//------------------------------// // A Rumor in Ponyville // Story: Fluttershy: an Anastasia Au // by halloweennut //------------------------------// Ten years had passed since the attack on Ponyville, and much had changed. After the attack, Celestia and Sombra cast a powerful spell, one that monitored strong bursts of magic outside of the royal family. Diamond Dogs were locked away in their own mines, and the changelings were exiled to the wastelands outside of Equestria. The Royal Family had permanently left Ponyville, never to return, not even for clothes or toys. The Palace, once a grand, sparkling beacon, was almost in ruin. The windows and doors were boarded up, never again to be brightly lit, and the towers and balconies were beginning to crumble from neglect. Hardly any pony dared enter it. All of this had a lasting effect on Ponyville. To them, a certain joy had left them along with the Royal Family. As the elderly matron of the Apple looked over the crowd of ponies in the marketplace, Granny Smith could easily see the difference in them from ten years ago. While they all looked and acted the same, something had definitely changed. And it certainly wasn’t from the overcast winter weather. “Ponyville is gloomy…,” she rasped slowly. Cheerilee, walking past with a small group of fillies and colts, nodded. “Ponyville is bleak…,” she sang in response. “My beard and tail are frozen from standing here all week!,” cried out Hayseed, whose graying hair had turned into blocks of ice and icicles from him fervidly trying to take care of a plant near town hall. Others, noticing the three singing, joined in. “Since the royal family left us, Our lives have been so gray Thank goodness for the gossip That gets us through the day! Hey!” Slowly, everypony joined in, some grabbing the newest issue of the local newspaper. They began showing each other the front page article. Shining Armor, confused by the sudden musical number, tried to make his way through. He was late enough as it was; he didn’t need to be stuck in a flash mob. “Have you heard? There’s a rumor in Ponyville! Have you heard what they’re saying on the streets?” Caramel ran in front of him, displaying the front page. It was all about the missing duchess, and had a photograph of her when she was a filly. “Although the family went away, one daughter must have been to stay!,” he sang, more to the surrounding ponies than Shining. He sidestepped around the yellow stallion and others, and made his way past the marketplace “The Duchess Fluttershy!” everypony sang, only to be interjected by Silver Shill. “But please, do not repeat!” Suddenly everypony was moving in a huge flock, dancing with each other, surrounding Shining Armor and causing him to trip. Why did he even arrange the meeting in the trader’s building? “It’s the rumor A legend A mystery! Something whispered in an alleyway Or through a crack!” Shining pulled out of the crowd, and snuck through a stall to the other side of the marketplace. Only to wind up in another singing crowd of ponies. “It’s a rumor that’s part of our history!” Trixie, the formerly great and powerful, stood shout-singing from her stand full of small, glittering snow globes, each with a small figurine of the Duchess. “They say the royal family will pay a royal sum to somepony who can bring their duchess back!” Shining Armor finally escaped from the massive throng and arrived at the trader’s building. He galloped up the steps to the landing, swinging his head side to side, looking for his…business partner of sorts. A sharp whistle came from behind him. “Pssst! Shining!” a gray unicorn hissed. He was wearing a coat made of different swatches of fabrics, covering practically his whole body and dragging on the ground. “Discord!” Discord shushed the other, and both ran inside the building. Inside were many sales ponies, each selling not so legally obtained goods. That is, things looted from the abandoned palace, or knock-offs of actual belongings of the royal family. The Flim Flam Brothers were the more pushy of them all. “Three bits for this painting! It’s genuine, I swear!” the first of the two said, thrusting the painting in the direction of the two. Both could easily see the very recent brushstrokes on the canvas surface and pushed past, only to be interrupted by Flam. “Prince Blueblood’s pajamas, friends; buy the pair!” he sang, levitating the pair in front of them, but they had left at ‘Prince Blueblood’. No one wanted those- no one. Lily Valley was the last one they ran into, holding up a large, black and red cape. “I got this from the palace! It’s lined with real fur!” she sang excitedly, waving her hoof in front of the cape. Discord grabbed a corner of it, and held it against his chest. “It would be worth a fortune, if it belonged to her!” They all sang in agreement. Discord gave her a bit, and took the cape with them. They walked quickly out of the trading floor, and into a back room. “Well, Discord, I got the theater,” Shining said, using his magic to readjust his coat, following the other up a flight of stairs. “ I don’t see how this scheme will help me though.” “Look, all we need is a girl!” Discord responded, shedding the coat. As it slid off, he transformed back into his normal self, and tossed the garment to the side without a care. “I was sent to find the Duchess, not just anypony off the street!” Shining hissed, running to walk side by side with Discord. The draconequus sighed, and leaned down, wrapping an arm around the Captain of the Guards’ neck. “Your moral code is wonderful, Shining, but think of it! How many butter-yellow pegasi with pink hair are there? It’ll be a cinch to find one just like her, maybe even find the actual duchess!” he said, leading the other up more flights of steps to a small, practically trashed loft. “You can go back home to Canterlot, and your pretty little princess fiancee, and back to being big brother to the other princess…what’s her face…-” “Twilight.” “- Twilight! And the magic sensor will be lifted- hopefully- and I can go back to being Lord of Chaos! We’ll have three tickets out of here, one for you, one for me, and one for Fluttershy!” He left Shining’s side, leaping to the open window. “It’s the rumour, the legend, the mystery! It’s the Duchess Fluttershy who will help us fly!,” he sang over the town before teleporting back to the unicorn’s side again. “ You and I, friend, will go down in history! We’ll find the girl to play the part and teach her what to say! Dress her up, and take her to the city!” Discord snapped his fingers, keeping his magic usage small enough so it wouldn’t trigger the sensor. A small crystalline box appeared in his talon, and he waved it in front of Shining’s face. “Imagine the reward her dear old mother’s going to pay!” Discord sang, quickly stuffing it into a small briefcase, “Who else could pull it off but you and me!” He pulled the unicorn to the window, and looked out over the crowds below. “I’ll be rich!” “I’ll have the girl!” Shining sang in response. “We’ll be out!” the other countered. “We’ll be out!” Shining reared up on his hind legs. Discord wrapped his lion’s paw around him, and they both leaned out over the balcony. “And Ponyville will have some more to talk about!” they both sang in unison, before Discord launched both of them off the roof and into the snowy streets below. The ponies below were still wrapped up in their song. “ Shh! Have you heard? There’s a rumor in Ponyville! Have you heard what they’re saying on the street! Hey” The ponies devolved into small clusters, each talking about their own theories on the disappearance of the duchess, every so often interrupted by somepony yelling ‘hey’. Discord and Shining ran after a random hay cart, jumping aboard. Suddenly the ponies started singing and dancing again. “Have you heard? There’s a rumor in Ponyville! Have you heard? Well what do you suppose! A fascinating mystery!” “The biggest con in history!” Discord sang from the cart, waving a hat he pulled from nowhere in the air as they traveled from the market. “The Duchess Fluttershy! Alive or dead?” “Who knows? shh!” Silver Shill shushed, before returning to his stand. Everypony went back to their normal activities, suddenly quiet save for random chatter. A few minutes later, Discord and Shining hopped off the cart near the older part of town. They weaved through the alleys as they made way for the theater, avoiding most ponies as Discord refused to turn into a unicorn, claiming that doing it again would set off the sensor. The theater wasn’t in the best condition, to say the least. It was weather worn and needed a coat or three of new paint. The shingles and roof were crumbling slightly, and hundreds of flyers and posters covered the walls. "It’s awful," Discord stated, eyeing the building up and down. Shining Armor groaned in exasperation. "Look, I got the theater, and it’s the best I could’ve-" Discord pressed a talon to the unicorn’s lips, shushing him. "Excuse you, I wasn’t finished," Discord said, removing his talon and walking toward the theater. "I would think that a Captain of the Royal Guard, not to mention fiancé to a princess, would know better than to cut off their elders when they’re speaking." The other did not say a word, his face deepening into a scowl. "As I was saying…I like it!" Discord finished with a grin. Shining moaned and just hoped that this ordeal would all be over soon.