//------------------------------// // September 1 – 6:57 PM // Story: Flash Fog // by Kwakerjak //------------------------------// It took a little bit of searching, but eventually, Bon-Bon managed to locate the local fog specialist in the Carousel Boutique. This was hardly surprising—after all, Rarity was one of Fluttershy’s best friends—but Bon-Bon hadn’t expected to see Fluttershy wrapped in thick, reflective fabric as Rarity flitted around her, stitching various panels together. Thus, after a brief round of greetings, Bon-Bon delayed asking about her concerns to satisfy her curiosity. “Uh... if you don’t mind my asking, what’s going on here?” Fluttershy smiled kindly at the candymaker, though otherwise she didn’t move at all. “Oh, well, Rarity had enough material left over for one more fog suit, and she reminded me that I might need to get around in the fog myself once it reaches the town. I’m not exactly the strongest flyer around, so I’ll need all the help I can get if I have to travel through it.” “Uh, right,” Bon-Bon said. “Er, should I come back later, then?” “Oh, I don’t mind,” Fluttershy replied. “Talking with somepony gives me something to do while I’m standing still, after all.” “But this is a little personal,” Bon-Bon said, eyeing Rarity warily. Rarity looked up from her needlework when she noticed the awkward lull in the conversation. “Hmm? Is something the matter?” “You won’t repeat anything you overhear between Bon-Bon and me, will you, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked. Rarity let out a mildly condescending sigh as she peered wearily over her pince-nez spectacles. “Darling, at the moment, I’m working on some rather intricate stitching, which means I can’t afford the luxury of multitasking. Thus, actively listening to the two of you is quite out of the question. That said, I assure you that anything that does manage to filter through shall not leave this room.” Bon-Bon still seemed rather unsure as Rarity returned her focus to Fluttershy’s fog suit, but she decided to continue her conversation with the pegasus. “It’s about tomorrow.” “Oh?” Fluttershy said as she worriedly furrowed her brow. “Will Pinkie not be able to use your bunker after all?” “No, no, that’s not a problem. It’s just... well... Lyra volunteered for the safety patrol.” “I see. Were you hoping she’d help out with the party instead?” “Well, not specifically, but almost anything would be better than the safety patrol. Don’t get me wrong, Lyra certainly means well, and the patrol is obviously important, but I really don’t think she has the right temperament for it.” Fluttershy looked confused. “You think she’ll be too uncomfortable in the fog to perform her duties?” she asked. “If only it was that simple. I think she’s going to do something reckless when she finds the humans. She’s always been so optimistic about them; it’s almost amusing, but now, I’m worried that she’ll scamper off to greet them seconds before they capture her, or worse. She probably won’t even be willing to use magic on them for fear of ‘hurting’ them or some other nonsense. The ponies on the safety patrol need to be able to sound the alarm as quickly as possible; peaceful overtures completely miss the entire point of the safety patrol to begin with!” Fluttershy sharply drew in a breath through her teeth before answering. “Um, actually, the real point of the safety patrol has nothing to do with humans...” “On paper, sure,” Bon-Bon replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “But once the humans actually show up, these ponies are the obvious first line of defense against the invasion.” Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this, as she was fairly certain that pointing out that there had been no evidence of any non-equine activity at Caligo Manufacturing would do absolutely nothing to change the candymaker’s mind. “Um, well, from the sound of it, it seems likely that Lyra is going to try to find humans in the fog whether or not she’s part of an official group. So wouldn’t it be better if there was somepony with her? As I understand it, Applejack thinks the volunteers should be in pairs when they go outside.” Bon-Bon frowned and idly tapped one of her forehooves against a table leg as she answered. “I suppose you have a point there, but Lyra’s so enthusiastic about humans that I’m worried that whoever she’s paired with will just get swept away by her excitement, and right into the clutches of those overgrown chimpanzees. I think it might be safer overall if she was just kept indoors.” “Um, perhaps, but isn’t Lyra an adult? I don’t think she’ll agree with you, and I think she deserves a better reason than ‘because I said so.’” “But somepony needs to keep her in check!” “Well,” Fluttershy replied, pausing briefly as Rarity maneuvered beneath her to focus on a seam under her barrel, “why don’t you do it?” “Excuse me?” Bon-Bon asked as her ears perked up in surprise. “I don’t think anypony needs to worry about you being distracted by Lyra’s ideas,” Fluttershy explained. “I’m sure you’ve heard them all dozens of times before.” “But I need to supervise at the party. It’s my bunker, after all. If somepony gets hurt...” Bon-Bon trailed off, unwilling to contemplate what would follow an injury. “I’m pretty sure the Department of Weather took on all the legal risks when they rented your bunker in the first place. I mean, I sometimes rent out sections of my property for public events, and there’s usually a clause for that sort of thing.” Bon-Bon sighed and stared at the floor. “I guess you’re right, but...” “But?” Fluttershy repeated, beckoning the candymaker to finish her sentence. “...but why can’t she just do the safe thing and stay inside?” Fluttershy smiled. “Sometimes, you need to take risks. I’ve learned that lesson too many times to count. And when our friends take risks, sometimes the best thing we can do is to share those risks with them.” Bon-Bon was silent for a few moments before responding. Though her voice still wavered uncertainly, she asked, “I’m supposed to talk to Applejack if I want to volunteer for the safety patrol, right?” “That’s right,” Fluttershy said with a slight nod. “I think she’s at the town hall.” “Thanks,” Bon-Bon replied with a small smile as she turned and exited the boutique. September 1 – 7:00 PM Pencil Pusher could hear a clock chiming seven times somewhere in the distance as he paced back and forth outside the throne room. Getting an audience with the princess on short notice had been surprisingly simple once he’d pulled his Weather Department ID card out of his saddlebag. In fact, it had been so simple that Pencil had suddenly found enough time to indulge in a fresh round of jitters. This was Princess Celestia, after all. Thus, when he heard a herald calling out his name and he walked through a pair of massive, ornately decorated doors, it was with no small amount of shock that Pencil Pusher did not see Celestia seated on her throne, but rather her younger sister Luna, who, despite being of smaller stature, appeared to be far more intimidating than the bureaucrat ever imagined her sister to be. “Greetings, Mr. Pusher,” Luna said in an even, businesslike tone. Her facial expression was completely neutral. “You say you are here to discuss a matter that requires my urgent attention, correct?” “Princess Luna?!” he said in surprise before remembering that he was before royalty and kneeling in respect. “Uh, is Princess Celestia... busy?” he said hesitantly as he rose to his hooves again. Luna’s expression did not change, but her tone of voice seemed mildly irritated as she answered, “She has relinquished control to me for the evening, as I do to her each morning. Such is our practice.” Pencil Pusher wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. Just to make sure he hadn’t let time get away from him, he turned towards one of the few windows in the throne room that wasn’t made of stained glass. Sure enough, there was the sun, beaming its late afternoon light into the cavernous chamber. He artlessly extended a hoof towards the golden orb. “But... it’s still light outside....” Princess Luna dropped all pretense of stoicism at this point and actually groaned out loud, which didn’t do much to calm Pencil Pusher’s nerves. “While it is certainly true that my sister has yet to sink her sun below the horizon,” she explained with a notable edge to her voice, “none of our other royal duties actually require us to be active exclusively during the day or night. Thus, we normally take those duties in twelve-hour shifts all year round, as that makes scheduling much easier than varying our shifts to match the seasons. Do you follow?” “Oh,” Pencil said, mostly to break the brief silence that had settled on the throne room when Luna had finished her explanation. He had a rather distinct impression that he wasn’t the first pony to commit this particular faux pas. “That... makes sense, I suppose.” “Of course,” Luna continued as she dubiously squinted through her eyelids, “if this is truly an emergency as you claim, it should not matter which of us hears your plea.” While this was true enough, Pencil Pusher had no desire to make the situation worse. He may not have had all the details about how the Elements of Harmony got their posts, but he was quite sure that there had been some sort of fight with Princess Luna, and this did not seem like the best time to open old wounds by name-dropping one of the ponies who had beaten her. “Ah, well, you see, this concerns the large fog bank currently located in central Equestria. I, uh, assume you’ve been given information on it.” “Naturally, though my sister and I have only glanced through some brief abstracts that the Weather Department sent us. We came away with the distinct impression that the situation was under control.” Pencil Pusher had to fight the urge to run a forehoof through his mane. That would make him look nervous, and now was not the time for nervousness. “Well, I suppose it is, for the moment. However, unless we act soon, the fog might solidify and cause problems for years to come.” Luna nodded. “I understand your sense of urgency, but why bring this up with me? My sister and I were repeatedly assured that the Department of Weather could handle this matter internally.” “Ah, yes, well... we thought we could, but as the fog’s unique qualities have come to light, our specialist has been forced to come up with a... er... novel solution, and it may require impinging on another Department’s jurisdiction.” Pencil Pusher felt a bead of sweat well up on his forehead as he silently berated himself for using excessive jargon—but on the other hoof, Princess Luna might very well think he was insulting her intelligence if his explanation was too simplified. “Continue,” Luna said, her face frozen in the same unreadable expression as before. “Well, basically, the magic that makes these clouds so useful as construction material is also making it very difficult to clear away. The specialist’s idea is to neutralize that magic by blowing it into the Everfree Forest, which should cause the pegasus magic to stop working. But since the Everfree Forest falls under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department, we’d need their approval before going forward.” “And you were unable to get this approval?” “Well, no... but only because they were closed by the time I got to Canterlot.” “I see. And why does this situation require royal intervention?” “Because we need the north winds to start blowing before sunrise to get them over the mountains before they set completely.” Luna closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “That is, admittedly, a very creative solution, but I’m afraid I can not sanction it.” “What?! Why?” “Because it’s based on unfounded speculation. Nopony has been willing to properly study the Everfree Forest for centuries.” Pencil Pusher desperately wracked his mind for something, anything that might save the plan. “But Fluttershy said she knows a zebra who lives there! That’s got to count for something, doesn’t it?” Luna’s eyes flew open and she leaned forward, staring directly into the bureaucrat’s eyes. “Did you say, ‘Fluttershy’?” Pencil Pusher’s emotional state shifted from desperation to full-blown panic. “Um, er, well, I mean, that is, uh... maybe?” Apparently, Princess Luna had grown somewhat accustomed to her subjects panicking in her presence, if her derisive eyeroll was any indication. “Is there a particular reason why you’ve lost the ability to properly form a complete sentence?” “Well... it’s just that Fluttershy’s our fog specialist, and, um, I thought...” Pencil Pusher trailed off, unable to think of a way to end his sentence without digging himself deeper. Princess Luna, on the other hoof, now looked genuinely confused. “Why did you not mention that this plan was Fluttershy’s? You gave the impression that it consisted of the ramblings of a well-meaning but short-sighted clod, not one of the Element-Bearers.” “Wait... so you don’t have a grudge against them?” Luna’s face twisted in confusion. “Of course I don’t! It was their efforts that saved me from the Nightmare when I returned to Equestria. As far as I am concerned, their good judgement far exceeds that of ordinary ponies, and I am more than willing to sweep aside any personal doubts I may have to support Fluttershy’s plan.” “So, you’ll grant permission to let the fog into the Everfree Forest?” Pencil asked hopefully as his ears perked up. “Of course,” Princess Luna replied. She turned to one of her guards and said, “Have a scribe begin setting down the decree, then have it brought to the throne room posthaste so that the royal seal may be applied.” As the bat-winged guard hurried off to do his Princess’ bidding, Pencil Pusher let out a sigh of relief. “Glad that’s taken care of. Now all I need to do is head back to Cloudsdale—” “You will do no such thing,” Luna interjected. Pencil Pusher looked stunned. “But... your Majesty, somepony needs to let them know that the plan is moving forward.” “That much is true, but that pony is not you. I could tell that your right wing was injured the moment you walked into this chamber. You are in no condition to fly to the Canterlot market square, let alone to Cloudsdale.” “But... I need to tell Fluttershy at least....” Luna closed her eyes and solemnly declared, “You shall stay the night in one of our guest rooms. In the morning, you may return to Ponyville by train, pending the approval of one of the Royal Physicians.” “Well, alright, but who’s going to let everypony in Cloudsdale know what’s going on?” Luna was silent for a few seconds, tapping her chin with her hoof as she considered her response before the faintest curl of a smile appeared on her lips. The princess rose from her throne and strode confidently down to where the bureaucrat stood. She looked Pencil Pusher in the eye and said, “I shall travel there tonight and handle this matter personally.” “Really? You’d do that?” “If the situation is as serious as Fluttershy believes, we can’t afford any confusion, and my presence in Cloudsdale should quickly erase any doubts that might remain. Mark my words, Fluttershy will have her north winds by tomorrow afternoon, even if I have to fly to the Crystal Mountains and create them myself.” She turned towards two more guard ponies and issued another order: “Prepare my chariot!”