//------------------------------//
// 11. Conversations in the evening and morning 
// Story: Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World 
// by Keeper of Jericho 
//------------------------------//


Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

11. Conversations in the evening and morning


“Good night, mister Mouse. I’ll see you in the morning,” Fluttershy said quietly, while patting said little creature gently on the head. The grey mouse gave a few squeaks, nuzzled Fluttershy’s hoof affectionately, and then disappeared through the hole in the wall into his nest. The pegasus watched him go with a smile on her face, then rose up from the crouching position she had been in and looked around the living room. The sight that greeted her was very different from the one she had seen that morning.

Thanks to Twilight’s impeccable organising skill, Fluttershy and her three friends had managed to clean out  most of the living room already, despite the time they had lost that day due to their detour to Sweet Apple Acres. First they had moved all the furniture outside where it had been washed and cleaned, and then the empty living room itself had gotten its turn. Dust had been swept away, walls, windows and ceiling had been washed and the floor had been mopped. The curtains and the carpet still needed a good scrubbing, but at the very least they had knocked and shaken as much of the dust out of it as they could. All that remained was to clean all the houses of her little friends, and wash the things in her cupboards, such as plates, cups and kitchen utensils.

But that would have to wait until tomorrow, for night had fallen, bringing an end to Fluttershy’s second day in this altered era. To be honest, the day had just flown by. There had been so much to do, and there was still so much left to do, that she simply hadn’t had the time to stand still and think about her situation. She could only move on from one task to the next, with no time in between for worrying. Fluttershy realised it was probably better this way. Time spent on worrying about things that could not be changed was time wasted, after all. That was something she couldn’t afford. She had a house to make liveable again.

Her friends had been a big help, and after one afternoon working hard, Fluttershy was glad she had accepted their kind offers to help. Without them, it would no doubt take weeks to do everything that the four of them could accomplish in a couple of days. Not that she would have been entirely on their own even if they hadn’t been there. Her animal friends had helped out where they could today, too, especially Angel. He had brought them refreshments during their labouring, and made a very tasty salad to serve as their supper. His eagerness to help and please was almost scary. Fluttershy would never have thought her yearlong absence would affect him so.

Her friends had enjoyed the rabbit’s supper together with her, and then Applejack and Twilight had left for their own homes after promising to be back the next day. And thus, Fluttershy now found herself in her freshly cleaned living room, with only her animals and Pinkie Pie for company.

When they had returned from Sweet Apple Acres, the pink earth pony had obeyed Fluttershy’s command to pack her things without complaint or enthusiasm. It hadn’t taken long, for Pinkie owned almost next to nothing, much to Fluttershy’s shock. A few ragged dresses, a picture of her family and Gummy, and that was it. Pinkie had left her shack behind without so much as a second glance, obviously not sorry to leave it behind. But at the same time, she hadn’t looked particularly excited to move in with her pegasus friend, either.

Now Pinkamena Diane Pie was sitting quietly on Fluttershy’s couch, staring through the window to the moonlit night sky above Equestria. Fluttershy had insisted that Pinkie use her bed, but the earth pony wouldn’t budge, saying that the couch would do just fine. Feeling that she had already made enough demands of her friend for that day, Fluttershy had reluctantly let it be.

“They’ve all gone to bed,” Fluttershy said quietly, referring to her animal friends,  speaking quietly so as to not risk waking any of them up. She moved over to join Pinkie on the couch, her hoofsteps silenced by the carpet on the floor. 

Her pink friend didn’t say anything in return. She merely gave a small nod with her head, to indicate that she had heard her. Fluttershy gnawed nervously on her lower lip. Pinkie hadn’t said anything since they came back from Sweet Apple Acres. Though Twilight and Applejack had assured her that that was nothing new, to hear nothing but silence coming from Pinkie Pie was a surreal experience indeed, as far as Fluttershy was concerned. She found it very worrisome, even if such behaviour was apparently normal for this Pinkie.

Quietly, Fluttershy sat down on the couch as well, right next to her friend, and joined Pinkie in watching the night sky. A few moments passed in total silence. Then Fluttershy glanced at the pony next to her, and there was a slight frown on her face. Gently, the pegasus placed one of her hooves on top of one of Pinkie’s.

“Pinkie, what’s wrong? Won’t… won’t you tell me? If you don’t mind, that is,” Fluttershy then asked, breaking the silence. She gave Pinkie a hopeful look. Talking about your problems helped, this Fluttershy knew from personal experience. She hoped the same would be true for Pinkie.

The pink pony let out a deep, depressed sigh. She turned her head to look at Fluttershy, only briefly, then looked back to the starry sky. Pinkie opened her mouth as if to say something, but then apparently changed her mind and closed it again. Her eyes fell shut and her face was a mask of sadness. Then she sighed again. 

Her behaviour succeeded in making Fluttershy worry. “Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked again, her voice trembling a bit now. Hesitatingly, the timid mare placed a hoof comfortingly on her friend’s shoulder.

“Everything,” the pink pony said, so unexpectedly that it startled Fluttershy. Pinkie turned her head so she could look at the pegasus again, and this time she didn’t immediately look away again. Pinkie Pie let out a deep sigh for the third time. “I mean, what isn’t wrong? Just look outside and tell me what you see!” 

Fluttershy looked, she looked very hard, but had to admit that she didn’t see much. “Um… I can’t see anything… It’s too dark…”

Pinkie sighed for the fourth time in less than five minutes. “I meant Equestria, Fluttershy…” she muttered unhappily. Hopeless, the pink pony hung her head low as she thought of all that had gone wrong in the world she used to love. “Everything is wrong…” She fell quiet after that, not feeling like saying any more. For Pinkie, there were no words to express her feelings, to express the depths of her sadness.

Understanding dawned on Fluttershy, and the pegasus felt a bit stupid for not realising what Pinkie had meant right away. She gently rubbed over the other pony’s back in an attempt to soothe and calm her down, just as Twilight had done for her when she had been saddened and scared by all the changes in the world.

“It’s not that bad, Pinkie…” Fluttershy said, trying to bring some comfort to her friend. “I mean, you still have your friends, right? And… Um… You have me now, too… And Twilight said Sugarcube Corner is still the same as well. And I… I’m sure there are other things that you still have, Pinkie.”

The unfortunate earth pony shook her head slowly. She briefly glanced up to give Fluttershy a look of utter sadness and something else. The pegasus didn’t immediately understand what else was in Pinkie’s eyes, but then it hit her. Pinkie Pie was looking at her with pity! That caught Fluttershy off guard, for she couldn’t phantom why her friend was pitying her. She wasn’t feeling very bad at the moment. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

The confusion clearly was very apparent on Fluttershy’s face, for Pinkie reluctantly opened her mouth to explain. “You’re still new here, Fluttershy,” she said quietly. “You haven’t seen anything yet. You can’t see how greedy, grouchy and mean ponies are now in just two days. But you will. And then you’ll be all sad like me, because there’s nothing to be happy about!”

Fluttershy gaped at the other pony, stunned and speechless. Pinkie wasn’t a defeatist, she was supposed to be the cheerful, happy pony that always saw the bright side of things. Now she behaved just like that time when she had though her friends didn’t like her anymore, or even worse than then. Regardless, Fluttershy didn’t want to surrender just yet.

“Twilight told me about Princess Celestia and Luna…” she began, trying to show her friend that she did know how bad things were now, and that she could handle it.

Pinkie shrugged lifelessly in response. “But that’s only one thing. There are many more that she probably didn’t say anything about because she didn’t want to make you sad,” she said quietly. Pinkie sighed deeply and laid down on the couch, letting her head rest on her crossed arms. 

“Ever since Princess Celestia was taken away, all that matters in Equestria are bits. Even in Sugarcube Corner, or on Sweet Apple Acres,” she continued listlessly. “That’s why I didn’t want to live there. Nopony has any time to smile anymore, or for parties. There’s no time to make friends or to laugh. And having houses look the same like they did in Old Ponyville won’t change that. The ponies living in it will still be from New Ponyville.”

Fluttershy nestled herself down next to her friend and put one of her wings over the pink pony’s body. What Pinkie had just told her was disheartening, that much was certain, but Twilight had already implied a lot of it, so it didn’t come as a big surprise to the pegasus. 

“But you still have your friends, don’t you? Twilight, Applejack and Rarity… They were all there for you and tried to help you,” Fluttershy said, speaking with a soft and soothing voice. “That hasn’t changed, so can’t that cheer you up, if only for a tiny little bit? You must know it makes them all very sad to see you so sad…” 

Pinkie Pie sighed again. “I am happy to have them with me. And when Twilight came back to Ponyville, I was really excited. I thought she would have an idea of how we could zap everything back to normal, so that we could all go back to smiling and partying again.” The earth pony shook her head sadly, her eyes having fallen shut. “But Twilight didn’t have a plan. All she could do was tell us what had gone wrong, and how we couldn’t fix it.” 

The young mare gave Fluttershy a knowing look. “And she was right. We couldn’t… can’t do anything about it. We can’t save the day, not this time,” she stated, and she spoke with the voice of someone who had given up and had lost all hope. “Dashie thought she could change things. She never even came to Ponyville, she just went to join the Royal Guard. It’s been around seven years now… Seven years Dashie has been fighting, but nothing changed. She didn’t accomplish anything.” Saddened, Pinkie laid her head back down on her arms, and Fluttershy could see tears forming in the pink pony’s eyes. “I miss Dashie…”

Fluttershy gave her depressed friend a strong, warm hug. “I miss her too, Pinkie. When Twilight told me she had left to fight, I was really shocked,” the pegasus admitted. “And I really do worry about her safety. But at the same time, I have to admit that when I thought about it a bit more, I had to smile.” 

“Why?” Pinkie demanded, raising her head from the couch instantly. She had a look on her face that was a cross between surprise and shock. “Dashie is fighting! She hurts other ponies and ponies try to hurt her. Why would that make you smile?”

Fluttershy’s smile dropped and she looked somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassed. “W… well, I did not smile because of that. That really doesn’t sound… nice,” the pegasus explained. “I smiled because, even if what she does isn’t nice, it is something the Rainbow Dash I know would do. She would never let her friends down, or give up on something that she believes is right. Even if the times have changed, she’s still loyal to Princess Celestia, and she was prepared to fight for that.” The timid smile slowly returned to the yellow pegasus’ face, and she shared it with Pinkie. “And that’s the Rainbow Dash I know and remember.”

Pinkie remained silent, and stared at the floor with a thoughtful expression on her face. She had to admit Fluttershy had a point. If nothing else, Rainbow Dash was the most loyal pony in all of Equestria (both of them). She probably enjoyed hurting and fighting other ponies, even Republicans, as much as Pinkie did. But she was prepared to do it because she wouldn’t betray the Princess, her friends or her beliefs. Fluttershy was right. That did sound like the Rainbow Dash Pinkie remembered and liked so much.

“Maybe you’re right, Pinkie,” Fluttershy added, unaware of her friend’s ponderings. “Maybe Rainbow Dash hasn’t achieved anything yet by fighting. And maybe Twilight is right when she says that we can’t change things. But maybe it doesn’t matter if we can or cannot do it. Perhaps all that matters is if we did or did not try.” She put her arm around Pinkie and pulled her a bit closer. The pegasus wasn’t very sure if she was doing the right thing. She wasn’t good at giving pep talks, that was more something anypony of her friends but her would do. But for this once, it didn’t stop her from trying. She had to try and cheer Pinkie up, no matter what. 

“It could be that even Rainbow Dash knows that she can’t change anything,” she continued, a bit uncertain. “But that probably wouldn’t stop her. She’s the pony who once said: ‘If I’m going down, I’m going down flying! ’, after all.”  Those words made her think back to the time where they had to move the water to Cloudsdale with a hurricane, and how much Rainbow Dash had supported her throughout those events.

Pinkie smiled a tiny bit. “That does sounds like something Dashie would say.”

Fluttershy noticed the small smile on her friend’s face, and laughed gently. She gave Pinkie a soft nudge in the side. “And now you look a bit more like the Old Pinkie I remember.”

The tiny small vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, and left Fluttershy regretting that she had said anything. “Old Pinkie Pie isn’t fit for New Ponyville,” Pinkie said quietly, and she felt her usual gloominess return as the reality of the state of Equestria settled in again. The pegasus next to her gave Pinkie another gentle nudge.

“Old Fluttershy isn’t fit for New Ponyville either,” Fluttershy replied. “But Old Fluttershy will still have to get used to it. And she has three wonderful friends to help her with that. Just like Old Pinkie Pie does.” She gave her friend another hug. 

The pink earth pony chuckled a bit upon hearing Fluttershy’s choice of words, then returned the hug half-heartedly. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” she said, then added sincerely: “New Pinkie Pie is happy that Old Fluttershy is back, but at the same time would have liked it if Old Fluttershy could have stayed in Old Ponyville.”

“Old Fluttershy would also like that,” the pegasus answered calmly. “But now Old Fluttershy just wants to help New Pinkie Pie to feel better so that we can have Old Pinkie Pie back.” She caressed gently through Pinkie’s flat mane. “You have to cheer up, Pinkie. I understand that it is hard for you, but to see you so sad is very difficult for your friends…”

The pink earth pony bowed her head and turned away from Fluttershy, as if ashamed. “I didn’t mean to make them sad… But they’re sad because I’m sad.” Pinkie sighed deeply. “And I can’t stop being sad because I can’t smile. I just don’t know what to smile for.”

“You have to try, Pinkie,” Fluttershy replied. “You’re the pony who lived to make ponies laugh, aren’t you? Even if the ponies from Ponyville don’t have time to smile now, what about your friends? Can’t you make them smile? Aren’t their smiles something that would make you happy, too?”

“It would,” Pinkie admitted, and she glanced briefly at her pegasus friend. “But how can I make them smile? They’re sad because of what those meanies did to the Princess and because time has all gone bad. I can’t do anything about that!”

Fluttershy smiled kindly at caressed Pinkie gently through her mane. “You don’t have to, Pinkie. I’m sure that if you just smiled a bit, they would already be happier, even if everything is still changed and wrong. Because you’re more important to them than even the Princess or all of Equestria.”

Pinkie bit her lower lip in thought and rubbed her hooves together nervously. She knew that what Fluttershy said was the truth. It wasn’t the first time she was told so, either, nor had she ever really believed otherwise. Her friends were and would always be very dear to her. They were a source of support and comfort, and had been throughout most of her depressing life. She didn’t want to make them sad, and would love to thank them for their kindness. But could she truly smile again for them, when there was so little to smile for in the world?

“Promise me you’ll at least try, Pinkie,” Fluttershy pleaded, unaware of her friend’s ponderings. She gave the pink pony a hopeful look.

It was then that Pinkie decided that perhaps, yes, she could smile again. Part of what had always depressed her so was how it appeared that nothing could be done about the mess Equestria found itself in. But that was not true, was it? Fluttershy was here now, unaffected by the shifts in time. It was a change. Perhaps not a big one, but it was a change nonetheless. And maybe it was a sign that things were not as decided as Twilight had said they were? She couldn’t be certain, but it was a hopeful thought, something Pinkie found she could cling to. And she wanted to cling to it, if only to make Fluttershy and her friends happy. To see them smile again.

“I promise to try,” Pinkie pledged sincerely. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” 

Fluttershy smiled widely, and pulled her friend into another warm embrace. “Thank you, Pinkie,” she whispered softly. “I’m sure Twilight and Applejack will be very happy with this as well.” She wanted to say more, but she was interrupted when she yawned. The pegasus blushed slightly. “Ehm… I think we should go to sleep now.”

Pinkie smiled a tiny bit and nodded. “I agree,” she said. Then the smile faded from her face, to be replaced by a very serious expression. “But I’m still not allowing you to let me use your bed. It’s yours, Fluttershy. The couch will be more than enough for your auntie Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy frowned. “I’m a year older than you.”


---


“Good morning girls!” Twilight greeted cheerfully as she came bursting into the cottage unannounced and without knocking. The unicorn looked very pleased with herself for some reason, for she was smiling brightly and moved with barely suppressed energy. Aside from her usual clothes, she was now wearing two saddlebags as well, though what they held within them nopony but Twilight knew. “All ready for a brand new day?”

Fluttershy, to her credit, wasn’t startled by the sudden appearance of her friend. She calmly turned to face Twilight and gave her a welcoming smile. “Good morning to you, too, Twilight,” she returned the greeting. “Just give me a few moments to finish cleaning up our breakfast and put on your dress, and then we’ll be all set to go.” 

With that said, the pegasus continued to carry the tray she was carrying towards the kitchen, as she had been doing before Twilight came waltzing right in. On the tray stood two empty cups and plates. Angel had served Fluttershy and her houseguest the best breakfast he could using the limited supplies he had. The rabbit had wanted to clean it up as well, but Fluttershy had insisted on doing that herself. 

Twilight nodded in understanding, settled down a bit and let her gaze drift through the cottage. Everything was still looking as neat and tidy as she had left it yesterday evening. The unicorn then noticed Pinkie lounging on the couch. The pink pony had made herself comfortable, her head resting on her crossed forelegs. With a certain amount of hesitation, Twilight Sparkle trotted over to her, giving Pinkie a nervous smile. Great was the unicorn’s surprise when the earth pony actually looked up to greet her.

“Heya, Twilight,” Pinkie said. She managed to smile the tiniest of smiles, though it had to be said that even that took a considerable amount of effort from the depressed mare. Pinkie hadn’t forgotten the promise she had to Fluttershy last night and tried to be cheerful, if not for herself then for her friends. But half-heartedly or not, it was the thought that counted, and Twilight most certainly appreciated it.

“Good morning, Pinkie,” the unicorn replied with a genuine smile. “How was your night? Slept well?”

Pinkie hesitated again, but forced herself to answer, to try and keep that smile on Twilight’s face, for it was a great sight. “Well, yeah, I actually did,” she admitted. The pink pony patted Fluttershy’s trusty old couch affectionately. “I had forgotten how soft a couch could be, can you believe it?” 

“I would have given her my bed, but she insisted on using the couch,” Fluttershy added, as she came walking out of the kitchen. She gave Twilight an apologising look and changed the subject. “Angel Bunny was adamant about doing the dishes, so I’ll just go put on my dress now and then we can go, Twilight.”

“Take your time, Fluttershy. We aren’t in a rush,” the unicorn replied warmly, watching her friend flutter upstairs. Once the pegasus had vanished from sight, Twilight returned her attention to Pinkie Pie. “I’m glad you listened to Fluttershy and moved in here, Pinkie.” 

The other pony rolled her eyes, a gesture that surprised Twilight yet again. Pinkie was being unusually talkative and responsive today, and the unicorn began to suspect that Fluttershy had something to do with it. She would have to ask the pegasus about it later, and thank her for it as well. It was good to be able to talk to Pinkie again and not get the feeling you were talking to a wall. Though a small part of her couldn’t help but wonder why Fluttershy had succeeded where she and Applejack had failed, and what she and the apple farmer had been doing wrong all these years.

“She didn’t really give me much of a choice,” Pinkie said, pulling Twilight out of her thoughts. The earth pony’s tiny small widened an almost unnoticeably, miniscule bit. “But I think she did the right thing.” Rubbing her hooves together nervously, Pinkie shot Twilight an apologetic look. “Can you forgive me?” she asked, as if out of nowhere. “For being such a sad and sorry cry-baby all these years?” 

Twilight shook her head and blinked a few times, not sure if she could trust what her ears were telling her she was hearing. What in the name of Celestia had Fluttershy done to Pinkie last night?!

Seeing her friend was clearly flabbergasted, Pinkie hurried to explain: “Fluttershy and me had a bit of a teeny tiny talk last night… And I told her I was sad because Equestria is full of meany pants-es and sour ponies now.” A brief sigh escaped Pinkie’s lips. “But… Fluttershy made me realise that I should find my reasons to smile not in the big things, but in the small things. Like making my friends happy and making them smile.” 

Ashamed, Pinkie averted her eyes from Twilight as she said: “I know that is what you and Applejack and Rarity have been telling me for years… And that I never listened.” Again the pink pony rubbed her hooves together out of nervosity. “But when I saw how Fluttershy could still smile yesterday, even when all of Equestria has gone crazy, because she still had her friends… It was then that I realised… You guys were right the entire time.” 

She paused for a moment to sigh again, a much deeper sigh this time. Then Pinkie once again glanced up at her unicorn friend and gave her an apologising look. “So for that… I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

Before she even realised, Twilight’s magic had lifted her off the couch and carried her straight into the waiting arms of the purple unicorn, who hugged her so tightly that Pinkie thought she heard her ribs crack. “Of course I forgive you,” Twilight whispered in the pink pony’s ear, her voice trembling due to her emotional state. She sounded as if she was about to burst into tears. “I’m just glad that you finally managed to overcome your sadness, Pinkie.”

The two friends hugged, and Fluttershy chose that moment to come downstairs again, now wearing the dress she had borrowed from Twilight again. When she saw her two friends locked in an embrace, she froze on the stairs and glanced nervously at her hooves. “Oh, am I interrupting something?” she asked, sounding worried. “I could come down at a later time, if that would be better…”

The unicorn and earth pony separated and shared a brief glance with each other, before bursting out into soft, joyful giggles. Twilight looked up and smiled at the shy pegasus. “Don’t be silly, Fluttershy,” she said. “This is your house, and you can do whatever you like in here.” The unicorn gave the dressed pegasus a look of approval. “And let me thank you for cheering up Pinkie Pie.” Twilight cast a brief and sly look at the earth pony. “It was about time she listened to somepony.”

“Um, thank you,” Fluttershy replied quietly, as she moved over to join her two friends. “But all I really did was ask her to try and smile for her friends, so that they would be happy again and in turn give her a reason to smile again as well.”

“Well, it certainly seemed to have helped,” Twilight praised, and she placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. The unicorn smiled brightly at her friend, a smile that Fluttershy gladly if timidly returned. A brief moment of comfortable silence passed between the two of them, until Twilight once more changed the subject. “Now, I take it you’re all set to go shopping?”

“Yes, I definitely am. I have your dress and my purse,” Fluttershy answered. During supper yesterday, she and her three friends had decided that the next morning, Twilight would take Fluttershy back into town to buy some clothes and supplies to fill up the pegasus’ fridge. This would give Applejack the opportunity to spend the morning on Sweet Apple Acres, and she would then join her friends after dinner to continue their cleaning of Fluttershy’s cottage.

“And I’ve got everything we should need here as well,” Twilight added, opening her saddlebags with her magic. “Checklist, checklist of my checklist, purse with bits in case you want to buy more than you carry the bits for and…” She stopped for a moment as she lifted a brown envelope out of her bag. “Oh, I almost forgot this!” 

Fluttershy and Pinkie exchanged confused glances, then focussed their attention on the unicorn and the envelope again.

“What is it, Twilight?” Pinkie demanded curiously. She tapped her chin with a hoof thoughtfully, her face twisted in a frown. “Does it have anything to do with why you were so excited and energetic when you came barging in here?”

“I didn’t barge in!” Twilight objected, blushing a bit. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, then cleared her throat and regained her composure. “But to answer your question: yes.” She floated the letter over to Fluttershy and handed it to the pegasus, smiling all the while. “It’s from Rarity, Fluttershy.” 

Her shy friend gasped. “Rarity?” she echoed, her voice failing badly to conceal the excitement she felt upon hearing that name. Twilight nodded, her smile only widening as she did so.

“Yesterday morning, before I came here, I sent her a letter in which I gave her a brief summary of your arrival here,” the unicorn explained. “She’s one of our friends, I could hardly keep her unaware of something as important as your arrival here!” Twilight took a brief pause to close her saddlebags again. “I think my letter managed to get on the morning flight to Canterlot somehow, for she wrote that she received it as early as yesterday evening. And then this morning I was woken up by a private courier having urgent mail for me!” She gestured excitedly at the envelope.

Fluttershy looked at the letter she held in her hoof, then back at Twilight again. “Oh, ehm, that’s… nice,” she muttered, not sure of what else to say. “What did it say?” she then asked. She had to admit that she felt kind of nervous about opening the letter. Too nervous, in fact.

“Well, not much, actually,” Twilight answered. “But she did write that she’d be visiting us at the fastest, earliest opportunity!” 

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her heart grew warm. “Rarity’s coming to Ponyville?!” she demanded excitedly, almost not daring to believe it. Rarity was coming! She’d see one of her dearest, most wonderful friends again, one who remembered her and the old life they had shared!

Twilight nodded eagerly. “Unless I’ve suddenly become illiterate and can’t read anymore, she most definitely is.” Grinning, the unicorn put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder again, a gesture of friendship. “So we should definitely go and take care of your shopping list. Rarity wrote ‘the fastest, earliest opportunity’, which could be as early as this afternoon, if she rides an airship.”

The pegasus’ eyes widened again and she gasped once more. “You’re right, Twilight!” she said, and now her voice began to get a hint of panic in it. In truth, Fluttershy was merely mortified by the thought of Rarity coming only to find one of her friends wearing no clothes. Applejack and Twilight had not minded too much that she hadn’t worn anything while cleaning, but Rarity lived in Canterlot now and was used to high class and good manners. She couldn’t let her down! 

“Twilight, Pinkie, let’s go!” she declared, and she began to gallop towards the door, only to be halted in her tracks when she heard Pinkie call out to her.

“Wait, I am coming too?” the pink pony asked, obviously confused. That was a change of events she hadn’t been informed of. As far as Pinkie knew, she’d be cleaning the cottage a bit on her own this morning while Fluttershy and Twilight took care of all the necessary purchases. Though she would try and do her best to help her friends and be a bit more cheerful and happy for them, the pink pony wasn’t sure if she was ready to go out there and back into New Ponyville again.

Before Fluttershy’s arrival, she had stuck mostly to her little shack and her field of rocks, her only contact with ponies being her friends or reluctant customers who needed a particular rock only she could provide. She’d almost never gone into Ponyville, not even to do some purchases. Most of the time Twilight and Applejack had supplied her with the necessary things, whether she had asked or not.

Fluttershy, however, didn’t know this. And it was doubtful that even if she had, she would have cared. The pegasus merely glanced over her shoulder at Pinkie, giving the earth pony mare a look that told her there would be no discussion or disagreeing. 

“Of course you are,” Fluttershy said. “In your… um, house wearing such a ragged dress might have been allowed, Pinkie Pie, but in my house my friends will wear proper clothes only!” And with those words, Fluttershy walked out of her cottage, followed by a defeated Pinkamena Diane Pie and a slightly amused Twilight Sparkle.



End of chapter 11.