Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

2. Reality shift

There was a brief moment in which none of the three ponies moved, each of them staring at one of the others. Fluttershy stood frozen, her legs refusing to budge, as she looked at the unicorn mare. According to her eyes, it was her friend Twilight Sparkle, but that was something her mind didn’t seem very willing to accept. Twilight, for her part, was looking from Fluttershy to Grey Helm and back again, a familiar frown on her face indicated that she was doing her best to analyse the situation and come to the correct conclusion. She tapped her chin with her hoof for a moment, then walked up to Fluttershy and trotted around her in a perfect circle, studying her from every angle.

“It really is you,” Twilight uttered softly, disbelief clear in her voice. She came to a halt right in front of the timid pegasus, a happy grin on her face and her eyes shining with excitement.

“Ah, pardon me, Miss Sparkle,” Grey Helm interrupted after he cleared his throat. “But do you know this mare?” He gestured lightly with his hoof at Fluttershy. The lavender unicorn nodded, and lowered her head a little bit, a gesture of submission towards a figure of authority.

“Indeed, sir,” she replied honestly. “This is my friend, Fluttershy. Though I haven’t seen her in years, I must admit. She left Ponyville, not long after I moved here, for family matters. I hadn’t anticipated her return, so you can imagine my surprise when I left the town hall and saw her being escorted by you, sir.”

Grey Helm gave an empathic nod, to indicate that he had understood her perfectly. “That explains why her face was new to me. I found her hiding in a small alleyway in Applecrop Street, in a, ahem, state not well fit for going out in public...” He trailed off slightly, his discomfort and slight blush quite obvious, as he gestured at Fluttershy again, stressing the fact that she was only dressed in his coat for the moment. Grey Helm cleared his throat again and regained his composure. “I am sure one who knows the law like you do, lady Sparkle, understands that I had little choice but to take your friend here into custody. I have to escort her to the guard station now, to take care of this matter. Please excuse us. Your friend will be free to go soon enough, then the both of you can catch up.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Twilight replied, smiling politely. “By your grace, I would pay her fine right here and now, if it is within my budget.” Her horn glowed, and she levitated a coin purse, that had been attached to her hip, into the air.

The soldier pondered this for a moment, tapping his chin with his hoof. His eyes looked at the unicorn, then at Fluttershy, and then settled back onto Twilight. “I do not see why not,” he answered slowly. “Since Miss Fluttershy has no crime record that I know of, this transgression against the law lies within the pardonable. And I do concede that a visit to a friend would no doubt do her more good than a visit to the guard station, especially if this is her first day home in years. Though I hope you remember that by paying her fine, you will be held responsible for her, Miss Sparkle?”

“I do, sir,” Twilight said, still smiling. “And I can assure you that Fluttershy will not give you any further troubles. It wasn’t her intent to commit any transgression, I am certain. I think her long absence from our good society merely caused her to forget the laws and customs of our great Republic. I shall remind her of those as soon as we return home.”

Grey Helm seemed to be convinced. He knew Twilight Sparkle; she wasn’t exactly an unknown face around Ponyville. The unicorn mare was an honest pony, and her crime record was absolutely blank. She worked at the town hall doing paperwork, and her dedication to her job was commendable, so he had been told. The Mayor never complained about her and was pleased to have her working under her. Yes, he decided, a pony working so close under the eye of the law was certainly trustworthy. His commanding officers wouldn’t give him any trouble should he hoof over Fluttershy into Twilight’s care.

“Very well then,” he announced. “Given miss Fluttershy’s blank record and the fact that she clearly regrets her actions, the law dictates that a fine of one hundred bits needs to be paid in order for me to place her into your custody, miss Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded and opened her purse. She fished out twenty coins worth five bits each and handed them over to the guard. Though he had faith in her honesty, the rules nevertheless dictated that he should check if the given sum was correct. As predicted, it was, and he let the coins drop into his own purse, satisfied.

“Thank you,” Grey Helm said and turned to address Fluttershy. “Miss Fluttershy, your fine has been paid. You are free to leave. Please refrain from any further violation of the law, so your life can be without any needless hindrances. Have a nice day, and welcome back to Ponyville.” He tipped his helm to her, as was proper etiquette. “Miss Sparkle, the same to you.” He repeated his previous gesture, and Twilight made a polite bow in return, like a proper lady should. With these formalities over and done with, Grey Helm took his leave and continued on to the guard station alone. He would drop off the bits he had just collected there, give a report, and then continue with his patrol.

Twilight watched him go, and once he was out of earshot, let out a relieved sigh. “That went well,” she muttered, wiping off her brow with her hoof. “Luckily Grey Helm is a reasonable pony.” She turned her attention to Fluttershy, her friend, who stood frozen in place, looking uncertainly at the retreating form of Grey Helm and then at Twilight, all while hiding behind her pink mane. She couldn’t look more lost and helpless if she tried.

Twilight smiled warmly at her friend and patted her gently on the shoulder. The touch made Fluttershy squeak and jump a foot into the air. Twilight winced when she saw how high-strung her friend was. “Calm down, Fluttershy,” she said, keeping her voice low. Ponies were beginning to gather around and stare, and she didn’t want that. “Let’s go somewhere quiet and out of sight first, where we can talk privately and in peace.” She gave another comforting smile to her friend, and gently tugged her along. “Come along now, this way.”

Fluttershy went along quietly, as if held in a trance. Her mind still reeled with everything that had just happened, and she was still being beleaguered constantly by new sounds and sights that threatened to drive her insane with fear. She followed Twilight blindly, the only familiar thing in this strange place. The unicorn was like an island in an ocean of insanity and noises, and she was the shipwrecked pony swimming desperately for that sole speck of dry land.

Fluttershy had expected Twilight to take her to her home in the library, but she didn’t. Instead, she took her friend away from the town square, through a number of streets until they stood before a small house that most definitely did not stand out at all. It looked like any other house around this place, and was squeezed in between two other equally plain houses. There wasn’t a garden, or any flowers, not even on the windowsills! It wasn’t that it looked ugly or dirty, far from it, but it was simply plain and boring.

Back in Ponyville, Fluttershy remembered every house being distinct from each other. Even if the form was the same, there was always something that made each house unique, be it the flowers, or the gardens, or the colours of the paint. And because of these differences, subtle or not, you knew who lived where if you had the memory for that sort of thing. Here, it was impossible to tell. Anypony could live anywhere. The houses didn’t represent the ponies who lived in them. They seemed so cold. So distant. Not at all what she was used to.

If Twilight was aware of her friend’s musings, she didn’t show it. She trotted right up to the front door, levitated a key out of a pocket on her leggings and unlocked her house with. A simple nudge from her hoof, and the door swung open. She turned to smile at Fluttershy once more.

“Well, here we are. Go on inside, Fluttershy,” she said. Twilight took a step back and gestured to the open door with her hoof, allowing her friend to enter first. That was only proper, after all. Etiquette demanded that a guest went inside before the host. Fluttershy was quick to accept the invitation, all too glad to be off the streets. She went inside faster than one could say ‘go’, and Twilight had to blink a few times to make sure her eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on her. Once she was sure that they hadn’t, she followed her friend inside at a more respectable pace and closed the door behind her.

Before her stood the familiar small hallway of her house. At the end was a staircase that led to the small upper floor, where her bedroom and bathroom were, while a doorway to the right led to her living room. This door had been knocked open by a local hurricane, which told Twilight that Fluttershy had already found the way to the living room. After sweeping her feet on the doormat, she entered the room her friend had vanished into.

It wasn’t very roomy since she lived alone, but it sufficed for her. There was a fluffy carpet on the floor, a comfortable couch for herself and one for possible guests, and a coffee table in between those. All that stood neatly arranged in front of a fireplace, which was currently not in use. Above the fireplace stood a picture of Twilight and her parents, and a nice clock that looked antique but was in fact just a cheap copy. She definitely didn’t have the bits to buy the authentic version; she was just a simple office clerk, after all. There was one window in the room that gave a view of the streets outside. It had two sets of curtains, one white and semi-transparent, and a thick red one that didn’t let any light through over it.

Against the wall across from the window Twilight had placed a wardrobe, simple in design, with six shelves. The top three were filled with as many books as Twilight could afford, while the rest of the shelves were filled with more photographs or gifts from her family. Mostly simple trinkets, like a neatly decorated cup, or a nice statuette. Right next to the wardrobe was Twilight’s desk, currently occupied by a few papers scattered across it, which was quite unusual for the otherwise so neat and organized unicorn. But she had had to take a quick look at a couple papers this morning right before work, and hadn’t had the time to put them away again.

There was a door on the same wall that lead to Twilight’s small kitchen, which in turn had another door that led to her even smaller cellar. She looked around her living room trying to find Fluttershy, only to see that her friend had hidden in plain sight under a blanket on the couch. Despite everything, the sight brought a smile to Twilight’s face, though it was one of sadness and rather nostalgic.

“It really is you,” she said, breaking the silence that hung in the room. Now that they were out of sight and in the safety of her own house, Twilight could finally outwardly show how excited and surprised she was. She walked over to the heap on the couch that was Fluttershy, and tenderly moved the blanket back a bit so that she could see Fluttershy’s face. The pegasus peeked from behind her mane, and the eyes of the two mares met.

“It’s really you!” Twilight said again, louder this time, as if she needed to say it aloud to convince herself of what she was saying. “I can’t believe it! When I woke up this morning I certainly didn’t expect to run into you! But it’s really you! You’re really here! It’s really you, Fluttershy! Sweet Celestia, where have you been all these years? I mean, I never really met you in this life but I did remember you from our life in the other Ponyville, and since everypony else is here I always found it strange that we never saw any sign of you, but now you’re suddenly really here, with me! And it feels so right, let me tell you. Oh, it’s as if you’ve never been away at all and–”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy’s timid voice brought a sudden halt to the unicorn’s rambling. Twilight realised she’d been ranting, and smiled sheepishly, as a blush crept up on her cheeks. Her friend couldn’t care less for that, though, even if what Twilight had been saying had made little sense. Instead, she asked the question that had been in her head since she woke up in this nightmare.

“Twilight, what’s going on?”

It sounded more like Fluttershy was begging her friend for the answer rather than asking for it. She had such a haunted look of fright and confusion in her eyes that it made Twilight calm down. The purple mare breathed in and out deeply to compose herself, then smiled gently at her friend. The gesture seemed to make Fluttershy feel a little better as well.

“To be honest, I was going to ask the same thing of you, Fluttershy,” Twilight answered calmly. “Where have you been all these years?”

“Oh, ehm, I’ve never gone anywhere, Twilight. I was in Ponyville, until today at least. I just went to sleep as usual yesterday, and then when I woke up, I was here… where… wherever here is…” She lifted her head from the couch and looked around the living room. Compared to everything she had seen outside, this place looked like a normal pony home, like what she was used to. Even though it was rather small, it still felt much cosier and welcoming than the outside of the house had suggested. She looked at Twilight again, and noticed that her friend had a serious frown on her face.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight began, sounding as serious as she looked. “The Ponyville you came from… did I live in a library there? And was everything more colourful and open?”

“Oh, yes, you most definitely did,” Fluttershy answered, nodding excessively. “And it was much bigger and cosier there than here. If… if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“I don’t mind,” Twilight assured her, the frown being replaced with a smile once more. “Because it’s true, the library was a much nicer place to live than this little house. And I definitely liked having more books than I currently do.”

“T… Then why did you move to this place, Twilight?” Fluttershy wondered, hoping she wasn’t too bold or prying for asking that. “I mean… It’s… it’s so loud and noisy outside. There’s so many ponies out there, and everything looks the same and is squeezed together to so tightly. I… I don’t understand why you would want to move here.”

Twilight shrugged helplessly, smiling sadly. “I never moved, Fluttershy. Except from Canterlot to Ponyville, of course. But that was the only time. I never left Ponyville. Fluttershy, this is Ponyville.”

Fluttershy's eyes widened far more than Twilight had thought possible, and her mouth dropped open in shock. She had a look of pure bewilderment and disbelief on her face, but Twilight understood that perfectly. Disbelief was almost the only allowed reaction to what she had just told her friend. She shook her head and smiled wryly.

“I know, it doesn’t look like Ponyville, does it?” she said, a hint of bitterness having managed to sneak its way into her words. “But things changed, Fluttershy. They’ve changed a lot. And the funny thing is that it all changed before we were even born. So by all means, we shouldn’t even be able to remember that it was once different, because it never was different. But I do remember. And now you’re here, from a time in my life that I remember very well but actually never happened. I’m both incredibly excited and happy to have one of my friends back, as well as so uncertain and confused that I’m surprised my head hasn’t burst open yet!”

Twilight let out a deep sigh and sat down on her rump, visibly frustrated, though Fluttershy knew that it wasn’t directed at her. The timid pony looked down at her hooves, thinking and being totally quiet. She waited for her friend to speak again, but when Twilight stayed quiet as well, she dared break the silence.

“Twilight? I… I still don’t understand. I’m very confused, if that’s okay with you…”

“I don’t blame you, Fluttershy. It is rather complicated,” Twilight admitted. She rubbed her forehead with her hoof, just below her horn and gave Fluttershy an apologetic look. “But I’ll do my best to try and explain. It is a long story, though. So before I start, can I offer you anything to drink? Or maybe a bite to eat?”

As if on cue, Fluttershy’s stomach let itself be heard. Not very surprising, since she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink yet today. She blushed slightly and hid behind her mane once more. “That would be… nice,” she admitted. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Fluttershy, you’re my friend, and I haven’t seen you in my entire life here, of course it’s not too much trouble. It’s not any trouble at all.” She patted one of her friend's hooves with her own in a simple gesture of friendship. “So what can I get you? I could serve you a salad, or a daisy sandwich, with a nice cup of water. Or would you prefer some apple juice? I’m sure I have some left, though I just remembered that I really should stock up.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to take your last apple juice; a cup of water will be just fine, with a daisy sandwich, if that’s okay.”

“Coming right up!” Twilight said with a grin. Fluttershy expected her friend to call for Spike, like she always did, to do the cooking. But she didn’t. Instead she trotted towards the kitchen herself, an excited spring in her step. “Gosh, I haven’t made dinner for a friend in ages! This is so exciting! Luckily I’m better at it now than I was back when I was precisely the same age living in the other time line.” And with that, she vanished into the kitchen. Fluttershy could hear drawers being opened and kitchen utensils being pulled out. Twilight hummed a soft tune to herself while she worked.

Her pink-maned guest was silent for a while, absent-mindedly rubbing her front hooves together while she waited. Everything was still very confusing and she was none the wiser of on what was going on, but at the very least she had one of her friends here to help her. Despite her odd manner of dress, Twilight acted like she always had, and the familiarity of that did a lot to put Fluttershy at ease somewhat. A question had popped up in her mind, though, and she couldn’t resist asking.

“Ehm, Twilight. Where’s Spike?”

Twilight poked her head through the doorway while answering. “In the Everfree Forest guarding his hoard, I think. At least that’s where he was last I checked. I doubt he's moved.”

Twilight disappeared from the doorway again and continued with her cooking, before Fluttershy had the chance to ask more. She understood that the little dragon wasn’t here, but she didn’t get why Twilight seemed so at ease with the absence of the one being she was both an older sister and a mother to. Not only that, but why would Spike be in the Everfree Forest in the first place? Guarding his hoard? That made little sense to the pegasus. Only big dragons, the kind that scared her, kept hoards in the caves where they lived. But not Spike. He was just a baby dragon, wasn’t he? A sigh escaped her lips and Fluttershy felt her shoulders slump. Another mystery and more confusion. She hoped there would be some answers soon. Her stomach rumbled again, reminding her of how hungry she was. Well, the answers could wait until she had taken care of that little inconvenience.

Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait any longer, as Twilight entered the room again, using her magic to carry a plate with a delicious-looking sandwich and a nice wooden cup of water along with her. She placed them before Fluttershy on the coffee table. “There, one daisy sandwich and one cup of wonderfully fresh water,” Twilight announced. “Dig right in!”

“Thank you. It certainly looks delicious!” Fluttershy replied, smiling timidly but gratefully at her friend. She shuffled over a bit on the couch, so she could take the plate from the table and place it before her. She picked up her treat with her hooves and took a delicate nibble from it. Her eyes widened slightly as she tasted it. It was really good! She knew she wasn’t really being fair, but it was no secret that Twilight wasn’t as good at cooking as she was at studying. Apparently that was another thing that had changed in this strange place. She smiled apologetically at her friend and thanked her for the sandwich, praising its goodness.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Twilight replied as her eyes got a look of sad nostalgia in them. “Since I’m on my own here, I didn’t really have much choice but to teach myself how to make a decent meal.”

Fluttershy swallowed her current bite of sandwich. “But why, Twilight? Why are you alone? Why is Spike in the Everfree Forest? Why does Ponyville not look like Ponyville? Why do all these ponies act so different from the ponies we know? Please, Twilight, please tell me! If this confusion lasts any longer I think I’m going to scream!” She gave Twilight the most pleading look she could muster. The unicorn sighed deeply, but surrendered.

“I suppose I can’t delay it any further.” Another sigh left her lungs, and she shook her head sadly. “Well, I might as well get it over with. Mind you, there are some things that don’t make much sense to me either, but I’ll tell you what I know.” Twilight sat down on the other couch and made herself comfortable. For a few short moments, she stared quietly at her hooves. She then looked up at Fluttershy, and began her story. “It all began with a certain pony called Steel Gear…”