Prologue
I never visited Ponyville often, in fact I don’t believe I have ever even been to Ponyville until the day I was relocated there.
It was hard to leave my club in Canterlot. My songs played for all the ponies there that were looking for a good time or just to dance off some stress or needed some time away from all the fanciness around them. I also hosted many great parties for some of Equestria’s top notch celebrities, even Celestia herself had been seen on the dance floor.
But that ended with the letter.
I will never forget the day I got the letter telling me I would be transferred to Ponyville. Princess Celestia wanted an operative in Ponyville to make sure nothing was “out of place,” the letter said. I thought that my apprentice, Vinyl, had Ponyville under watch. What could be so wrong?
I was given a home just on the outskirts of town. It was a comfortable two-story house with enough room for ten ponies including myself.
Upon my arrival, I spotted another Pegasus with yellow hair and a pale pink mane. She was talking to a rabbit, whom she called Angel, and many other animals that were helping to clean the house up a bit. I knocked on the open door.
“Hello there.”
With a shriek, the Pegasus jumped into the air and nearly hit her head on the ceiling. She covered her head underneath her hooves and started shaking frantically. I flew in to make sure she was alright. I put a reassuring wing over her shoulder and she seemed to calm down.
“Are you ok?” I asked. She opened her eyes and looked straight at me. They were a beautiful sky blue. I felt my heart rate speed up as I started sweating a little.
“Oh… y-yes. I-I’m fine,” she whispered. Her voice sounded so calm, so soothing, so beautiful. I didn’t know what to say.
“I guess I should be going now. I’m sorry to intrude, I didn’t know you would be arriving so soon.”
“It’s umm… ok…”
“Well, good-bye.”
I didn’t try to stop her. It would have been awkward anyway, but I could have at least gotten to know her name.
That same day, I made a visit to Vinyl’s club to find out why I was transferred. It wasn’t hard to find her club considering I could feel the wubs from my temporary home. Her club wasn’t actually too far from the house, just a 5 minute walk or a 1 minute flight (R.E.G. operatives were always trained to record the amount of time it takes to get from one area to the other on hoof or in flight).
She had hired two muscular stallions (not exactly R.E.G. material) to watch the entrance and make sure there would be no trouble with the guests. They stopped me in front of the door.
“Name?” They both said in low, “menacing” voices
“Storm.”
They check both of their clipboards to find my name. “Not on the list,” they both said
“Did you check the V.I.P. list?” I questioned.
The two bodyguards looked at each other and nodded. “We are sorry to keep you waiting Agent Storm.” They opened the door and let me into the club, but I was almost blasted back by the intense sound waves.
Inside the club, hundreds of ponies were dancing. I had to push through the crowd to eventually find my way to Vinyl’s turntable.
“Hey Boss!” (She had called me that since day one of her training) “Some party huh?”
“I’ve seen larger,” I shouted over the music.
“No need to brag about it,” she said sarcastically. She turned to the party ponies and stopped the music. “Yo everypony! Ima take a quick break to catch up with my associate here. In the mean time here are some of his hits coming from you all the way from Canterlot. This is some stuff he worked very hard on so please give a warm welcome for Tunestorm!” She turned back to me. “So what’s up?”
“To be honest, I don’t know why Celestia would send you here,” Vinyl said. “Everything has been the same ever since you have sent me here to complete my training.”
I sent Vinyl to Ponyville to show me that she could work independently. She easily passed and was able to send me enough reports to show she had everything under control.
“Well I need to find out what is ‘out of place’ before something bad happens. Think you can look out for something suspicious while you can?”
“I sure can!” Vinyl said with enthusiasm
“Good. By the way, do you know a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and-“
“And sky blue eyes?” she said before I could finish. “Yes I do. Her name is Fluttershy. Why?”
“She just uhhh… seemed… a little… suspicious,” I blushed a little when I said it. I didn’t usually talk about my love life with Vinyl. However, I did talk to her about Thunderwing, but that’s a long, depressing story.
“Whatever floats your boat, boss,” She smiled and winked at me.
“Just stay focused on the task at hand, Vinyl.”
“As long as you do the same, Storm.”
“The only thing out of place was...”
It was my fourth day in Ponyville and nothing seemed suspicious during my patrols around the town. Not even Vinyl’s reports had any suspicious activity listed. The only thing that seemed strange was the reoccurring dream I kept having. It was Celestia saying something but I couldn’t make out the words to know what she was trying to tell me.
A week went by and nothing had changed. The dream kept coming back to me and I still could not understand any of it. I spent the entire morning lying in my bed thinking about what it could mean. I eventually just gave up and tried to go back to sleep, but I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Who could that be? I thought to myself. I flew downstairs at a lazy pace and opened the door not expecting it to be anybody important. The next thing I saw was a flash of yellow and pink and blue eyes staring right into mine. My heart dropped.
We stood there staring at each other for what seemed like days until I spoke first.
“Would you like to come in?”
“I would appreciate it.” She said at almost a whisper.
There was an awkward feeling, but it just felt right. It is very hard to explain why and I never bothered to question it.
“Are you enjoying your stay at Ponyville?” she finally asked almost catching me off guard.
“Wha? Oh yes! It is such a fine town.”
“I’m sure it doesn’t compare to Canterlot,” she said glumly.
“Canterlot… gets a bit boring after a while. It’s good to visit different parts of Equestria.”
“Do you travel often?”
“I wish I could…” I said
“What’s holding you back?” she asked me. I was sure she thought I could travel anywhere since I had wings, but then I remembered she did to.
“I have… certain duties that keep me from spending a lot of time outside.”
“Oh… I see…”
“If only you could…”
We sat on the couch and talked for the whole afternoon, but when there was nothing left to say, we sat in silence for what seemed like another year.
It had gotten dark before Fluttershy decided she should leave. But before she could walk out the door, a bellow of thunder roared in the distance but it was still enough to make her jump under my wing. I looked at her. She looked at me and blushed.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that-“
“It’s fine,” I whispered “you can spend the night if you want.”
She blushed more. “Thank you, Storm.”
I let her sleep in my bed and I would sleep on the couch and that was I guess what you could call my first date with the love of my life. But this story isn’t over yet.
“…your heart.”
That night, the dream came back to me for the last time, but I could actually understand Celestia this time and there was more to the message.
“You seemed different after Thunderwing broke your heart. You closed it and concealed it in anger. You excluded yourself away from everyone. Your music had a different tone. You needed someone.”
“So she sent me here to find someone and learn that I wasn’t alone?” I asked out loud to myself that morning. “Does that mean I have to go back to Canterlot?”
“Is something wrong Storm?” Fluttershy said from the kitchen. She had decided to wake up early and make breakfast.
“No everything is fine,” I said although it was quite obvious something was wrong.
“Are you sure?” She was obviously worried.
“Y-yes. I just… need to go back to Canterlot…”
“What!? But we just met each other and… and…” She started crying. I knew she wouldn’t like the news, but I couldn’t hide it from her forever and I needed to talk to Princess Celestia at once.
“I’m sorry, it’s just for a little while. I will be back, I promise.” She trotted up close to me and placed her head gently on my shoulder.
“I will miss you,” she sobbed. I hugged her with my wings
“I will miss you too.”
And for the first time, we kissed.
I flew as fast as I could to Canterlot. I didn’t stop when I got to Celestia’s palace gates. I flew over them, through the doors and straight into the palace throne room and almost crashed into Princess Celestia.
“Ah, Tune Storm, it is nice to see you! How is your current assignment?” She asked me this as if she had no clue what my status was, but it was obvious she knew.
“I *pant* know why you sent me to Ponyville.”
“Oh do you?”
“Yes.”
“Well then what is your report, my little agent?”
“I learned that one break up isn’t worth to send yourself into a deep depression. There are plenty of ponies out there, you just have to find the right one. But, I have one question.”
“What is it?” Celestia asked.
“Standard R.E.G. protocol requires me to return home after an assignment has been completed. Does that mean… I have to leave Fluttershy?” I almost started tearing up at the thought of it.
“Well… I would think that Ponyville is your home now, don’t you, Storm?”
My heart exploded with joy when I heard the Princess say those words. “Thank you, Celestia!” I bowed.
“Now go to her.”
And with that, I flew back… home.
I made it back just as Fluttershy was leaving the house.
“Your back!” she exclaimed excitedly
“I am back, and I am staying,” and we kissed again.
I had the most fun I ever had with Fluttershy at my side. She gave me a proper tour of Ponyville and introduced me to her friends. We went to her house and I met Angel properly. I also introduced her to Vinyl and danced at the club for a while. It was the best day of my life, or so I thought.
I had gotten back home after a long day of traveling around Ponyville. I had walked Fluttershy back to her cottage and then flew back to my house to go to sleep. I flew through my bedroom window, straight into my bed, and fell asleep.
I woke up on a cold, tile floor and I could already tell something didn’t seem right. I looked up and noticed I was in my house, in Canterlot. Why am I here? How long have I been here? Where is Vinyl? Where is Fluttershy? There were too many questions I was asking myself. Suddenly a horrid thought came upon me, but it must have been true. It was all a dream. I felt my eyes starting to water as I realized that the love of my life might not even be real. I climbed back into my bed and almost fell asleep, but I heard my mail slot open and slam shut. I looked up and saw a note on the floor. I got up and opened it and what caught my eyes were five words.
“Something is out of place.”
ALTERNATE ENDING
I had gotten back home after a long day of traveling around Ponyville. I had walked Fluttershy back to her cottage and then flew back to my house to go to sleep. I flew through my bedroom window, straight into my bed, and fell asleep.
I woke up on a cold, tile floor and I could already tell something didn’t seem right. I looked up and noticed I was in my house, in Canterlot. Why am I here? How long have I been here? Where is Vinyl? Where is Fluttershy? There were too many questions I was asking myself. Suddenly a horrid thought came upon me, but it must have been true. It was all a dream. I felt my eyes starting to water as I realized that the love of my life might not even be real. I cleared blinked away the tears as I walked out of my house and journeyed to the top of the canyon above Canterlot. I looked down at the city and out towards the horizon in the general direction of Ponyville. I sighed as I spread my wings to fly just past the ledge. When I was far enough from it, I closed my eyes and closed my wings. I fell straight down, head first. The only thing that could stop me was the ground.
With a snap, I woke up and jumped out of bed. It took me a while to realize it, but I was back at my house in Ponyville.
“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?” I looked at the door to see Fluttershy staring at me.
“It’s o.k.” I said reassuringly. “It was a bad dream anyway. What are you doing here so early?” I asked not realizing that it was actually Noon.
“I just wanted to know, if you have the time that is, if you wanted to… umm… be my date to Rarity’s party.” She smiled to cover up her nervousness.
“I would love to go!” I said with a smile
“Oh thank you thank you thank you.” She said as she kissed me on the cheek over and over again. “It’s a formal party so you are going to need a suit,” She said almost a bit too excitedly, “I bought one this morning for you, or at least if you want it.” She held up a purple tuxedo with a black tie and belt. “I thought the color would match your eyes,” she said a bit sheepishly and blushed.
“It’s perfect.”