An Upgrade in Harmony

by Moon-Chan

Chapter Two: Future Glimpses

Princess Celestia dismissed the six mares, then walked off, preparing to set the sun to make way for her younger sister's moon. Luna smiled at them one last time before she, too, walked away, her mist-like blue mane trailing behind her-leaving the other six ponies alone in the room.

Twilight Sparkle let her purple eyes travel from friend to friend, lastly setting her gaze on Applejack. The orange mare was also glancing at her faithful friends, but she and the highly intelligent unicorn weren't the only ones; it seemed like all the wielders of the Elements of Harmony were exchanging varieties of expressions. Nervousness, excitement, anxiousness, determination.

They walked out of the throne room, past patrolling royal unicorn guards, out into the growing darkness, all the while staying reluctantly silent. As they boarded the train back to Ponyville, the fast cyan-blue rainbow-maned pegasus couldn't stand it anymore.

"I can't wait to start training!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Unfortunately, she spoke a little too loudly. She quickly was given curious stares from the other Equestrians on the train, as well as her friends' glares of warning.

Rainbow Dash turned a deep shade of pink out of embarrassment, quickly taking her seat on the train by Pinkie Pie. Twilight sat on her other side, near the aisle of the inside of the not-very-crowded dessert-design based train. After setting her violet flank on the comfortable booth-like seat, she sighed.

"What do you girls think about all this?"

Rainbow immediately answered. "This is so aweso-"

"Ah think it's nice helpin' the princesses and all," Applejack interrupted.

"Yes, it is a very generous thing, but what about all the dirt?" Rarity countered.

"Never mind the dirt, Rarity, I think we might get costumes too!" Pinkie Pie told her.

That seemed to change the boutique owner's opinion, as well as lighten her mood. Fluttershy hadn't spoken. Twilight had noticed this.

"Fluttershy?" the unicorn asked. "What about you?"

The butter-yellow pegasus seemed to be in a daze. She had been staring out the window, listening to her friends' conversation. One minute everyone was talking both excitedly and uncertainly, the next, their voices were gradually growing more muffled until they were blocked out, and Fluttershy had noticed something take form in the window. She couldn't look away, nor could she hear anything but a few whispers from unknown sources.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked again. No reply. "Fluttershy."

As Twilight Sparkle's voice gained more urgency, the others stopped their conversation abruptly. Something was wrong, and they couldn't risk talking about what had happened earlier if their friend was in trouble. They looked at Twilight with quizzical expressions. The violet unicorn returned their gazes with worry, then turned back to Fluttershy. The shy pony hadn't moved even a millimeter.

"Fluttershy," Twilight said again. Still no response. "Fluttershy!"

"Why is she acting like a rock?" Pinkie questioned.

It was true. Fluttershy hadn't moved at all once she looked at the window, the outside growing darker and darker. Of course, the pegasus couldn't hear anything, either. Tonight was also a full moon, and stars shone brightly.

"I don't know."

Twilight waved a hoof in front of Fluttershy's face. That seemed to do the trick, as the light-pink maned mare blinked her aqua eyes and turned to her friends. At once, she was bombarded with questions, and unfortunately, she heard all of them due to getting her hearing back.

"Fluttershy, what happened?"

"Why weren't you moving or speaking?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Should we call a doctor?"

"She needs fresh air and water."

Fluttershy blinked again, overwhelmed by her friends' concerns. "Girls, girls, I'm completely fine. But before you start firing questions at me again," she said, looking at Twilight in particularly, "I have something to tell you that I think is important."

She paused, waiting for the others to react. Nopony spoke. They waited anxiously in silence. For Rainbow Dash, it was the worst feeling in the world; although she loved suspense movies, she completely despised it in reality.

"I saw a vision," Fluttershy stated, "in the window."

"What kind of a vision? What did you see, exactly? And what caused you to not answer us?" Rainbow Dash asked her instantly.

"I think it was a vision of the future. Once it started forming, I couldn't hear anything or take my eyes off the train window. Finally, to answer your third question, Rainbow, I saw strange creatures coming to Equestria."

There was a moment's silence. Then Twilight broke it.

"Strange creatures? I know you most likely don't know what they're called, but could you try to describe them?"

"They had no fur, no hooves, and no tails. They wore clothing and shoes, and what would be hooves to us were split up into five connected particles, all different lengths."

The knowledge-hungry unicorn gasped, almost falling off the train booth she was sitting on. Once again, her friends looked at her quizzically.

"Um... Twilight?" Fluttershy said this softly, hoping Twilight wasn't mad at her. "W-what's wrong? I didn't make you m-mad, did I?"

"No, no, no, Fluttershy. Don't think anything of the sort. You could never make me mad at you," Twilight Sparkle reassured her.

"Then why were you so shocked at my vision?"

Twilight used her magic to teleport her number one assistant, a purple and green baby dragon named Spike, to the Elements of Harmony. He looked sleepy and surprised.

"Twilight, what gives? I was having the best dream ever," Spike groaned, then stopped when he saw his friend's serious expression.

"Spike, take a letter to the princess," the unicorn stated.

The other five mares looked at her with concern. Spike got out a scroll of blank paper and a quill. He immediately started scribbling down everything Twilight said when she spoke the first word of the letter.

"Dear Princess Celestia," Twilight began, "I have important news that needs immediate attention. Please make sure you give this information to Princess Luna as well. My friends and I are still on the train back to Ponyville, and Fluttershy has just had a vision in one of the windows. I suspect it is one of the last legendary Future Glimpse windows that exist in Equestria. All the signs of it being so are accurate-not hearing anything around you, the window drawing you in until the vision fades away or another pony unknowingly interferes. The Glimpse window isn't the only important discover we have made, though. It's the vision that Fluttershy saw. Do not forget this part of the letter, for it is extremely important. My dearest mentor, something is going to happen that may change Equestria's secrets forever."

She paused. Spike looked at her, waiting for more to write down. He always knew when Twilight Sparkle was done with a letter, and he had a feeling this would be her last sentence of the note to the princess of the sun.

The indigo-maned unicorn mare took a deep breath.

"Humans are coming to Equestria, and they are coming very soon."

Author's Note:

Edited. ^^ I need FEEDBACK, or it will NEVER get better.