//------------------------------// // Befuddled Fluttershy // Story: A Week in the Life of Princess Twilight Sparkle // by vren55 //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Befuddled Fluttershy         Twilight, inside Rarity’s body, made her way through Ponyville on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage. Nopony bowed or squealed in excitement, nopony started babbling in an attempt to impress her. She was just an ordinary Rarity, one of the Elements of Harmony, to be sure, but also a strong staple in Ponyville. Her presence was appreciated, to be sure, but not revered like it was for her normally.         Twilight was bouncy and cheerful as she walked through the village, greeting the ponies she walked past with a formal “hello” that seemed to fit Rarity’s manner of speaking. In fact, she made it through to the other side of the village without incident.         The rest of her trip was spent wondering how exactly to explain this to Fluttershy. She was hoping nopony else would find out about this, not even her other friends. The fewer ponies knew, the better the experiment would be at allowing Twilight and Rarity to assimilate to each other’s lives. But Twilight knew she wouldn’t last an hour doing Rarity’s job, much less a week, so telling Fluttershy was necessary, if not ideal.         She nearly bumped into the door before realizing she had arrived. She knocked politely on it and waited.         “Who is it?” Fluttershy asked from behind the door.///         “It’s Twi...er, me,” Twilight said, choosing not to confuse Fluttershy from the get-go.         “Oh, Rarity!” Fluttershy cheered, opening the door and letting her in. “What a pleasant surprise. I thought you’d be busy at the boutique.”         “Well, I had some free time, and I found it prudent to visit my dearest friend,” Twilight replied.         Fluttershy’s cheeks turned red and she looked at the floor. “Dearest?” she asked.///         “Well, um, just as dear as, uh, as all my other friends, of course,” Twilight stammered. “But I need your help with something.”         “Oh, I see,” Fluttershy said. “I’m happy to help, whatever you need.”         “The request may seem a bit...odd,” Twilight said. She was confident she had Rarity’s speaking mannerisms down to a science, but she wasn’t here to pretend who she was to Fluttershy.         “Odd is no problem,” Fluttershy said, beaming.         “All right, well…” Twilight hesitated, unsure how to properly explain.         Just spit it out! she told herself.         Fluttershy was giving her a look of confusion. “Is something wrong?” she asked.         “No, no, not at all,” Twilight fibbed, gritting her teeth and shifting her eyes. “Okay, yes. I need your assistance with some sewing I have to do.”         “That’s all? That’s perfectly fine, Rarity. Are the orders piling up?”         “No, it’s just…” Twilight stumbled, “it’s just that I have no idea how to sew.”         Fluttershy let out a chuckle. “Don’t be silly. If you didn’t know how to sew, you wouldn’t be Rarity.”         “See, that’s just it,” Twilight said.         “What’s it?” Fluttershy asked, giving her that odd look again.         “I’m not Rarity. I’m Twilight in Rarity’s body.”         Fluttershy seemed to have frozen in place, just blinking as she tried to figure out what Twilight was talking about. “Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t, um...take anything, did you?”         “I performed sort of an aesthetic change so I would look like Rarity,” Twilight explained.         Fluttershy looked cross. “Sit down, Rarity. I’ll go get you some water.”         “I already told you, I’m not Rarity!” Twilight protested, but Fluttershy set her firmly on her couch and went to the kitchen.         “It’s obvious you’re not well right now, and I have no idea why,” she said. “But you need to rest until you’ve come to your senses.”         “If I were really Rarity,” Twilight called, “would I be able to do this?” She promptly turned an apple sitting in a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter into an orange. Finally got that trick right!         “Rarity, what...how did you learn that kind of magic? Did Twilight teach you?”         “Dear Celestia, I am Twilight!” she cried. She proceeded to turn all of the remaining apples in the bowl to all kinds of fruit, from lemons to grapes to even bananas.         Fluttershy looked as though she were going to faint.         “Okay, Rar...Twilight,” she said, bringing the glass of water with her and sitting on the couch. Rather than offer it to Twilight, she took a sip of it herself. “Why in the world would you change bodies with Rarity? Was this some kind of experiment gone horribly wrong?”         “No, it was deliberate,” Twilight explained. “Rarity and I wanted to live a week in each other’s horseshoes, and this was the best way to do that.”         “But you have no idea how to do Rarity’s job!” Fluttershy cried, but then it was as if a light sparked in her mind. “So that’s why you need my help.”         “Exactly!” Twilight said, beaming. “Rarity said the orders aren’t going to be too difficult, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to handle it. I don’t know French couture from French fries, so I really need the backup this week.”         “Um...I guess that’s okay,” Fluttershy said, staring at Twilight and still trying to imagine her in Rarity’s body. “How did you get her voice?”         “Well, I had to modify some vocal cords. The process was a bit complex, but nothing I couldn’t handle. All it involved was copying Rarity’s vocal cord configuration and molding my own to match it. I suppose in theory it could be done so I could have any voice I wanted, which could prove interesting if I were to have, say, Applejack’s voice, but...this is flying over your head, isn’t it.”         “Well, not real...yes, it is,” Fluttershy admitted.         “That doesn’t matter anyway,” Twilight said, getting off of the couch and pacing around the floor. “All I need is to keep up appearances like I’m Rarity for seven days, and then we’ll switch back and return to our normal lives. Can you help me for seven days, or is that too much time away from your animals?”         “My animals...well, as long as they’re fed at meal times, it really shouldn’t be an issue. I just don’t understand why in the world you did this.”         “It was Spike’s idea,” Twilight chirped.         “I see,” Fluttershy said. “That baby dragon really does have a great imagination. So, um...when do we start?”         “Tomorrow, I would think,” Twilight said. “It’ll give you the rest of the day to get used to the idea and give you some time to catch up on all of the sewing you know. With some instruction, I should be able to help out as well, just like I did in Manehattan.”         “I suppose you could,” Fluttershy said, “but how do you expect to fool all of Ponyville with this? Are you going to tell our other friends?”         “I can’t risk telling any of them,” Twilight said. “The more ponies know, the more likely the secret comes out. It’s just you, me, Rarity, and Spike, and that’s how I hope it stays, at least until this is over. Is that okay?”         “Of course,” Fluttershy said with a nod. “It just feels very strange, talking to you looking like Rarity and hearing Rarity’s voice come out of your mouth.”         “I suppose it is a bit strange,” Twilight said. “No idea what I’ll think the next time I look in a mirror.”         “You look gorgeous as always,” Fluttershy said, “so no need to worry about that, at least until the morning.”         “Well, with magic, I should be able to get Rarity’s mane curled the way she likes it,” Twilight reasoned. “I mean, I know she puts a lot of work into her appearance, but really, how hard could it be?”         “I wouldn’t say that until you try it,” Fluttershy warned her.         “Good point,” Twilight said. “So, will you stop by the Carousel Boutique at, say, nine A.M? I’d like to get an early start.”         “That’s no problem at all,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll see you then, Rar...er, Twilight. My goodness, this is strange.”         “See you then!” Twilight cheered, prancing out of the door quickly.         As the door slammed, Fluttershy still had to think about what this could mean. What if other ponies find out? How will they treat Twilight and Rarity? What if I spill the beans? Then they’ll both be so mad at me.         Angel hopped over to the couch and gave Fluttershy a weird look.         “I know this is strange, Angel dear,” Fluttershy said, “but we’ll just have to do the best we can to help.”         Angel shook his head.         “Well, I have to do the best I can,” Fluttershy corrected with a giggle. “I just hope nothing goes wrong.”