Rainbow Dash's Simple Solution
"Twilight!" shouted the voice of Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle turned her head toward the source of the voice, searching for her friend's conspicuous rainbow mane among the crowd of ponies who had come to trade their possessions.
A blue blur appeared and stopped in front of her seat. "You've gotta help me!" cried Rainbow Dash.
"Calm down, Rainbow!" said Twilight. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," replied her friend quickly, "I just need some help. I needed to trade an orthos for a first edition Daring Do book-"
"Orthos?" asked Twilight, confused. Then her expression turned to shock. "First edition?"
"Yes! So you totally see why I have to have it, right?"
"Of course!" said Twilight. "Knowing you, you would do almost anything to get that book! But why do you need my help?"
"Oh, right!" said Rainbow Dash hastily. "Um, well, Fluttershy sort of agreed to stay with the new owner to train the orthos for a few months in return for the Daring Do book-"
"What?" exclaimed Twilight. "You made Fluttershy agree to a deal like that?"
"I didn't make her agree to anything!"
"Did she volunteer?" asked Twilight skeptically.
"Well, no, but-"
"But what? Rainbow, you know you can't make a deal like that!"
"Don't worry, Twilight, I have this all figured out! All we need to do is get Fluttershy to use that mirror pool thingamajig that pinkie used to create copies of herself!
"Rainbow, have you lost your senses? There's a reason we sealed that place off forever!"
"We sealed it off from other ponies because they might misuse it, but this is for a good cause! We only need to have just one copy of Fluttershy! Just one!"
"Rainbow, have you forgotten how much trouble Pinke Pie caused with that pool?"
"Think about it, Twilight! The copies don't care about anything except for the pony's special talent! With the copies of Pinkie Pie, there's no stopping them once they decide what they want to do for fun, but how much trouble could a single Fluttershy cause? It would be completely dedicated to taking care of the orthos!
"But Rainbow Dash, what if it reacts in a way that we don't expect? We can't take that risk."
"Look Twilight, I'll admit that those copies of Pinkie were nothing but trouble. But Fluttershy? Even if the copy did decide to rebel, I don't think it would be very hard stop it. Erm, don't tell Fluttershy that I said that."
Twilight said nothing for a while.
"Well?" demanded Rainbow Dash.
"Okay, okay!" Twilight relented. "But if we're going to do this, we need to be quick before anypony comes searching for us. Go get Fluttershy."
There was a flash of light in the chamber of the mirror pool and Twilight appeared with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash beside her.
"Okay Fluttershy, are you ready?" asked Twilight.
"Um, why are we doing this again?"
"It's really simple!" said Rainbow Dash enthusiastically. "Pinkie Pie told us how to use the mirror pool to make a copy of yourself, and the copy can take care of the orthos, and you can stay here with us and everypony will be happy! Even the copy!"
"Oh. But... Remember what happened with Pinkie? Is this safe?" asked Fluttershy, addressing her last words to Twilight.
"Rainbow and I thought it over," replied Twilight, "And we are positive that the copy will not be a problem. And even if it is a problem, we can handle it, since..." Twilight trailed off, suddenly deciding not to say what she was about to say. "Well anyway," she continued hurriedly, "it won't be a problem."
"Well, alright, if you say so."
"Can we hurry this up?" asked Rainbow Dash, earning herself a look from Twilight. "What? You said yourself that you need to be quick before anypony else needs you."
Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "Are you sure you are okay with this?" she asked the pegasus.
"If... this is how we can make everypony happy, then I'm more than willing to do it," said Fluttershy confidently.
This answer was satisfactory to Twilight, who then said, "Alright, follow me." She walked to the edge of the water.
Fluttershy followed and looked down into the water.
"Alright Fluttershy, just repeat after me. Ready?"
"I don't think this is going to work," muttered Fluttershy.
"What?" asked Twilight. Rainbow Dash walked next to Fluttershy to hear her better.
"I said I don't think this is going to work."
"What?" asked Rainbow Dash in surprise. "Why?"
"Look," said Fluttershy, indicating the water directly below her with a hoof.
"I don't see anything," said Rainbow Dash. There was two seconds of silence. "Wait... whoa."
"What?" shouted Rainbow Dash. "What's going on here? Something's not right!"
"Hmm," said Twilight, her head tilted to the side. "That is strange."
Upon the surface of the pool was, in contrast to the reflections of the two ponies beside her, a distinct lack of a reflection of Fluttershy.
"How can that be?" demanded Rainbow Dash. "This doesn't make any sense! This was supposed to be simple!"
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight. "But it looks like this is one problem that magic just can't solve. We will have to figure another way."
"This wasn't even a problem until it stopped working! What am I going to do? And why doesn't Fluttershy have a reflection? It doesn't make sense!"
"Dash!" said Twilight in slight surprise. "You're a full grown mare. You know you can't just break down when things don't go your way!"
"I'm surprised that you aren’t freaking out!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "This is impossible! Doesn't that bother you?"
Twilight thought about it. "The mirror pool probably just doesn't work on some ponies for some reason," she said eventually. "I don't know why, and it is interesting, but I don't have the time to study it right now. We have to go back now!"
Twilight's horn started to glow.
"This is lame!" cried Dash to nopony in particular. "How can Fluttershy not have a reflection?"
Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy (who had been too nervous to say anything since Rainbow's outbreak) disappeared in a flash of magical light.
Author's Note
For anyone who doesn't get it, here's a hint: Fluttershy wouldn't have a reflection in a regular mirror either.
This silly short story is a small way of saying sorry to people for disappearing for weeks and weeks. I'm sorry!
