Who Your True Friends Are

Visual never did tell me how I could possibly find the last of my friends, but with hopes that I would find them, I was back on the road. I trotted around town, and saw the Everfree Forest in the distance. I ran toward its direction, and came across Fluttershy's cottage. Now, I hadn't even been in Equestria for a day, so I wasn't accustomed to being a pony, rather than a brony, so my feelings of love for Fluttershy overtook me, and I rushed to the cottage, and knocked on the door, only to get no response. How could everypony from the show be gone, and only my friends' OCs and I be present? I did notice a note on the door, written in very beautiful scripture,

"I'll be taking care of your home and animal friends while you're away. Don't worry about a thing. - Krystal" I remember Krys mentioning that she tends to act like Fluttershy at times, so I figured she must show up here at some point.

I waited for a few minutes, and soon enough, I saw a pink pegasus mare flying toward me. When they came closer, their blue and yellow mane, along with their medical book cutie mark proved to me that this was the last of my friends. She saw me at the door, and said,

"You must be here to help Fluttershy, too. That's nice of you." Her voice seemed slightly deep for a mare, but she certainly looked feminine, so I didn't judge.

"Actually I was about to leave. Would you happen to be Ms. Krystal Vaportrail?" She seemed flattered to hear that I knew her name.

"Yes, that's me. Who are you, sir?" It was official. None of my friends remembered me. Sure I was sad about that, but I still had to play it cool.

"I'm Source Code. I came here looking for Fluttershy. Any idea where she is?"

"Actually, I haven't a clue." She started to quiver. "P-please don't be m-mad at me."

"Hey, don't worry about it. You can't help it if you don't know." She gave me a labored smile, as if she was trying to not look bad. "It's really nice of you to take care of her cottage while she's gone."

"Well, from what I heard, she and her friends have been gone for a while. In fact, most of town has been dead quiet for a while now." This concerned me, since the Summer Sun Celebration was coming soon. I thought about how my invitation letter from Princess Celestia was the only mention of the canon characters to this point. I tried not to worry about it, and asked Krystal,

"So, how has your research on cryptids been coming along?" She seemed shocked.

"How did you know I study cryptozoology?" I didn't want to alarm her with any knowledge about her, so I responded,

"I just guessed based on your cutie mark." She still looked a bit skeptical, but she wasn't alarmed. Suddenly, my TATTHoW started to speak,

"Source Code, I thought I should inform you that it has been almost a half-hour since you agreed to visit Aqua Flare at Sugarcube Corner." I had completely forgotten about my plans to meet up with him later, but now that the time for it had come, I said to Krystal,

"I'm really sorry, but I have to go. I'm meeting a friend, and I'd hate to be late."

"It's okay, I understand." She looked like she was about to cry, so I said,

"Hey, how about I come back later to help you out? I promise I'll be here."

"You sure?"

"Totally. I wouldn't lie to a pretty face like yours." She blushed, and replied,

"Okay then. See you later." I smiled, and trotted off to where nopony could see me. I then tapped on my TATTHoW, thought about Sugarcube Corner, closed my eyes, and hit the blue button. I opened my eyes, and I was there.