It Turns Out They're Windmills

by J Carp

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

Fluttershy stopped squeezing her eyes quite so tightly closed, but it took her a few more seconds to actually open them. The bookstore looked surprisingly normal, except for the glaringly surrealist image of her boyfriend standing on top of a bookcase brandishing a teapot in the air. His eyes glowed cherry-red as he surveyed the room.

She felt a tickle of magic through her body and looked down to see her toes floating lightly off the floor. There was a soft breeze on her wings as they flapped. She had ponied up without even meaning to.

Three or four staff members and customers lay sprawled or curled up on the floor of the bookstore. The only ones still on their feet were Othershy, her terrified-looking, erstwhile pony counterpart, and Human Dancer, who seemed more shocked about Weeping Willow's presence than the magical explosion or the fact that one of them now had horse ears.

"What," Human Dancer said. "The. Hell."

Weeping frowned down at her with a genuine sadness that looked strange on his face. "You're tangential to my plans, but I invited you so you could bear witness to my moment of generosity."

Fluttershy shared a bewildered look with her doppelganger. Human Dancer took a step forward, body tense and shaking with anger. "OK, look, one: stop talking like that; it's ridiculous." Her glasses fell down her nose and she appeared not to notice; she just glared at him over the rims. "Two: What are you doing??"

He gave her a pouty scowl. "I thought you and I could use some closure."

"Closure?!" she bellowed. "You ignore me for three years, and now you want closure?"

"I didn't ignore you," Weeping whined in an exaggeratedly hurt tone. "You told me not to talk to you again, and you were right. I ruined your chances with Minuette. That's unforgiveable."

Human Dancer clenched her jaw, roiling with barely hidden emotions. "I was mad!" she snapped. "I got over Minuette in like a week! It was just a stupid... Gah! You didn't even try to talk to me!"

"I would have just hurt you more," he said, mists of chartreuse flaring into the cerise aura coming out of his eyes.

She grabbed a nearby book about penguins and threw it at him. "Oww, hey!" he yelped, pulling a knee up to protect his stomach as the book smacked into the bookcase beneath him.

"What is wrong with you?!" Human Dancer barked. "You're not some noble, suffering vampire, you're a dumb teenager who screwed up!" She seethed at him as he reestablished his poise. "This was the problem in the first place! You think your baggage is more important than everyone else's!"

"Oh, you don't need to spare my feelings," he replied, though sparing his feelings was obviously the last thing she wanted to do. "There are monsters in me." He fixed his patronizing gaze onto Fluttershy. "Ask your new friend here, I have darkness in my soul. She knows that better than anyone, right?"

Fluttershy started backwards. "Um. I'm not sure I know what soul darkness looks like."

"I do," a voice stated angrily. They looked and saw Sunset Shimmer floating in the center of the store, glowing and icy. A second Moon Dancer stood beneath her, chest heaving in exhaustion.

"Moon Dancer!" Othershy called, running to her special somepony (even under the circumstances, Fluttershy's chest warmed from just imagining the adorableness of that phrase).

"I came.... to save..." Moon Dancer panted. She fell to a seated position, holding up an index finger. "Just gimme a second." Othershy cuddled her with such a natural sweetness, Fluttershy's heart ached.

Human Dancer gaped, nonplussed. "Huh, this dream got hot all of a sudden," she said.

Sunset ignored all of them, glaring straight at Weeping Willow. "I found your leaf," she said coldly. "I gotta admit, you were smart about all of this. But the game's over. Your teapot thing doesn't work on me. Tell us where the princess is."

Weeping was not even looking at her. He stared at Othershy and Moon Dancer wistfully, like he was watching a heart-achingly poignant ballet or opera.

But then he suddenly jerked his head toward Sunset, eyes flaring with redness. "Oh. I get it," he sneered. "You're all from Equestria, aren't you? You're not really humans."

"Yeahhhh, so, how do you know about that, anyway?" Sunset asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Weeping rolled his eyes. "You fly around with pony ears, and you think it's all a big secret?" He scoffed. "That's such a straw man fallacy."

"That's not what a straw man... gah, forget it." Sunset pointed at the teapot in his hands. "Where did you even get that thing?"

"I bought it online."

Sunset gaped. "You bought it online?!"

Human Dancer held out her phone, screen facing out. "Uh, yeah, I just looked it up," she said. "There's actually a whole 'Equestrian magic' subreddit." She looked back at her screen. "You guys, um, might want to be a little more careful about keeping this stuff under wraps."

"It's not that it doesn't work on Equestrians," Weeping said, smirking. "I was just only aiming for all the humans nearby except these two." He fiddled with the teapot, then pointed the spout forward. "It works on whoever I'm aiming at."

A chartreuse beam suddenly shot forth from the spout, striking Sunset in the forehead. She fell to the ground with a whimpering wail.

"Sunset!!" Fluttershy flew over to see her friend curled up in a fetal position, oblivious to the world. She looked as unSunsetlike as anyone had ever looked, and Sunset not being Sunset was one of the worst things Fluttershy had ever seen.

"What did you do to her?" Fluttershy yelled at her boyfriend.

Weeping ignored her, frowning at he teapot, poking at it with esoteric finger combinations. "I actually didn't mean to do that," he said. "Hold on, this thing is..."

Human Dancer's mouth fell open. "You're using it on the whole town and you don't even know how it works?!"

"No, I do!" he defended, grey flashing into his eyes. "It's just, it's stuck in 'despair mode' for some reason. I think my power source must be influencing it." He shrugged. "Wants to shoot out despair, I guess."

"Power source?" Moon Dancer pulled her wobbly legs under her and stood, leaning on Othershy in exhaustion. "Wait. What do you mean, 'power source?' What's your power source, kid?"

"Not 'what.' Weeping waved a hand over the teapot, causing a hologram to wobble into existence in the air next to him. "Who."

The hologram was not large, but Fluttershy could still make out the horrible image. It was an oblong, round room, empty except for a girl with purple skin and intelligent, despairing eyes. Twilight Sparkle. She had her hands against the smooth walls, staring out in hopelessness.

Weeping closed his fist and the image disappeared. "The strongest magic in Equestria," he sneered. "All mine to use how I want."

Moon Dancer and Othershy gaped, and Fluttershy noticed their hands finding each other and clasping together; it looked almost automatic.

"Okay," Moon Dancer said carefully, taking a step forward. "Listen, you think you know how that thing works, but it's ancient. Not even magic experts would know. You're... you're putting Twilight in huge danger, and none of this is even her fault."

"Experts!" Weeping spat. "That's the 'appeal to authority.' It's a fallacy. Autodidacts like I know much more than a bunch of biased 'experts!'"

He pressed two fingers against the teapot, and a magenta beam shot out, striking Othershy in the face. Her knees buckled, Moon Dancer attempting in vain to keep her on her feet.

Fluttershy ran to her doppelganger, but when she got closer, she saw that unlike Sunset, Othershy had a sleepy, serene smile on her face, her eyes rolling aimlessly. When they fell upon Moon Dancer, she sang, "Heyyyyyy cuuuuuutie. I have haaaands."

"Oh, good!" Weeping exclaimed, grinning. "Bliss! That one worked."

Moon Dancer turned to him, gritting her teeth with fury. "Kid, you don't..." And then a celadon beam zapped itself into her chest.

She buckled forward, silently shivering for a moment, then she flung her head back and gave a wild hoot. Laughing wildly, she spun in a circle and darted off between some bookcases.

Weeping scratched his head. "Huh. Glee. Close enough." He looked back at the two remaining girls: his oldest friend and his winged girlfriend. "All right, now that all those Equestrian interlopers are dealt with, let's get on to business." He reached his hand out to Fluttershy. "Your birthday present."

Fluttershy looked up at him blankly. She could feel her rage growling deep inside, and under normal circumstances it probably would have consumed her. But it was all just too much: she felt exhausted and lost after a day of alternate dimensions and sobs and teapots. "My... birthday present?"

"Oh, yes." Weeping gestured around to the various people crumpled on the ground "All this was just a show, so everyone will know what I can do. The real reason I got this was for you."

"For... me?" She drifted forward almost mindlessly.

Human Dancer's shout stopped her. "Hey!" She waved her arms in the air angrily. "Weeping, this is crazy. This is huge and crazy. I don't know who this magic girl is, but you're drinking a keg of crazy juice and you need to stop and think!"

Weeping glared down at her. "That's a slippery slope fallacy," he said with contempt. "And I don't want to have to use this teapot on you."

She froze for a moment, then stepped forward, clenched fists at her sides. "No! If anyone can talk you down from this, it's me!"

"You told me never to talk to you again!" he roared.

She pointed at him furiously, her voice beginning to crack. "This isn't you! You're... you get caught up on your own crap, and you hurt me, yeah, but you're not malicious! You're not..." And then a beam of dark grey light slammed into her right eye. Her face sagged and she stood still.

Weeping frowned. "Are you listening, Moon Dancer?"

She shrugged. "Eh."

He cackled and turned back to Fluttershy. It was finally just the two of them left.

"Anyway," he said officially, "your birthday present." He beckoned her closer and she hesitantly flitted towards him.

"Will they all be hurt from this?" she asked, dumbly noting the bodies strewn around the store.

"Of course not!" he answered heartily. "It's just feelings. I can undo this all with a snap of my fingers. I'm just that powerful now." He grinned. "And I will undo it. But I want to help you first."

"Help me?" she asked, faintly realizing she had little wherewithal to deal with any more surprises. "Help me with what?"

He looked genuinely surprised. "With your problem, of course. Those feelings you can't get rid of."

Her chest felt like it was a giant, clenched fist. "...You know?" she whispered. She suddenly remembered kissing him. Was that really this morning?

He just looked back at her.

Moon Dancer ran by, making gleeful gibbering noises. She ran a circle around her doppelganger and disappeared into the bookcases again.

Human Dancer sighed. "Whatever."

Fluttershy barely even registered this; she gaped at her boyfriend in simultaneous dread and hope. "You can... you can change me?"

"That's why I bought this thing," he said. "It can make you not care. It can free you."

She remembered waking up from the trance Twilight had put her in. She knew some sort of suggestion was in her head; if it worked, she would hear a cue and do something silly without even thinking about it. And as she sat there across from Twilight, she wondered if she was doing the same thing to herself. One of her friends would do something so innocent (like talk breathily but commandingly to her in a dim room) and with every distracted gaze and every tingly feeling, it just made her hypnotize herself a little more. She'd get one step closer to that day the trigger would happen; there would be a snap and she would finally carry out the suggestion without even meaning to: Hurt them. Hurt everyone. The suggestion she was planting in her own mind, all the time... it was getting closer and closer and she couldn't stop it.

"You can fix me?" she asked.

He faltered a bit from that. "It's not fixing you," he answered. "I can help you... get rid of the feelings you don't want. The monsters."

She realized that was a very apt way to put it. There were bad feelings inside her, monsters, and if she didn't get rid of them, they would burst out and devour everyone she loved. She slowly, vaguely reached her arm out towards Weeping Willow.

But suddenly she heard, very faintly, a voice. It was a moaning, sad grunt, like the wind, and it was calling out her name.

She turned to see something she absolutely did not expect. Sunset Shimmer had brought herself up to one knee, and she was sobbing loudly enough to be audible from where Fluttershy was. But still, she lurched forward towards them.

The voice called again, "Fluttershy..." And Fluttershy realized that although Sunset was stirring, she was not where the voice was coming from. She turned more and looked to the entrance of the store.

There was a tangled mound of bodies there, some on their hands and knees, some draped over others, one on unsteady feet. And in that mound she saw something bizarre and familiar: a purple curl. A pink puff. The garish colors of the whole rainbow.

Her friends, all her friends, all five of her terrible, wonderful friends were dragging themselves into the store. There was utter, lost despair on all their faces, but there was something else, too. Rarity reached out a trembling, weak hand and shook her head limply, as if imploring her to refrain from something.

Fluttershy realized very suddenly that it was Rainbow Dash's voice that had called her name.

Her emotional exhaustion crumpled like a popsicle stick bridge. She whirled on Weeping Willow, suddenly overrun with manic fury. "No!" she shouted. "I won't let you do it!"

He took a step back, clearly shocked. "But..."

"No!" she repeated. "My friends love me, and they'll help me! I won't let you change me, and I won't let you hurt them anymore!"

Weeping Willow looked absolutely broken. That expression lasted one second before his eyes flared again and he pointed the teapot spout forward, grimacing.

Suddenly, a shape lurched up from the side of the bookcase like an emerging zombie and perched atop the shelf behind him. Moon Dancer (the one from Equestria, Fluttershy recognized) grabbed Weeping's arms, struggling with him. A deeply red beam shot out of the teapot, millimeters from Fluttershy's head. She squawked out an "Eep!" and ducked behind a shelf.

As they precariously wrestled, Fluttershy gaped at her Equestrian savior. How was she doing this? Had she somehow thrown off the effects of the teapot? Fluttershy's foot bumped against something, and she looked down to see a literal staircase made of books leading up to the top of the bookcase. When had this been constructed; how had she done it so quietly and sneakily? Had Moon Dancer just been pretending the whole time? Did the beam miss her?

Moon Dancer, still struggling with one arm, glowered at Weeping with a practiced 'scary, cold Moon Dancer' face. "Never talk to me again," she snapped.

He froze, and she knocked the teapot out of his hands.

The teapot rolled along the floor and came to a stop directly at Human Dancer's feet. She looked down at it. "Whatever," she said.

"Take the lid off!!" Moon Dancer shouted to her. Her counterpart looked up at her blankly.

Weeping emitted a chirping noise and shimmied down the bookshelf.

"The lid of the teapot!" Moon Dancer yelled desperately. "Open the teapot!" Weeping reached the floor and began to careen towards his former best friend. "The teapot!!"

"I'm getting to it, geez," Human Dancer muttered. She squatted, reached down, and pulled the lid off.

The lights Fluttershy had seen that day already were glowing auras or sharp beams. But the light that emitted from the teapot's open top was different: it was a sparkle. Huge, bright, and warm... but clearly a sparkle.

The teapot shattered, and a blinding, purple flash filled the room. When it dissipated, the tableau was striking. Princess Twilight stood tall and furious, wings and horn glowing. Human Dancer was on her knees nearby, looking up at her in awe. And Weeping Willow lay in front of them, holding his head and moaning.

"Fluttershy!" Fluttershy turned: Rainbow's voice was far louder than it had been a minute ago.

She flew immediately to her friends, clustered near the door, and tried to embrace them all at once. She failed, but Rarity, the one she reached, held her with a brutish tightness antithetical to her usual poise but somehow feeling exactly right. The others touched her back or arms. Fluttershy felt a hand she knew was Sunset's on her shoulder.

"Girls!" Fluttershy breathed. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah... fine," Rainbow said, sounding surprised. "I remember, it felt awful, but when that teapot exploded, the feeling was just gone."

Sunset frowned, looking around the store. "We need to finish this, but people are starting to stare. Let's find somewhere more private?"

The others nodded, and Sunset called out to Princess Twilight, still staring with rage at the boy in front of her. "Twilight!" Twilight did not move. "Princess!!" Finally, Princess Twilight looked up, blinking, as if waking from a reverie. "We gotta move somewhere, okay? Grab someone who can't fly and let's book!"

The Princess frowned, but she wordlessly turned and picked up Human Dancer, who appeared to nearly faint from the contact. Sunset flew over herself and grabbed Weeping Willow, who dangled limp in her arms.

Fluttershy was too weak to carry even her own, petite doppelganger, but luckily Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie were stronger. They all ponied up, grabbed the others they could carry, and flew quickly out of the store, leaving the bewildered customers and employees behind.

---

They reconvened on an office building's roof: not too far away, but still private. Moon Dancer felt herself being lowered to the ground by the human version of Pinkie Pie, who babbled in her ear nonstop the entire way about how excited she was to be new friends with two versions of the same person. Immediately after she set Moon Dancer down, she hugged her tightly, handed her a kazoo (which she called a 'Pinkie Present'), and darted off to join her friends.

Luckily, her special somepony had been dropped off right next to her, so she grabbed Othershy's hand and felt one thing finally start to make sense. Unluckily, Princess Twilight had also been dropped off right next to them.

But, Twilight did not even acknowledge them; she just stared at Weeping Willow, huddled off near the edge of the roof by himself, his arms wrapped around his knees, crying. Moon Dancer realized that she had literally never seen Twilight angry before. She had seen her annoyed, frustrated, and indignant, but never angry. It was terrifying.

Human Dancer was nearby too, but she just stared at Princess Twilight, open-mouthed, blushing furiously.

Twilight, seemingly oblivious to everything else but Weeping, slowly started moving towards him.

Suddenly, a yellow arm reached out and grabbed the Princess on the shoulder. The human version of Fluttershy floated there, looking sad but determined. "Wait," she said. "Please, Princess. Let me talk to him?"

Princess Twilight froze. She stared impassively for a moment, then her face softened. She nodded.

As Fluttershy hesitantly approached Weeping, Twilight seemed to abruptly realize her immediate situation. She glanced to her left and right, noticing, apparently for the first time, that she was surrounded by Moon Dancers ("Moon Dancers?" Moon Dancer thought. "Moons Dancer?") She shrunk slightly, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

But Moon Dancer was too addled and numb to be angry at the moment. She squeezed Othershy's hand and looked up into the blue sky. "When I got hit with that beam," she mused, "I just instantly felt so... sneaky. And brave. I felt like I could outsmart anybody. I knew exactly what to do... how to act and when to make my move." She glanced over at the Princess curiously. "Did you do that?"

Princess Twilight opened her mouth and then closed it again. When she spoke, her voice rasped, like she had not vocalized anything in weeks. "I don't remember everything that was happening outside. I just got flashes... images." She shyly looked up at her former(?) oldest friend. "But I got a flash of you. I knew you were there. And I just remember thinking, 'Moon Dancer will get us out of this.'" She looked back down at her feet. "'Moon Dancer will think of something.'"

They finally made eye contact. It only lasted a moment. Moon Dancer felt her hand being squeezed harder, and she felt, suddenly, warm.

---

Weeping vaguely noticed the two groups of people who all hated him. Fluttershy's six friends all clustered together in their magic-girl pack, casting disapproving glances his way. The Equestrians (and his former oldest friend) stood apart, looking awkward and dazed.

He sniffled and buried his face in his knees.

"Um. Hi." A soft voice startled him, and he looked up to see his beautiful, sweet girlfriend squatting next to him. He had not expected this.

She sighed. "You were really, really mean, Weeping Willow," she admonished gently.

"It was the teapot!" he started to defend, but then he caught himself and deflated. "...No. No, it wasn't. The teapot made everything bigger, but all those feelings were there before."

She nodded. There was a silent moment. "I need to say 'I'm sorry,'" she said, finally. He looked up in shock and she continued: "I knew I was never going to like you, but I agreed to date you anyway. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, but Fluttershy," he argued, "what I did was so much worse!"

"I didn't say it wasn't," she replied.

There was another pause.

"What happens now?" he asked.

Amazingly, she looked at him with soft, empathic eyes. "I think you've spent a lot of time alone," she said. "You think that's the way it has to be, but... but when you're alone, all your thoughts and feelings get so much worse. You can't have perspective on any of it." She looked away shyly. "...At least, that's what happens to me."

And then she looked back at him with, amazingly, a smile. "So... if you'll have it, I want to offer you my friendship." She reached out a hand. "Do... you think that's okay? We can be friends?"

He almost forgot what it even was like to be angry. Almost mindlessly, he reached out his hand and grasped hers. And her smile got bigger.

---

Sunset was not shocked when she saw Fluttershy pulling Weeping towards their group: she knew how these things go. Weeping had been intolerable, but she had perceived subtle signs that a severe dearth of friendship was at least partly to blame. But, judging by the scowls on some of the faces around her, the others did not share her assessment.

He stood before them, looking down at his shuffling feet. Fluttershy put a soft hand on his shoulder, and he sighed, bringing his eyes up to their disapproving ones. "I'm sorry," he said meekly. "I was awful to all of you. I was angry and jealous, and I acted horribly."

They glared back at him.

Sunset noticed that Human Dancer had broken out of her Princess-trance and was storming over to them. "Hey!" she shouted. "Why are you all talking to him! Did you forget what he did, uh..." she pantomimed looking at a nonexistent watch... "five minutes ago? You're just forgiving him?"

"It's not really forgiving him," Fluttershy said. "It's just... giving him a second chance. I'm willing to do that." She looked around the group with intense kindness. "I think... I think it would be good if everyone did that, too, but only if you want to."

Nobody moved. Sunset noticed that at some point, the Equestrians had walked closer too, staring bluntly at the sole boy on the roof. Sunset looked at Princess Twilight. Then she glanced over at the other Twilight. She sighed.

Sunset walked closer to Weeping, reached out, and clapped him on the arm. "If we can all start over as friends, I think that would be cool," she said.

Pinkie was next, cheerfully unfazed by her contentious history with him, giving him a big hug and handing him a kazoo. Slowly, they all approached him, nodding or voicing their approval. Even Rainbow and Rarity.

Sunset noticed there was one holdout. She looked over and saw Human Dancer standing there, seething. "I can't believe this!" she snapped. "You're all... gragh!" She stomped towards him in a violent rage, jabbing her finger towards him. "You're the worst!" she growled, and then she threw her arms around him, sobbing.

"Um, what's the deal with me?" Moon Dancer asked Othershy, receiving a bewildered shrug in response. Sunset noticed that the only person who didn't seem surprised was Weeping Willow himself, who just hugged her back and started crying himself.

After a few seconds, she pulled back and looked at him tearfully. "I missed you, doofus," she said. He nodded gratefully, apparently lost for words.

Fluttershy watched this with an increasingly bold expression. She strode forward, standing next to them. "This might be silly," she said, "but I think I'd like to say something to everyone?"

She glanced at Othershy, who nodded with a smile. Fluttershy took a deep breath, then another deep breath, then she blurted, "I'm gay!"

Sunset's heart exploded with pride. Weeping gave her a sad smile, Pinkie literally cheered.

"I'm gay!" Fluttershy repeated. "Gay gay gay!" She shouted it into the sky. "I am gay! Totally gay! As gay as a gumball machine!"

"Aha!!" Applejack shouted, pointing triumphantly at Sunset.

Everyone froze and looked at Applejack with bafflement.

"Um," she said, blushing hugely, "it's..." She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Uh." There was a long, awkward pause. "Hey, Fluttershy's gay, everyone, yeeha."

"Yeeha!" Sunset repeated, half wanting to rescue her friend from her predicament and half legitimately believing the moment deserved that sort of cheer.

"Yeeeeha!" they all yelled, surrounding Fluttershy, practically exuding joy.

"Yeeha," Fluttershy cooed very quietly, through a very genuine grin.

Author's Note:

PEOPLE!

Comments

[Texus]

Not the biggest fan of this chapter, but I'm kind of glad that it looks like the human world part is over. Does this have another sequel in the pony world? I think I would like to read that. I think I never really got hooked up on the weeping Willow idea for some reason and while I'm not sure, I think I also didn't liked all of your Equestria girls characters.

[chris the cynic]

That's the fallacy fallacy! It's basically the first fallacy they teach you in fallacy class.

Really?

Your argument is invalid because you don't even have an argument. You're just repeating the word "fallacy" as though--

Come on! We're not even supposed to be here today!

In a second, I've got a point to--

No. Now.

You never let me have any fun.

That is a baldfaced lie, and I am sick of this timeline. Let's go!

[Storm Vision]

They have different moons and probably different dances; maybe Moons Dancers?

[jqnexx]

Here's hoping his new friends can teach him to be less punchable.

[Meta Four]

9171357

Does this have another sequel in the pony world?

The story’s still marked “incomplete”, and the conflict between the pony versions of Twilight, Fluttershy, and Moon Dancer still hasn’t been officially resolved. I assume there’s still at least one more chapter in this story to wrap up that plot thread.

[Texus]

9171864
I can see that, but I guess it's exactly the right point to ask for a sequel if there is not more than one or two other chapters, I think the firs one ended around a similar amount of chapters.

I remember the "she has to like me" problem that Twilight had and I think I still want it, that the problem is not easily solved. I remember big parts out of every chapter, but I don't remember every small reaction so far which is why I can't be more accurate than that.
I think one or two chapters ago Fluttershy was falling in love with Twilights human form for some reason yes?, if I think about it know it kind of looks as if he wanted to give both sides the same argument to easily forgive each other which I don't exactly liked.

Well ask away if you didn't understood something, because I know I'm not always abl to say it exactly how I mean it. (in english)

[J Carp]

9171864
Yes, one more chapter and an epilogue. Fluttershy's finally got to have her birthday party, after all! I hope Moon Dancer remembered to get her a present.

And if I do cap off the trilogy, yes, the third story will take place entirely in Equestria, with a smaller cast of characters, none of whom have the same damn names as one another.

[J Carp]

9172127

I think one or two chapters ago Fluttershy was falling in love with Twilights human form for some reason yes?

No... my fault for that being confusing. It was supposed to be just that seeing Twilight in a new body caused her to suddenly realize how similar she looks to Moon Dancer, and she became worried she was somehow secretly attracted to Twilight without knowing it. I'll glance back at that part and see if I can edit to make it clearer.

[Meta Four]

"But I got a flash of you. I knew you were there. And I just remember thinking, 'Moon Dancer will get us out of this.'" She looked back down at her feet. "'Moon Dancer will think of something.'"

I really like this. When I was reading through the confrontation, I did subconsciously think it was a little odd that Pony Moon Dancer was the one to knock the artifact out of Willow’s hands—that she was this important to saving a subplot that she’d been so tangential to beforehand. But with Princess Twi’s explanation, you’ve tied the pony-side conflict into the resolution of the EQG conflict. Moon Dancer has feelings of inferiority, and a big part of the disagreement is because she thinks Twi’s been looking down on her. So getting a psychic vote of confidence from Twi should really help patch things up between Moonie and Twi.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

9146341
Yeah. Starlight is fuckin rad.

[Peachy Keen]

All caught up now! Yay! I gotta say, you're very, VERY good at writing complex characters. The care you take in exploring everyone's personalities really shows! Why they think the way they do, why they do the things they do, and how not one character is always right or perfect, it's all very well done. Not only that, you also know how to tell a story with these characters! It might seem like a silly thing to say, but it's easy to be strong in one area of writing and be terrible in another, but you are a well rounded author! Sorry if I seem overly praising, I am just always happy when I find an author I enjoy! Keep up the good work, I look forward to reading the final chapters to this story, and I hope to read more from you!

[Butterscotch Moonglow]

She glanced at Othershy, who nodded with a smile. Fluttershy took a deep breath, then another deep breath, then she blurted, "I'm gay!"

Sunset's heart exploded with pride. Weeping gave her a sad smile, Pinkie literally cheered.

"I'm gay!" Fluttershy repeated. "Gay gay gay!" She shouted it into the sky. "I am gay! Totally gay! As gay as a gumball machine!"

WHOO!! 🏳️‍🌈

Also, can I just....wow, what a fantastic and enjoyable piece here! Not only is it super funny and heartbreaking and has great mechanisms and storytelling elements all burritoed into one, but the characterization is amazing! Very few other fics I've read have made me think more of a character in such a short span of time, even if they aren't completely forgiven. (Too many others try to say "It's all fine, they're cool now" as soon as they apologize..*coughs* Starlight Glimmer *coughs* Juniper Montage *coughs*) Weeping Willow went from a stand-in villain and impediment to Fluttershy's sexuality to such a nice ally and frustrated teenager....just from being shown from the viewpoint of one of his friends in a blink! Brohoof!

[BlueMoonHarlot]

Ow! Who threw that book??

[Venlinelle]

Sunset noticed that Human Dancer had broken out of her Princess-trance and was storming over to them. "Hey!" she shouted. "Why are you all talking to him! Did you forget what he did, uh..." she pantomimed looking at a nonexistent watch... " five minutes ago ? You're just forgiving him?"

You’re new here, aren’t you. I have some unfortunate news about Wallflower and Sunset…