Years in the past...
Proper Syntax went to the rendez-vous at the Ponyville River Dock. The darkness of Luna's Night loomed over all of Ponyville. While the stars and the moon gave some light, it still left plenty of darkness. Only a hoof-full of buildings had any lights turned on. Proper Syntax simply cursed in the darkness, barely able to see.
After navigating through the night (which was surprisingly easy), he finally found the rendezvous he's been meaning to go to. Strangely, nopony was there. All he saw were two crates stacked together, and a vacant boat tied to the pier. Not a soul was found on the boat.
Not even his wife.
Proper Syntax looked at the note again, just to see if he got the right rendezvous. After reading through the piece of paper numerous times to check, he tried to recall if there were any more docks on the Ponyville River. He remembered there was only one dock on the Ponyville River for miles.
Proper Syntax then found a strange insignia scrawled on the side of a crate.
Then, as he examined, he saw something loom behind him. Before he could make out what was there, he felt a pinching feel on the back of his neck which, for some reason, made him feel light-headed.
Proper Syntax blacked out.
The Present...
"Moi?" a dumfounded Rarity asked in surprised disbelief. "You're asking MOI about accomodations?"
"Only for the time being," Fancy Pants responded. "At least until I can contact the mayor."
"Um...of course!" Rarity stammered.
Oh my stars! I must be dreaming! Rarity knew that having connections with Fancy Pants meant big things for her. It's as if the previous run-in with the mayor of Canterlot wasn't enough. Admittedly, she even had something of a crush on Fancy Pants as well.
"Miss Rarity..." asked Fancy Pants, suddenly more solemn and serious. "Are you aware of 'The Ponyville Voice'?"
"I...can't say I have." Rarity responded. "What suddenly brought that up?"
"...never mind." Fancy Pants said.
Rarity went back to work on a dress she had been intending to work on. She was surprised her store was not charred at all. Fancy Pants, meanwhile, were fondly looking at Rarity's works. He saw them before, but this time he was very impressed. A particular dress, one in a shade of lavender, suddenly reminded him of something. Something very important.
"Rarity..." Fancy Pants asked.
"Yes?" Rarity said, eager to continue talking to Fancy Pants.
"Are you by any chance aware of a 'Trixie Lulamoon'?" Fancy Pants asked.
Rarity's face changed to a frown. She remembers the time someone of that particular name ruined her mane.
"I...can't say I have..." Rarity said. This was a lie, but she was able to get away with lies before.
"Very well," Fancy Pants said.
Twilight Sparkle went down into the Newspaper Room once more. She brought a firefly lantern with her this time. Even after the fire, this newspaper room remained intact. She went to the usual pile of newspapers. However, as she magically lifted a newspaper, she found something.
A photo of a unicorn mare and a pegasus stallion, with the mare holding onto a foal.
Uninterested, she simply left the photo there, and took the newspaper back upstairs to read her "latest" editorial.
Fluttershy was gathering up various things for the Great Butterfly Migration. A notepad, a pencil, some dandelion sandwiches, and her new camera. She had saved enough money to buy a good camera, so that she could take photos of the various butterflies that were soon to come. She loved the Great Butterfly Migration. This time, Big Macintosh agreed to come with her. It was a date. Just her, Big Macintosh, and a lot of butterflies. This was the perfect opportunity to spend some time with him.
And even tell him what she had been meaning to tell Big Macintosh.
She mounted the camera in front of her, and placed her other stuff in her saddlebag. She then proceeded to leave the house.
Ever since the great fire that nearly consumed Ponyville, Rainbow Dash had to file in various paperwork, working at home. Just various contracts and similar paperwork. As weather manager she even had to deal with budgeting, to an extent. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was terrible at math, so very often she is off by several zero's or something, which meant she gets nagged a lot by the mayor.
Rainbow Dash simply groaned and subsequently head-desked in her room. She then lifted her head, attempting to muster up her concentration. Instead, however, she looked outside her window. Various buildings had been reduced to charcoal. Twilight Sparkle's tree library was still in one piece, thanks to her magic.
Rainbow Dash also saw a large swarm of butterflies flying Northward.She remembered that Fluttershy wanted to go see the Great Butterfly Migration, and the last time Rainbow Dash went with Fluttershy was a drag. Rainbow Dash utterly hated to go there. At least this time Fluttershy had Big Macintosh to be with her the whole migration.
Suddenly Rainbow Dash remembered her paperwork. As much as it kills her to swallow her pride, she realized she needed help. Rainbow Dash wondered how Twilight was able to keep up with HER paperwork, and she deals with them at least once a week.
Speaking of which, she hasn't visited her in a while.
I'll get it done later...
Rainbow Dash went outside, and flew over to Twilight's house.
Just outside Ponyville is a meadow. A sizeable expanse of grassy plains and little else. Only today there was a giant Butterfly Migration happening. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were watching the butterflies fly by. Fluttershy was in awe of the Butterflies that flew by. Big Macintosh, on the other hand, while he was not particularly interested in butterflies, he came with her to the migration for her sake.
"Isn't it just wonderfully amazing?" Fluttershy asked.
"Eeyup," replied Big Macintosh. Slowly, he too was enjoying the Butterfly Migration. Big Macintosh looked into Fluttershy's eyes and gave a warm smile. The two then embraced. Neither Fluttershy nor Big Macintosh could have been in any more tranquil than ever. It was the kind of day that Fluttershy could not be happier to have gotten.
But, as all good things, it all had to come to an end.
"Um...Big Mac..." Fluttershy began.
"...eeyup?" Big Macintosh said.
"...I...have to tell you something..." Fluttershy said.
While Big Macintosh said nothing, the facial expression Big Macintosh said that he was all ears.
"...it's not a problem if we spoke later today, right?" Fluttershy said.
"Nope," Big Macintosh replied.
Fluttershy and Big Macintosh were at a table. The room was filled with awkward silence. Not even the animals dared make a sound. By now all the little critters had all gone to sleep due to Luna's Night. Big Macintosh was waiting for Fluttershy to say something. After a while, Fluttershy finally began to say something.
"Well I-" Fluttershy began.
All of a sudden, a knock was heard on the door. Big Macintosh was the one to approach the door. Big Macintosh opened the door, only to be greeted by a powerful sucker-punch to the muzzle, sending him somewhat flying. Considering this was Big Macintosh that was slugged, this was a first for the large stallion.
A large, burly stallion, even larger than Big Macintosh was the first pony seen. However, the pony right behind him was a blue unicorn mare. She had a pale blue mane, and was wearing unusually extravagant "wizard" clothing. It was clear, to Big Macintosh. He heard stories about her from his sister Applejack. It was Trixie.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie thought we had a deal..." Trixie began.
"Deal?" Big Macintosh asked, as he groaned from the pain.
"You NEVER told me that one of the Great and Powerful Trixie's own affiliates would be aboard that ship!" Trixie roared. "We had a deal, you were to tell the Great and Powerful Trixie when the next airship would come, and who would be in it! You're just lucky Fancy Pants is still alive!"
"Fluttershy...what?" Big Macintosh asked, now becoming disillusioned with his own girlfriend.
"Wait...t-that's why you-" was all Fluttershy could muster, before breaking into tears. She had committed murder. Neigh. She committed outright terrorism, and to her own home town too.
"Granted, the Great and Powerful Trixie, thanks to your fairly impressive knowledge of creatures..." Trixie continued. "I now have an even greater force on my side. Though don't get too flattered. You're still inferior to the eyes of the Great and Powerful Trixie..."
Trixie lifted her hat magically, and at that moment, everypony could hear the buzzings of a large swarm of sorts. Fluttershy recognizes this particular buzz.
Parasprites.