Flowers In Her Hair

by Sunchaser

Hush Now; No Words

Flowers In Her Hair
By Sunchaser

She wore flowers in her hair.

I don't know why I only noticed it then; I don't know why I never saw it before.

It was the evening of my coronation, the fancy official party to let the Canterlot nobles present themselves to the illustrious new Princess Twilight Sparkle, so they could get their first sense of how they were going to try to use me. Apparently my having a crown now has made everyone forget that I'm Celestia's student, and have been surrounded by such politics for most of my life.

That, thankfully, only lasted about an hour; a flurry of names and titles and false smiles hiding gleeful machinations, but that had been expected. It was a necessary evil, and I put up with it, wearing a false smile of my own to thinly veil my contempt of the self-important upper class.

And then it was over, and a real smile replaced it, as I was free to enjoy the festivities and see my friends again.

Rainbow Dash was still obsessing over my new wings, and couldn't stop talking about all the tricks I was going to learn once she started teaching me to fly. Not that I'd ever asked her to teach me to fly, but...well, it was sort of foregone, wasn't it?

Rarity was visibly relieved that I was wearing a different dress. The ceremonial garb from the crowning proper had centuries of tradition to recommend it, but she'd nearly needed to be restrained, twitching and muttering dark oaths about crossing hot pink and banana creme. But now that I was in a more casual evening dress—a simple flowing length of shimmering blue ornamented with touches of silver trim, dotted with amethysts to complement my tiara—she went on about how royal I looked, and how it was all just so lovely: the glamour, the tradition, the pageantry...

Pinkie Pie was, I suppose, the most like her usual self. It was a party, if somewhat more constrained than her usual fare, and she was cavorting and mingling and joking around like she always did. I may have taken particular pleasure with how her up-close, in-your-face bubbly manner still unsettles the stuffy decorum-obsessed nobles.

Applejack had found herself in a group of Canterlot commerce ponies, and was animatedly talking business, commanding the attention of the local office-administrative types with her hooves-on field experience and demonstrated success as owner-operator of one of Equestria's most recognized agrarian names.

Cadence was at the bar, endeavoring to console Shining Armor to her left, as he gripped his mug of cider and muttered numbly, and Spike to her right, who was grimly staring into his glass of fruit punch. She was so gallantly trying to comfort them, because yes, okay, sure, their sister was an alicorn princess now, but wasn't it really a good thing? Isn't it nice that she's come so far from her shut-in bookish roots?

I did understand their dilemma, though, and it brought me some comfort to see somepony else who was really taking the whole thing basically the same way I was.

It hadn't really sunk in then. Hasn't even now, really; it still feels very strange to have wings poking out of my back.

Princess Luna was mingling about the room, and I was happy to see that ponies really seem to have started accepting her alongside Celestia now. She was laughing and smiling, and not all of it was just social ritual; some of it was genuine—some ponies really did want to know her for more than her crown, and that gave me hope, too.

Princess Celestia was, as ever, presiding over the assembly, her beneficent presence lending a quiet warmth to the whole event, and when I caught her eyes she lent me that same honest smile she has since I was a precocious filly.

Some things, thankfully, aren't changing too fast.

But I still could only endure so many pandering nobles, so I escaped to the ballroom patio and the palace gardens beyond, taking in the quiet and stars and the soothing light of the waxing moon.

I wasn't 'the new Princess of Equestria!' there. I didn't have shiny new wings, or a fancy crown, or pretentious titles. I was just...myself again, for a quiet moment. Just regular old Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville Librarian, a little more talented at magic than she perhaps deserved, walking the smooth flagstones of the garden paths.

My mind wandered and my hooves followed, and my meandering about the hedges and flowerbeds eventually lead me to a quiet little fountain plaza, and the one pony I hold close to me that I'd yet to see that evening.

I really shouldn't have been surprised to find her there.

Fluttershy was laying silently on the grass at the fountain edge, dangling a hoof lazily into the cool water, her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds of the animals nearby, the evening breeze rustling the leaves of surrounding trees, the quiet murmur of the flowing water.

She had left aside her more elaborate gala dress in favor of a simpler piece: a plain slip of untrimmed white-silver silk that gleamed beneath the rising moon, well matched to the soft yellow of her coat and mild rose of her mane.

And it was a stark contrast indeed, to the flowers in her hair.

She'd not had them earlier, when the reception had begun. She must have carefully, meekly, plucked them from the gardens, and now her mane was dotted with crimson amaranth and vivid orchids of indigo, striking stars of bold color on a backdrop of soft, muted tones.

She stirred at the sound of my hooves upon the stone path, raising her head and opening her eyes to gaze at me with soothing aquamarine.

I don't know how I hadn't noticed it before; why it was only clear to me then. But I was struck speechless, dazed by the sheer realization of how staggeringly beautiful she was, there in that moment.

I can't really remember everything so clearly after our eyes met; I can't say for sure that the rest wasn't a dream. But she smiled, and my heart sang; she rose from her place, and stepped over to me, and without a whisper we nuzzled gently together, and everything was so warm and wonderful.

After a long moment she drew back, and our eyes met again, and she smiled so bashfully.

And...and then it's all sort of a blur of shock, and surprise, and a giddy, soaring happiness that I imagine flying would strain to achieve, and I'm reasonably sure that it's because Fluttershy kissed me, that night in the gardens.

It was only a few days ago now, but it's all so muddled and blurry and mixed up in feelings of elation and trepidation and hesitation and a dozen other nouns and adjectives that just don't do it justice, and I'm afraid that I'll never feel something like that again, that it was all a fleeting dream. But at the same time I'm buzzing with a barely-restrained wish to just flare my new wings wide and fly off to where Fluttershy is and tell her all this because I know that it'll be alright, and—

You know, I think I'm just going to do that, right now.

Because while I don't know why I only noticed it then, and I don't know why I never saw it before...

I see it now.

Comments

[Knight of Cerebus]

A shipfic from Sunchaser that isn't Twilestia?

[Cloudhammer]

Short and sweet, I enjoyed this one, Sunny

[Bad Horse]

Short as it is, I think it could be even shorter. The story steps up its game here:

Fluttershy was laying silently on the grass at the fountain edge, dangling a hoof lazily into the cool water, her eyes closed as she listened to the sounds of the animals nearby, the evening breeze rustling the leaves of surrounding trees, the quiet murmur of the flowing water.

All the things that came before are to establish Twilight's emotional state. They're problematic, partly because the voice isn't naive enough for Twilight (yes, I know she was raised with Celestia & shouldn't be naive, but she /is/), but also because going into her head naturally leads to lengthy rumination that isn't as strong as the part with Fluttershy.

If this were in third person, you'd lose a lot of the beautiful sentences here (notably "And...and then it's all sort of a blur of shock, and surprise, and a giddy, soaring happiness that I imagine flying would strain to achieve, and I'm reasonably sure that it's because Fluttershy kissed me, that night in the gardens", which I understand you'd probably hate to give up), but you could paint the scene that takes up the first 2/3 of this in just a few paragraphs, and let the reader fill in how Twilight feels.

[TheLastBrunnenG]

Might not be my OTP, but it's a delightful little slice of romance and beautifully written. I expected nothing less from Sunchaser.

[GhostOfHeraclitus]

d'awwwwwww

Cute. So very cute.

3483236
We live in strange times. Earthquakes ravage the land, war stalks the world like...a...giant stalky thing, all the mustard was sold out in my local store, and the Black Squirrel has been seen as far afield as Luton. Truly, do many things come to pass.

And now this. Damn it, Sunny, why did you have to go and immanentize the eschaton for?

[Titanium Dragon]

[hauntu4ever]

This was a very cute piece, and I want to see a grimdark continuation wherein Alicorn = Vampire and Fluttershy is basically Bella Swan in terms of attraction to Vampires enjoyed it immensely

[SHL]

D'aaaaaaaaaw, that was cuuute

[PoweredByTea]

3486635
Fluttershy takes another cautious step towards Twilight Sparkle. The other pony... sparkled, and there is something different about her smile. It's more toothy for one thing.

Their lips approach and...

"No!" Fluttershy says spinning round to face you.

"What?" You say, taken aback. "This is a second person narrative? And I thought only Pinkie Pie could break the fourth wall."

"Yes it is and no we all can," Fluttershy replies. "What were you thinking, making Twilight into a Twilight vampire?"

"But, but," you try to summon the words to protest, but she's looking in this strange way. Your starting to feel ashamed of yourself.

"No I'm not," you protest.

"'frade you are," Twilight pipes in. "That's the power of second person narrative for ya. Dangerous stuff. Wow, seeking with these big wolf-teeth sure is funny."

You realise you are, in fact, feeling a little bit ashamed. "It was only a joke," you manage.

"Yes I know," Fluttershy says, "and I'm sure it was very funny in the right context and you meant well. But you have to consider the feeling of us hypothetical ponies, you're putting in these hypothetical situations."

"I'm... I'm sorry," you say. Dammit, second person narrative.

"There, there." Fluttershy steps over to you, the intense stare gone. "You're not a bad hypothetical you, you just made some bad decisions."

"Say, I've never read Twilight," Twilight says. "Do I have some awesome powers now?"

Both you and Fluttershy turn to Twilight.

"You might be a bit..." Fluttershy begins.

"Underwhelmed," you finish.

---

I have no idea what I just wrote.

[PoweredByTea]

I should probably give you a proper response. I'm almost tempted to say the text should be judged more along the lines of poetry. Really, it's all about capturing the feeling of a single moment. I do have to agree with 3483557 on the first half though. I always figured Twilight ran away from all that business, rather than learning to deal with it. Still, it's short, it's sweet, I think it achieves what it sets out to achieve.

[Sunchaser]

3483557 3487533

She certainly used to, yes, but as we viewers were beaten over the head with in Games Ponies Play, she now has to / is able to deal with it. Even if the means of dealing with it is taking a comically exaggerated breath and sweeping her hoof out all the time.

Basically, now that she's a Princess, she's stuck with the red tape.

They never tell you about the red tape.

And besides, technically she does still run away from it, out into the gardens, where we get to the part that's ostensibly important, both to the story and to Twilight herself.

While I can see why one would want the opening minutia to go away, and overall it is perhaps a bit dry, there are the little bits of it that matter. Luna's presence at a royal function becoming normal; Applejack getting along with ponies in Canterlot; Celestia still being herself, even after her faithful student is given a crown beside her. Spike and Shining going 'bwuh?'. And I personally love the snippet with Rarity.

The part after all that, where it's just Twilight and Fluttershy and all the stuff that came before is checked at the garden gate, while it may not rely on the previous events, they do also help frame the reader; as Twilight steps out of all those things, so do we. So while the garden scene could stand alone, I would argue it's lent its whole meaning by what it leaves behind as well as what it carries itself.

[hauntu4ever]

3487430
That started out great and got even greater

[Axis of Rotation]

Somehow I always miss the obvious story tags, so the shipping here was rather unexpected, but I suppose that as far as reading goes, that's a bit of a purer experience, isn't it?

3483557>>3487533>>3487723
Hmm, I would argue that Twilight's naivety towards the nobility (not the trait in general) is a matter of interpretation, since we've barely seen her interact with them in-show (unless my memory fails me); thus anything we want to claim about it has to be inferred, or based on personal preference (which is fine).

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the camera focusing on her friends and the princesses, albeit briefly, because, besides just how Twilight is taking it all, I'm very interested in seeing how everyone else is too. You could argue there's a way to do that and keep the emphasis of the story on TwilightxFluttershy, or maybe not, and that's fine. And I would say that glossing over the first chunk and simply trying to summarize Twilight's feelings would produce a different effect on the reader than the one they have now, upon Twilight encountering Fluttershy. Whether it would be stronger or weaker though, I can't say.

[SongCoyote]

Let me start off with my baseline: I love Fluttershy and always have, even when she was going nuts under the influence of Iron Will

This little story thus gave my heart the kind of jump that is reserved for only best, most heartfelt and loving moments: seeing her through Twilight's eyes, full of gentle beauty and soft smiles. In a few words you made the possibility of their relationship feel real.

I, for one, found the contrast between dealing with the nobles and encountering Fluttershy made the latter event even better. I can understand the protests others may have made about Twilight's level of experience with nobles, but eh - that part was still well-told and full of interesting perspective and life, so even if I cared about that particular detail I'd still accept it as your interpretation of her, even if just for the story.

So, thank you for posting this. I found it lovely and tear-inducing and hope to read more from you.

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

[Kneesocks]

♥♥♥♥

[HoofBitingActionOverload]

A decent bit of flash fiction. The description of her moment with Fluttershy is a powerful one, both because of and in spite of its simplicity. This is lacking some in substance though, and not just because of the length. It's certainly possible to pack a lot of emotion into this tight of a space. But besides the moment with Fluttershy, there isn't much else here besides Twilight's meandering thoughts and observations, none of which seem particularly relevant. Oh wait, 3483557 already said what I wanted to say.

Even so, it did all still leave a nice warm feeling in my chest, and those meandering observations were still enjoyable to read, in the very least.

[Renard Dashie Prower]

Beautiful, warm, simplistic and elegant. That's all that I feel needs to be said.

[Starlight Shadow]

This is the Romance genre at its core.

[enwruble]

[jwizard]

Holy shit.

I mean, this is sublime. Twishy at it's finest.

[Citrine Star]

How did you make me fall in love with this ship ... ?

[Celefin]

So fluffy.