Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

Chapter 1

Part 4

Twilight jogged along the dirt path, an annoyed expression on her face as she levitated the tiny checklist in front of her. Spike followed silently. As much as he wanted to scold Twilight for acting so rudely towards Rarity, he understood she had every right to be angry. Her experience with nobles had been very unpleasant, to say the least.

“Music,” Twilight snapped. “I’m supposed to meet with a pony named Fluttershy. Her cottage should be just over…”

She stopped as the beautiful sound of birds singing in harmony drew her attention. Her ears straightened up in an instant, and she forgot her annoyance in favor of following the music. Twilight and Spike walked carefully into the bushes to take a closer look, finding a tree filled with singing birds on the other side and one yellow pegasus mare sitting with her back to them.

“Ahh! This must be Fluttershy. Good to know luck is finally on my side again,” Twilight said as she pushed aside the branches of the bush and stepped through.

"Oh my. Um, stop? Please, everyone?" the pegasus said, bringing a stop to the music before flying up into the tree. “Excuse me, sir. I mean, no offense, but your rhythm was just teeny tiny bit off.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise as the blue jay Fluttershy was talking to appeared to nod back. She had assumed that the pegasus was in charge of the music, but she had expected something with a few more ponies and instruments, like at the Gala back home.

With a few flaps of her wings, Fluttershy glided smoothly back to her conducting position. “Now, follow me, please. A-one, a-two, a one, two, three—”

“Hello!” Twilight called as loudly as she could, hoping to catch the pegasus’s attention. At the sound of her voice, however, both the birds and Fluttershy were startled into flight, and the little unicorn was left to wonder exactly how strong her voice had become after years of shouting to be heard.

The pegasus landed back softly onto the ground, looking around for the source of the sound. Twilight stepped forward, giving Fluttershy an apologetic smile. “Oh my, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten your birds, I’m here just to check up on the music and it sounded beautiful.”

Fluttershy let out a loud gasp before charging straight at Spike. “A baby dragon!” she exclaimed as she stopped just short of said dragon, only millimeters away from running Twilight over in her rush. “I’ve never seen a baby dragon before! Ohh, you’re so cute.”

Spike crossed his arms, a smug look on his face as he looked past the pegasus at Twilight. “Well, well, well.”

“Oh my, he talks! I didn’t know baby dragons could talk,” Fluttershy said, her eyes wide in fascination and forelegs curled against her neck. “That’s just so incredibly wonderful, I-I just don’t know what to say.”

Fluttershy fluttered above the ground happily for a few moments before she noticed that the baby dragon was being levitated around her by a magenta aura. Fluttershy turned around to follow, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard another voice call out, “Hello!”

Her head swiveled around quickly, almost fearfully, to find the source of the voice. “Over here!”

It was only then that Fluttershy looked down, finally noticing the small, purple creature sitting on the ground before her. “Oh, and who might you be?” she said, tilting her head to the side. “A talking mouse? No, you are too tall for a mouse. Rat maybe... or maybe you’re just a very small, talking, baby rabbit. Oh, this is so exciting! First a talking baby dragon and now a talking rabbit!”

Fluttershy let out a light giggle, her eyes closed and hoof on her mouth. “Oh, don’t be silly. Unicorns aren’t that small, even as fillies, and you—”

She stopped and quickly lowered her head to take a closer look, easily noticing four tiny hooves, two tiny cutie marks, and one tiny horn.

Fluttershy took a quick step back, staring incredulously at Twilight, who simply gave the pegasus an awkward smile. It took a few moments of silence before either of them spoke.

“Errr… Hi, I came to check up on the music, and it’s sounding beautiful,” Twilight said.

When the pegasus continued to remain silent and motionless, still staring at her, Twilight cleared her throat and started again. “M-my name is Twilight Sparkle. You must be Fluttershy! Nice to meet you.”

After a few more uncomfortable moments, Twilight’s friendly smile had begun to break. “If-if you’re angry that I scared your birds, I’m sorry,” she said, uncomfortably rubbing at her foreleg. “But hey, it looks like they’re back, so no hard feelings, right? Right?”

The pegasus mare kept silent as sweat started to fall across tiny’s mare face. “Please, say something. Whatever I did to offend you, I’m sorry,” Twilight said, her face falling.

“Um… you're very tiny,” the pegasus whispered, so quietly that even Twilight’s sensitive ears couldn’t hear her.

“Y-you’re very tiny,” Fluttershy whispered again, though this time, Twilight managed to understand what she was saying.

“Yes, I am tiny. You’re probably wondering why, and it must be a shock for you, but the reason for that is—”

Twilight was unable to finish when, without warning, Fluttershy had swept her up into a soft, warm embrace. “Awwww, you poor dear! So cute and so fragile. I can’t imagine how you’ve endured living with ponies bigger than you. Were you born this small? Or did some mean evil creature make you this way with a curse?” Fluttershy asked, moving her wings to join in on the hug, as if hugging her with hooves wasn’t enough.

Twilight put some strength into her legs to push herself away from the hug slightly, and to her surprise, the embrace was so gentle that her tiny hooves had managed to do it almost effortlessly. With a little more space to move, Twilight looked up at the pegasus's concerned expression. “It’s true that I was shrunk, but it wasn’t by an evil creature. I was shrunk by my mentor, Princess Celestia.”

Fluttershy loosened her hug, using her wings to bring Twilight up to her face level. “Oh dear, why would the princess do such a cruel thing? I always thought that she cared about every living creature.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the tickling sensation from the soft feathers holding her up, but she quickly cleared her throat and reasserted herself. “Fluttershy!” she began, in a serious tone of voice occasionally broken up by attempts to contain her laughter. “It’s not as bad as you think. W-when I was younger, my magic was too volatile for me to control, so the princess shrank me to keep it from hurting anypony. Princess Celestia still cares about every living creature and especially cares about her subjects. Please don’t think otherwise.”

“Even if she had her reasons, it's still cruel to force you to live in fear in such a big world. Oh dear, you must be terrified, but don’t worry, little one, my cottage is nearby. I can take you there and accommodate you and keep you safe and make herbal tea for you and hug you. Oh, I’m sure you and the rest of my animals will get along just fine,” Fluttershy said with a wide smile, though she quickly stopped when she noticed the tiny unicorn was giving her an angry glare. “Oh, did I say something wrong?”

“I am not a pet!” Twilight shouted as she pushed Fluttershy’s wings away with the help of her magic, dropping to the dirt on all four hooves.

“Yes, you did. Just please… don’t ever treat me like a pet!” Twilight said, her hoof slamming against the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy said urgently, her eyes watering as she held her hooves together in a pleading gesture. “I really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Are you mad at me? Please don’t be mad at me. Please?”

Twilight took in a deep breath. "It's fine, Fluttershy. I forgive you, but please don't do that again. Anyways, I came to check up on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration’s music. Since everything appears to be in order, I think we’d better be going," she said, giving Fluttershy a curt nod before trotting off in the direction of Ponyville, Spike following right behind her.

Twilight jogged along the dirt road, maintaining a brisk pace as she kept her head stubbornly facing forward. Spike walked next to her, tapping his claws together nervously.

The tension in the air only grew as the silence continued, but Twilight kept looking straight to Ponyville, if only to ignore the large shadow looming over her, following her every move. She had barely reached the outskirts of the town, however, when she finally stopped and turned around, looking up with a frown at the persistent pony behind her. “Would you please stop following me?” she growled.

“O-oh my, um… yes—I mean no. I-I mean…" Fluttershy's voice faded off into a faint squeak as she took a step back, turning away from little unicorn’s piercing glare. Twilight simply rolled her eyes before trotting away.

It only took a moment for the shadow to reappear. As soon as Twilight noticed it following her again, she stopped, and the shadow stopped too. Then, she continued walking, and the shadow followed after.

Twilight turned back on Fluttershy, aiming to make her glare as uninviting as possible. “Shouldn’t you be practicing with your birds for the Summer Sun Celebration? Why do you keep following me?”

Fluttershy hid behind her mane with a startled peep. “W-well, I’m just making sure that no pony steps on you by accident. Or that you won’t be attacked by a hungry falcon. Or that—”

Twilight closed Fluttershy’s muzzle with her magic. “There is no need for you to worry,” she said, massaging her forehead with a hoof. “I will be perfectly fine.”

“But you're so tiny and helpless. I can't just leave you alone. What if something were to happen to you?”

“Yes, I am very sure. I have been this size for thirteen years, and look, I’m still as healthy as ever,” Twilight said, ignoring her still-aching spine from Rainbow Dash’s welcome. “So, would you please stop following me around?”

Twilight tried her best to look intimidating, casting a steely glower at the yellow pegasus. Though the tiny unicorn’s attempts to scare off ponies normally didn’t work very well, Fluttershy cringed back at the look, trying to hide behind her mane again.

After a moment of silence, Twilight turned back around and started at a trot towards Ponyville one more time. Once again, she noticed the large shadow of the pegasus above her. “I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t follow me around.”

“Oh, I’m not following you around. I’m walking next to you. Towards Ponyville,” Fluttershy replied with an innocent smile.

Twilight let out a loud, exasperated groan, stomping her hoof into the ground as she locked eyes with Fluttershy. “This is getting ridiculous! You’re following me because you’re afraid somepony may hurt me by stepping on me accidentally, correct?”

“Of course! It would be horrible if somepony were to crush you by accident. I just can’t let that happen,” Fluttershy said in an earnest tone of voice.

Fluttershy let out a gasp, before looking around frantically for the tiny unicorn. “Oh my, where did she go?” she said, before turning to Spike. “You wouldn’t happen to know where Twilight is, would you? I mean, if it’s not a bother for you to tell me.”

Spike simply replied with a confused shrug, and with little else to go on, Fluttershy began pacing around slowly, her eyes darting between likely hiding places until, much to her horror, she stepped on something that was not dirt.

She jumped back as quickly as she could, her face going pale as she looked with wide, teary eyes at the prone body of the purple unicorn she had just stepped on. Fluttershy’s hooves began to tremble, and she began to hyperventilate as she leaned in closer to Twilight’s body, trying to assess the damage. “W-what have I done?” she said, shaking her head, unable to look away from her grave mistake. “T-this isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. Thisisn’thappeni—”

“Snap out of it!” Twilight shouted as she sat back up, brushing herself off before crossing her forelegs and raising an eyebrow at her pegasus-shaped attachment. “See? A pony stepped on me, and I’m perfectly fine. Hardly felt a thing.”

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes with a sniffle before attempting to give the unicorn a happy embrace, but Twilight simply teleported a few feet back before her hooves were even close. “I think I’ve had enough hugs for one day, thank you very much,” Twilight said firmly. “As you can see, I am in no danger, so you can stop following me around.”

***

A few minutes later, Fluttershy had Twilight once again in her shadow, now watching her even more attentively and placing her steps carefully in an attempt to avoid a repeat of what had happened earlier. She shot a few looks to the sides and perked her ears up occasionally, as if trying to catch somepony before they got close, but she never let her gaze wander too far from the tiny unicorn.

It wasn’t long before Twilight looked at her in desperation and said, “You were very enthusiastic earlier when you met Spike. Maybe you two should talk or something.”

Spike raised a questioning eyebrow at Twilight before mumbling out, “Well, I guess we could.”

“Ooh! So, um, what do talking dragons talk about?” Fluttershy said, seemingly eager to begin.

Twilight immediately pulled out her checklist, looking intently at the next item on the list as Spike entered wholeheartedly into a complete retelling of his life’s story. On one hoof, Twilight felt thankful that the overprotective pegasus was no longer paying strict attention to her every step. On the other hoof, she was starting to regret getting Fluttershy distracted with Spike, especially when her little dragon assistant began to talk about a few of her embarrassing foibles from when she was younger.

It would have been nice to end the day without being reminded that she once flipped a teacup onto herself accidentally.

It took several more minutes of walking before Twilight reached the building called Sugar Cube Corner. She took a quick glance behind her to make sure Spike still had Fluttershy’s full attention before slipping in quietly.

Once inside, however, Twilight was surprised to find the store completely empty, save for the sounds of baking and bustling ponies coming from the back. She galloped to the glass counter where the owners must have sold their goods, taking a good jump at it before climbing the rest of the way up. With a sharp tap of her hoof, she rang the nearby bell, sending a clear ring throughout the bakery before she began her examination of the cakes and cookies on display below her.

It wasn’t long before she heard a somepony’s voice call out, “Coming!” A lanky, mustard-yellow stallion came trotting in from the back, readjusting his striped bow tie as he approached the front counter.

“How may I help…” he began, looking around curiously as he murmured to himself, “That’s strange. I could have sworn somepony called. Maybe it’s just my imagination; making sweets for the Summer Sun Celebration has been particularly stressful.”

Twilight took a deep breath. I wonder if I’m going to be attacked as a rat again, or if he’s just going to drop into a dead faint at the sight of me. Would be just my luck today if either of those happened. Just calm down, Twilight, and get it over with.

She watched as the earth pony turned to her, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening slightly. “I know it must be a surprise to see a tiny pony like me, and I will gladly explain myself in time, but I have business that I must attend to,” Twilight said firmly, before the stallion could even say a word.

That seemed to have defused the situation, since the shopkeeper simply gave her a slow nod. “First off, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s protégé, and I was sent here to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

The stallion released the breath he was holding. “Err… W-welcome to our humble shop then, Miss Sparkle. My name is Carrot Cake, but you can call me Mr. Cake,” he said, beaming at her after his shaky start. “I assure you that all the desserts and confections for the celebration are way ahead of schedule. My wife and I were about to deliver them soon.”

Twilight returned the smile in earnest. Thank Celestia. For a moment there, I’d almost lost hope that I could have a normal conversation without any sort of drama. “Well, I’m glad to see that everything is going smoothly, however…” Twilight said, before pulling out her tiny checklist. “I’m told that I should meet with a pony named Pinkamena Diane Pie. I know it’s just a formality, but I’m still obligated to speak with everypony on my checklist. Is there a chance I may talk with Miss Pie?”

Carrot Cake shook his head. “I am afraid she’s not in at the moment. It appears some new ponies came into town, and Pinkie is quite known for spending the time to properly welcome any newcomers to Ponyville. She could be anywhere right now, but I'm sure you'll meet her sooner or later today."

“I see,” Twilight replied, giving a slow, thoughtful nod. “Well, I still have a few matters to attend to, and I’m sure you’re busy too, so in any case, thank you for your time and best of luck on your delivery!”

Carrot Cake gave her a respectful nod. “Best of luck to you too, and be sure to tell us about how you became so tiny later! I’m sure my wife and I would love to hear the full story when we get some spare time,” he said cheerfully, before trotting back into the kitchen.

Twilight turned and hopped off the counter, jogging happily towards the exit. That was the first conversation today with a professional working pony that didn’t end up in a freak-out. Maybe it was a sign that the rest of her day would be free from any further drama, and maybe she could finally be able to search for clues of Nightmare Moon’s return without any more distractions. With Spike behind her distracting Fluttershy, Twilight trotted towards the Golden Oak Library, hopeful that from then on, her day would finally be normal.

“Elements of Harmony… Elements of Harmony…” Steel Blade mumbled as he flipped quickly through the large tome before him. He had a rather substantial collection of books around him, having brought them upstairs out of the public library where he could get a bit more privacy in his research into Nightmare Moon. Most of the more relevant books lay open somewhere, whether it be on the stands, the bed, or even the mantel over the fireplace. The ones that weren’t open had accumulated an assortment of bookmarks in their pages, mostly bits and pieces of anything close at hoof.

Steel Blade jumped a meter into the air, crying out in surprise like a filly before landing in the heap of books around him with a loud clang of armor.

“You jerk! I can’t believe you invited friends and didn’t tell me!” Overwatch said with a mock expression of heartbreak. “How am I ever going to get over this?”

Steel Blade picked himself up out of the pile with a groan, ignoring the fact that Overwatch had materialized right behind him. “It’s not my fault! Whatever’s happening downstairs is out of my control, and I am not going down there if it means I have to deal with that craz—”

A loud knock sounded at the door, followed by the muffled sing-song voice of the unstoppable, unrelenting pink demon of a mare.

Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary

by CommanderX5

Summer Sun Celebration - Fluttershy