Another Day in Ponyville

by AnOrdinaryWriter

Story 13

It was the three rapid knocks on Fluttershy’s door that initiated the slow downfall towards imminent disaster.

The Pegasus had a small bag in her hooves which contained her animals’ breakfast meal. She was about to pour a pile on the ground for everyone to munch on when she heard the rhythm of knocking on her front door. The loudness and suddenness of the knocking slightly startled Fluttershy. It seemed like somepony was in a rush to see her, though she couldn’t know for sure unless she checked, of course.

She deposited the bag onto the floor and made her way to the front door, unaware that a parade of her animals had rushed over to the bag and began munching away at the delectables inside.

She twisted the knob and opened it slowly, revealing the pony on the other side. She was quite shocked at the sight of the mare who now stood before her.

Twilight stood in front of her, although she was barely recognizable. Her mane was disheveled, and looked even worse than the day she met up with her and her friends at the outdoor table. Her body shook, hairs on her mane swinging in different directions, and causing sweat to drop in large quantities. She looked like she hadn’t bathed in weeks, even though at Pinkie’s party only the day before, she looked perfectly fine. What made Fluttershy nervous, besides her physical appearance, was the wide, forced smile on Twilight’s face.

Fluttershy was surprised to see Twilight in this state, and as the two mares stared at each other, she couldn’t think of what to say. She was concerned, and actually a little afraid.

“Twilight! Are you—?”

“Hi, Fluttershy!”

Twilight’s tone made the Pegasus back up a few steps. She didn’t know what was wrong with her friend or why she looked the way she did. It seemed like something was terrifying her. Having backed away from the door, Twilight took this opportunity to enter her home. She began frantically shifting her gaze to different corners of her house. Fluttershy, as well as her animals, didn’t know what to make of this. They only watched in bewilderment as Twilight seemed to examine her house as if looking for something important.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy said with unease.

“Of course, I’m gre—EAAAHHH—great!”

Fluttershy’s unease morphed into fear. She didn’t know what was happening, and she wished she could help her, but Twilight just wouldn’t tell her what the issue was. She glanced towards her animals, who were still surrounding the pouch of food. They all shared the same look of confusion.

She suddenly felt something crawl up her leg and onto her back. She turned to see the cause, and found that her pet Angel had climbed up onto her shoulder. The bunny pointed a thumb, gesturing towards the kitchen where the lavender alicorn had wandered, wearing a puzzled look.

“I have no idea what’s wrong with her…” Fluttershy responded, when Twilight began making her way out of the kitchen and back towards the living room.

“Twilight, what’s the matter?” Fluttershy asked more sternly, but this time, Twilight didn’t respond. Instead, she walked towards the staircase, and began looking through the upper floor. Fluttershy noticed she had left a trail of sweat in her wake.

Growing angry, the Pegasus was ready to follow Twilight upstairs and force her to admit what was troubling her, when she heard a voice echo outside.

“Fluttershy!”

She recognized that voice, and upon hearing it, she looked outside. Spike was on the bridge by her flowers, racing towards Fluttershy’s house. He looked like he’d been running for hours. She stepped outside, using her wings to carry herself over to the dragon. Spike also had sweat soaking his body, but he didn’t look nearly as bad as Twilight did.

“Fluttershy, did Twilight come here?” Spike asked, sounding panicked, which made Fluttershy nervous.

“Yes, almost a minute ago,” Fluttershy responded.

Spike sighed. “What’s she doing now?”

“She’s… looking through my house, but I don’t know why…”

Spike used hand gestures as he spoke. “She’s been like this all day, and she won’t tell me what’s going on. I found her pacing in one of the hallways of the castle this morning, and when I asked her what was wrong, she lied, saying she was fine. Then she suddenly galloped to Rarity’s, randomly searching through her house, and then ran all the way here.”

There was a silence, and Fluttershy took the time to think about what Spike had said. Why did Twilight just wander into Carousel Boutique and start randomly searching her house? Why was she going through her house? What was going on with that pony today? Questions filled her head, each question making her more and more perplexed. One of the biggest questions she had was why she wouldn’t tell anyone what the matter was.

Fluttershy heard hoofteps behind her. Looking back, she saw Twilight coming down the path towards her and Spike.

“Twilight,” Fluttershy began. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“There’s nothing bothering me Fluttershy.” Twilight suddenly gasped, and shut her eyes hard, acting as if she were holding something extremely heavy. She started whispering to herself. Something about Lyra and Bon Bon…?

“Twilight, please tell me what’s wrong, I want to help you!”

Twilight’s horn lit up, and a second later, where Twilight once was was replaced by the scenic view of Fluttershy’s cottage in front of the tall Everfree trees. She glanced back upon hearing a spark behind her, and saw that she had reappeared in the distance, further down the path near Ponyville. She was barely visible through the fog that had accumulated in the air; she was just a blob of darker gray in the wall of mist.

Fluttershy sighed angrily. Twilight was hiding something.

“She’s starting to scare me,” Spike admitted. Fluttershy couldn’t blame him. Neither of them had seen Twilight this way before. By now, the alicorn had disappeared in the gray fog, leaving the Pegasus and the dragon alone at the bridge. She knew that Spike cared deeply about his mentor’s wellbeing. To see him worried about her current state wasn’t a surprise at all.

Fluttershy scrounged through her thoughts, trying to find ways to help Twilight. After almost a minute, she beamed once she came up with an idea. She knew how much Twilight loved food, and a hayburger restaurant had been built at the corner of Ponyville in the last few months. She could invite Twilight and a couple of her friends, have a nice time, and then talk about what was bothering Twilight. She wasn’t sure if that would work, but the only way to find out was to try.

“Spike?” Fluttershy said, getting the dragon’s attention.

“Yeah?”

“Does Twilight know the hayburger restaurant by the corner of Ponyville?”

Spike smiled. “Yeah. Since it was built, Twilight and I used to go there all the time.” His smile faltered. “We then stopped going for some reason.”

That was perfect. If Twilight used to go there all the time, that probably meant she enjoyed the food there. Fluttershy found the last part of what Spike had said odd, but she didn’t focus on that right now.

“Can you tell Twilight to meet me and a few of our friends there at noon?”

“Yeah, sure.” Spike started towards Ponyville, his silhouette soon fading into the fog. Fluttershy was hopeful that whatever was wrong with Twilight, she would know in a couple hours, and she would finally be able to help her.

On that note, Fluttershy began following the same path as Spike, until she realized that Angel had still been on her back. His expression told her even he was worried about Twilight.

The Pegasus used her wings to carry her back to the cottage, removed the bunny from her shoulder and placed him on the ground with care.

“I might be gone for a while. Do you think you would be able to take care of things while I’m gone?”

The bunny wildly nodded his head.

“Perfect!” Fluttershy had learned overtime that Angel was trustworthy of taking care of the house while she was away. Nowadays, she had no problem with leaving him home with the rest of the animals.

Fluttershy shot her bunny a quick smile, getting a wave in return, and she closed the door, starting down the path towards the town.

She would be gone for a long time.