Based on a True Story

by Shrinky Frod

Plan Z: The Backup!

Fluttershy sighed softly as she leaned up against Twilight, the two of them enjoying the ride back to Ponyville. She actually dared to open her eyes, marveling at the thrill of excitement she felt looking over the edge of the chariot at the thousands of feet that separated her from the safety of the ground. Normally, she'd have been far too terrified to really enjoy it, but with Twilight's wing wrapped around her back she knew she'd be safe.

Twilight nuzzled up against her gently, letting her mane blow in the gentle night air and thinking about everything that had happened. This was the painful part of her breakdowns; the analysis that inevitably followed. Picking apart every little thing and trying to find where she'd gone wrong. The worst part was that it all seemed to come back to the same thing every time.

"Fluttershy?" She asked, her voice trembling lightly.

"Hmm?"

"Is there something wrong with me? I... I keep trying to get everything set up perfectly, but I keep screwing it all up. It's not my plans! When other ponies do them, they work great! So... it has to be me, right? I'm... broken."

Fluttershy smiled sadly and snuggled up closer.

"You're not broken, Twilight. Just... a little chipped? And we love you that way." She leaned up, nuzzling under Twilight's chin. "We're all a little broken. Even if Dashie won't admit it."

They both giggled a little bit at that, and Twilight sighed softly.

"I guess I'm just thinking too much, huh?"

"It's okay. We love you that way too."

"Awwww!" Ahead of them, the midnight-blue Night Guard who was pulling the chariot dared to voice his opinion of their exchange. The Day Guard next to him rolled his eyes and swatted his rump with his tail. "Owp! Aegis!"

"You’re on duty, Obsidian, act like it," Aegis muttered at him. His eyes swung forward as he spotted something moving through the sky, quickly identifying Rainbow Dash's approaching contrail. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, your other marefriend is approaching. Shall we delay our descent to Ponyville?"

"No, she's probably coming to see what's taking us so long," Twilight replied. "Besides, she likes landing on moving targets."

As predicted, Dash was wearing an expression of mild irritation when she reached the chariot, not even bothering to land. Instead, she crossed her forelegs over her chest, hovering in place relative to the moving vehicle.

"Come on, what's taking you slowpokes so long?" She demanded.

"It took a while to find a Day Guard who wasn’t on a date after sunset!” Twilight teased, flicking Dash’s nose with her tail. “Come on, we’re almost there, and I want to snuggle a bit first.”

“Oh, all right,” Rainbow sighed, landing next to the Princess and snuggling in on the side opposite Fluttershy.

“Mmm… I’m sorry about screwing tonight up,” Twilight told her. “And the movie. You really would’ve liked it.”

“Well, the way I see it, it’s Hearts and Hooves Day until sunup. And for the next 24 hours after we start to celebrate,” Rainbow teased. “We’ll need that long to recover.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Twilight chuckled.

“If that means ‘awesomely sexy and you’re lucky to have me,’ I’m not gonna disagree,” Rainbow smirked. “Hey guys, mind detouring out towards Whitetail Woods? You’ll know the spot when you see it.” The two guards looked at each other and shrugged.

“Permission to deviate from flight plan, Princess?” Aegis asked.

“Go ahead.” Twilight smiled. “I’m all planned out for the night.”

The group veered away from town, heading into the hills above Ponyville where Whitetail Woods sat. There, at the top of one of the cliffs overlooking the village, was a blanket set out next to a familiar red couch. Standing next to the blanket was a bear, standing on his hind legs and wearing a tuxedo, carrying a bucket of ice and a wine bottle. Next to him, albeit harder to notice, was a diminutive bunny dressed in matching tux, standing guard next to a large basket.

“Thank you Angel, Harry,” Fluttershy smiled as chariot touched down and its passengers stepped off.

“Okay, boys, that oughta do it for tonight,” Rainbow grinned, reaching into her dress and pulling out a key on a small silver chain. “Why don’t you crash at my house tonight? Tank’s spending the night at Fluttershy’s, so I wouldn’t mind somebody keeping an eye on the place.”

“Our place is at the Princess’ side, Lady Dash,” Obsidian reminded her. “Especially at night, in the wilderness.” Dash raised an eyebrow and tossed the key over the Night Guard’s muzzle.

“Y’see Harry there? What do you really think is going to want to mess with Harry, and make Fluttershy mad, from the Whitetail Woods? She’ll be fine, and I promise to make sure we make it back to the library before sunrise. Go get some rest.”

“If you insist, Lady Dash,” Aegis sighed.

“Oh, and boys?” Rainbow grinned. “Check the nightstand if you need anything.”

The two guards looked at each other, a little confused, but shrugged and took off for the palatial cloud house they’d seen on the way over from the Castle.

“So… this is Plan Z?” Twilight asked as Dash caught up with them.

“This is part of Plan Z,” Dash agreed. “I was going to recruit Spike, but when I saw how late it was, I improvised.”

“Well, I think Angel is just adorable in his little suit,” Fluttershy cooed, fussing over her dapper little rabbit, much to his consternation.

“Heh… actually, ‘Shy, do I even want to know why Rarity had tuxedos in Angel and Harry’s sizes?” Rainbow asked, cocking her head.

“Rarity made those?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, right! Yeah, we kinda called in some favors while you were plotting and planning tonight, thanks to Fluttershy’s birds,” Rainbow explained with a grin, hopping up onto Rarity’s fainting couch. “Come on up, this thing’s actually pretty comfy!”

“And cozy,” Twilight chuckled, sidling up next to Rainbow and letting Fluttershy take up position on the other side. Angel flipped up the lid of the basket and pulled out three wine glasses, letting the alicorn levitate them while Harry took the wine bottle in his paws, bit down on the cork, and pulled it off. He lowered his head to Twilight, cork stuck between his lips, which curled up in a smile as he offered her the chance to sniff the cork.

“Ah… I trust Rarity’s taste in wines,” Twilight grinned nervously, not particularly wanting to smell whatever the gargantuan ursine had for dinner along with the wine.

“Actually, it’s Applejack’s,” Fluttershy explained. “I had them ask Rarity for the setting, and Applejack for dinner.”

“Granny Smith says this stuff’s even better than their cider,” Rainbow explained, licking her lips eagerly as Harry filled the three glasses. “We’ve got a fresh pie for dessert, a salad they made using a recipe from her Uncle Statler, and… well, I don’t really know what Granny made for the entrée, but it smells great!”

Twilight floated the glasses over, and the rabbit and bear busied themselves serving up the food. The entrée, it turned out, was a casserole of squash, pecans, butter, and spices that did indeed smell delicious.

“Thank you, both,” Twilight sighed happily as the trio started to eat. “I just wish I’d listened to you both sooner.”

“Yeah, we have some pretty awesome ideas sometimes,” Rainbow bragged. “Hey, try the casserole, it tastes as good as it smells! Oh… and look up,” she added, her grin almost splitting her face as she pointed up at a patch of sky that was largely concealed by light cloud cover.

Twilight looked up, just in time to see the Weather Patrol’s night shift flying in, catching the cloud bank and pushing it out of the way.

Behind it, the Horsehead Nebula was faintly visible against the night sky. The amateur astronomer smiled… and then gasped, as the stars seemed to suddenly start moving away from the nebula, flying into new positions.

“Synchronized fireflies?” Twilight guessed. Fluttershy nodded happily as her little friends began spelling out their message.

Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Twilight!
Just the first of many.

“Thank you so much, girls. Even if my plans didn’t work out… I can’t imagine anything that would make tonight better.”

“Oh, I can think of something!” Rainbow laughed.

Twilight turned to ask what, only for a pair of sky-blue lips to press against her own, the taste of dinner and apple wine mixing with Rainbow’s own unique flavor in Twilight’s mouth. When they finally broke apart for breath, Fluttershy leaned in to claim deep kisses of her own, first from Twilight, then Rainbow.

Before much longer, their Hearts and Hooves Day dinner had been happily forgotten, as it so often was.

Author's Note:

And finished under the wire! Woohoo!

Please let me know how you liked it. I'm sure there's room for editing, and I may tinker with it a bit already.

Comments

[Eskerata]

Flarkin' adorable. The mental image of Harry and Angel in tuxes is cute, as well. I like this sweet little story. Kudos forgetting it out on time. (Love knows no season, I know. Still, kudos.)

[Shrinky Frod]

Sad thing?

I was assigned this triad for a story back in October!

3947662

[Eskerata]

3947679 Wow, that's when I first joined this fandom. Oh, well. Quality over quantity is always best. And this was quality material.

[Deathtoheaven731]

One word: D'awwwwwww!!!

[the flying spaghetti monster]

That was adorable. Thank you.

It's nice how Rainbow can casually suggest that they crash at her place.

[Shrinky Frod]

3950979
Which maaaaaay turn into a spinoff one-shot.

[Kagitaar]

Uncle Statler's recipe, argh.

[Shrinky Frod]

3960945
I regret NOTHEEEEEEEENG!

[One Big Macintosh]

awesome and RD is such a naughty filly :B jejeje. Great story

[t_givlin]

I have really mixed feelings about this one. I can see what a lot of the others are saying. I cant imagine Twilight taking things to that extreme, especially threatening the host. - All of the planning and over thinking to get in, absolutely, but not threats.

On the other hand i really enjoyed it. A cute story with a lot of amusing mis-adventures - and no pony dying or being sick/transformed.

[Matrixpony]

Very well written. It was well paced, had great characterization, good grammar (which counts more than you would think) and a cute ending.

As I posted previously though, the way a princess was denied at the restaurant is so Jarring that I feel the story leaves a somewhat bitter aftertaste. Since that is basically the entire premise there is not much reason to criticize it, it just didn't float my boat.

[Tarlek]

I normally stray from polyamory, but I'm starting to regret that decision after this.

[Shrinky Frod]

4587923
It's a bit of both when doing cheesy accents. And I've always assumed German.

[Tabula_Rasa]

Well, I have a new OT3. I loved how the three of them played off each other the whole time.

Random question: Can anyone tell me where to find more of this trio? I mostly find Twilight, AJ ad Dashie.

[Shrinky Frod]

4856726
Sadly, no idea, though I agree that they grew on me. I only wrote them because I received a challenge to do so. ^^()

I usually write Pinkie-Cakes for my own triads... or Princestriads.

[Shrinky Frod]

5104528
On the ground, running after her, screaming protestations of love and affection.

[Hexy]

What was in RD's nightstand that the guards would've had use for?! I must know!!!

[Shrinky Frod]

5545536
Gun oil, obviously. Gotta keep those weapons well lubed, amirite?

[Hexy]

5545547 The only thing in what you just said that seems like it might have actually been what they found was the word "lubed".

[Shrinky Frod]

5546481
The gun oil is exactly what I said it was.

Just don't Google that term unless you want a minor educational experience. ;)

[Shrinky Frod]

6792980
If it helps, they were able to resolve the situation with steaks and one of the triad being a hard core foodie. They had Valentine's Day, it just wasn't out - probably vastly cheaper and better tasting in the end.

[Shrinky Frod]

7695876
I don't know for sure, since I wasn't part of the triad, but since I know one of them is a hard-core foodie who enjoys cooking and does it quite well, I'm sure they were. :-P

[TheLonelyDraconequus]

10022455
It does help...
But not much.