Skylights

At the southeast end of Ponyville, lay the Everfree Forest. A dark and scary place full of some of the most vile creatures you could find in Equestria. It stood in sharp contrast to the beautiful and peaceful cottage that was situated just outside its borders. The owner, a pegasus by the name of Fluttershy, filled her cottage and its surroundings with a whole assortment of wonderful critters ranging from bunnies to duck-billed platypus.

One particular animal under her care was the rooster of the coop. He stood a good five inches above his ladyfolk and was adorned with a beautiful set of colorful feathers and the biggest and reddest comb of any chicken within a hundred mile radius. He couldn’t confirm that for fact, but he was sure of it!

Being the only male of the entire coop had plenty of advantages, but it also came with one very special job only he could accomplish; thereby rendering him invaluable. Every morning, he had to rouse himself before sunrise, and be there to welcome the morning with a cock-a-doodle-doo. However, lately he had been experimenting, with new ways of waking her up, and today was no different.

Rustling his feathers as he shook himself awake, the rooster hoisted himself up on his feet, scratching at the wood beneath him before walking out of his box with his chest held high. A few of his hens were already up and walking around going about their morning business. Many of them were throwing suggestive looks at him, as if he was going to get extra-lucky, as always. In truth, they were just using their charm as they always did to get him going up into the cottage to wake up their food dispenser already. He shot them some winks with accompanied suggestive clucking, before walking down the ramp out of chicken coop.

Now outside, he could see that the dawn had yet to break. The deep blue morning clouds along the horizon were slowly giving away to the sun that would soon make its entry onto ponyville.

Given past experiences, he knew he had about 10 minutes before the sun would rise over the mountains, which gave him just enough time to do his job. With that, he set about leaving the chicken pen as he approached the fence. It’s high heights of the surrounding structure was too high for the likes of his hens, but not a rooster like himself.

He stretched out his wings and began to flap at a breakneck pace. With his immense weight compared to other avians bogging him down, it took gratuitous amounts of his available energy to land his feet at the top of the fence. Seeing how the ground wasn’t too far below, he jumped down, falling a foot and a half before he bounced down softly onto uncut grass blanketed by the cool morning dew.

With his path now clear, he made straight for one of the many animal doors around the cottage. Most were a size big enough just for squirrels and bunnies, but the one closest to the chicken coop was suitable for an avian of his stature with just a little… effort involved.

He pushed his head through the opening and saw that the resident birds and other critters of the cottage were all hidden away in their housing inside the cottage, the living room was empty and churchmouse quiet, giving him the all-clear to go about his plans.

He took the deepest breath he could to suck in his extra girth - he really needed to go lighter on the feed - before sliding the rest of his bulk through the opening. Without remembering to get one of his feet through first, he soon realized he lost his equilibrium and found his front end was hurtling towards the wooden floor beneath. The side of his head hit the floor with a thunk. His tiny brain rattled around in his skull as his world spinned.

After a few moments like this, his eyes settled down, allowing himself to regain his equilibrium. Standing back on his feet, he shot another glance around the room noting that he had not stirred up any of the others. Good, the operation was still underway.

He made a line for the staircase at the opposite end of the room. The steps were just small enough for him to hop each time as he ascended higher and higher. The constant tapping of his talons against the stairs made for a bit more noise than he was comfortable making at this hour, but he didn’t have a choice.

Upon ascending the final step, the rooster entered into the singular room of the second floor of the cottage: Fluttershy’s bedroom. She was still sound asleep on her bed with the quilt tucked over her, snoring softly with a broad smile across her lips, entirely oblivious to what was coming, and that caused the rooster to smile.

A glance at the windows indicated that the visible sky was turning increasingly orange. Dawn was approaching, and his window of opportunity before the rest of the animals downstairs started getting rowdy was closing. With no time to lose, he beelined towards the desk on the left side of the bed, where his tools for experimental ways to wake up Fluttershy was situated.

As he leaped up one more time, the rooster found himself before his beautiful, beautiful,  DJ setup. An arrangement of a synthesizer keyboard attached to a turntable and mixer board, all hooked up to a set of amps and subwoofers. And to finish it all off, was a pair of rooster sized sunglasses dwelling among the knobs and dials.

Using a wing, he picked up the sunglasses and managed to secure them in place on his beak. He then shuffled his left foot around until one of the claws reached the power strip and flicked the switch to turn on his equipment. As he did, the lights on the display came to life with all the information he needed to get things going. Using his wings, he twisted numerous dials and knobs to a setting he felt was suitable for what he was about to impose. He shifted his focus to his turntable and browsed through the digital library of Fluttershy’s music player that was hooked up to the system. Arriving at the song he was looking for, he used his beak to click play.

Within the deep workings of Fluttershy’s mind, the pegasus founding herself involuntarily walking along a dark hallway made entirely out of wood that was not cut or assembled into place. She was nearing an end, where a wall of light awaited her arrival. Upon her approached the light dissipated into scene pulled right out of a book. She was standing atop a balcony like none she’d ever been to before. Above, she sees a canopy of branches twisted into an intricate tapestry that stood in contrast to the blue skies above. She follows some of the branches down with her  eyes - and where the branches grow thicker, she catches a glimpse of a deer among the branches that was looking back at her. They only locked eyes for a moment before the deer decided he had better things to do. Putting that aside, she looked about and noticed the branches were… moving? No, cervids of all kind that lived on this world tree were the ones that were moving. Gazelle hopped from branch to branch, moose plodded across the forest floor and sturdy bridges, deer dotted the staircases engraved  into the trunk.

“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” An elegant, yet masculine voice spoke out from behind her.

She turned around, and realized she was being approached by none other than Khandanah Sahrahala, her favorite character from Tournament of Power series by Forge R. R. Hearthing that everypony was reading lately.

“It’s lovely,” she found herself saying back to him, while millions of questions raced through her head.

Khandanah smiled at her as he approached, his eyes entrancing her with their deep pools of grey. She always found deer to be elegant creatures, with their high-standing, impressive antlers, and sleek figure, but combine that with her love of Khandanah’s character, and it made for a deadly combination upon the pegasus’s heart.

“And none of it is off limits for you to see, ambassador.” Khandanah stated, making Fluttershy realize she must’ve come here from a neighboring kingdom. “I must wonder though, did your King send you to negotiate, or are you the maiden offered to entice me?”

Fluttershy’s face heated up at that remark. Realizing she couldn’t take another step back, she could only looked down while she kicked a hoof.

“Umm…” Words failed her. “I’m… I’m just here to talk… talk about.. negotiations… I think.”

“Hahaha,” the deer boomed. “I meant no disrespect, pony.” Fluttershy felt one of his hooves begin to lift her head up to look at him. “It’s just not often that angels find their way to my palace.”

With that, the moment of her life began, she could see him inching closer and closer. He was going to kiss her, and oh Celestia she wanted it. She’s daydreamed of it for five whole books. She closed her eyes as she leaned forward, forward more and then….

“♪DROP THE BASS!!!♪”

WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB

---

“Aie!” Fluttershy yelled as she awoke to the sound of bass attacking her ears with brute force. A few moments of panic breathing as she covered her ears before she jerked her head to the left, to the source of the music.

“Chrispy!” She whisper-screamed, “What’d I tell you about playing Dubstep in the morning?!”

The music immediately ceased, and the rooster lost his confident visage almost instantly.

“Buwk buwk, buw-”

“I don’t care if you’re bored of cock-a-doodle-dooing me awake!” Fluttershy pounded her hooves against her mattress. “You are not allowed to use that setup for anything other than afternoon concerts! I’ve told you that a hundred-flipping times!”

Chrispy hung his head low. Partially embarrassed, but mostly upset, the avian put his sunglasses down on his setup before hopping down from the dresser and scurrying away, back down the stairs whence he came.

Fluttershy stared at the staircase for a few moments, shaking her head in disbelief at the chicken’s adamant behavior of waking her up so obnoxiously. She figured from an uneven perspective it was partly her fault for dangling the forbidden fruit in front of him time and time again, but it wasn’t her fault that she liked dubstep - under better circumstances of course - was it?

I guess I need to start hiding my music player before I fall asleep. She concluded. The pegasus hopped off her bed and made her way over to her calendar,scanning it quickly as she found the day that was today.

September 3rd

-Morning Routine

-Pick up stuff from Applejack, and Rarity

-Help Twilight and Rainbow pack up for college

-Medical Checkup for all animals (By the gods, prepare for the paperwork)

“Oh my gosh, it’s that day already?” Fluttershy gasped, “I better get started.”

Forty minutes later, Fluttershy found herself walking down the dirt road that skirted the southern borders of Ponyville. It was the most direct route to Sweet Apple Acres, and scarcely used by anypony. To Fluttershy, it was super convenient, to the rest of Ponyville, it was a waste of their taxpayer money.

As she neared Sweet Apple Acres, she heard the unmistakable sound of an axe working at a tree on her left.

Whose chopping a tree this early in the morning? Fluttershy thought as she scanned the left side while she continued to walk, trying to spot the lumberjack. All the while, the sound of the chopping got louder and louder.

Then suddenly, the chopping stopped, and in its place came the sound of crackles, like ones you would hear in a fireplace, only far louder. Fluttershy looked up to the canopies of the trees to see if any were swaying, and there was in fact one that was doing just that. A towering old pine tree, shook slightly with the heavy snap of twisted wooden sinew.

The crackling of wood became louder and louder still as the tree began to fall to the right. At one point, the sound of the cracking wood was replaced with the continuous thunder of snapping branches.

“TIIIIIIIMBERRRRRR!” the voice of a pony Fluttershy recognized well enough called out as the pine fell faster and fast towards the ground. Fluttershy backpedaled like lightning to put more distance between her and the pillar of certain death.

The tree crashed down with all the grace of a hurricane, Fluttershy covered her eyes as loose branches sprung into the air at all directions..

“Farewell, Mr. Timberly!”

“Applejack?!”

“Huh?” The farmer came into view as she jumped atop of the old pine tree. Spotting her friend, she hopped down to approach her. “Oh, g’mornin’ Fluttershy. How ya doing?”

“Umm, just fine… I guess.” Fluttershy shrugged slightly. “What was all that just now?”

Applejack walked back to the tree with Fluttershy in tow. “Well, Mr. Timberly here was getting old here, y’know? With him swaying a bit more than usual that he wasn’t gonna be around much longer. I can’t risk him falling on anypony so…” Applejack stroked one of his branches, a single tear falling from her eye. “I chopped him down.”

How sad… Fluttershy, copying Applejack, stroked one of it’s branches caringly. “I’m sorry AJ, I hope deep down… he understood.”

Suddenly, AJ’s sadness disappeared as a big smile came across her lips. “Plus I needed the firewood. And someone had to go. He practically offered himself up on the chopping block.”

“Oh…”

AJ took a few seconds to look back at the tree, smiling, as if proud of her work, before tuning her attention to Fluttershy. “Anyway, what were ya comin’ ta Sweet Apple Acres for?”

“Oh, umm…” Fluttershy tapped her head a few times to sift her thoughts. “Right, I was coming to grab the goodies for Twilight and Dash, before they head off to Cloudsdale today.”

Applejack face lit-up. “Oh yeah… I packed that thing up last night, should still be lyin’ on the kitchen counter if I recall, c’mon.”

Applejack put her front hooves on Mr. Timberly’s trunk as she hurdled over. The two of them power-trotted to the farm without saying much of anything, more because they were tired. When they passed through the gate, they found that Big Mac was approaching them from the direction of the barn

“Hey Applejack, have ya seen my ax?”

“Yeah,” Applejack replied while still heading towards the house, “I just used it to cut down a tree on the back road.”

Big Mac’s eyes went wide as sweat quickly appeared on his forehead. “Which tree?! Tell me it wasn’t Woodington.”

She shook her head. “Nope, just ‘ol Timberly.”

The stallion sighed, “Oh thank Celestia…” He wiped the sweat off his forehead before trotting away. “Oh, and g’morning Miss Shy.”

Fluttershy looked out to the stallion, “What’s up with Wooding-”

“Best not to ask.” Applejack cut her off. The farmer then put a hoof on the door handle and yanked down, pulling the door open.

As Applejack and Fluttershy trotted inside, AJ began to detail the send-off package.

“I spent all yesterday putting that box together perfectly. It’s got all sorts of goodies from the farm that should help Twi and Dash save on their grocery bill for a good few weeks all kept in a convenient box that should be easy to pack.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I’m sure they’ll very much appreciate it.”

The two stepped into the kitchen, and Applejack began to scan it with her eyes for the box.

“They better, the lot would cost any payin’ pony thirty…” Applejack went quiet. Her eyes scanned the room again. “Where’d it go?”

Before Fluttershy could provide some words of advice to help her friend remain calm, Applejack was already heading towards the countertop space where she belief the box last was.

“Who woulda moved it now?’

Help her stay calm, you know how she gets, “I’m sure whoever moved it was just clearing space to make breakfast. Shouldn’t be that hard to find.”

“Maybe… hang on one sec” Applejack walked towards one of the passages out of the kitchen, sticking her head under the arch.

“GRANNY!!!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, causing the pegasus in the room to clench her teeth.

Somewhere in the house, the old mare waking up from a nap before she yelled back. “What tis it, AJ?!”

“Where’d my box go I had on the kitchen counter last night?!”

‘What box?”

“The box I had on the kitchen counter last night!”

“Oh, uh, that thing? I had Big Mac take it downstairs to the cubbyhole.”

“You WHAT?!!” Applejack exclaimed. “You put it down in the cubbyhole? What the…”

“It was in the way of breakfast, dear!” She yelled.

“You coulda just put it in the living room!”

“Maybe, but well uh, No matter now.”

“No MATTER?!”

Fluttershy interjected, “Wait, if we know where it is, AJ, what’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?” AJ parroted  the pegasus as she walking towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders. The earth pony got up close. leaving less than an inch between them, staring at her friend dead in the eyes.

“Everything… gets lost… in the cubbyhole.”

“But what if it was placed near the front?”

“Doesn’t matter.” AJ backed up before she looked towards the basement door in the hallway. “It just gets lost in there. I don’t know how it happens, nopony does”

“Well, how bad can it be, really?”

AJ stopped in her tracks, with one hoof on the first step down towards the basement, she turned her head on a swivel to give Fluttershy a level-eye look. “You have no idea.”

Without another word, AJ began her descent to the cellar with Fluttershy in tow. The farmer flicked the lights on before leading her friend to one of the back corners of the basement, passing by a ton of barrels both empty and full with apples and other assortments.

When they sifted past the high stacks of crates, AJ pointed directly at the above-indent in the wall just big enough for a filly to walk through. In it were boxes and other assortments. And by other assortments, I mean clutter, like stuff covered in layers of dust, dirt, cobwebs, and dead insects. Many of the cardboard boxes were torn or appeared to be so damaged that if you were to pick them up, their contents would ultimately fall through and be scattered all over the floor.

It was also dark, very dark, so dark Fluttershy thought that if she walked towards the back she would likely end up in Tartarus. That sent a shiver so severe it was painful running down her spine.

“Oh.. my…”

“Yeah, I know what yer thinkin’.” Applejack hung her head low for a moment,  before turning to face her friend. “Look, I know ya got stuff to do, so you go on, I’ll come up to the library when I find it.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow. “I really don’t mind”

Oh yes you do, you lying little girl.

Shut up, I’m trying to be nice.

“Nah, it’s okay.” Applejack waved a dismissive hoof. “The others need ya too.”

Fluttershy took the few steps needed to close the distance between her and the other mare before taking her by surprise in a hug around the neck.

“Good luck, Applejack.”  Fluttershy broke off from the hug.

“Thanks.” She smiled at her. “Now go on, before you keep them all waitin’.”

Fluttershy nodded before turning tail and heading towards the staircase. She managed to leave the Apple residence without bumping into anypony else, saving her time from engaging in a currently unwanted conversation.

“Okay, the boutique, and then the library.” Fluttershy repeated to herself while she made her way towards Ponyville.

When she reached the edge of town, she could see that most of the residents were just beginning their day. Market stall owners were dragging their carts full of goods with them to their respective stalls, and shopkeepers were dusting off their welcome mats. Above the town, Flitter and Cloudchaser were making slow work on the clouds over town.

Fluttershy chose to watch the twins as she made her way through town, and the two’s antics were quite amusing. Flitter was miserably failing to kick clouds hard, and ended up just getting her legs stuck in the clouds. Meanwhile, Cloudchaser had a more embarrassing predicament, as she tried to ram through the clouds to dissipate them. Unfortunately the pegasus had learned very little since the embarrassing performance at the Academy, and ended up getting the front half of her body stuck inside the cloud, while her back legs shook around wildly as she struggled to escape.

The scene was all the funnier to watch as Flitter grabbed her sister by the back legs and struggled to yank her free. Fluttershy giggled, before turning her attention back to the ground. Off to her right, she noticed two familiar unicorns who were discussing applications of hooking a tambourine up to an amp. Vinyl Scratch - the town DJ - was trying to make her argument while she included a ton of hoof gestures to visualize her argument for the other mare. Judging by Lyra’s expression, she seemed more confused as to how such a concoction would even work.

As the pegasus passed by them, she could only smile at the two of them as they discussed, she still remembered when the two of them played at Harvest Days a few years ago with an electric tuba.

As she continued to stare off in different directions other than what was directly in front of her, she found herself suddenly stopped by a hoof that bumped into her chest. Before her stood a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark she knew all too well. Judging by his expression, he was very much irritated.

“Oh, Doctor Whooves, is something wrong?”

"Sorry, Miss, can't let ya go this way. Everything past here's off limits right now; very important guests, you see." The brown stallion nods his head toward a cluster of oddly still bubbles behind him. "I'm sure you can guess, but they aren't too big on the whole touchy-feely-bumpy kinda thing, you understand. If I could just get you to take the long way around, preferably with no flying;  they're very sensitive to air currents you know."

A spark of realization came upon the pegasus, she followed the line a bubbles with her eyes until it arrived at the Whooves residence doorstep. A moment passed, and the door opened to reveal none other than Derpy Whooves beckoning one bubble out and down the small flight of stairs as another was welcomed in.

Fluttershy recalled, tending to a local population of sentient bubbles who were rather high maintenance. Today, like all 3rds of the month, was the routine checkup for the entire population. Just as tomorrow would likely be their hiking trip, and so forth.

Given the absurdity of Derpy Whooves special talent, the town had come to an agreement whenever anyone from outside asked her what her occupation was - given the oddity of her cutie mark - she would always tell them she was a postal worker, rather than try to explain her real profession.

Fluttershy looked back to the stallion with the best smile she could manage, nodded before saying. “Alright, I’ll just make my way around then.”

“Righto, off with you then.” He spoke impatiently before making his way down towards another pony who was about ready to wreak havoc on his wife’s customers.

With that, Fluttershy made a 90 degree turn to her left as she walked down the long line of motionless bubbles that made no distinguishable sound, and could clearly not gesture. They just were there, motionless, speechless, and waiting. It was sort of creepy, scratch that, it was a lot of creepy, really. But Fluttershy wasn’t about to express her opinions out loud to this crowd. That is if they could even hear.

Leaving the Whooves residents and their clients behind her. Fluttershy set her sights on the triangular orange flag that was waving above the Carousel Boutique. She wasn’t all that far now, which was good, because Twilight was most likely finishing up her own morning routine and would be expecting her soon.

Arriving at the door to the boutique, Fluttershy raised a hoof to knock a few times. As she did, she heard the sound of mannequins falling over, followed by a very stressed mare screaming. A torrent of stumbling followed and more crashing mannequins, before heavy hoofsteps drew nearer and nearer to the door before a light blue aura coated the front door.

As the door pulled back, Fluttershy found herself looking at a white unicorn with a very disheveled mane, as if she had slept on the floor and was tossing and turning all night with her mane stuck in a thornbush.

“Hello,” the drowsy and clearly agitated mare managed through her crankiness.

“Hi, Rarity…” Fluttershy found herself at a loss for words. “umm… is everything alright.”

 Rarity’s lips turned into the smallest of frowns. “Is is that bad?”

“Should I mince words?”

“No need.”

“You look you just lost a bet with a depressed tornado.”

Rarity sighed as she shook her head. “I really need to learn when to put down a book.” She turned herself around began walking back into her shop. Fluttershy followed, with hesitation, but she followed all the same.

The boutique had seen better days, scratch that, every day the boutique had ever had before this day was better. Every mannequin was toppled over, every drawer was open to some degree with contents both in, outside, and hanging from it.

“My goodness,” Fluttershy exclaimed as she avoided stepping on a menacing looking pincushion. “What happened?”

“Tournament of Power happened.” Rarity snarled, still making her way through her shop. “I got caught up in that chapter where Khandanah and the Gray King were at each other’s throat that I simply had  to keep going. But by the time I thought i found a good place to put the book down, it was three in the morning…” Rarity finally arrived at her sewing machine with what looked like a work-in-progress of a bookbag. “Unfortunately, I had been holding off Twilight and Rainbow’s satchel the whole time. And when I finally realized it, I went into full panic mode.”

“So I see.” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Unfortunately, during my flurry, I bumped my head against one of the mannequins, and soon found myself dozing off on the floor. Next thing I know, I woke up the sound of you knocking.”

“Oh my.” Fluttershy managed to say. She would have been more sympathetic if the implications didn’t mean that another friend’s going-away gift wasn’t ready as it should have been.

“I did managed to complete both of their scarves, however.” Rarity  attempted to lighten the mood as she used her magic to bring forth two scarves. One way mostly blue with a few bands at one end of the rainbow spectrum that transitioned fluently from one to another. The other was a deep purple with a pinkish-purple line running straight down the middle and two thin bands of white running parallel on each side of it.

Fluttershy tried to smile as Rarity used her magic to open the flap of Fluttershy’s saddlebags and tuck the scarves in, but her kindness and understanding wasn’t showing through, if Rarity’s expression back to her was any indicator.

Rarity hung her head low. “This is an absolute disaster…”

Fluttershy put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “There, there, I’m sure you can finish up the satchels before Twilight and Rainbow need to leave.”

Only by an act of the gods.

“But I couldn’t possibly sew all the pockets and what not I had planned for it.” Rarity began to tear up. “Both of them were going to be specifically designed for the materials they’d need for the classes they’re taking.”

Fluttershy’s face twisted. Knowing Rarity, such precision was mandatory in all of her work. However, time was not on her side at this point. So Fluttershy did her best to fish for solutions.

“Well, do you possibly have some alternative means of getting the backpacks done?”

Rarity stopped her mumble-sobbing at that moment. “I do have… no that would never work.”

Fluttershy’s ears twitched. “Have what?”

“The present Vinyl Scratch gave me on my last birthday,” Rarity lifted her head up and arched her neck back to look at the pegasus. “Perhaps it’s best if I showed you, follow me.”

The unicorn trotted towards and into the hallway at the back of the central chamber. Passing by both the kitchen and the washroom, they stopped at a light brown door at the far end of the hall. With a little magic, the knob twisted and the door swung back to reveal the dark chamber behind it. Rarity reached a hoof to the right of the door frame inside as she felt for the lightswitch as Fluttershy walked in.

When the lights came on, Fluttershy found herself standing before a very large metal machine that was nothing like anything she’d ever seen before. It was a large cone-shaped contraption with a bunch of spindles of both fabrics and threads extending outside of it with holes in the top appearing as if they would be used to feed the monster, at the very top was some sort of strange spherical node with a ton of runic symbols on it. To the left and right appeared to be two large amps and accompanying subwoofer that were faced inward of the machine. And jutting out in front of the machine was a slide-door that appeared to be where something would come out of on a conveyer belt that stuck out like a tongue.. But in front of that was the oddest part of it all, a DJ setup.

“What is this?” Fluttershy asked in half-wonder and half-stupidity.

“Vinyl called it Sewstep V2. She claimed it could make anything I imagined if I sent a detailed mental imprint of it to the machine while providing the proper... rhythms, for the devices to work.”

Fluttershy looked towards Rarity quizzically. “Rhythms?”

Rarity looked at the pegasus in the eye. “What do you think that mixboard is for?”

Fluttershy was beyond confused at this point. “So it is powered by… music?”

“Not exactly. Least, I don’t think so. It honestly never made sense to me, I believe it was just some clever trick by her to get me to listen to dubstep, she’s been trying to for the last two years.”

“She’s been trying to get everyone to.”

“Very true.” Rarity remarked. “Anyway, I’ve only used it once since she gave it to me, but I refused to blast the music that was in the mix board library and uploaded some classical. thinking it was just some trick and the music didn’t really matter.”

“Did that work?”

“I wish…” Rarity shuddered violently. “The blouse came out as a… green wig...”

The sound of dread in the designer’s voice was instantly recognizable to the pegasus. It brought back the memory of one fateful afternoon in a convenient flashback form.

Fluttershy was sitting on her couch reading Dilbert & Gullivan while listening to the Hookes Brother’s latest Extended Play. It wasn’t exactly a methodical matchup for reading, but as good as it was, she couldn’t resist. Reminiscent of the way a writer might have trouble writing while catching up on some of the sickest electronic music.

What are you looking at me for?

But just as the writer was about to go into a pointless tangent that would’ve ultimately destroyed any remnant of the fourth wall for the rest of eternity, a sobbing white unicorn came crashing through the front door.

Just the door banging alone was enough to cause the pegasus to jump, causing the book to fly out of her hooves and land back down on her head. She quickly took a hoof to her head to rub the now sore area.

“Oww... what in the world.”

All Fluttershy received back was the odd combination of shuddering and sobbing. It sounded like somepony she knew rather well too. Opening her eyes again, she looked down upon a very distressed looking Rarity with her hooves over her eyes, adorned with the most hideous of hair styles since Cheerilee was a blank flank. Comparable to what a lawnmower might’ve hecked up after a long night of drinking.

“GREEN!!! IT’S GREEN I TELL YOU!!!” tears fell faster than water from Neighagra falls. “AN ATROCIOUS, UGLY, ABOMINABLE GREEEEEN!!!”

---

It took five boxes of tissues and six boxes of sweets to calm her down. Fluttershy reminisced. “I see how that could be… umm… traumatizing, for you.”

Shivers took hold of Rarity, “Traumatizing is an understatement. Regardless,” Rarity took a deep breath. “Either I present to our friends satchels they could’ve picked up at the second-hoof store, or I try again with this… contraption.”

“Are you sure you can do this, Rarity? I could try a hoof at it, given I already listen to dubstep, it shouldn’t be that big of deal.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Rarity stepped up to the mix board, steeling herself as she did. “It’s my fault Twilight and Rainbow’s bags aren’t ready, so the burden of responsibility rests on me.”

A moment of hesitation before Rarity flicked the switch to turn the table and the machine on. The metal colossus stirred to life uttering noises like that of an old locomotive engine, in the sense that said locomotive engine was busy getting it on with an enormous washing machine full of bricks and month-old corn flakes. Rarity stood at the ready as her horn flared to life. Eyes clenched as she imagined the specifics of the bookbags. Fluttershy watched as the node at the top of the machine began to light up in a spectrum of colors as the symbols shifted around one another. Streams of magic flowed from the top down into the machine as the spools of fabrics and thread came to life.

A visual before Rarity showed Rainbow Dash’s backpack in a blueprint-like 3D model with all of it’s pockets and zippers in specific fashion. The screen then indicated it required all sorts of prerequisites in the music choice. The display on the mix board in front of Rarity highlighted all songs that were applicable in this situation, offering her the option to chose from a small list.

Rarity took a deep breath, “Well, here we go.”

In Fluttershy’s own experiences with dubstep - from Chrispy’s rude awakenings to her own countless hours listening to “top 100 sickest drop” videos - she had encountered no shortage of heavy bass that would knock a filly to the ground.

But none of that could have prepared her for this.

HUAAAAWWWRRRRR!! FHFHFHFTHFTHFTHFTFH!!! ZUAAAWWWWRRRRR!!!!

The bass came upon her ears in similar fashion to how a horde of hydra may have fought over a mate. She felt the boutique shake at it’s foundation as the beats dropped, it was all too much, but at the same time, it was all too glorious! She saw the corner of Rarity’s mouth moving, likely screaming profanities as if yelling back at the machine, but she couldn’t for the life of her make out any of what she was trying to say.

WEAHHHX!!!WEAHHHX!!!VAHHHRR!!!!VAHHHRR!!!!ZIK-WUAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!

As the tune progressed, the display of the bookbag was flashing certain sections red at first to indicate they were in-progress. When they finished, they turned solid white. Progress was gob-smackingly fast, as over fifty percent of the bookbag was complete within the first two minutes. But with the bass so heavy that Fluttershy could feel herself sliding backwards as her hair acted as if it was in a wind tunnel, she didn’t know how long she could last. Nevermind Rarity.

And there the alabaster unicorn was, standing on her back hooves proudly as the dubstep went on and the backpack neared completion.

It was after that moment that the song went from sounding like a hydra-exclusive mosh pit to a robotic monstrosity scream-off.

BWAAAHHH!!!! ZEREAHZEREAHZEREAHZOW!!! KYRKYRADOW!!!!!

 Fluttershy felt the power of raw sound come at her with the force of the gods, lifting her up off the ground and sending her flying through the open door and down the hallway. She was caught up in a backflip out of her control. Before she knew it, she landed in the main lobby, shocked, and disoriented.

She got up and made her way back to Rarity, who was still, somehow, standing there at the mixboard adjusting all sorts of knobs and levers as prompts instructed her to. The closer she got, the harder it was to continue onward. Luckily though, the music was starting to die down.

BWAAAAHH!!! BAH DHOOHHH DHOOHHH!!! BWAH-BA-DHOHHH!!!

When the bass came to a halt, and the mix out was all the remaind, Fluttershy was able to re-enter the room.

She approached the mix board, where Rarity, somehow still there in one piece with her mane slightly worse-looking than it was before, was breathing heavily, eyes wide-open, with her hooves bracing her up on the table for support.

Fluttershy approached, stood up on her back hooves, and put a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder - who hadn’t reacted in the slightest - before asking:

“Are you okay?”

Taking more notice of the unicorn, Fluttershy deduced that she managed to look even more of a wreck than before. Her eyes were bloodshot, with the veins all but throbbing, Her hair was thrown about in ways indescribable, and besides her that her legs were shaking madly, she was breathing so heavily that one might have guessed she had just finished a triathlon.

“I-I-I’m… fine…” Rarity managed to get out, “At least, I think I will be…”

It was in those moments that the track in the middle of the machine began to move, and from the shadow emerge an intricate and awesome-looking jet-black satchel with a rainbow band going down the front flap vertically.

Rarity took the bag off the belt with her magic and brought it close, she lifted the front flap and began checking through every pocket, every zipper and pouch.

“It worked.” Rarity stumbled, “It actually worked.”

Fluttershy, smiling widely at the seemingly first success of the morning, patted her friend on the shoulder. “It looks wonderful Rarity, I can’t wait to see what Twilight’s looks like.”

Rarity flinched, clearly having forgotten that the battle was only half won.

“Oh… right…”

After surviving another dubstep storm and helping the fatigued Rarity get her day started, Fluttershy walked out of the Carousel Boutique with two new satchels hung from her neck. It was 8:15 when she checked the stove clock in Rarity’s house, which meant that she was running a little late to get to Twilight’s house. But, it couldn’t be helped, and in no way was that Fluttershy’s fault, for once.

With the worst behind her, Fluttershy couldn’t help but add a skip to her step as she drew nearer to the library. She knew it would hit her later that Twilight and Rainbow Dash were going to be gone for a while, and that she would miss them, but for now, it was time to happy. So when she approached the library door, she couldn’t help but act a little bit like Pinkie Pie as she swung the doors open and called out in a sing-song.

“Morning girls!”

“No, we’re not taking the friggin balloon up to Cloudsdale!” A somewhat muffled voice belonging to Rainbow Dash from upstairs yelled..

“Then how are we going to get there? A taxi?” A voice clearly belonging to Twilight responded. “We didn’t order one, the closest depot is in Canterlot and we need to be going in a few hours.”

And they’re arguing, Fluttershy tried not to sigh, I better help them. So with that, she put on her best smile before ascending up the staircase.

“Besides, what’s the big deal with the hot air balloon, anyway? It decent in travel-time with the right spell.”

“Speed isn’t my problem, Twi. It’s the matter of where we’re going to put it during the semester. It’s not exactly small, and I have no idea where you plan to store it.”

“Well, do you think we could ask your parents? They still live in Cloudsdale, right?”

“Yeah, but I can tell you now that you don’t want to leave it with my folks. You’re just asking for trouble.”

“And why would that be?”

“Because my Dad never let’s things be, Twilight. If he’s not rearranging everything that he doesn’t feel is exactly where it needs to b,e he takes it out and fiddles with it, we’ve lost family heirlooms to his tinkering.”

“I guess that is pretty bad.”

“You have no idea.”

Fluttershy arrived at the top of the stairs in those moments, seeing that Rainbow Dash was - as usual - hovering a few feet off the ground while Twilight was busy sorting her supplies.

“Uh, hey girls!” Fluttershy said again, trying to be cheerful. “Sorry I’m a little late.”

“No big deal, Fluttershy,” Twilight dismissed, before peering upon the backpacks the pegasus was carrying. “Are those the ones from Rarity?”

Fluttershy happily nodded before walking towards her friends. “Uh-huh, check them out.” The pegasus used a hoof to lift the straps from her neck, dropping them in front of her friends along with the scarves. Rainbow Dash landed to inspect hers, while Twilight picked hers up with her magic.

She gave the girls a few moments to ogle over the works of fine art before beating a hoof to her chest to clear her throat, garnering their attention. “Anyway, I heard you girls were having trouble with transportation?”

Rainbow nodded aggressively, “Twilight thinks she’s going to need the hot air balloon at Cloudsdale, or at least need one to get there.”

“And Rainbow’s hubris continues to dictate to me that she can manage to somehow fly while carrying me and both of our luggage.” Twilight finished for the pegasus. The offended mare gave the unicorn a glare that she wasn’t noticing.

Fluttershy rubbed her chin for a moment in contemplation, “Okay.” Fluttershy turned to look Rainbow Dash square in the eye. “Rainbow, why do you want to do this?”

“Because it’s less hassle, obviously.”

“Is that the extent of your reasoning?”

Dash shrugged, “Do I really need more?”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at this. “Really? Would you care if we tested that then?”

Rainbow blinked, and not the typical blink, but the one that someone does when they flinch for the briefest of moments, indicating they were probably caught off guard by that comment. Even though, for Rainbow, this should’ve been obvious in its coming. “Uhh, sure. I guess.”

With that, Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged a glance before Twilight set both of the new book bags down, opening the front flaps. Moments later, stacks of paper, binders journals, pencils, and all sorts of other essential supplies, including twilight’s choice literature to take, went flying into the packs. Another empty bag appeared, in which other items from outside the stack of school supplies came flying in.

“Oh,” Fluttershy perked up, “We can’t forget that Applejack is still bringing the package, going to need about 5 textbooks in weight I estimate.”

Approximately thirty seconds later, Rainbow Dash had on two sets of fully-loaded saddlebags, and both of the bookbags. One might’ve have expected the pegasus to looked even the slightest inhibited by all the stuff on her. But it likely came with be a constantly-training athlete that they could manage to carry the extra burden.

“Okay, Rainbow,” Twilight announced, grinning wide enough. “Let’s see how you do with that first.”

“My pleasure,” Rainbow flared her wings out and began to flap, managing with just a little struggle. In five seconds, the pegasus was three meters off the ground with only small signs of struggle being expressed from the corners of her face. When she remained stable for a good ten seconds, she landed back down as graceful as she possibly could with a grin on her face, and a hood to her chest ready to receive applause.

“Wow, Rainbow,” Fluttershy commented with the slightest of slyness to her tone, “All that training for the Wonderbolts is really paying off.”

“Yup,” Rainbow stretched her legs, “I’ve been doing the heavy lifting routines lately.”

The two mares watched her for a second as she spread her wings to show off mostly to herself.

“So,” Fluttershy moved things along, “Rainbow, are you ready to try it with Twilight’s added weight?”

Rainbow flinched, ceasing all body movement except for a widening of the eyes as if realizing a second beforehand that she was to be frozen in time and space. A few seconds like this, and she looked to her friends, as assuring as she could manage.

“Uh… yeah! Sure.”

Fluttershy could feel the smirk the went across Twilight’s face before the unicorn approached the now-uneasy pegasus that looked like she was preparing for a serious blow to her ego. Still, Rainbow Dash complied as she kneeled down a bit, allowing Twilight to climb on her back. As Rainbow stood up again - showing minor signs of struggle - Twilight wrapped her forelegs around her neck.

“Okay, Dash, anytime you’re ready.” Twilight said with enough slyness to poison a king.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, spreading out her wings before beginning to beat them. She quickly picked up the speed she needed for carrying the supplies - which was pretty fast already - to find she still wasn’t making it off the ground.

Not giving up so easily, the pegasus kicked it into full gear, working her wing muscles like that of a hummingbird. The pegasus was putting everything she got into this moment, Unfortunately, everything she’s got was exactly 32.8569% short. and all the pegasus accomplished was circulating the air in Twilight’s house. Rainbow Dash eventually gave up, kneeling down to breathe deeply.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight called out from on top of Dash, “I think my pony’s broken.”

“Har har…” Rainbow managed through heavy breathing while Twilight slid off her back. “You could afford to lay off fritters, y’know.”

The unicorn came up beside her and looked her in the eyes, “For your information Rainbow, I lost five pounds in the last week.”

“Great, just fifty more to go.”

A split second passed before a magically-conjured slap came across Rainbow’s face. It wasn’t hard hitting, but it had a sting to it nonetheless, bringing the pegasus to rub the side of her face.

“Yeah, I guess I deserved that.”

“Anyway,” Fluttershy interjected, “I guess we can rule out Rainbow Dash as the one and only means of travel.”

“Right,” Twilight nodded, “So we’re back to the balloon.”

“Ugh,” Dash groaned, pulling the bags off her back to free herself, “I told you the balloon isn’t going to work, why won’t you listen to me?”

“Because, Rainbow, there’s more places to store it than your parent’s house.”

“Oh really, miss IknoweverythingaboutCloudsdaledespiteonlybeingthereonce where could you store the gosh darn balloon?” She didn’t wait for a reply before continuing her rant. “There’s no kind of parking garage in Cloudsdale, cause we obviously don’t need one.To be honest, you really should’ve ordered a chariot ahead of time.”

“Wait a minute…” Twilight turned to Fluttershy, “Do you still have that magic cart of yours? The one we had to retrieve from Froggy Bottom Bog after the hydra attack.”

“Oh, that thing? Well, no..,” Fluttershy sighed. “It was stolen a few months back.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. “Stolen?”

“Well, yes.” Fluttershy sighed. “Pinkie and I were using it as a ‘mobile love shack’.”

The other two mares went wide-eyed as they scream. “WHAT?!!!”

“IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!” Fluttershy quickly yelled back, realizing her tone, she put a hoof over her mouth, sighed, before continuing. “Basically, I had the cart hovering in the air, threw a tarp over it, and Pinkie sat inside to give anyone who came in free hugs.”

“Oh.” Twilight put a hoof to her chest a took a deep breath.

“Unfortunately,” Fluttershy continued, “Some changelings came by and got the idea that the cart was some sort of device that caused people to be affectionate towards them, and made off with it. I haven’t seen it since.”

At those words, Twilight just stared, partially flabbergasted, and somewhat uncomprehending of the situation, with a side of disappointment. The expression on her face was one not to miss. “Why would… why…”

“Believe me, Twilight, I stopped trying to understand weeks ago.”

Rainbow Dash decided to inject herself back into the conversation. “Okay, so the balloon, the cart, and me carrying the load are all out. So any other ideas?”

“Well…” The unicorn of the group thought on it, before turning her head to Fluttershy, “I’d hate to ask so much of you, but do you think you could help us with the trip? If all possible?”

“Umm… well… no.” Fluttershy looked a little crestfallen. “Today is the monthly medical checkup for all the animals, and that’s a lot of paperwork I have to go over with the vet.”

With that, Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight before saying. “Well, now we’re really out of options.”

“Oh come one, Dash.” Twilight tried to defuse the situation - noticing Fluttershy was starting to act like it was her fault - “There’s gotta be other ways of getting to Cloudsdale.”

“No, Twilight, there isn’t.” Rainbow raised her voice. “And before you ask, I can’t make two trips in one day either, not with Cloudsdale being relocated another hundred miles away from Canterlot for this time of the year. So unless some ultra-convenient deus ex machina comes falling from the sky we’re pretty much-”

At that, a deep purple alicorn came crashing through the bedroom window. The ponies all had a split second to recognize the mass before jumping out of the way. The alicorn tumbled across the ground, crashing into the stack of books, paper,and assorted supplies before hitting one of the bookcases, a few books fells on top of the disorientated alicorn..

The ponies in the room approached her, noticing the ethereal mane full of tiny stars, the crescent moon cutie mark, and the near-empty bottle of Tryptych Tequila.

“Princess Luna?” They all asked in unison.

Luna’s expression turn wide eyed as she practically yelled. “Toobright Blinkle! Spectrum Sprint! Shuttercry!” She took a few deep breaths as her eyelids began to close. “Nice to see you all…”