In An Instant

Fluttershy knew this day was coming.

There was no way around it, she reminded herself that she didn't want that.

The whole camp was taking a day off of their duties for her.

It was her wedding day, and the first wedding in the years and years since all of the Equestrians who were still alive moved to the Everfree Forest. She would lead the charge in reproduction, Zecora told her. The thought made Fluttershy sick.

But there was no way around it. No way. No way...

"Oh Fluttershy," Pinkie Pie said to her. "You look gorgeous."

Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement. She did look quite beautiful, compared to how she and the rest of the ponies usually looked. Rarity had stitched together a dress, and though it looked nothing like a normal wedding dress, it was finely stitched, and some of the color schemes looked intentional. Pinkie Pie had helped Rarity do Fluttershy's mane and tail, using oils to smooth it down and lacing flowers through it. Fluttershy had even went to the river before to take a bath, leaving her face free of her usual mud mask.

"I am so grateful for your help," said Fluttershy. "I know that this is a day I will remember forever." The word stuck to her tongue as she forced herself to say it.

"I am grateful for you, darling."

"Me two!" added Pinkie.

Fluttershy could hear Zecora calling all the ponies into her hut, signalling that the ceremony was about to start. "We best be going," Rarity said, nudging Pinkie through the doorway.

"We're counting on you!" their voices sung when Fluttershy could no longer see them.

Fluttershy sighed to herself as she stood and walked through the doorway.

As a filly, she'd dreamed of her wedding. She'd wear an elegant white gown, her father would walk her down the aisle, all would shed a tear when they saw her beauty. The stallion of her dreams would be waiting for her at the altar.

But this day was nothing like the wedding that Fluttershy dreamed of for so long. All of her companions turned to look at her from their crowded room, nothing like the pews in which they were supposed to sit. There was no altar, just Zecora and her husband to-be standing on a dirt mound. There was no flower filly, tossing her petals down the aisle. Zecora made sure everypony knew how valuable plants were, never to be tossed away like garbage. Although, there were a few orange flowers sitting on top of a pedestal on the dirt mound.

Fluttershy took a deep breath and began walking. She sang a little tune to herself, the song she'd heard at weddings as a filly. But there was no music. No smiles. No tears to be cried. Not even her father was there. She walked down the aisle herself.

A few days before, Fluttershy had even overheard mares weeping, wondering if they were the next to be married.

Fluttershy finally made it to the dirt, and turned to smile at her "husband." It was Dumbbell. Fluttershy and Dumbbell had been known each other for the longest time. Everypony thought that they would be perfect for each other. At least, Zecora told her, it would be easier than having to pair her with some random stallion, which she would have to do with every other couple she married.

"Marriage symbolizes love forever and forever, so today I marry these two, always together," Zecora announced, turning heads towards her. "As husband and wife, which they shall be-"

"Oh, come on! Skip the sappy stuff!"

Fluttershy smiled as she heard the voice behind her say. She recognized it immediately: Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy had always been jealous of how Rainbow was bold enough to speak her mind.

Zecora cleared her throat and sent Rainbow Dash a glare. "And just like these flowers, with their petals orange-"

Fluttershy bit her lip. She watched Zecora struggle to find a rhyming word.

"Uh, Zecora?"

The mare named Applejack stepped forward from the crowd. Fluttershy didn't know her well, but knew she was a hard worker with lots of determination. "Mind if I step in?"

Zecora sighed and filled in Applejack's spot in the crowd. Applejack tapped her hoof to her chin. "Well, the Apples never really had traditional weddin's, so I guess I'll just have ta do my best."

She smiled at Fluttershy and Dumbbell. "Marriage is a very important part o' life. We all know that is symbolizes eternal love, but I reckon it stands for a whole lot more. It symbolizes ups and downs, the good times and the bad times, and the overall compromise that two ponies have when married. But ponies get married 'cause they know they can handle it if it's with somepony they love."

Dumbbell looked down at Fluttershy, smiling. She smiled back, for once finding warmth in his blue eyes.

"So do you, Dumbbell, take Fluttershy to be yer lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"And do you, Fluttershy, take Dumbbell to be yer lawfully wedded husband?"

"I-"

"HELP ME!"

The crowd gasped as the shrill call for help cut through the hut. Fluttershy spun around, ready to fight at any moment. Pinkie Pie tossed her her spear, and the two soldiers ran in front of the other ponies.

A small filly ran in, with red hair and a yellow coat. She looked tattered and worn, and there were many bruises and cuts all over her body.

Applejack gasped and ran to the front line. "AB?"

AB? Fluttershy mouthed the words to Pinkie, who shrugged. There was nopony in the camp with those initials.

Applejack hugged the filly and began to cry. "Oh, AB, you had me so worried-"

Pinkie ran between Applejack and the filly. "AJ, you shouldn't do that. We don't know this filly."

"What are you talkin' about?" asked Applejack, her voice breaking. "This is my sister!"

Another gasp arose from the crowd. "It can't be," Fluttershy said. "Everyone outside of camp is dead."

"You're right."

The filly began to laugh, a laugh much deeper and heartier than a filly her age could manage. The suddenly grew taller, and with a flash of green light, wings grew out of her back and holes formed in her legs, which now were black as the night.

"It's a changeling!" cried many ponies from the crowd.

Pinkie and Fluttershy charged after it, but Fluttershy tripped on her dress. Quickly pulling it off, she cursed herself.

Pinkie threw her spear at the monster. It laughed and easily lifted itself off the ground. Rainbow Dash tried soaring into it, but missed. Or so Fluttershy thought, until she saw Rainbow speeding around it, creating a huge rainbow whirlwind.

"Everypony run!" yelled Fluttershy, and soon the hut was empty.

The changeling was dizzy. It tried to keep itself flying but soon fell to the ground. Applejack, blind with fury, ran to the monster and started kicking it with her hind legs. It sat still.

"How-could-you-" Applejack roared between kicks. Fluttershy watched as the changeling sat defenseless.

Applejack soon grew tired. "Is it dead?" she asked.

In an instant, everything had changed. Pinkie and Fluttershy approached it cautiously. "I don't-"

In an instant, the changeling ran to Applejack and bit her on the flank. Applejack gasped, and soon blood ran from where her cutie mark was. Zecora rushed over to her, and Pinkie and Fluttershy readied their spears, but it was no use. The changeling wrapped Applejack with its spit until she was inside a cocoon.

Fluttershy felt sick as she saw the mare, with bloodshot eyes and a messy mane, floating in the goop inside her cocoon. She soon felt lightheaded, and watched the changeling fly into the green sky before fainting.