Last Option and a Pair of New Wings

Fluttershy, adorned in a wool hat and a green striped scarf, carried a tea set with her teeth, making it shake in the process of action as she was nervous as to make it fall and break. And because of how chilly it was. Straight and forward, straight and forward, straight and-

The sound of a crash from outside of her cottage had startled her as she jumped and accidentally let go of her tray. Feared for the worst, she flinched as her wings shielded her in instinct. Waiting for the sound of ceramic breaking, she was surprised when she heard nothing. "Oh, do be careful!"

Fortunately, Rarity, with a wool hat and a light blue scarf on as well, was there and in time to use her magic to levitate everything before it dropped. Carefully, she placed it on the coffee table. Fluttershy sighed in relief as she turned to Rarity. "Thank you." she said as she went to take a seat by the couch. Rarity, along with a plate of sliced fruit, placed it carefully on the table. Fluttershy flew to pour the tea out into the cups setted.

They both took a seat and sipped in peace. Rarity bit into an apple slice, although the uneasiness look of her friend's face didn't go unnoticed. ".....Fluttershy?"

"H-huh?" she looked up, feeling embarrassed from being caught zoning out.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked as she took another bite.

Fluttershy laughed nervously as she smiled. "O-oh, it's nothing."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Darling, you've been acting like this for too long. It must be something that's bothering you- even Angel seems to be keeping it a secret!" she said as coincidentally Angel walked into the kitchen with his arms crossed. "Whatever is bothering you must be-"

They were interrupted by a large thud from outside the cottage, followed by the panicked sounds of-

"The animals!" exclaimed Fluttershy as she rushed outside to see the commotion, Rarity following along.

Fluttershy looked at the scene that had enveloped in her backyard. Although the snow was thick, the thing that had dug it's own grave in her backyard didn't go unnoticed. A letterbox, with a patch of grass still attached to the end of its pole.

The animals hid behind her, waiting for Fluttershy to examine the 'threat'. Rarity looked out from the cottage window instead, unfazed at all as she looked at her hooves bored. "A letterbox? Ponies seem to be getting creative with their 'toss-aways' these days. I'm waiting for a mannequin to come by one day, you know, so I could stop working with the pillows of your couch or on you. Wouldn't you say, Fluttershy?" she asked as she raised her head and looked forward. But no reply as she realised how still she was. "Fluttershy?"

"How long will they keep this up." asked Fluttershy unexpectedly, her tone monotone. Rarity tilted her head.

"Dear, I doubt it'll end any time soon. It has been going on for age-"

"Where are the Princesses with all this?!" asked Fluttershy as she flapped her wings in anger. "It's been years! Surely they've came up with some kind of way to solve this!" she stomped her hoof.

Rarity was taken aback by her friend's sudden pitch of tone. Her eyes fluttered as she looked at her. "...wow....I never thought I'd hear you complain this way...."

"Because-..." she paused as she took a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. She folded her wings neatly this time. She hung her head as she spoke. "...I'm sorry. I'm just..tired. Tired of all this."

Rarity sighed. "I can say the same for myself." Fluttershy fluttered her wings as she slowly made her way back into the cottage. Taking a seat in her original place once more on the couch, she stared blankly at the floor.

"We need to do something." said Fluttershy, looking at Rarity with bold determined eyes.

"Fluttershy, what could we possibly-"

"No!" she said as she stomped her hoof. "The longer we don't do anything, the less chance we'll even survive winter. Being cooped up in this cottage will get us killed quicker!" she turned away as she felt her own eyes water.

"Fluttershy," said Rarity. Her friend's breakdowns have been more and more worrisome. After Twilight had shun them from her life, things have been going downhill. Even the most fearless of ponies like Applejack and Rainbow would shudder at the sound of her footsteps clicking on the crystallised floors of her balcony, for when she is present the whole town shuts down and silence takes over. Fluttershy hadn't been the same after seeing the castle guards outside the castle burning all the little gifts she and the rest of the group had been leaving whenever a festival or a celebration arrived. Her birthday, Hearths Warming Eve, Nightmare Night, they were always determined to try and change Twilight's perspective. Brighten her mood. To do anything.

She remembered how depressed Pinkie became at the sight of her little hoofmade Hearts Warming Eve ornaments and birthday cards being burned to nothing but ash. All her hardwork, her dedication, her hope, all gone in one second. Even so, the remains of her hope was the only thing left that wielded her the strength to keep on going. Rainbow of course, decided to drop it. She cared not for Twilight's antics anymore. But to say that it left a permanent scar in her mind, the fact that she was still loyal to the very end had cost her her own life.

"Fluttershy," she called out once more. Fluttershy's left ear twitched, but she didn't turn her gaze. "Fluttershy. What do you say we do then? You know we can't get little miss perfect's attention, what other plan would you have to stop her declarative act of war?"

"There's not just one Princess in this world, right? The sisters? Surely they could help."

"I doubt it. If they could, the could've done so sooner. Yet alone Twilight's thick minded. Now that she has her own title, Princess Celestia is nothing but an ally. Not a leader above her, since now technically they're both leaders. Sometimes I regret ever helping her achieve it."

Fluttershy frowned. She really didn't know what to do now. It's gotten to the point where she starts worrying about her own life, resulting in her forgetting at times to feed and nurture her animals. She felt a bit regretful for wanting to keep many of them sheltered under her care. Too many of them. Then again, she had no heart to just leave them at their own will out there. Not when there's a war going on.

"But what about us?" Fluttershy asked. "We're element bearers. You know how mad they are at us because we're not 'doing anything'- gh! It's not like we can do anything! They relied so much on us. Did you know how hard it was to go get groceries last week? I can barely walk through a crowd without being glared or thrown rotten apples at! What if it escalates to the point that they follow me back to the cottage? What if they try to burn the place down?? W-what if they try to hurt the animals to get back at me???" she listed, half panicking. Rarity looked at her with concern. "Our lives are at stake as well. I don't think we can stay here much longer. So far from what I've heard, Ponyville is the only town going through so much wreckage! Not to mention the cities that circle around Ponyville...."

"We can always go to Canterlot."

Fluttershy looked to Rarity confusedly. "And stay where??"

"We're always welcome to the castle, as Celestia always says."

"After this fiasco? What if Twilight ruined all of our reputations and now we're considered banded criminals or something?"

Rarity deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure Celestia won't think you're a criminal."

"You're not Celestia! You wouldn't know!-"

"Fluttershy." Rarity looked at her with a serious look. "I know you're scared. I know you don't like whatever is going on. So that's why I'm suggesting we go to Canterlot." She sighed. "Everyone of our friends had already went their own ways. Applejack's family had moved far away, why can't we?"

"...why don't we just go where they're going?"

"They're going back to their homeland. Or at least, where the rest of the Apple family resides at. It'll be awkward for us to jump on the wagon, we barely know them with all their countryisms." Rarity explained. "Sure, we don't know much about Celestia personally but it won't be so awkward as we're welcomed back anytime we want. Being a third wheeler in the Apple family doesn't sound very couth of us." She stared at Fluttershy with a hopeful smile, but was returned with only a hard stare. ".....think about it, okay?" she said as she got off the couch and walked away, leaving Fluttershy to her own thoughts.

"That's alotta smoke coming from Ponyville's area," he pointed out through the snowy skies in the distance. They were hanging out by the castle balcony. Celestia's balcony. The Lord of Chaos himself, with only a pink scarf around his neck, sitting by the ledge of the balcony, with Celestia, adorning a blue wool hat and a scarf, sitting on a cushion on the ground with a warm blanket on her back looking through paperwork.

"Yes, well, that's what fires do." Celestia deadpanned, her eyes fixated on her paperwork.

"But it's such a big smoke cloud..."

"Then it's a big fire." she said once more.

"But we've never encountered such a big- Celestia, are you even looking?" he crossed his arms as he frowned at her.

"I am." she replied. He slanted his eyes at her, disappointed at her lack of interest in his obviously interesting topic.

"You're just saying that."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. If you would've let me finish my paperwork instead of making me chase you down flights of stairs to retrieve them back I could've finished early and we could've had a grand time staring at grey smoke clouds all day long."

He snapped his talon. "But Celestia!-" he disappeared, and with a flash reappeared on the paper that she was currently reading.

"Discord! I-"

His hands protruded from the paper as he grabbed her face. "Look!" he pushed her face up and away from the paper.

"Why are you so!-....so......." her look of pure frustration and anger immediately contorted into the look of confusion. The smoke clouds were so.....huge......

Ponyville was quite far from Canterlot. Being able to see it from their position in a distance is already quite impressive, but the smoke trail they were looking at at the moment.....it was almost terrifying. Not to mention how the white snow contrasts with. The trail was wide and long, looking like it was coming from Ponyville at this very moment and wasn't previous made smoke being blown to Canterlot by the wind. "Celestia....it's coming our way."

It certainly wasn't helpful that they were sitting on a balcony either. Quickly, they got up and ran for cover in her room. Closing the door behind them, she gave a sigh as they managed to stop themselves from being bathed in smoke. But with this thought in mind, she gulped as she knew that her Kingdom would have to be on lockdown due to health violations concerning of the soon to be hazy town.

God knows what Ponyville is up against now.