no_vampires_plz | Entries tagged with character: fluttershy

So. It turns out Shining Armor had a good excuse not to break the news about his wedding in person. And his bride-to-be is someone Twilight actually knows.

...no, not knows. Knew. She's not convinced she knows Cadance anymore.

How could she not remember me, after all the time we spent together as fillies? And what was with that look she gave me? It doesn't make sense...

It's nagging at the back of her mind even as she and Apple Jack go down the checklist for the catering.

"Cake, check. Ice sculpture, check. Best darn bite-sized apple fritter you ever tasted..." Apple Jack shoves one of the fritters into Twilight's mouth without any prompting.

"Mmm, check!" Twilight brightens a little. Nothing like one of Apple Jack's treats to cheer a pony up.

The trip to Canterlot isn't a hardship, at least; Princess Celestia was thoughtful enough to reserve a private train car for the seven of them. The six ponies and one dragon are free to talk back and forth without disturbing anypony else.

"A sonic rainboom? At a wedding?" Rainbow Dash beams. "Can you say 'best wedding ever'?"

"Best wedding ever!" whoops Pinkie Pie.

Spike looks smug. "So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding, but I'm the one who gets to host the bachelor party!" A beat. "I have just one question. What's a bachelor party?"

One pony, however, isn't participating in the discussion. Twilight Sparkle is sitting at the far end of the car, looking mournfully at the landscape as it passes by.

Eventually, Apple Jack breaks off from the rest of the group to go see her. "Why the long face, sugarcube?"

"I'm just thinking about Shining Armor," Twilight replies, not looking away from the window. "Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this Princess Mi Amore Cal-whatshername, we'll probably never see each other."

"Come on, now. You're his sister," reassures Apple Jack. "He'll always make time for you."

Twilight sulks harder. "Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married."

"We're here, we're here!" Pinkie Pie bounces up and down in her seat as the train approaches the outskirts of Canterlot. Twilight doesn't even acknowledge her.

What she does acknowledge, however, is the ripple of magical energy that passes over the whole train and everyone in it. Looking out the window, she realizes it's a protection spell, one that covers the entire city. What in the world would they need a force field like that for? And why did it feel so familiar as it passed over?

The train pulls up to the platform, which is flanked by a dozen armored stallions. "Whoa, what's with all the guards?" remarks Rainbow Dash as she pokes her head out the door.

"I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions," says Rarity with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies." (As if to drive the point home, Pinkie sneezes confetti onto the platform.) "Now let's get going, we've got work to do!"

"And you've got a big brother to go congratulate," says Apple Jack with a knowing nod toward Twilight.

"Yeah, 'congratulate,'" Twilight mutters sourly. "And then give him a piece of my mind."

Autumn may have already begun in Equestria, but the warmth of summer still lingers. It's no longer blisteringly hot, but still warm enough to have an afternoon picnic with one's friends in the meadow on the outskirts of town. Cake, tea, sandwiches, and your five best friends in the world--what could be better?

...well, not being interrupted by your baby dragon assistant running up and collapsing on the picnic cloth might be a plus.

"Twi--light," Spike pants. "I--have--lemme just--" After a few more deep breaths, he belches out a burst of green flame, which coalesces into the shape of a scroll.

Twilight picks it up and begins to read. "'Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot.' ...Wedding?" Twilight exchanges a bewildered look with her friends, then continues. "'I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music...'"

"Future Twilight?"

Twilight blinks rapidly to clear the spots from her eyes in the wake of her future self's departure. She's once again alone in the room, with nothing but scattered papers and a scorch mark on the floor to indicate that the visitor from the future was ever there.

"Oh no! What was she trying to warn me about? Her clothes, her mane, that scar... oh, what a mess she is! ...I mean, I am... or I... will be..." Twilight gasps in sudden realization. "She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!"

She turns and gallops down the stairs and out the front door. Whatever is going to happen, it's far, far more important than fixing the month's schedule.

Tornado duty training has been progressing smoothly, despite the absence of a certain yellow pegasus. As the last day of workouts draws to a close, it's time for one last speed check before the big day.

So far, the news has been good.

"That's wonderful, Flitter," calls Twilight as Flitterheart zips past. "Much better than yesterday."

"This is crazy awesome!" Rainbow Dash pumps her forehooves in the air. "We're gonna smash that record!"

An excited chittering noise rises from the vicinity of Twilight's ankle. She looks down to see a squirrel tugging urgently at her fetlocks and pointing toward... something.

"What did he say?" asks Spike.

Twilight gives Spike a dubious look. "Do I look like I speak Squirrel?"

The dragonlet squints in the direction the squirrel is pointing. "...what's that?"

There are exactly two non-pegasi at the racetrack this morning. One is a unicorn. One is a dragon. Both are testing out a propeller-like device they've just staked to the turf next to the track proper.

A pair of younger mares, Cloudchaser and her sister Flitterheart, trot over to watch Twilight and Spike work. "What exactly does this machine do?" asks Cloudchaser.

"This," says Twilight, "is an anemometer. It measures your accelerative velocity and translates it into wingpower, thus gauging your cumulative H₂O antigravitational potential." She beams. "Any other questions?"

The two pegasi exchange a puzzled look.

"...yeah." Flitterheart turns to Spike. "What exactly does this machine do?"

Spike rolls his eyes. "It tells you how fast you're flying and how strong your wings are," he explains patiently.

A murmur of understanding ripples through the crowd. Twilight pouts. That's what she just said, don't these ponies know anything?

She hears a loud cough from the far end of the field. "Is that you again, Thunderlane?" calls Twilight, levitating a bottle of antiseptic spray over to the pegasus stallion's vicinity. "Please, we need to have a germ-free environment!"

"It wasn't me!" Thunderlane protests. "It was Blossomforth!"

The sun is getting low in the sky over Ponyville. No one, not even Princess Celestia herself, is more aware of this than Twilight Sparkle.

"Clock is ticking, Twilight. ClOcK. iS. tIcKiNg."

She paces back and forth in front of the window. "Keep it together," she mutters to herself over and over and over again. She can do this. She has to do this. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

But how? Rarity doesn't need help, Apple Jack doesn't need help, none of her friends need help...

Unless...

"If I can't find a friendship problem," she says to herself, "I'll mAkE a friendship problem!"

She rubs her forehooves together in glee as she opens up her old toybox. She knows just the perfect tool for this job...

Fluttershy's cottage is one of the few homes in Ponyville that isn't decked out for Nightmare Night. Twilight hopes that's an encouraging sign for Princess Luna, an indicator that her would-be helper doesn't buy into all this 'Nightmare Moon' nonsense.

"Don't worry, Princess," she says as she leads Luna up the path. "Fluttershy can give you some great pointers. She's delicate and demure, with the sweetest little voice."

Twilight steps up to the door and knocks three times with her forehoof.