be family. She was interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Are you done yet? If you're quite finished staring, maybe you can explain what's so important that only I can help you."

Fluttershy told her as best she could. She explained about her life, and the sudden appearance of these strange memories, and her travels across Equestria to try and understand them. More than that, she talked about another existence, where she and Twilight and the others – by now, the memories had grown enough to give her a fair idea of Other Fluttershy's life – all lived happily in Ponyville, six inseparable friends, supporting each other through all sorts of crazy adventures. When she was finished, she said, "So that's my story. Do you understand why I came here to ask you for help?"

"Oh, I understand, alright." They were words that should have made Fluttershy feel better. They did not. "Nerdy Twilight Sparkle. Egghead Twilight Sparkle. She doesn't have any friends! She can barely even do magic! She doesn't belong here. Let's tell her some ridiculous story to build her hopes up, and then we can all laugh at her!"

During Twilight's outburst, Fluttershy had nervously started backing up and crouching. She could have sworn that it looked like the edges of the unicorn's mane began to smoulder. Twilight didn't let up. Advancing, she continued, "Well, I don't think it's funny! Why are you here? Who put you up to this? Was it Twinkleshine? Who?"

By this point, Fluttershy was cowering under Twilight's desk, her head buried beneath her forelegs and her mane. "N-nopony. Nopony s-sent me here. I know it sounds hard to believe, but I would ne-never..." She looked up at Twilight, her voice small and sad. "Please..."

Twilight's fury melted away, replaced by guilt. "I... look, I'm sorry." She extended a hoof, helping Fluttershy up. "You truly believe all that stuff you told me?" Fluttershy nodded. "So you aren't here to trick me; you're just insane. Well, that's much better."

"W-what?"

"What you're talking about is some type of alternate universe." She plopped down on a clear space on her mattress. When she spoke, her voice sounded resigned. "It would be nice if it were true, but it isn't scientifically possible. Your story is not scientifically possible. Whatever help you need, I'm not the pony that can give it to you." A magic aura surrounded the door, and it swung open. "Please, just go." Fluttershy tried several times to try and engage Twilight, but the unicorn refused to speak any further. Eventually, she gave up and left, surprising several other students who were suddenly very nonchalant about their perfectly legitimate reasons for hanging out in the hallway.

----------------------------

Back outside, Fluttershy reflected on her situation. She had now met all five of the ponies she was searching for, and the results had not been what she had hoped. Not only was she no closer to understanding her recent experiences, of the five ponies so close to Other Fluttershy, only Rarity seemed interested in even seeing her again. Pinkamina too, perhaps, but only if Fluttershy was interested in buying some rocks. She didn't really want any rocks. With no answers so far and no idea where to go next, it was hard to view her pursuit as anything but a substantial failure. That was what was on her mind when Cloud Kicker landed beside her.

"So, how'd it go?" Fluttershy told her. "Wow, that's... I don't even know what to say. I think all the ponies at this school are crazy. You know Lyra? The pony who gave you the directions? I was talking to her after you left. She's got some interesting theories about some kind of creature called 'seaponies'. That's not the strangest part, though. I ran into her once before, that time I was in the Best Young Flyer competition."

"But she's a unicorn. How did she..."

"I have no idea."

Cloud Kicker's mention of the contest reminded Fluttershy of a time when she wasn't able to come through for her friend. "I'm sorry my cheering wasn't good enough for you to win."

"Don't be, Fluttershy. Like I told you, if my flying was good enough to win, I would have won. Of course I'm glad you were there to cheer me on, but ultimately, my success or failure was up to me. It isn't your or anypony else fault I didn't win. Besides, fourth place out of thirteen's not that bad."

This was not the first time Fluttershy had thought back to that day. This time, however, it came with another memory of another Best Young Flyer competition. She had been there, and so had Cloud Kicker, but everything was different. It had been exciting, and had ended very dramatically, with Fluttershy cheering her friend on to victory. But that friend hadn't been Cloud Kicker. She barely registered in the memory at all.

The thought gave Fluttershy pause. It was clearer than ever that Cloud Kicker just wasn't very important to her other self. Her whole purpose in tracking down Twilight Sparkle and the rest of Other Fluttershy's friends was because, deep down, it felt important. But... what if she succeeded? What if she had managed to befriend these ponies, and bring them together? Cloud Kicker had loyally stood by her and supported her, not just in this, but for years, and she was actively seeking out a world where none of that happened. Was Cloud Kicker essentially helping Fluttershy find her own replacements? And was Fluttershy letting her? She couldn't believe what a horrible pony she was! How could she be so cruel? "I'm sorry, Cloud Kicker! I'm so sorry!"

Fluttershy broke down in tears.