Slumber Party
“Zzzzzznkkktt... zzzz-mmmm-marvellll at... zzzzzz-disappearing goldfissssszzzzzhhhhh...”
Flash Sentry's left eye popped open, bloodshot.
“Shnnnhorkkkkk—now watch the pen... zhhhskknkkttt—now you see it... now you... you... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...”
Flash's right eye opened, also bloodshot.
“Mmmmmmmmmmmadame... zzzzzzzz-watch closelyyyyyyyyyy...” An adorable, breathy voice rose and fell amidst waves of nasal slumber. “Izzzzzzzzzzzzthisssssss your carddddddddd...?”
Slowly—with the icy grace of a guillotine spring—Flash tilted his head aside to stare at the equine figure “sleeping” just inches to his right.
The leafy “floor” of the Everfree Forest was awash in a sea of slumbering bodies all gathered in a broad circle. Nopony was stirring, save for the softy body outlined in the starlight beside Flash. A certain showmare lay on her back, head and pale hair flopped back softly in the grass. Her forward and rear legs were slowly hoofy-kicking the air, as if she was swimming upside down through molasses. Eyelids closed—of course—with the barest hint of pupils darting left and right underneath.
“Mmmzzznzkkktt—the three of clubsssssssss...” Trixie's muzzle curved and her ears perked briefly before succumbing to gravity once again. “Mmmmmmbeen such a.... hrmmmmm—great audienceeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzsnkkktt...”
Flash clenched his eyelids tightly shut. Much to his chagrin, Trixie's sleeptalking performance kept on going—even through double encores. With a groan, the horse boy sat up. He ached all over, unaccustomed to sleeping on the ground... much less sleeping on the ground in a weird pastel pony body. His fetlocks ached from doing nothing but marching for half a day, and he felt residual strain from the stress of having escaped a sinking cruise ship.
With a sudden bout of insomnia, Flash tongued the inside of his mouth.
Did the stress, pain, and bruises from his teenage plight somehow carry over into the horse dimension? Into his new body?
If that was true, then the discomfort must have magnified. Fitting... seeing as he was a great deal smaller than his human body back home.
Wait, was he?
Flash wasn't certain, but he somehow felt that he was even... littler than the average pony.
'Little pony,' now that was a redundancy and a half.
Or was it? If a pony was the size of a house cat, one would certainly attribute a modifier to emphasize that...
“Grnnnngh...” Flash clamped two hooves on opposite sides of his scalp, hissing through his teeth in frustration. “I am trying to get some horse slumber in an enchanted forest. This no time to think about proper modifier etiquette!”
“Zzzzznkkkttt—autographs... mrmmmfff... in the lobby after the showwwwww...” Trixie stirred, massaged the air, and snored once again.
Flash's ears went flat. “Oh right. That.”
“Hey, Flash.” A third voice interjected, softly: “I didn't expect to see you up.”
Flash blinked. He saw a set of orange hooves before him, then glanced up.
Sunset Shimmer's pony face was gazing down at him. She was a horse with horse features—and exhaustion clung to her own furry complexion with heavy hooks—and yet somehow she still looked beautiful. She still... shimmered like the young woman Flash knew back in CHS. He attributed it to the moonlight peeking through the forest canopy above, for to rationalize it any way else would be too much trouble than a tired mind like his to handle.
“Aren't you tired from trotting all day?” Sunset asked, eyes narrowing. Crickets chirped in the background as she drew closer, her voice staying soft... whispery. “You really should get some rest for the last leg of the journey tomorrow.”
“Oh, I was just... I...” Flash glanced at the blue body stirring a foot away from him. A few seconds limped by, and he sighed defeatedly. “...guess I just have a lot on my mind.”
“I see.” Sunset nodded. “Well... since you're awake anyways...” She trotted over towards his side.
“Oh. But what I meant was—” He gestured. “That is, I was really wanting to—” Sunset was already settling down next to him. Flash hid the roll of his eyes and sat up at gentlecoltly attention. “But no matter. What's... uhm... on your mind, Sunset?”
“What else?” Sunset turned around and around. Flash steadily watched all three revolutions before she squatted down on folded limbs, staring blearily into the dark trunks of the forest. “This journey.” She exhaled long and hard. “Rainbow and Twilight are extra weary... so I volunteered for two watches in a row.”
“That's gotta be killin' ya,” Flash remarked.
“Mmmm... if anything, it's keeping me alive,” Sunset muttered. “These people need someone to look after them.”
He bore a sly smirk despite his tiredeness. “Don't you mean 'these ponies?'”
Sunset continued: “Y'know how this all started?” Sunset teetered a bit where she sat, her muzzle forming a brief frown. “I ignored Rainbow Dash when she insisted evil magic was afoot.”
“To be fair...” Flash stifled a yawn. “...she was being kinda annoying.”
“Still...” Sunset shook her head. “We're best friends. Heck, we're more than that.”
“You're super best friends,” Flash said, slowly winking.
“Hmmmm...” Sunset sighed. “What keeps us all together—what binds us—is our keen awareness of Equestrian magic and how harmony is balanced in our world.” She looked at Flash. “The human world.”
“Uh huh.”
“And Rainbow is... well... loyalty incarnate. When she assures us that there's a risk to our lives—I should be keen to take that seriously...!”
“And what if she was a boy-who-cried-wolf throughout every day of our spring break?”
“She right in the end, Flash.”
“Just because she was right this time doesn't mean she's gonna be right every time.”
“Mmmmm... I guess...”
“Nobody knows Equestrian magic more than you,” he declared. The stallion waved a hoof at the Everfree Forest surrounding the sleeping crowd. “Nopony knows Equetria better than you!”
“Mrmmmm...” Sunset fidgeted, nevertheless bearing a humble blush. “I dunno about that...”
“You know it better than the rest of us, at least,” Flash said. He stifled all yawns for the lecture ahead: “Sure, Rainbow's paranoia paid off. But she's still got a lot to learn about how to measure the seriousness of a situation. And how to lean on the friends she's loyal to... friends like you.” His eyes narrowed. “Rainbow might have uncovered the source of the magic that threatened the ship, but it was you who found the portal to Equestria and—as a result—our path home!”
“Yes, but...” Sunset grimaced, gazing at him once more with a foalish fold to her ears. “...was this really the best path home?”
Flash stared at her head. “... … ...it's amazing how much you emote as a horse girl,” he droned, teetering from exhaustion. “It's almost like I can read your thoughts. I bet you feel that way all the time back home with the geode, huh?”
“Flaaaaaaaash,” Sunset produced between her teeth.
“Mrmmmmfff... pleeeeeeeeaseee-zzzzzzz-no flash photographyyyyyy...” Trixie stirred.
He glanced at his trot buddy, then back to Sunset. “What if we didn't use the portal, huh? What if we just waited on that island to get rescued. What if it took days? Weeks? Months?” He leaned his head aside. “You think you're battling with guilt now? What if you could look back on absolute suffering and know that you could have chosen a different path?” He slowly shook his head. “No, Sunset. You made the right choice. As much of a toll it takes on our... horse butts...” A slight smile. “This really is the safer alternative.”
“Unnngh...” Sunset facehoofed grumbling into the starlight. “I really should have gotten us to the castle at Ponyville by nightfall...”
“Hey, is anypony hurt?”
“No...” Sunset looked up. “Well, Rainbow Dash got tossed around a bit and I'm scared she might be bleeding internally without showing it—”
“Nopony got hurt, huh?”
“... … ...nopony got hurt.”
“So why stress it?” Flash smiled. “Your plan is pulling us through this tough time. Over two hundred people delivered safe-and-alive from a crashed ship clear across the world? Another world over?” He shrugged. “It's a miracle work, Sunset. You're a miracle worker. So what if it takes a while...?” He glanced up at the stars. “...these people could learn some patience. Me included.”
“Hmmm... thanks, Flash...” Sunset smiled warmly. “Somehow, I always know I can feel better after talking with you.”
He breathed out the side of his muzzle. “It's what I'm good for.”
“Mmmmmmm—good? Greaaaaaaaat...” Trixie stirred, yawn, stirred again, and resumed snoring. “Grrrrrreat and powerrrrrrful....”
“Wow...” Sunset snickered. “Trixie even rolls her r's in her sleep.”
Flash huffed, gazing off. “She's been entering the wrong talent contests.”
“... … ...” Sunset glanced at him, at Trixie, then back at Flash again. “I'm... really sorry, Flash. Things have been... so complicated and busy, lately—what with this expedition across the heart of Equestria and all.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “How about tomorrow morning I... shuffle things around a bit?”
“Hmmm?”
“Twilight says a few other 'trot buddies' haven't... gelling quite so well together. Seems healthy to rearrange the groups a bit. So... how about it?” She nodded at Trixie's sleeping form. “I'm certain she'd get along better with Bulk Biceps. Heck, she'd probably ask him to carry her and—well, you know Bulk—he's always a 'water off the back' kind of a person.”
Flash gazed at her. Then he glanced over at Trixie, at the slight curl to her muzzle as she pretended to sniff flowers in her sleep. In the daytime, that same face put on so many frowns and pronounced so many angry breaths. She'd be liable to suffocate from all that exertion—like she was constantly running a marathon against herself with no rest in sight. Perhaps it was a very strange thing—and a graceful thing—that she'd be running the course alongside someone else for once.
“No.”
Sunset blinked. “No?”
Flash shook his head. Softly, he repeated: “No. Wouldn't be fair.”
“Guess you're right,” Sunset remarked. “I can practically hear the protests of the entire CHS alumni after being spontaneously partnered up with the likes of her—”
“What I mean is...” The white of Flash's teeth showed briefly in the moonlight. “...it wouldn't be fair to her.”
“Oh.” Sunset blinked, leaning back with a glazed expression. “Right. Of course.”
“Glad we agree.”
Sunset gulped—a slight shiver. “But...” Her eyes narrowed. “...will you be okay, Flash?”
“Zzzzzzzzzhmmmm... peanut butter and... Penn Jillette crackers...” Trixie purred, reaching up and clutching a length of her own mane like a blanket. A smile alit her fuzzy features.
“Yeah.” Flash nodded, eyes drifting. “I'm sure.” A cold sigh. “Besides... if we're headed where I think we're headed, then I'm gonna need plenty of distraction.”
“Oh?” Sunset blinked. A century later. “Oh.” A millennium. “Really?” she grimaced.
“Really,” he droned.
“After all this time...?”
“Would you forget someone like her after all this time?”
Sunset opened her muzzle... but simply smiled in defeat. “I guess not.” She grunted breathily as she stood up, shaking back into a pained standing position. “I... really gotta continue my rounds... perform another quiet headcount of every trot buddy.”
“We're in good hands,” Flash said.
“Hooves, Flash... hooves...” She winked. “Get with the program.”
“Tryin'.”
“And... uhm...” Sunset kicked at a few grass blades, avoiding his gaze as she said: “If it helps—when the time comes—I'll... do what I can to... uhh... make you scarce, y'know?”
“Mmmm...?”
“I want you to get home safely, Flash,” Sunset said. “But I also want you to be comfortable.” She gulped and glanced his way. “In the end, we both know that you weren't the one who went silent.”
Flash exhaled. It had been a long day, and sleep was forever eluding him—but then and there was the first time he felt any sense of relief. “Th-thanks...”
“I mean it.” She winked. “When you get to the castle, I'll... cast a spell or something. No one will think of you as anything more than a regular background pony.”
“What does that mean?”
“... … ...maybe I'll remember in the morning.” Sunset fought a yawn the marched off towards the edge of the crowd, using a faint horn light to illuminate her path. “Catch yourself a nap, Flash. Just don't make it a dirt nap.”
“Way ahead of ya,” he said, and fell straight backwards. FLUMP!
Stats
Page generated in 0.02 seconds
Total duration
806 users online
639,254 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Glad this is back.
For some reason I feel worried for Flash all of the sudden.
He was really mature in this conversation. Strange that if he is not interacting with Sunset, his personality go back to sad sack.
And of course Trixie was going to be a busy sleeper. She can't help but be the center of attention after all.
10137472
References besides, it solidifies the overall theme: This is a story, and you are a minor character.
Hmm. But is being the background pony what Flash really wants?
(The fact the only pony emote with the desired expression happens to be Trixie's mug just sweetens the deal)
I am now under the impression that sunset has no idea how internal bleeding works
10176612
Sunset probably suspects that Rainbow would be acting too big to show any discomfort. Sunset probably suspects correctly.
fkn Penn Jillette crackers lol
Three of clubs, Penn Jilezze cracker, I see Trixie is a Penn and Teller fan