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Fluttershy5,556 words
Rainbow Dash4,108 words
Field Goal5,967 words
Beginning of the Legend4,062 words
Lightning Bolt6,247 words
The Prize5,069 words
Opprimerimus4,523 words
Patience3,529 words
A Sunny Day4,036 words

A Sunny Day

Pegasus Densetsu

MLP:FiM by Lauren Faust (Hasbro)
Angel Densetsu by Norihiro Yagi

Chapter 9: A Sunny Day

"That was a good prank we pulled on the dyed hair job," murmured Surprise as she idly munched on the end of her candy cigarette, "but I want more!"

Firefly idly noted that Surprise's candy cig was behaving like a candy cig this time. Still, she kept a sharp eye on it, just in case Surprise was performing a trick. Then she'd catch her in the act. "What are you talking about? You almost got your tail whipped, 'cuz it seriously backfired on you!" noted the pink pegasus.

Surprise munched the rest of her cig down, leaving Firefly in the dark about whether or not she had switched out her candy cig for a real cigarette last time. Or even this time. "Hey, I was holdin' my own with Lightning Bolt after a bit," she snapped.

"Is that what you youngin's call 'Running away and screaming your head off like a scared little filly from the big bad Lightning Bolt' these days?" Firecracker quipped, affecting that of an old granny's manner of speech for effect.

"Hey! I'm a year older than you, so don't be calling me a 'youngin''!" the yellow filly said testily.

"No, you're not!"

Surprise ignored Firecracker. "The only reason I ran is because that girl's weird, 'kay? Like in 'I get off by having big ponies beat me up!' weird."

"Whatever you say, Surprise," came the red filly's dismissive reply.

"That's right!" shouted Surprise, seemingly totally oblivious to the sarcasm in the filly's dismissal. "I'm actually tougher than I give myself credit for. I can hold my own against the scarlet haired filly, and she had managed to knock down Fluttershy. That means it's possible for me to defeat Fluttershy in her own language!"

A beat passed as the Three Queens regarded each other. Then, Firefly turned to Firecracker and acted like Surprise had turned invisible. "So anyway, yesterday this stallion was all like—"

"Hey! Don't ignore me, you Ignory Doodle Donkeys!" barked Surprise.

Firefly stared at Surprise like she had grown three heads, a foot, and a butt on one of her faces. Because it would not have surprised her at all if Surprise had grown only one head. "Where did that even come from?"

Surprise snorted in satisfaction. "It'll make sense in about five years," she said cagily, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Firefly rolled her eyes. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if they rolled right out of her head. "*Pfft.* Whatever. Look, whatever plan is baking in your head, stop it. You'll never beat Fluttershy."

"Silly filly! If I stopped baking my plan now, it'll really be half-baked!"

"I walked into that one, didn't I?" Firefly groaned. "But what does this have to do with Fluttershy?"

"Don't you get it, my fine fillies? Lightning Bolt beat Fluttershy once! In the end, she's a pony just like everypony else!" A breeze began to tug at Surprise's wild mane, making it sway majestically as her face was set in a super serious look. "And I, too, was able to fight Boltie on common ground. The guardspony's blood within me screams out for me to overcome the obstacle that is Fluttershy!"

Firefly's gaze slid from Surprise gracefully windswept mane to the source of the wind, a hoof-fan being beaten vigorously in Surprise's forehoof.

"Stop this nonsense, Surprise. You're just going to get pounded!" cautioned Firefly.

"Oh, don't worry your silly filly heads! I gotta plan that ensures 2000% success!"

"Surprise, don't do this. You've only barely finished convalescing from your illness."

—/—

Fluttershy grimaced as she walked to school.

She wasn't in a foul mood, as it happened. No, the reason for her grimace was that there was a cloud construction going on above her, which had certain effects on the local brightness.

"Okay! Time to place that cloud!" came a forepony's call. Pegasi constructors swooped in, maneuvering a firm-cloud to its final resting place, obscuring the sun. As soon as the sun was somewhat obscured, Fluttershy's grimace disappeared like mist in the sun. The sudden brightness on the young pegasus's face did not last long, however, for the grimace returned as she moved out from under the new cloud cover and back into the full sunlight.

Oh, bother. My eyes are quite sensitive to sunlight, and this time of the year is the worst! thought the inconvenienced pegasus. Ah, I think my face is beginning to cramp! But I won't let this keep me from school.

As Fluttershy passed under cloud banks and out again, her face muscles tensed and relaxed all the way to school. The rapid cycling of her expressions created a larger dead zone of ponies about her, fearing that a drug-induced frenzy was imminent from this little pony.

—/—

Rainbow Dash sat in a relaxed pose at her desk, musing over some recent events. Well, that Lightning Bolt filly has calmed down after getting shown up by Fluttershy, so I guess it's all good. She was gratified that there would be no dissension in the ranks from the new filly.

Her musings were interrupted by Surprise and her two fellow Queens, suddenly opening the door. Surprise blinked as she got a look at Rainbow Dash's mane. "And today's do is a high-top fade!"

Indeed, Rainbow Dash somehow managed to arrange her mane such that it rose above her head in a perfect cylinder for about three inches before becoming perfectly flat.

Rainbow snorted. "Oh, can it, Balloon-Butt."

Surprise looked about the room, but not finding who she was looking for. "Hmph, she's not here yet. Just when I was puffed up to do this," she misspoke with conviction.

"What are you babbling about? What do you want with Fluttershy?"

"None of your business," shouted Surprise. The two stared at each other for a moment, then spoke again. "Except that it is, maybe." From under her left wing, Surprise produced an envelope. "Here, giff thif to Fluttershy," she said (reasonably intelligibly) around the envelope, then plopped it on Rainbow Dash's desk.

The letter was titled 'Letter of Challenge.'

Rainbow stared at Surprise in disbelief. "Wha...?" she sputtered. "Hey, Surprise."

"Thanks, 'Nid." With that, Surprise left the classroom.

"Wait! Surprise! Are you serious about this?" shouted Rainbow Dash, actually standing. She knew immediately that it was futile, because that was just they way Surprise was. But she shouted anyway, just for the principle of the thing. "What the cloud? She really wants to do this?" Rainbow murmured as she sat back down.

A while later, Fluttershy entered the room, without fanfare, with her usual expression. This was because, inside the school building, she was shielded from the sun and all of its glaring consequences.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Good morning, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy amicably.

Dashie hoofed over the envelope. "Um... Surprise wanted me to give you this."

Fluttershy ripped open the envelope and took a moment to read the contained challenge. "Where's 'behind the Z building?'" she asked.

"We don't have a Z building. I think she means the D building where she normally hangs out, behind the Home Ec. classrooms." Rainbow Dash scratched her chin in thought. "Come to think of it, she did seem kind of aphasic today." She shrugged it off. "Anyway, what's in the note?"

"She says she wants to settle something, so I should come around behind the Z (probably D) building during lunch."

"You gonna go?"

Fluttershy looked significantly at Rainbow. "I can't just ignore her. She wrote me such a polite letter."

Rainbow Dash's mind was trying to analyze the situation. Fluttershy may be honor-bound to always accept a fight, but what is Surprise thinking? Did she discover some gumption during that fight with Lightning Bolt, or did that double dip in her illness give her some brain damage? Possible, I'm not sure her slips of the tongue were from brain damage or just the usual Surprise-isms.

Fluttershy, on the other hoof, thought, I wonder what matter needs settling?

Oh, well. It's just Surprise, for Celestia's sake. Fluttershy won't go berserk on her or anything, Rainbow Dash thought, offhandedly and unconcerned.

She glanced over to Fluttershy, whereupon her breath caught.

Fluttershy's face was crinkled in a deep and ugly scowl, backlit by the intense sun out the window. It was a face that one did not find on any pony in anything approaching a good humor. Fluttershy was clearly completely pissed off to Rainbow Dash's eyes.

I... I was wrong! Fluttershy shows no mercy to any who challenge her, even flakes like Surprise! She's going to crush Surprise like a bucking bug!

Fluttershy, for her part, was in severe discomfort. Goodness, my seat is right in the full sunlight. I must remember to get a seat away from the window next semester, she thought. Her face suddenly spasmed in pain. Bluster and bother, there goes my face cramp. This is so uncomfortable. It sure is tough for me.

Fluttershy's face is so intense, it's twitching! Scary! This determination about even such an easy fight is the true secret to her terrifying power! Nobody can stop her! Nice knowing you, Surprise. Have fun in the afterlife.

—/—

"It's lunchtime. High noon," Firefly murmured grimly. "Perfect time for somepony to get her entrails fed to her by some psycho, like from some Apploosian movie."

Firecracker slowly turned to Firefly, a disbelieving look on her face. "What kind of Apploosians do you watch?!" she asked. "Wait. Better question: do I want to know?"

"Prolly not. Anyway, Surprise. Are you sure you don't wanna be hitting the cobblestones right now? Fluttershy's not going to take kindly to your challenge."

Surprise snorted. "You'd normally be trying to persuade me from my destiny, Firefly. What gives?"

"At least use words correctly, you silly pony!" Firefly groused. "Look, I've already tried my darndest to try to keep you from doing this crazy stunt, and I'm tired of it. It seems like physical pain is the only way you'll learn."

"Take my loofah," Surprise said without any warning.

"What? You mean your hoof?" Firefly asked, glancing at the offered hoof. "That ain't no paw, you idiot!"

"Just press your own loofah to mine, silly pony!"

Firefly was even more confused. "Um, okay..." she murmured, and pressed her hoof against Surprise's.

As soon as the two ponies had their hooves pressed together, Surprise yanked hers back and out. What confused Firefly was that her own hoof seemed to be stuck fast to Surprise's. She didn't have time to ruminate on that, as she was yanked up by her shoulder. Surprise pivoted about, putting her withers underneath Firefly's barrel, then yanked powerfully on the still captured hoof to send Firefly tumbling over Surprise and onto the hard cloud bank. Firefly let out a yelp of pain as she flopped onto her back.

Firecracker gasped at what she had seen. It was truly amazing. Surprise's large bulk moved like a ninja mule. "Woah! That was crazy, Surprise! What was that?!"

By this time, Surprise had released Firefly's hoof and held it up proudly. "Heh, it was a groove I learned from my father, who was pot to him by earth ponies," she said messily. "By focusing magic into my loofah, I can make it slightly ticky, and I can use it like it were a dragon's saw!"

Firecracker frowned. "Surprise. Focus! Stop randomly substituting similar-sounding words everywhere."

Surprise had the good manners to blink in confusion. "... Right." She mentally gathered her focus. "Anyway, my dad taught me that move, when I told him I wanted to use some moves against Fluttershy. He was very eager to teach me!"

Firefly finally recovered from the toss Surprise had just demonstrated on her. One hoof rubbing the back of her head, she managed to groan out, "I bet." She spent a second shaking the dizziness out of her noggin. "Okay, so you can knock her down. But what do you do after?"

Surprise let out a dismissive puff of air. "Foo! Who cares what happens after?" she asked. "After I knock her down, I'll be running for the thunderheads!" Her voice was very proud, as if she had executed the military gambit of the century.

Firefly raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that because Fluttershy's weird? 'Cuz that's the excuse you shipped with Lightning Bolt."

"Heh. I don't need to beat down Fluttershy! I just need to knock her down once for my plan."

"So far, your plan is (a) knock Fluttershy down, and then (b) running away. Is there anything more to it?"

"It's a... it's a..." Surprise struggled for words.

Firefly narrowed her eyes. "A what?" she prompted.

"A GRAIL!"

Firefly blinked. "What?"

Surprise smacked her forehead. "No! Wait! It's a secret! That's what it is! A secret!" she insisted, trying to affect a small, secretive smile on her face, with her eyes squinted up shut. Firefly felt she should smack that look right off Surprise's face, she hated it so much.

"Never mind that. This isn't gonna work, you idiot. Fluttershy's not some newbie little punk pony; she's a combat machine!" Firecracker insisted, a last-ditch effort to head off this foalishness.

Surprise snorted with barely constrained laughter. "Oh, foo! She's not gonna be serious with me! I'm just widdle ol' Surprise! It's that unpreparedness I'm counting on!" She paused. "After that, I'm vamoosing! You better get outta here, too."

This is so dumb-flank! thought Firecracker.

We are so gonna die! added Firefly.

"Oh," Surprise said, catching the form of a filly out the corner of her eye. A form that was approaching them. "Look, it's Fluttershy! Watch me capitalize on her—"

*SLASHER CHORD*

Fluttershy's face was twisted in a hideous, glaring leer. She looked ready to end somepony's life rather messily.

The jaws of the three Trickster Queens dropped open as they looked upon this murderous visage.

"W... What the... She's all super-duper-looper-serious and stuff! How could this happen?" That last part was delivered in a Stalliongrad accent, for some strange reason. Surprise spun around to whisper at her two subordinates in terror. "She's fighting me, for Celestia's sake! Why is she so crazy?!"

"Don't look at me!" Firefly replied, with equal quietness and trepidation.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was quietly suffering. Did she have to call me out at lunch when the sun's at it's brightest? I can barely keep my eyes open!

Surprise turned about to face the music and Fluttershy. "Hey, Fluttershy! What's with the creepy face?" she asked, hiding all but a bit of her nervousness. "I wasn't being serious in the letter!"

Fluttershy was genuinely puzzled. "Um... you said you wanted to 'settle' something."

"It was a joke! I joke, I tells ya!" Surprise insisted. "A funny little joke the Trickster Empress plays!"

"...Joke?" came Fluttershy's sincerely quizzical reply.

Surprise swallowed, sensing the danger increase. "Uh... actually, though I asked you here to see me, something just came up I must deal with," she stammered. "So that 'settling' stuff is a joke... more a game!"

"...Game?"

"Er... I mean, not really a game. A sporting jest from your loving follower, eh?"

"...Jest?"

"Not a jest... um..."

Firecracker actually grimaced in frustration. Dang it, Surprise! When you're in one, stop digging!

This grows worse with every turn. You'd better appreciate this, Surprise! thought Firefly. She stepped between Surprise and Fluttershy and addressed the nominative 'guardian.' "Fluttershy! Do you think the friendliness of the Guardian's group should be important?" she monologued. "We live in abandoned lots with nothing but violence and brawling, so wouldn't it be a good thing for us to laugh and tell each other jokes to find our common cloud?!"

Fluttershy glared at the both of them. The three Queens stared back, expectantly and with much nervousness.

—/—

"Alright, Snowflake, move that cloud section over there," said a hardhatted construction pony as he pointed toward an empty section of cloud.

A beefy white pegasus with itty-bitty wings roared, "YEAH!" Gritting his teeth, Snowflake gathered up a huge section in his forehooves and moved toward the indicated slot with it, his itty-bitty wings buzzing furiously.

—/—

Fluttershy's face relaxed. Seemingly, it was because she had processed Firecracker's words, but it was really because the construction pony Snowflake had laid down the cloud above them, shielding her sensitive eyes from the sun. "Um... okay. I think it's good to be friends," she murmured softly.

"Then you undercanned, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy blinked at the unusual word. "What? Um. Yeah," she said, deciding that 'undercanned' was actualy 'understand.'

"Yes! Fluttershy understood our joke!" Surprise shouted jubilantly and she, Firefly and Firecracker shared a cheer of joy. "Let's stay good friends from now on, Fluttershy!" the Trickster Empress proclaimed, extending a hoof in friendship.

"Yes, that seems... nice." Their two hooves touched each other.

Here we glow! thought Surprise, preparing the toss.

—/—

"What are you foals doing! We can't have that section there! We need to do the prep work before we can even think about laying down that cloud," the forepony roared as he approached the two. "Snowflake! Get that section out of here!"

Snowflake only let a moment of confusion cross his face before pumping a hoof. "YEAH!"

—/—

Fluttershy's face twitched into its scowl again as Snowflake above removed that section of cloud. The transformation from calm-looking Fluttershy to demon Fluttershy was abrupt, filling Surprise with fear. The fear displaced the wicked intent within her, and she shook as she 'held' Fluttershy's hoof.

Surprise finally braved to ask, "W... what's wrong, Fluttershy?"

"Hmm?" Fluttershy murmured.

—/—

"Now, look here! Girder said that this section was ready to be put in place, and so it goes in that spot," complained the construction pony. "Snowflake! Get that section back in place."

Snowflake twisted around... and kept twisting, the inertia of the cloud section keeping him moving. He righted himself and belted out, "YEAH!" before moving the section into place.

—/—

Fluttershy's face untensed again as the sun was covered up by working pegasi above. "Oh, um..." she stammered. Fluttershy supposed that her face did look kind of strange when the sun was blaring in her eyes. "Nothing. Pay it no mind," she said at last.

C-Could she feel my wicked intent? thought Surprise in alarm. No, that's impossible! This is my chance! Here we go again! She applied more hoof magic and tensed to throw.

—/—

"Hey, I already had to take down one section because of your bumbling! Get that section off now, Snowflake!"

Snowflake blinked. He looked at the construction pony that ordered him, and saw his stern look. A longer moment of confusion crossed his face as his brain reset to lifting the cloud up and carrying it away. "Uh, YEAH!"

—/—

The sunshine shone in Fluttershy's face once more, making her face tense up horribly again on reflex.

Surprise saw this and nearly jumped out of her own skin. She can read my mind! She can feel my wicked heart! Fluttershy is righteously a mind-reading demon with Cousin Pinkie's uncanny sense of the future! Surprise thought in a frantic fury.

Nothing happened for several minutes. Fluttershy scowled at Surprise, her face tense and twitching, and Surprise stared back in fear at Fluttershy, her whole body quivering with fear.

Nuts! I can't do it... I can't afford any mistakes here! All I can do is break off slowly.

—/—

"I'll have you know that those were perfectly good sections you ripped up! My cloudscupting is fine! Snowflake, put it back!"

"Y-YEAH!"

—/—

Fluttershy's face relaxed once more as the shade fell over her face. Surprise saw this and decided this was her time to act.

Surprise performed the toss. Fluttershy found herself pulled up by her hoof that seemed stuck to Surprise's, then herself on her friend's withers, then tumbling over her friend's bulk to land heavily on her back.

"C'mon, scatter!" shouted Surprise, and she plowed right in between both of her lesser Queens. The two others shouted in protest, for the three were immediately caught in a tangle of limbs and bodies, landing onto the clouded ground with a heavy thud.

With moans of pain, the three slowly untangled themselves. Surprise, recovering first, was furious. "You simpering simperers! I told you to run once I knocked her down!"

"But, you just crashed into us," Firecracker protested.

Their argument got no further, as a feeling of coldness washed over the three. Fluttershy was standing once more and was approaching the three.

Surprise swallowed. "Um... Flu.. Fluttershy?"

—/—

The forepony and the construction pony were both glaring at each other, trying to butt each other's heads into submission.

"RIP IT UP!" roared the forepony, "RIPITUP-RIPITUP-RIPITUP!"

"KEEP IT!" countered the construction pony, "KEEPIT-KEEPIT-KEEPIT!!"

Snowflake's eyes flamed as something inside him snapped. "YEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!" he roared, as the chunky pegasus flipped the cloud bank over in a tantruming fit.

—/—

Fluttershy's face tensed as once again Celestia's sun blazed from above unshaded, the cloud bank shredded as a certain beefy white pegasus went berserk above her. "Ha ha ha, very funny," she hissed horribly through her queerly tensed face. "That was another game, wasn't it?"

The blood drained from all three faces. They had messed up big time. The three immediately prostrated themselves in front of Fluttershy, bowing low as if in front of one of Canterlot's princesses (at this time, only two were known). "We're so sorry! It was just a wicked impulse!" screamed Surprise.

Fluttershy was thoroughly confused. Surprise was a strange one, so she assumed that if she didn't find some game of hers fun or funny, it was because she didn't understand it. It wasn't Surprise fault she didn't get the joke. "Wait... Surprise..." she weakly tried to calm the filly down.

"Please forgive us! We'll never do it again! Don't kill us!"

Author's Note:

Ah, writer's sloth, my old friend!

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