Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

9. Reunion

The next day the weather proved to be just as good as on the one before it. The sky was almost completely clear, there was a gentle breeze, and the rays of the sun brought warmth and light to the earth beneath. It was the perfect weather to go for a walk, and that was precisely what Twilight Sparkle was doing. The lavender unicorn trotted through the fields surrounding Ponyville, following the road that led from Sweet Apple Acres to the village. She was in a good mood, if the light spring in every one of her steps was any indication.

She was indeed in quite a good mood, and she had every reason to be. During the morning she had first of all returned Grey Helm’s coat to him, since Fluttershy would no longer be needing it. After that she had gone to the town hall and informed Mayor Mare of the pegasus’ unexpected return, hoping to do all the necessary paperwork to make sure her friend wouldn’t get into any more trouble with the authorities. Luckily the mayor was a good pony, and she wasn’t difficult about the entire matter. Thus, Twilight filled in the required papers, added Fluttershy to the list of the town’s inhabitants, and put the new files in their correct position in the town’s archives. That was one matter dealt with, and another load shoved off of Twilight’s chest.

Twilight hummed a soft tune while she walked, enjoying the warmth the midday sun brought her. She was so relieved that everything had gone without a hitch that morning, that even the presence of the depressed earth pony next to her couldn’t bring her good spirits down. Not a lot, at least. In fact, Pinkie’s presence at her side was also a reason for her to be happy. It had taken quite a bit of convincing yesterday evening, and a lot of patience, but eventually she had succeeded to have the sad earth pony agree to come with her today. She hadn’t told her where they were going, though. She wanted that part to be a surprise.

The cheerful attitude of the unicorn didn’t help lift Pinkie Pie’s, sadly. The pony with her dull pink coat just trudged alongside Twilight, head bowed, eyes fixed lifelessly on the paved road. She was wearing a simple, dirty grey dress, one that Twilight had given her. If it weren’t for the unicorn and Applejack taking care of her and checking up on her, the depressed earth pony would still be going around in a raffled burlap sack. During the entire trip, Pinkie hadn’t said a word. She just dragged one hoof in front of the other in total, depressing silence.

The same, however, was not true for the other pony who walked with the two.

“Now tell me again why you’re draggin’ our tails over to Fluttershy’s, Twi?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Applejack, I didn’t tell you the first six time you asked, and I’m not going to do so the seventh time either. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

“Wut could be so surprising at Fluttershy’s? Ya know Ah dun’ really like goin’ there, Twilight. We ain’t lost nuthin’ there…” the orange pony grumbled in reply. She wasn’t mad at her unicorn friend, of course. Applejack just preferred to stay away from the abandoned cottage. It reminded her too much of the fact that the kind pegasus who was supposed to live there had been missing for years.

“True enough. But yesterday I’ve found something there, and I just have to show you,” Twilight answered, still grinning. She wasn’t usually a prankster, but had to admit it was fun to tease her friend a bit by keeping her in the dark. She was sure that once Applejack understood why Twilight had brought her to the cottage, the earth pony would forgive her easily enough. At least, she hoped so.

“Well, we be almost there, so Ah guess we’ll be seeing this surprise o’ yours soon enough, Twilight,” the apple farmer said. She looked briefly at the silent pink pony that walked in between herself and the lavender unicorn. “But was it so important ya had to drag poor Pinkie here outta her house, too?”

To her surprise, Twilight turned serious, and nodded firmly. “Definitely,” she said. Her expression softened, and she patted Pinkie gently on her shoulder. “Like I promised yesterday, Pinkie, this surprise will make you feel better. Trust me.”

The dull earth pony didn’t give any indication that she had heard her friend. She just let out a deep, hopeless sigh that made her two friends wince. Twilight and Applejack shared knowing looks and then moved on, joining Pinkie in her silence. As they walked, Twilight prayed to the Princess and whatever other powerful beings there were out there that her gamble would pay off.

Fluttershy hummed a gentle melody as she flew from one birdhouse to the next, making sure they were all in a good condition. She had spent most of the morning tending to every animal and its house inside of her cottage, and now it was time for those outside. The weather was wonderful, truly a perfect day for doing chores in open air. Her cosy cottage stood at the edge of a small forest, next to the river that also flowed through Ponyville. Over the course of her life she had built many small and nice houses for her feathered friends, and placed them all over the outside – and inside – of her own house, until she had no more good places to put them, and started to hang them in the tree next to the bridge over the river.

She had been pleased to discover that all those birdhouses were still here, even in this time. But at the same time, one could clearly see that they had not been tended to in years, either. Much of the paint had weathered away throughout the years, and the insides needed a thorough cleaning. Repainting would have to wait until she had done the more pressing chores, and for now she focussed on clearing the houses out and getting reacquainted with their inhabitants. All of them had a lot to say to her, and Fluttershy patiently listened to every single chirp with great delight.

Though it had only been yesterday for her when she had last seen and spoken to them, for her many animal friends it had been literally a lifetime, and they were ecstatic to have her back. Their happiness was infectious, and she couldn’t help but feel happy herself. This in turn meant that she lost a lot of time at each birdhouse simply listening instead of cleaning, and her progress was slow. But Fluttershy didn’t mind. After the hectic, mentally taxing ordeal that was the previous day, doing what she was good at made her feel much better.

A good night rest had also done wonders for the timid pegasus. Though she had to admit that she had been a tad disappointed when she woke up and found that the day before had not been a dream. Because she had woken up to find herself still in her own bed in her own house, however, she didn’t mind so much. The familiar surroundings kept her from panicking, even if everything was still wrong. From the moment of her awakening, things had only become better and better. First Angel Bunny and the other animals had brought her a breakfast in her bed, which was very sweet and kind of them. Usually, it was the other way around. After a delicious meal she had started doing her chores as she was used to doing them, and the feeling of familiarity that the routine gave her could only be described as wonderful. Though it always made her happy to take care of animals, it had been a long time since it had so utterly delighted her.

It was how she dealt with stress, and it worked well enough. There was so much to do around her home and so many animals to listen to, that she simply didn’t have any time to dwell on her situation and all the changes in the world. No doubt she preferred it that way. It was much easier to occupy herself with what she was good at, than to worry about complicated matters that, frankly, went beyond her understanding or scared her. If even Twilight, who was the smartest pony aside from the Princess that Fluttershy knew, couldn’t fully understand the twists in time, the pegasus certainly wasn’t going to try. And as for what had happened to the Princess, and that other, forbidden word Twilight had used, she truly tried her best to forget it. It was too frightening, almost terrifying even.

Truly, she was perfectly content to simply do her chores.

She bade her goodbyes to the birds of the house she had just finished. She moved on to the next, but stopped halfway in mid-air when she heard the clopping of hooves down the path leading to her house. Curious, the pegasus flew down and landed on the solid ground, and she heard the hoofsteps coming closer. Angel Bunny apparently had heard it, too, for he came running out of the house and put himself in front of Fluttershy, carrot brandished menacingly. The yellow mare couldn’t help but smile a bit at so sweet a gesture.

“It’s okay, Angel Bunny,” she said soothingly. “It’s probably just Twilight.”

The rabbit didn’t relax his posture at all, still looking every bit ready to charge at the slightest sign of danger. As it turned out, Fluttershy had been correct in her guess, for the next moment Twilight Sparkle emerged from between the trees. But the unicorn wasn’t alone this time. With her came what were unmistakably two earth ponies. The three newcomers stopped in their tracks when they caught sight of the pegasus, giving Fluttershy the chance to take a good look at them.

One of the two earth ponies had a blonde mane and tail, as well as a few freckles on her face. She had green eyes, and was wearing a simple, white cotton shirt with long sleeves that covered her body. Over that she went dressed in plain, red overalls. They weren’t fancy, but they weren’t supposed to be. Their purpose was to be practical and easy to wear while doing hard labour at the farm. The most eye-catching about the mare’s attire was the brown cowboy hat resting comfortably on her head. A small gasp left Fluttershy’s mouth as she saw the headwear. She’d recognise that hat anywhere.

Between the hat-wearing mare and Twilight walked the second earth pony, and again Fluttershy couldn’t help but gasp, though this one was more of shock – the bad kind – than of pleasant surprise. The mare was pink, but of a dull and dark shade, and her mane and tail were straight and lifeless. The grey dress she wore was little more than a rag, and Fluttershy couldn’t believe there was somepony who would willingly put such a thing on. In her head, she could perfectly picture the reaction of her good friend Rarity should she be confronted with such a dress.

She couldn’t think about it or let the appearances of the newcomers sink in, however, for the next moment Fluttershy had the wind knocked out of her as somepony slammed into her and drew her in the most bone-cracking bear hug she had ever experienced.

Applejack could barely believe it. When Twilight had insisted she come along for a visit to Fluttershy’s cottage because there was something she had to see, the farmer had expected… She wasn’t sure what she had expected to see, but it surely wasn’t the sight of the shy pegasus with her yellow coat and pink mane. Before she had even realized what she was doing, her hooves had carried her forth and now she was hugging the life out of her friend. Applejack usually wasn’t the kind of pony who got all mushy, but now she could not help herself. Being reunited with a pony who had been missing all of her life would do that to anypony. She had to hug her. She had to feel the pony in her own arms, to make sure Fluttershy was really there. To make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

They weren’t. Fluttershy was really here. She was back. She was home.

“Fluttershy! You… Ah… Horseapples and haystacks, Fluttershy!” the apple farmer stammered, her excitement and emotion temporarily robbing her of her ability to form coherent sentences. “Ah can’t believe it! It’s really you, sugarcube! Where’ve ya been?! When did ya get back?!”

Applejack felt something wet run down both her cheeks, and she released the pegasus from her iron grip so she could wipe the tears away. The earth pony glared at her friend, but she was smiling at the same time. “Now look at what ya did. Ya made me go all mushy and teary-eyed!”

Fluttershy, who until then had been trying to survive the bear hug that had robbed her of all oxygen and had threatened to break every bone in her body, finally recovered and smiled shyly at the other mare. “I’m happy to see you, too, Applejack,” she said timidly, but the softness of her voice could not mask the happiness contained within it.

The earth pony opened her mouth to say something, but then apparently changed her mind and remained quiet, opting instead to just hug Fluttershy again, less forcefully this time. The timid pegasus returned the embrace, eagerly now since this time Applejack allowed her to breathe. It didn’t matter to Fluttershy that technically she had seen her friend only two days ago. For Applejack it had been a lifetime, and the happiness given to her by this unexpected reunion was so infectious that Fluttershy couldn’t help but be overjoyed as well.

Twilight smiled as she watched the reunion between Fluttershy and Applejack. She hadn’t seen Applejack so ecstatic in ages, and though she had expected it, she was nonetheless delighted that her ‘surprise’ had pleased the orange mare so. When Applejack turned out to be so moved as to actually cry, Twilight, to her surprise, found that her eyes were also leaking. It couldn’t be helped, and she was sure nopony would actually blame them for it. Few would truly understand the reason for their happiness, however. This moment was more than a simple reunion between friends.

Applejack and Twilight had been born with conflicting memories lingering within their minds. They had grown up and lived while knowing that their lives were lies, were not how they were supposed to be, no matter how strange or difficult that was to accept or understand. Throughout the years, they had both tried to make the best of it, each in their own way. The memories of their friendship had brought them and their other friends together again. And most of the time, their lives hadn’t been anywhere near bad. But there had always been things that were absent, things they missed dearly. Such as Spike, or the Princess. What made it worse was that they had to live while knowing full well that chances were slim that those things and people they missed would ever return.

For these two ponies, who had often gone bucked under the weight of their dual memories, to be so suddenly reunited with a friend thought lost, seemed like a miracle. The feeling of pure joy that welled up inside of them because of this reunion was indescribable, and incomparable to anything else they’d experienced in this life. The joy experienced by these mares was one that could only be understood by ponies who shared their situation, of which there were few.

One of those few stood next to Twilight, and the unicorn looked at her. Of all ponies, there was no doubt that Pinkie Pie had gone bucked under the dual memories the most. As Twilight had explained to Fluttershy, the unfortunate earth pony lived in permanent depression. Life in this changed era was challenging enough on its own, but having to live with memories of a better and happier life only made it harder. For a pony like Pinkie Pie it was especially damaging, and mentally taxing. Remembering how she had thrown party for any occasion and how she had made it her life goal to make ponies smile, while having to live a life where she could do neither of those things was terrible. And it was that, combined with the absence of two important and dear friends, that depressed her so.

Twilight hoped that the return of Fluttershy would help to lift Pinkie’s spirits. Inwardly, the unicorn was afraid she was hoping in vain, for unlike Applejack, Pinkie hadn’t moved an inch ever since arriving in the clearing of Fluttershy’s cottage. It was then that Twilight truly took in the appearance of the pink pony, and for the second time in only two days, she felt her heart soar skyward.

Pinkie Pie indeed stood motionless, as if frozen, but it wasn’t her usual depressed stance. She was staring at the sight before her with wide eyes, and her jaw had dropped in shock. It was clear that, just like Applejack, she was having difficulties believing what she was seeing at first. Eons seemed to pass, during which Pinkie said or did nothing, until finally, like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm, something amazing happened. The dull, dark pink of her coat and mane became lighter. A spark of life appeared in those haunted, sad eyes. But what truly astonished Twilight the most was that the corners of Pinkie’s mouth slowly rose up. The unicorn blinked and shook her head a few times, thinking her eyes were deceiving her. But they weren’t. What she saw was really happening.

Pinkie was smiling.

It was so unexpected as to be almost surreal, and Twilight suddenly realised she’d never actually seen Pinkie smile outside of memory. And though it was far from the happy grin that she remembered the pink pony to have, it was a tremendous improvement over a constantly depressed frown. For Twilight, seeing Pinkie regain at least a bit of herself felt just as wonderful as being reunited with Fluttershy. She was about to reach out with a hoof to tap Pinkie on the shoulder and say something, when she suddenly noticed that her friend was gone. Bewildered, Twilight frantically looked around to try and locate her.

She caught sight of the pink mare just as Pinkie slammed into the still embracing Fluttershy and Applejack with full force, resulting in a loud ‘oof!’ from Applejack and a timid squeak from the pegasus. Not that either of them minded the intrusion, they gladly pulled Pinkie into their hug.

“I’m happy to see you, too, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said softly, and she giggled.

Pinkie hugged the pegasus tighter, to make sure she really was there and wouldn’t suddenly disappear again. “Don’t ever leave us again,” she whispered, surprising both Applejack and Twilight. Pinkie didn’t speak a lot, in fact she did it so little that whenever she did do it, it seemed so sudden and unexpected that it startled everypony.

Fluttershy smiled and ran a hoof through Pinkie’s flat mane, making the earth pony look up and meet the pegasus’ gaze. “I won’t. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Fluttershy promised, using the unbreakable oath to show her friend that she meant it.

Once more Pinkie’s jaw dropped and she stared incredulously at the pegasus. Aside from her friends, nopony even remembered that special, personal phrase that she had come up with in that other, happier life. And even Twilight and Applejack had rarely found an occasion that warranted calling upon something as serious as a ‘Pinkie Promise’. To now hear it used once more, by none other than a pony who she had been missing all her life, only further improved Pinkie’s spirits and her smile widened a bit.

Twilight and Applejack were speechless. In but a single moment of simply being there, Fluttershy had succeeded in helping Pinkie Pie overcome her depression more than they had during their entire lives. It almost made them depressed.

Applejack, fortunately, quickly recovered from this. “Now don’t go bein’ a partybucker, Twilight!” she called out to her unicorn friend. “Get your flank over here!”

The words of the blonde farmer succeeded in pulling Twilight out of her slack-jawed astonishment, and she shook her head. Blushing, the unicorn rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, a bit embarrassed due to being caught staring. Then, with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud, Twilight crossed the distance between her and her friends. The others quickly pulled her into their embrace, and then Fluttershy’s cottage was treated to the heart-warming sight of four friends sharing a group hug.

“I love you guys,” Pinkie whispered, and her three friends felt their hearts flutter.

Later, once they had had their fill of hugging, Fluttershy invited her friends inside so they could enjoy a nice cup of tea and some cookies. The prospect of sugary snacks seemed to appeal to Pinkie Pie, something that pleased Twilight and Applejack. Though the pink pony was still miles away from showing her usual eagerness for eating sugary goods, the mere fact that she showed any interest at all was already an improvement. There was still a long way to go to pull Pinkie out of her gloomy, depressed state, but at the very least they were making progress now. It was a start, a promising sign that gave them hope.

As they enjoyed their tea, Twilight did her best to explain the events of yesterday to the two earth ponies, but her own uncertainties and lack of true understanding hampered her efforts considerably. She could give no explanation, not even a theory, when Applejack asked her why Fluttershy had suddenly appeared and why now, and not at an earlier or later moment. Likewise, when asked how it was even possible for a pony to fall from one timeline into another, Twilight, to her shame, had to admit she didn’t know. She couldn’t deny feeling somewhat frustrated, for even if time and the world had changed, her inner curiosity and thirst for knowledge had not.

Twilight had to admit, though, that there were more important matters at hoof. “We can worry about the how and why of it later,” she decided. “What matters is that Fluttershy is here now, and it’s up to us to help her, for there’s a lot to do.” Her horn glowed and she levitated a scroll out of her saddlebags. It was a checklist, one she had spent most of her night on making. “First of all we need to make her cottage liveable again. The entirety of it needs a thorough cleaning, and that’s a lot of work for one pegasus. Too much, I’d say.”

Applejack nodded and ran a hoof over the face of the table, tracking a trail through the thick layer of dust that covered it. “Ah say. Nopony’s been around here with the feather duster in years, and it shows.” When a lump of sugar hit her on the side of the head, courtesy of a certain rabbit, she quickly added: “Though Ah’m sure lil’ Angel here did his best.”

Satisfied, the rabbit uncrossed his arms and stopped tapping his foot. Fluttershy gave him a quick, disapproving glare and he scurried off. With a silent sigh, she turned back to her friends, looking at them shyly. “Oh… I wouldn’t want to impose… I’m sure you all have your own jobs to attend to…”

Applejack held up a hoof to stop her. “Now don’t go givin’ us that, sugarcube. You’re our friend, and friends help each other. Twilight’s right: this place hasn’t seen a mop in years, cleaning it is just too much fer one pony.” She glanced at Twilight. “What else have ya got there on that list, Twi’?”

“Fluttershy also needs a few sets of clothes, since in our other lives those weren’t required,” Twilight replied, her eyes scanning her list. “Then we have to make the other necessary purchases: food, medical supplies and so on. After that, she’ll need a hoof with taking care of her animals. There’s no more than she had in her other life, but these ones here haven’t seen her in years. If we leave Fluttershy to deal with every single one of their problems on her own, she’ll be busy until Winter Wrap Up.”

The pegasus had to admit Twilight had a point there. There was so much to do before everything was in order and she could fall into a steady, daily routine again. She blushed, feeling embarrassed that she wasn’t capable enough of managing on her own. The smiles she got from her friends helped ease the tension she was feeling because of that, though.

“W… well… A… a bit of help would be nice,” she muttered softly, almost inaudibly. She hid behind her mane as she spoke. “I’ve looked around, and it seems that the years haven’t been too kind on all the houses of my little friends… The birdhouses need a new coat of paint, and the chicken coop could really use a new roof… Amongst other things…”

“That’s to be expected,” Applejack said, and she shrugged. “The years ain’t kind to anypony or anything, and y’all need to constantly make sure yer house is in top shape. But there was nopony around here all these years to take care of all them houses. Thinkin’ about it, maybe we should’ve done that.” The blonde mare rubbed he back of her head sheepishly. “Shucks, now Ah feel guilty about stayin’ away from this place fer so long.”

“Oh, don’t be, Applejack,” Fluttershy said hurriedly, on an insisting tone. “It’s fine… We’ll just have to make everything okay again and then no harm will be done.”

“Sounds mighty reasonable,” the farmer conceded, and she nodded curtly. She shot an inquisitive look at Twilight. “Anythin’ more we’ve gotta take care of, Twilight?”

The unicorn shook her head. “Not when it comes to manual labour,” she answered. Then she gave both Applejack and Pinkie Pie a serious look. “But the most important thing that we, as Fluttershy’s friends, have to do, is to help her adjust. There are a lot of new things in this time that she doesn’t know about, a lot of new machines, tools and social rules. I’ve told her about some already, but there’s no way we can tell her everything. The only way to learn is through experience, to take in the changes as she encounters them. And we have to be there to help her get used to them.”

A comfortable silence fell during which the three other ponies let the words of Twilight sink in. Applejack then suddenly pushed her empty teacup away from her and got to her hooves. “Alrighty then,” she said, breaking the silence while grinning from ear to ear, “there’s a lot to do and time won’t wait for anypony. Let’s get to work!”