The Power of Friends

by kurusagi16

A Friendship is Formed

A Friendship is Formed

The next morning, after a peaceful night's sleep, Flurry Heart arose from her canopy bed and pranced toward the dining hall. Gleefully thinking of all the fun she planned on having that day. But first, she needed to start with some breakfast.

"Morning!" chirped Flurry Heart, entering the dining hall.

At the end of the long dining table, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had already finished most of their food, and appeared to have been discussing something, until Flurry Heart had arrived. Celestia smiled at Flurry Heart and said, "Good morning, Flurry Heart. Did you sleep well?"

Flurry Heart nodded. "Yes. I feel rested and ready to start the day." She sat herself down at the table, and used her magic to fill her plate with toast, eggs, fruit, and pancakes. "There's still a boat load of stuff I want to do in town, so I want to get started as soon as possible."

"Would you like a guard to accompany you?" asked Luna, biting onto a piece of toast slathered with blueberry jam.

"I'll be fine great-aunt Luna." sighed Flurry Heart, rolling her eyes. "I'm almost sixteen, I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can." said Celestia. "But, you must still be careful nonetheless. try not to stray too far from the castle. Alright?"

Flurry Heart let out another sigh. She knew her great-aunts were just trying to make sure that she'd be safe, and were only worrying about her because they cared about her. But sometimes it could get a little tiresome to be treated like she was still a foul. Still, she looked to her great-aunts and answered with a small smile, "Alright great-aunt Celestia. I'll be sure to stay close by."

"Good. I'll look forward to hearing about how your day went when I return." said Celestia.

Flurry Heart paused at these words, and gave Celestia a befuddled look. "When you return?"

Princess Celestia nodded. "There's something I need to look into. I should be back in a day or two."

"Where are you going? Is it some kind of monster or something?" asked Flurry Heart, curious to know what it could be that called her great-aunt attention on such short notice.

Celestia waved a hoof and said, "It's nothing you need to worry about." She pushed her empty plate away and stood up from her seat. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I must get ready to leave. Good day, Flurry Heart."

Luna also got up and followed close behind her elder sister, both leaving through the dining hall door. "Bye." said Flurry Heart, as the door closed, it's sound echoing through the almost empty room. "Guess I'm having breakfast by myself." Flurry Heart drizzled syrup onto her pancakes, and began taking large bites from it. She felt a little pang of homesickness in her chest, wishing that her parents or her best friend were here, or rather, that anypony was there with her. At least then she'd have somepony to talk to. Flurry Heart shook her head. She wasn't going to let a little homesickness get her down and ruin a potentially good day. She was going to go out and enjoy herself. That way, she'd have all sorts of great stories to tell her parents and her friend, stories about all the new and fun experiences she had while in Canterlot. (And maybe then they'd stop worrying about her and would finally start treating her like a grown up.)

"Today is going to be a good--no--a great day! I'll make sure that the next two weeks will be the best two weeks ever!" declared Flurry Heart to herself. "After all, there's no telling when I'll get another chance like this again." She speared a piece of her pancake and munched on it for emphasis. Fully determined to follow through on what she'd said, and make this the best two weeks ever. Or, that's what she planned to try and do anyway.

---

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you, sister?" asked Luna.

Celestia shook her head. "No. It'd be best for you to stay here and keep and eye on things while I'm gone."

"It's still hard to believe." remarked Luna. "That you saw--"

"I know. I couldn't believe it myself at first." admitted Celestia.

"And, you're sure that this is somehow connected to the strange feeling you had the other day."

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. I have reason to believe that the feeling I had was part of my vision. Like a warning of some sort. But other than that, I can't really say."

"Don't worry, Celestia. I'm sure that whatever it is, we'll be able to handle it." assured Luna.

"Thank you, Luna." Celestia and Luna stepped outside, where a magnificent chariot pulled by two white Pegasus stallions with gold armor awaited. Celestia stepped into the chariot and turned to her sister. "Farewell Luna, I leave everything to you." she said.

"Take care, sister." said Luna.

The Pegasus stallions flapped their mighty wings, and soon took off into the sky. "Good luck." she whispered. Turning on her hoof, Luna went back inside the castle, to carry on her sister's duties for her.

---

Once again, it was a chilly morning, so Flurry Heart put on her cloak as she headed back out into town. And like she promised her great-aunts, she made sure to stay fairly close to the castle.

"Now, what should I do today?" she murmured to herself. Flurry Heart recalled how her aunt Twilight's friend, Rarity, used to talk about all the wonderful shops and boutiques that Canterlot had. "Hmm, maybe I could do a little window shopping and work my way from there."

The first shop Flurry Heart stopped in front of, was a jewelry store. In the window, there sat dozens of displays of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, hornaments, and other bedazzling jewels. The gemstones reminded Flurry Heart of home. How the crystalline structures sparkled when the light hit it just right. The way the Crystal Ponies' coats glittered with a similar luster. And how the Crystal Heart, the centerpiece of the empire, glowed with such incredible radiance, as it felt the light and love of its citizens. She thought about her loving parents and her best friend. How they were probably wondering how she was doing. Flurry Heart focused on her reflection in the shop's window, a glum frown falling upon her lips.

"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "I can't let myself get so depressed so easily. I've only just got here after all. I promised myself to have a great time, and that's exactly what I intend to do."

"My, my, how lovely." purred a voice.

Flurry Heart yelped and jumped back in surprise by the sudden appearance of a young Unicorn stallion. She took a few deep breaths and said, "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

The stallion flashed her a large, blinding white grin. He was tall, and quite handsome, wearing a pristine suit with a crest embroidered on the collar of his shirt. "Not at all, dear lady." he said. "The fault is all mine." He swept his arm in a grand gesture as he bowed to Flurry Heart and introduced himself. "I am Auspicious Charm, of the reputable Charm Family, perhaps you've heard of me?"

"Uh, no." said Flurry Heart, cracking a nervous smile. "I'm afraid not."

Auspicious waved a hoof. "Ah no matter. Though I do hope that we can change that."

"What do you--"

Flurry Heart was cut off as Auspicious drew closer to her and took her right hoof. "It can be quite overwhelming for such a sweet, lovely young mare such as yourself roaming the streets out on her own. You never know when some ruffian may try to take advantage of such a mare."

Flurry Heart was starting to get a little uncomfortable, and tried to pull her hoof away, but Auspicious' grip was pretty strong. He then continued, his voice smooth as he spoke, "You need somepony, older, wiser, and stronger to take care of you. Somepony say, like me."

"Um, that's very nice of you to offer, but--" Just as Flurry Heart tried to slip away, Auspicious pulled her in closer, and didn't seem to have any intention in letting her go. She struggled to get some distance from him, but his hold on her only got tighter.

"Oh come now! Why don't just--"

Just then, without any warning, a sudden downpour of water fell upon Auspicious, drenching him from horn to hoof. Flurry Heart stumbled back in surprise, finally free from the stallion. Auspicious' face contorted into a mix of shock and anger. He glared up above him, as did Flurry Heart. Floating above him, was the Pegasus Flurry Heart had seen the other day, the one from the cafe, wearing a saddlebag and standing on a little rain cloud that poofed into bits of cloud fluff. She landed down in front of Flurry Heart, narrowing her eyes at Auspicious and giving him a disapproving frown.

Auspicious thrust a hoof toward the Pegasus. "YOU!" he screeched. "How DARE you humiliate me, a member of the Charm Family, in such a vulgar manner!!"

The Pegasus' frown deepened. "Like you're not one to talk, Auspicious. She was clearly not interested in going with you, if you were a real gentlecolt, you'd respect her wishes. But then again, you're not exactly a gentlecolt, now are you?"

The stallion was seething, grinding his teeth. "You. Will. Pay for that!" he bellowed. A beam shot out of his horn and struck the Pegasus' wings. The Pegasus tried to open her wings but found that they were glued to her sides. Auspicious scraped his hoof, preparing the charge.

"What do we do?" asked Flurry Heart, her eyes widening. Things had taken a sudden and surprising turn. The Pegasus gave her a look.

"Run!" she shouted. And so, both Flurry Heart and the Pegasus galloped as fast as they could, with Auspicious chasing after them. Flurry Heart could've used her magic to stop him in his tracks, or use her own powerful wings to fly the Pegasus to safety, but she was so caught up in the moment, that she was more focused on the chase than anything else. Flurry Heart looked over her shoulder, to see Auspicious gaining on their tails.

"He's still after us! What do we do now?" she asked the Pegasus. The Pegasus turned her head to Flurry Heart.

"I've got an idea. Follow me." The Pegasus made a sharp turn down an alleyway, Flurry Heart followed her, wondering what exactly the Pegasus had planned. After slipping out of the alley, they passed by several houses and veered down another alley next to an especially grand house with a picket fence, and came to a dead end.

"We're trapped!" cried Flurry Heart in a panic. She expected to see the Pegasus in a panic too, but instead, she wore a smirk on her face.

"Don't worry." she assured Flurry Heart. "Just trust me." The girls turned, as Auspicious, panting and looking a little frazzled, stalked down the alley toward them.

"There's nowhere for you to run or hide now." he sneered. "Nopony gets away with making a fool of Auspicious Charm, and you are no exception."

The Pegasus stood stood in front of Flurry Heart, who was both amazed and concerned by the young mare's boldness. "Hmph! You only have yourself to blame for that."

Auspicious narrowed his eyes, his horn charging up with magic. "I've heard just about enough out of you, wench!"

Flurry Heart found herself frozen, unable to look away from the Pegasus or Auspicious. And then, an elderly voice rang out through the alley, making Auspicious freeze with fear, and the Pegasus smile a pleased smile.

"Ausie!" Auspicious' eyes shrunk, as he slowly turned to look over his shoulder. Flurry Heart leaned to the side to look over the Pegasus, and saw an old yet elegant Unicorn mare trotting toward Auspicious, a deep frown formed upon her wrinkled face.

"M-m-mother!" squeaked. "W-what are you--" But Auspicious was silenced as his mother whacked him upside the head. "Ow!" he cried. Rubbing the back of his head.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Ausie! There I am, having my morning tea, waiting for my order to arrive, and what do I see outside my window? I see you, chasing two poor mares down the alleyway next to our house. And to top it off, you threaten one of them."

"B-b-but mother, I--"

Mrs. Charm whacked him upside the head again. "Quiet, Ausie! This is the third time this month that you've went and disturbed another young mare. Well, I'm putting my hoof down. You are hereby grounded for a month, you are to stay at home and help me with my errands, and are not allowed to go to any parties of any sort."

"Mother--"

"And," added Mrs. Charm, "If I you bother one more mare, I'll cut you off and you'll have to go out and get yourself a job. Do you understand?"

"Mother, please, reconsider--"

"Do you understand?" repeated Mrs. Charm sternly.

Auspicious lowered his head, looking down at his hooves and mumbled, "Yes, mother."

This seemed to satisfy Mrs. Charm, and she turned to face the girls. A sweet smile and warm light coming into her eyes as she saw the Pegasus. "Ah, Harmony! How nice to see you again dearie. I'm terribly sorry for any trouble that my son has caused you."

"Not at all." said Harmony simply. She then reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a white box and handed it to her. "Here are the tea cakes you ordered."

Mrs. Charm took the box. "Oh thank you dearie. My tea parties are never quite the same without your cakes."

"I'm just glad to help." replied Harmony.

Mrs Charm nodded approvingly to Harmony. "I must be going. I do apologize again for my son's behavior."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Charms. Goodbye, Ausie." said Harmony, waving to the two Unicorns as the left the alley. Auspicious still shot her pointed looks, until his mother's magic grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him the rest of the way out.

Flurry Heart almost felt sorry for Auspicious, then again, he did deserve it. The girls also soon left the alley, and stopped to watch Mrs. Charm continuing to scold her son as they went inside the grand house with the picket fence.

"Well, that takes care of that." said Harmony, turning to Flurry Heart. "I'm sorry you had to get caught up in that. But thankfully, I don't think Auspicious will be causing too much trouble anytime soon."

It was then that Flurry Heart found her voice. "Thanks for helping me out back there. I don't know what might've happened if--"

Harmony waved a hoof. "Think nothing of it. I just happened to be on my way here when I noticed that guy harassing you. That's all."

"Still, there's gotta be some way for me to repay you."

"I'm good, really." insisted Harmony. "Now, I need to get back to the cafe. The day's still young and there's still a lot of potential customers to serve."

"Do you mind if I walk with you?" asked Flurry Heart. "That is, if it's okay."

"Sure." said Harmony. "Why not?"

And so, the two of them were walking side by side down the sidewalk. Both were quiet for a while, before Flurry Heart decided to break the silence and try to make some small talk. "So, your name's Harmony, huh?" she said.

"Yeah." said Harmony embarrassed. A wistful smile then appeared on her face. "My mom picked it out, she thought it bring me good luck or something. It's silly, I know."

Flurry Heart could relate a little. After all, her own parents had named her after a freak event that almost brought ruin to the Crystal Empire (an event she accidentally helped caused). "I think it's a nice name." said Flurry Heart truthfully. "It suits you well."

"You think so?" asked Harmony.

Flurry Heart nodded. "Absolutely. Besides, there are worse names you could've been saddled with."

"Like what?" Harmony appeared to be a little intrigued, so Flurry Heart went on.

"Well, there's my best friend Sparks back home. Her full name is Sparkle Shine, but she thought it sounded a little silly, so she shortened it. And there's this one filly I grew up with named Morning Star. Ponies used to tease her all the time and say 'Morning, Morning' to her at her school."

Harmony snickered in spite of herself. "I guess that is pretty bad, but I wouldn't call them the worst names."

"I know, but you get the picture." Flurry Heart and Harmony laughed a little before Harmony continued. "Back in the alley there, it seemed like you knew Mrs. Charms pretty well."

"Only a little. She and my mom knew each other, and she's been a long running customer at the cafe. She's very nice, unlike her son, as you just saw."

Flurry Heart nodded in agreement. "You can say that again." She glanced over her shoulder, a worrying expression falling over her face. "I hope he doesn't get punished too harshly." she said.

"Trust me, he'll be fine." said Harmony. "That stallion could do with being taught a lesson. Perhaps it'll finally teach him to show more respect and manners to other mares."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." said Flurry Heart. She then stopped in her tracks, and rubbed her right arm anxiously. "hey um, Harmony?"

"Yeah? What is it?" Harmony also stopped walking, and turned to Flurry Heart.

"I was just thinking, I'm still getting used to Canterlot, and I don't really have anypony else besides my great-aunts to talk to or hang out with while I'm here. So, I was wondering..."

"Yeah, gone on." pressed Harmony.

Flurry Heart looked up into Harmony's silvery eyes. "If you and I could be friends?"

Harmony blinked in surprise. "Friends?"

"I know we only just met the other day, but, you seem really nice, and I'd like to get to know you better." Flurry Heart then added, "You don't have to if you don't want to of course. I'd completely understand, what with a stranger suddenly asking to be your friend."

Flurry Heart then braced herself for Harmony's answer. She really did want to be her friend, and to have some fun with somepony else during her trip. But, if Harmony said no, then that would be okay too.

Harmony then said her answer. "Alright."

Flurry Heart sighed. "Okay, if you don't want to then I'll--wait! What?" Flurry Heart wasn't sure if she heard correctly.

"I said, alright." Harmony gave her a friendly smile.

"R-really? You don't mind?"

"Of course not. I'd be happy to be your friend." A little smirk then danced upon Harmony's lips. "After all, somepony's gotta help keep you out of trouble." she teased.

"Hey!" cried Flurry Heart.

Harmony laughed. And soon, Flurry Heart laughed along with her. The girls continued to walk back to the cafe. Flurry Heart fanned herself with her hoof.

"Phew! All that galloping and walking has really warmed me up." she said. She took off her cloak to allow some cold air to cool her down a little. She opened up her wings wide, and let the air circulate around them. "Ah! Much better." She glanced over at Harmony, who gaped at her with wide eyes. "What?" she asked innocently.

Harmony's hoof shook as she pointed it at Flurry Heart. "Y-your an A-alicorn!" she managed to stutter out.

Flurry Heart looked to her wings and then back at Harmony, smiling sheepishly. "I guess it's time for me to properly introduce myself." she said. Flurry Heart went into a perfectly graceful bow toward Harmony, and said in a clear, regal voice, "It is a humble pleasure. I am Princess Flurry Heart, daughter of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, and crown princess of the Crystal Empire. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

She stood up tall, and rubbed the back of her neck. "I probably should've started with that first." Harmony still couldn't stop staring at her. She looked At Flurry Heart's great wings, and then, she noticed Flurry Heart's cutie mark. A little crystal heart inside of a delicate snowflake. "Are you okay?" asked Flurry. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine." Harmony said quietly. "I, I just...I need a moment." She dashed for the doors of the cafe, and quickly went inside. Saying, "Sorry," as the door slammed shut.

Now it was Flurry Heart's turn to stand and stare.

What was that all about? She wondered.

She looked at her reflection in the glass when it suddenly hit her. Sometimes ponies could could get a little overwhelmed when meeting royalty for the first time. And the fact that she was also an Alicorn probably made things even worse. Flurry Heart groaned and face-palmed herself. "Ugh! Way to go Flurry Heart. You make friends with a nice pony in Canterlot and end up scaring her away." She took one more glance at the cafe window and then, putting back on her cloak, she went back up in the direction of the castle. But somewhere half way, she stopped and looked back.

"Maybe I should wait a couple days, and then I can try talking to her again." said Flurry Heart. A small smile then curved on her face. "In the meantime, I can try and think up a way of thanking her for what she did." And with that, Flurry Heart galloped off. Her head already swimming with ideas for what she could do to thank Harmony. Even though she said that there was no thanks necessary, that didn't stop Flurry Heart from wanting to do something special, and to show her new friend how grateful she was.

Author's Note:

Take a guess who Morning Star's parents are. Note: both she and her parents will make an appearance.

How did I do writing Flurry Heart? Okay? I imagine her being sort of mix of Cadence, Twilight, and Shining Armor. Which will become evident in later chapters.

Comments

[p61blkwidow]

this is really really good i mean really good!! what a fantastic story! even after ba couple of chaptersread , i really care about the girls!you have one fine story here!! a very well done to you!!