//------------------------------// // Chapter 77. We’re gonna go where everybody knows everybody // Story: Becoming Fluttershy // by Hope //------------------------------// The rain fell over my face, my hair matted down against the back of my shirt, cool and refreshing. Someone was laughing nearby, as someone else shouted, but it didn’t sound urgent. Slowly I opened my eyes, and Fluttershy was looking back at me, her mane flat down the side of her neck from the rain. “Hey Shy,” I said softly. “Hey Erica,” she replied without hesitation. “I’m here.” My lips pressed tight together tight and I looked back up into the clouds as my tears were hidden by the drizzling rain, my throat tight and hands shaking. Then she hugged me, wrapping her arms and wings around my middle, and slowly I returned the hug, careful not to muss up her feathers. “You’re free from me,” I whispered into her ear. “I could say the same to you,” she replied, pulling back just enough to meet my gaze. “We… We made a good team, Erica. You know you’re going to come to Ponyville, right? Guest of honor. You saved me.” I laughed, but I was crying too much to even see her expression through rain soaked glasses as she moved to sit next to me, someone approaching us. “You must be Erica.” I looked up. It was a heavyset woman who looked for all the world like a nerdy friend I’d get along with well, but she was grinning, and that smile felt familiar in a way I couldn’t place. RJ was behind her a little ways, watching her, until I realized that no, that wasn’t RJ. That was AJ. “Rachel?” I asked as I looked back to the woman, smiling a little. “Sure is,” she said as she put her hand out and I took it. She pulled me up to a standing position and I realized two things at once. For one thing, I was shorter than I had expected, and secondly my body felt very very different. Whereas before I’d worn tight clothes to squish my body into the shape I wanted, and I was saving up for a surgery I thought would never come, now… My body felt as natural as Fluttershy’s had. Fluttershy had given me a gift, somehow. I looked back to her, shocked, before someone called out. “Come on, into the stairwell, you’re all getting soaked!” It was Celestia, smiling, standing next to Luna and two women who I vaguely recognized as being deeply involved in the creation of My Little Pony. But I was too dazed to pay too much attention to that as we were ferried down the stairs and into an office hallway. “Roll Call!” Twilight said, pointing at people and ponies, getting their names before moving to the next one. We had Twilight, Fluttershy, AJ, Pinkie, Dash, Rarity, Luna, Celestia, and then the humans. Tony was a tall friendly looking man with short cut hair and a scruffy beard who kept crouching next to Rarity to whisper things that made her laugh, covering her mouth daintily. He looked untroubled, happy and relaxed. He was dressed for work of some kind, a shirt and jeans with boots. Rachel, who stood next to AJ, rounded and soft but confident and quiet in a way I admired. Her sharp nose and gentle eyes put me at ease a little. She was wearing a blouse and khakis, and had her brown hair cut in a bob just under her ears. David, a bookish young man in jeans and a long sleeved shirt who wore glasses and was sticking close to Twilight, focused on the conversation above all else with an intensity that made me wonder if he was looking for something in particular. Reid, a gangly guy with mad-scientist hair and a quirked smile, his hands in his cargo shorts pockets and eyes taking everyone in with vast curiosity. Markus had longer hair than the rest, a golden brown and a patch of fuzz on his chin, but a haunted look in his eyes as he kneeled next to Rainbow Dash to catch his breath, wearing a green canvas jacket over tattered jeans and a tshirt. Then there was me. Erica, blonde and a bit shorter than everyone else which was new for me. I found I was wearing slacks and a button up blouse. Lauren and Tara, both of whom I could swear I knew from somewhere, but just introduced themselves quietly from next to the princesses. And of course our agent, Stephanie, who was looking at the crowd in awe, before putting her hand to her ear and listening to some sort of broadcast. “Alright,” Twilight said firmly. “It looks like everyone is here except Discord.” “I believe he was hovering over open space when he was turned to stone,” Luna said. “Oops,” Lauren added, grinning. “He’s survived worse, I’m sure we’ll find a statue at the base of the building,” Celestia shrugged. “But he will need to be contained until we can construct a portal to return to our world and bring all the ponies through.” “And our humans,” Rainbow Dash said, jumping up into a hover and crossing her arms. “No offense Steph, all of you, but this world sucks big time. Markus should be able to come visit.” “And Erica,” Fluttershy added, looking up to me with a smile. “And--” Rarity was cut off as Twilight held up a hoof. “Okay,” Twilight said, looking at Celestia who nodded. “We will make sure the portal supports humans coming through too. But right now we need a game plan, what’s our status Agent Chase?” Stephanie held up a finger, listening for another moment or two before speaking into her radio. “Agent Chase checking in, all assets accounted for, evac for Seventeen needed from the site.” She then looked back to the rest of us, expression a bit strained. “It looks like Discord was holding back a storm,” she explained. “A big one. Now that he’s gone, the storm is coming in. We need to get you all out of New York right now. But I need to wait to see what evac method is--” She stopped as someone spoke in her ear and I could see Rainbow Dash sizing up Markus to see if she could carry him. “There’s a chopper inbound, big enough for all of us, five minutes,” Steph declared, relaxing a bit. “Nope,” AJ said as she looked down the stairs. “All our friends are at the base of this here building. Ain’t leavin’ them behind in a chopper.” Steph looked between AJ and the rest of the group, who was siding with her slowly, if not in words in the way they were setting their shoulders and confidence. “Besides, Fucking Sweetie Belle is down there right now,” Tony said. “Rarity can’t leave her behind.” “He’s right,” Rarity said softly. “I’m always right,” Tony said, grinning. “Okay, okay, so... Halo Command, is there a ground landing site here? Assets will not evac without their accompaniment,” Stephanie said before waiting, listening, smiling a little. “Okay, go go go, there’s enough room for the heli to land a few streets over but we have to go now before the wind picks up.” Just like that, we went from standing still to running, down stairs and then out to find an elevator bank, which didn’t take too long. We all loaded into the various elevators, heading down to the lobby far faster than we could go down the stairs. I had a feeling Rainbow would have flown down if not for Markus, and wanting to make sure he was okay. The elevator doors opened in the lobby and we flowed out into a cheering celebratory crowd. The sudden mood change made us all pause, and take it in before we started to spot people we knew. Rarity ran through the crowd to Sweetie Belle, pulling her into a tight hug as Raid spotted his brother and gave him a high five, both of them taking in the crowd before AJ found Apple Bloom. Then I saw Julien. He was aside from the bulk of the group, next to Shining Armor, and he gave me a little wave with an amused smile. Fluttershy came with me, as I went up to him and hugged him. “Saved the day, nerd girl!” he laughed. “Yeah well, kinda!” I said as I gestured to Fluttershy, who waved to him. “Took a bunch of ponies and now we need to evacuate! A storm’s coming!” Shining Armor stepped up, focused on what I’d said. “So why aren’t we deploying pegusi?” I paused, and looked at him, before turning and finding Stephanie Chase in the crowd, pointing her out. “She’s handling the planning! I didn’t even think about it!” I admitted. By the time we were being led into a hotel far enough away to be certain we were safe, the storm was largely under control by the pegusi who had volunteered to help. Stopping such a huge tropical storm wasn’t feasible but guiding it was, and we’d been given minute by minute updates as the storm was nudged away from New York, and the strength of it diminished gradually. The flooding was minimal, and finally the sun set on a day that could be counted as an unqualified success. But I knew as we all sat in the hotel lobby that this was probably the last time we’d all be together. The humans in the group all had lives of their own, some of them weren’t even adults yet which scared the heck out of me, and all the ponies were going to be returned to Equestria. “I, for one, am glad not to be a pony anymore,” Tony announced as Rainbow came back from a radio call with the Storm Team. “Darling, you know you enjoyed my style,” Rarity said, flipping her mane to the side. “Sure, but I’m a bit attached to my D--” Tony was cut off by Rachel, clearing her throat. “Weren’t all bad,” Rachel said firmly. “Don’tcha mean Wasn’t all bad, Sugarcube?” AJ said with a smirk. I giggled, and realized Fluttershy was giggling at the same moment, and we both blushed a bit and looked away. “Okay, that’s so cute,” Pinkie exclaimed, gesturing at us. “That’s like… too cute, right? Shrinking Violet trope come to life!” “Sure but Erica is more Cute Bookworm,” Reid said, looking up from his phone briefly, smiling at me, and then looking back to his phone. “I thought that was my role,” Twilight chimed in sarcastically. “Turn it up to 11,” Reid and Pinkie said at the same time before snickering in unison. “Okay, but like… what now,” Rainbow asked as she flopped onto the back of a couch near Markus, who was biting his lip and focusing on his phone with the air of someone who wasn’t having a good time at all. “Well, the princesses will be building a portal to take us home, then we will have to establish diplomatic relations with Earth, normalize our interactions, ensure we’ve left Earth in good shape considering their very low natural magic level, and then we could see eachother again!” “Would we become ponies when we go through the portal?” Rachel asked curiously, seeming much calmer than the rest of us. “Most likely,” Twilight nodded. “Or some other local creature.” “Oh, we could totally race, Markus,” Dash said, prodding his shoulder with a hoof. He chuckled and nodded, relaxing just a tiny bit. “Alright, bedtime My Little Ponies,” Celestia said as she strode into the lobby. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow, rescuing and performing a census, before getting home. You all need your sleep!” She ushered us off but as I stopped at my door, next to Fluttershy’s, we shared a look. I opened my door and stepped aside, letting her trot in before I closed it behind me. “You’re not a bad person, Erica,” were the first words she said to me once the door was closed. I laughed, already my eyes feeling achy and tears on their way. “Can’t you let me order room service or something before we get into this?” “Oh, of course, I’m hungry too,” she admitted as she hopped up onto the bed and laid down in that way ponies can lay on their stomach and still look attentive. I ordered quite a bit on the government’s tab before sitting down next to her. “Why… am I not a bad person?” I finally asked her. “Because being bad is a decision you make. You do good as much as you can. You do good, and you just feel bad because of things you can’t help. Like being transgender.” “Am I even… anymore though?” I laughed wetly, touching my chest. “I… I feel so different… My voice, I used to struggle to keep this tone but…” “The Elements of Harmony can be Kind,” Fluttershy told me gently, putting a hoof on my leg. “If they have to build a body from scratch anyway…” I nodded and dried my eyes. “Okay,” I sighed. “Okay, I’m not… I’m not bad. But you’re not helpless either!” She looked away, and I grinned. “Come on, it’s the end of our journey, don’t I get to do the same thing to you?” She giggled softly and nodded. “So… You’re not helpless,” I repeated. “You’re scared, but when you need to you can do so much. We sang in front of all of New York!” “Okay but we couldn’t see them,” she pointed out quickly. I nodded. “Sure, sure, but it still counts. We did so many scary things.” “We beat a man with the Element of Kindness,” Fluttershy said, wide eyed and a hoof over her mouth. “I’m pretty sure that was just me,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. She gave me a Look and I knew it hadn’t been just me. I blushed a bit and sighed. “Yeah, we did that. Pretty brave of us,” I concluded. She nodded, and for a little bit we were quiet. Until she shifted. “You kept thinking about what Humanity really is. Throughout the adventure, we would come back to that question. I think Humanity is Potential. So much Potential,” she told me. “I think we’re Change. Whatever it is, we cause change,” I countered. “Potential Change,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “Yeah,” I sighed happily. “Cloudy with a potential for change.”