Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

8. Dust

Fluttershy let her gaze drift through her cottage. Everything was exactly as she had left it yesterday, only now there was a considerable layer of dust covering everything, despite obvious attempts of her little friends to clean the house. It probably would have looked even worse if they hadn’t. But regardless of the dust, it was unmistakably her house, her own little home, her personal place, as if she had never left it. Which, in her mind, she hadn’t, while at the same time, she had never set a hoof in here her entire life. But it was home. Not a single thing had been changed, not a single thing had been lost. Even though the entire world was different, the place where her heart lay had remained as she remembered it. The emotions welling up inside as she stood in her dusty living room seemed to squeeze her throat shut.

Her little friends who lived with her inside her house had all gathered around her, welcoming their pony friend home. Those who weren’t allowed inside the house were struggling with each other for a spot near the windows or the open doorway, all of them wanting to get a glimpse of the shy mare who they remembered took care of them. Every single one of them was chattering away, all trying to get her attention, to give her their own personal welcome. The noise was deafening, but it didn’t bother her. For once she was glad to hear it all. For once all that noise sounded beautiful to her, the most wonderful thing she had ever heard in her entire life. It was the sound of home. Of her friends.

The most wonderful of all, however, was Angel Bunny. The white rabbit was positively ecstatic to be reunited with his pony friend, one who he had been waiting for all his life. Fluttershy had almost never seen him as happy and kind as now. He had even apologised to Twilight when Fluttershy had asked him to! There could be no better homecoming. Fluttershy finally managed to tear her eyes from the interior of her house, and looked down at all the cute little critters gathered around her.

“Hello, everyone, it’s nice to be home,” she said warmly. Her words earned her another wave of excited chattering, causing her ears to flatten against her head, and she smiled nervously. “Now, now, not all at once. I won't be able to understand you otherwise.”

The noise died down a little, granting Fluttershy’s ears some rest. Relieved, she turned to the first of the animals, a small grey mouse. She gently patted him on the head with her hoof, earning her a content squeak. “Good day to you, mister Mouse. I hope you’ve been taking care of missus Mouse while I was away?”

The little mouse squeaked something in response, and Fluttershy listened attentively, smiling and nodding as the mouse spoke. “Oh, yes, that’s very nice to hear. And thank you, mister Mouse, I’m happy to be back, too.” She moved on to listen what the squirrel next to the mouse had to say.

Twilight watched her friend from where she stood by the doorway of the cottage, a smile on her face. For the first time today, Fluttershy looked and acted like how she remembered her to, and it made her feel both happy and relieved. Twilight knew that her friend had a lot to come to terms with. A lot had changed in their world, and Fluttershy would have to adapt and get used to it all. And though today was the first time Twilight had met her friend in this life, it didn’t change the fact that she knew her very well. The poor, shy mare no doubt would have a hard time dealing with the changes. So it made Twilight all the happier to know that at the very least, she still had this wonderful little place where everything was still as it was supposed to be.

Well, except for the dust. One couldn’t forget the dust. But given the other troubles Fluttershy had to deal with, cleaning was an almost negligible concern. Satisfied, Twilight left her place in the doorway and moved inside. She cleared her throat, catching Fluttershy’s attention. The pegasus glanced over her shoulder at her friend and then looked down at the floor, as if she had been caught doing something wrong.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Twilight,” she apologised. “I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

Twilight merely rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry about it. It’s perfectly all right. I just wanted to excuse myself for now. You and your friends have a lot to catch up on, and I have a couple of errands to run. You’ll be fine on your own, right?”

Fluttershy let her eyes drift through her dusty home, then nodded slowly. “Yes, I think I’ll be all right… Angel Bunny is with me after all.” She looked at her rabbit friend and smiled as he puffed out his chest with pride. It made her giggle, a pleasant sound to everyone’s ears.

Twilight smiled at that, happy to see Fluttershy relaxed and somewhat confident again. “I’ll do my very best to drop by as soon as I can. You and your animals aren’t the only ones who have to catch up.” Twilight’s smile wavered a bit as she stared at her friend. “I’ve missed you a lot, Fluttershy. Everypony has.”

A sudden hug from the mare in question surprised her, but she quickly overcame that and returned the warm outing of friendship. “Please don’t be sad,” Fluttershy said once she let go of her friend. “I… um… I don’t think you’ll have to miss me anymore, if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s more than okay with me,” Twilight replied with a soft chuckle, while she wiped at the tears that had welled up from her eyes. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The two shared another quick embrace, and then Twilight backed away.

“I’ll be going now.” She placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and patted gently. “You just make yourself at home, and take a nice, long rest. Sleep will do you wonders. I’ll come back tomorrow morning, since there are a couple of things we still have to take care of.” She paused briefly to look at the dress Fluttershy had borrowed from her. “Like getting you a good wardrobe, for starters. I’d leave it to Rarity, normally, but since she’s not here, we’ll have to manage on our own somehow.”

Fluttershy blushed meekly, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. “I… I guess you’re right. I hope my savings are still were I left them…”

Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, now that you mention that, going through your house to make sure everything is still present would be a wise thing to do.” She nodded to herself, smiling. “Well, just another thing to do tomorrow! But for now, just take it easy, Fluttershy, and get some nice rest.”

She nodded, and followed Twilight to the door. The two friends said their goodbyes. Fluttershy waved from the doorway until Twilight vanished from sight. After ensuring all her animal friends who stood outside that she would come to hear their greetings one by one after she had settled down a bit, Fluttershy closed the door. Immediately she let out a deep breath that she hadn’t been aware she was holding.

A few moments passed where she simply stood there, frozen, before the closed door. Fluttershy took another deep breath and moved away from the door, walking over to the carpet in the middle of the room, before the couch, where her critters had gathered. Barely had she made it onto the carpet, she collapsed. All animals rushed to her side, worried for their friend.

Fluttershy lifted her head from the ground and found herself looking in the concerned eyes of the small ones. She smiled apologetically. “I’m fine, everyone. I’m just—” Her words were interrupted when she suddenly sneezed, loud and hard, sending dust everywhere. “Tired,” she finished sheepishly.

She felt a small paw caressing through her mane, and saw that it was Angel Bunny, looking at his pony friend more worried than any of the other animals. “It’s okay, Angel Bunny,” she told him. “I just had a very rough day. Everything is so different. Even Twilight seemed a bit… odd? I’ve never seen her so… um… social? And all those awful things she told me about the Princess and Pinkie and… oh, it was all a bit much.”

The rabbit nodded in understanding, then made a couple of gestures with his paws and head. Fluttershy gave him a grateful look. “Dinner would be lovely,” she said, smiling a bit. “But I wouldn’t want to be a bother, of course…” Angel firmly shook his head. “Okay then, if you insist.” The bunny hopped off towards the kitchen. Fluttershy briefly wondered what ingredients he would use, since nopony had been in her house in years; the fridge couldn’t be stocked. Or if it was, the things inside it must have gone bad years ago.

The worn out pegasus allowed herself to drop back onto the carpet, not caring if it was dusty and would make her sneeze. She felt completely drained, and her head was a maelstrom of thoughts and worries. Being safely inside her familiar, nice, little home made her feel a bit better, but only enough to prevent her from going catatonic with panic. She had kept up a brave face for Twilight, but now that she was alone, there was nopony to stop her from faltering.

Even Angel was acting a bit odd, Fluttershy realised. He was her best friend, but he usually didn’t act so nice, or apologise so easily after she’d asked him to. Usually it took a few tries, or even a Stare, before he did that. She wondered if it was all related to the fact that the world had changed, and came to the conclusion that it had to. After all, it was because everything was so different now that Pinkie Pie had gone from being a happy party pony to a permanently depressed one. It was only logical that her other friends had changed a bit, or a lot, as well. Such as Twilight being more social, or Angel Bunny being nice. She wondered if the same would be true for Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash… Not that it would necessarily be bad. Despite the changes, Twilight was still Twilight… wasn't she?

Fluttershy sneezed again as the dust prickled her nose. She wanted to get up, her nose demanded it, but her legs weren’t willing to cooperate just yet. Twilight’s idea of taking a good rest sounded very appealing. Perhaps her head wouldn’t feel so full after a bit of sleep; she felt as if she had read an entire bookcase in the library. So much new information, so many changes, it was all so overwhelming. She sighed deeply and tried to calm down. Panicking wouldn’t get her anywhere.

She sneezed once more because of the state of her house. Fluttershy sighed and finally managed to pick herself up and move over to the couch. It was also dusty, but at least more comfortable than the carpet on the floor. A few of the small birds she took care of came to sit on the railing of the couch, humming and chirping gentle tunes in an attempt to make her feel better. She gave them a grateful smile. Said smile widened as Angel re-emerged from the kitchen, carrying a bowl containing a delicious-looking salad.

“Thank you, Angel,” Fluttershy said politely, accepting the food from her friend. The rabbit beamed under her gratitude, then looked at her expectantly as she took her first bite. He no doubt wanted to know if it was good. It most certainly was, and she told him so.

She said little while she ate, content to listen to the songs of her feathered friends, or the chattering of the other animals as they told her about their life during her absence. It occurred to her how strange it was that small animals, no matter how smart, remembered her, a pony who up until today had never existed in their lives. And yet they knew her, remembered how she had taken care of them, though technically she never had, if she understood Twilight correctly. She wondered why it was so that her animal friends remembered, as well as Twilight and the other Elements, but not the other ponies in Ponyville, or Equestria for that matter. It was all very confusing.

Fluttershy rubbed the side of her head absentmindedly. This entire situation was simply too complex for her. She was not a dumb pony by any means, in fact she was quite intelligent, but the ins and outs of time and time travel were most definitely a step too high for her. It was something that seemed larger than life, a subject and matter of such complexity and difficulty that only really smart ponies, like Twilight or the Princesses, talked about and understood; not ponies like her. The only dealings with time she had had to deal with until today was making sure her little friends received their care and food on time every day.

Maybe it was best to simply take it easy, Fluttershy thought. She may have been feeling overwhelmed with all that was new, but perhaps it would all turn out to not be so bad, if she just took one step at a time and adjusted to things one by one. And if it all became too much, she still had her home and her little friends to seek refuge in and with. She was sure Twilight and the others would support her, too. They were her friends, after all.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and nodded to no one in particular. Yes, that was what she was going to do. First rest and a good night of sleep, then tomorrow she could begin anew and refreshed. This day had simply begun bad because she hadn’t awoken in her own bed. That probably wouldn’t be a problem again. Maybe she’d even wake up to find it all had just been a dream. That would be nice.

But dream or not, good rest was the first thing on her list now. Tomorrow, if everything turned out to be real, she would start with cleaning and checking up on every single one of her animals, to make sure both her house and guests were all okay and in fine shape. Twilight had talked about buying clothes, too. Since ponies now wore clothes, she would indeed have to adjust. Another thing to take care of tomorrow, but she’d look in her wardrobe nevertheless. Maybe some of the dresses Rarity had made for her in ‘that other life’ were still in them, and then Twilight could tell her if they were good enough to wear in public.

And once she had clothes, she could show her face out in the open again without getting into trouble. Ponyville still appeared very crowded and claustrophobic to her, but luckily, she didn’t have to go there to visit the only two of her friends who, aside from Twilight, still lived in the vicinity. She had told her that Applejack was just like she remembered her, and that was good to know. It put her at ease to know that the earth pony was still one of the most reliable and honest mares around. She was more worried about her other friend who still lived around here.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she yawned. She was too tired to think much more. For now she’d follow Twilight’s advice, and leave everything else alone until tomorrow. The sun was still up, but it didn’t matter, she felt sleepy and wanted to go to bed now, sun or no sun.

She handed the now empty bowl back to Angel, thanking him again for the lovely meal. The rabbit nodded, gave her the bunny equivalent of a smile, and hopped back to the kitchen with the empty dish. Fluttershy watched him go, then carefully got off the couch and on her hooves. She smiled apologetically at all the animals gathered around her.

“I’m really sorry, everyone. I know you still want to tell me so much more, and I would love to listen to it all… But I’m really, really sleepy now, and I would like to go to bed, if everyone is okay with that…”

There was a unanimous round of nodding from the gathered animals, much to Fluttershy’s relief. She thanked her friends and bade them goodnight, promising to truly catch up with them in the morning. Then she made her way upstairs, towards her bedroom. She could almost hear her bed calling out to her, and she gladly lent her ear to it.

Her bedroom was just as unchanged as the rest of her cottage appeared to be, and though she had expected it, it was still very nice and uplifting to have it confirmed. Though she very much would have liked to, Fluttershy didn’t immediately dive into her fluffy, soft bed. She closed the curtains before the windows to dim the light inside the room a bit then pulled the sheets off her bed and shook them as hard as she could to remove the dust from them. Her pillow was subjected to the same treatment, and once she was finished with that, she neatly made her bed again.

She made one last round of inspection through her bedroom, just to make sure everything was fine and that there was nopony hiding in it. Twilight may have said that nopony had been here in years, but it never hurt to be cautious. Luckily, her room, wardrobes, and closets were completely intruder free. Satisfied, Fluttershy finally climbed into her bed, nestling herself comfortably under the covers.

A relieved sigh escaped her lips, and she turned on her back, tugging the blankets as high up as she could. Her head sinking comfortably into her pillow, Fluttershy finally dared to relax. For the first time that day, she felt truly at ease and safe. Happily, she closed her eyes.

Only to open them again quickly when she heard something hopping up the stairs. She tensed right away, but relaxed just as swiftly when she saw that it was only Angel Bunny coming to join her.

“You startled me, Angel Bunny,” she said, smiling lightly. The rabbit merely rolled his eyes, then came over to the bed and promptly hopped in. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, but reconsidered. Normally, even though he was her friend, she didn’t let him in her bed. Angel had his own resting place, all for himself, where he was supposed to sleep. But she couldn’t bring herself to remind him of that. He was her closest friend, and she was glad to have him near her while she slept.

Fluttershy didn’t say anything more about the matter. Instead she just made herself comfortable again, letting her head sink back in the pillow, while next to her the rabbit did the same. Smiling, Fluttershy put her arm around the white bunny, pulling him close. Her eyes fell shut, and with Angel in her arms and watching over her, the exhausted pegasus quickly fell asleep.

While Fluttershy was reuniting with her animal friends and eating the wonderful salad Angel made for her, Twilight Sparkle was trotting south down the main road. Just like Fluttershy, she had a lot on her mind, due to the events of today. The sudden reappearance of her friend, appearing as if Fluttershy had been picked from one time line and dropped in the other, completely baffled her. Twilight had a hard time fully comprehending the situation as it was before, but now everything seemed to have become even more confusing.

She had always asked the question of just why she and the other Elements – except for Fluttershy – had these memories of a life that technically had never happened. It made not a single lick of sense, and it never had. Logic dictated that if one travelled back in time and changed events, the future (or present) would change. Said future or present would then go on as if the changes had always happened. A pony didn’t suddenly go about remembering the life of how it would have been had the change not happened. And yet, that was exactly what was going on. It was if the universe went out of its way to say ‘buck you’ to logic. It almost hurt her head simply thinking about it.

Even if she was as skilled in magic and as knowledgeable as she had been in her other life, the current events still wouldn’t make a lot of sense to her. Time travel had never really been part of her studies, and for good reasons. One simply wasn’t supposed to mess with time, it was far too dangerous. Making your past self worry about nothing for an entire week was the least harmful thing that could happen, all things considered.

She groaned in frustration. She was just going in circles and getting no closer to any answers. The only place that might hold the information she required were the Canterlot Archives, and those were out of her reach. The only person who might have an answer was currently imprisoned within the depths of Canterlot Castle and also out of reach. She sighed deeply, cringing inwardly when she thought of Princess Celestia.

In this life, they had never met. But Twilight remembered her. The kind, loving, and wonderful monarch, the patient and wise teacher, the great and powerful mage. The Princess had been nothing if not amazing, and she would always remember her so, no matter what the other ponies or the Republic would say. And she missed her. She missed having that comforting feeling in the back of her head when she knew that, when troubled, she could always write to the Princess to ask for council. No such thing to be had in this life, to her bitter regret. She could most certainly use the Princess’s wisdom and insight now.

Twilight kicked a pebble away, then took a deep breath to calm herself. Getting worked up about her lack of understanding and the frustration that brought would get her nowhere. She had to be calm and collected, and handle the situation as it came, one step at a time. She kicked herself mentally for not bringing her quill and parchment with her so she could make a check list. She’d just have to do it in her head for now, then make a more thorough list once she got home. Regardless, there would be a lot to do tomorrow, and the days after it.

Fluttershy would have to adjust, and that probably would take quite a bit of effort, and a lot of support from her and Applejack. But she was confident they could pull her through. First she would need some proper clothes, there was no getting around that. Sadly, Twilight was not an expert on the field of fashion, and the pony who was, sadly, was not in town. She would just have to help Fluttershy get some basic outfits that were fine to go out in public in, then send a letter to Rarity to ask for her help putting together a proper wardrobe.

Of course, Fluttershy would also need the proper papers to be filled in and added to the archives in the town hall. Fortunately, that was an area where Twilight could help. Filling in papers, no matter what kind, was what she did for a living, after all. She’d do that tomorrow morning, before she left the town to go visit Fluttershy again. She’d first go to Sweet Apple Acres to pick up Applejack though, then they’d go to the cottage together. Filling in the papers came second, visiting the Apples’ farm came third on the list. Both would be done tomorrow, since she wouldn’t be able to visit Sweet Apple Acres and go back to Ponyville before it got dark. And she preferred not to be out in the dark.

The first thing on her list, however, could be done today still. Right now, in fact, as she had arrived at her destination. Before her stretched a field completely barren and devoid of any form of life. There were only rocks, of varying sizes, shapes, and colours, littered all over the wasteland. At the edge of the field, next to the road, stood a small house. It didn’t look like anything more than a tool shack, and a poorly maintained one at that. It was made entirely of wood, the walls slanted towards each other, and the roof bent downwards in the middle. The entire structure looked like it was nearing the end of its life, as if the next big storm could knock it to the ground.

But despite its poor state, this shack was inhabited, and Twilight had business here. The field and the house laid about halfway between Fluttershy’s cottage and Sweet Apple Acres, and she had calculated that she could spare a visit to this place and still make it back home before it got dark. Steeling herself, she walked up to the front door and knocked three times.

It didn’t appear as if anybody had heard her, everything remained quiet and lifeless, but Twilight knew better. So she wasn’t startled when the door suddenly opened, creaking noisily at the hinges. The unmistakable form of an earth pony mare appeared in the doorway. Her coat and mane were pink, but of a shade so dark and dull that they appeared almost grey. Her mane and tail hung straight and lifeless from her body, and the pony’s blue eyes were sad. They held within them the look of a mare who had lost all hope and who would never hope again. The pony said nothing, not even a simple greeting. She simply looked at Twilight with those haunting, sad eyes.

Twilight sighed deeply. She never enjoyed these visits. But she had no choice, and so she lifted her gaze to meet the one of the pony who stood motionlessly before her in the doorway.

“Pinkie, we need to talk.”