It is a bright and wonderful day in the town of Ponyville, which is finally becoming the new normal after nine years of chaos that oddly did not happen until Princess Twilight Sparkle showed up. Not that Fluttershy Faith Breeze will ever blame Twilight for the insanity that only started happening when she and Spike showed up in town. That would be rude. Besides, weird stuff started happening a lot when Luna returned, Dr. Time Turner started flirting with Roseluck, Bon Bon got custody of Twist, and when Rainbow Dash's birthday did not exist because that particular year was a leap year, too. So sharing the blame would be more appropriate.

But, back to the point. The current day in Ponyville is graced with a blue sky and dots of white clouds and a gentle breeze to bring some coolness to the warm temperatures. However, Fluttershy is not outside. She is actually inside her tree house, playing with a ball in her living room.

This ball is nothing special. It is red with blue and yellow stripes, and it bounces really well off of the floor and wall, and Fluttershy is able to keep its path in a very predictable pattern.

Ba-Bounce! There the ball goes, off the floor, into the wall, and sailing back to Fluttershy's hoof, which knocks it back into the floor.

Ba-Bounce!

There it goes again!

Ba-Bounce!

Fluttershy giggles and her wings make a small flap of excitement as she bops the ball back into the floor, where it follows the same pattern into the wall and off into the air, back into her hoof.

She bops it again.

Ba-Bounce!

Fluttershy giggles again and her tail flicks, and she hits the ball yet again. Sure Angel might be impatiently staring at her, tapping his little bunny paw on the hardwood floor, wanting to do something, anything, other than watching his servant play with a ball. But Fluttershy is not getting his obvious hints for attention, so he leaves the house through a little bunny door. Not that Fluttershy cares at the moment.

She has a ball, and the ball is fun.

Ba-Bounce!

Ba-Bounce!

Ba-Bounce!

Aaaaand...

Ba-Bounce!

With that last bounce, there is a sudden crackle in the air and Fluttershy stops and holds the ball close to her, gasping in shock as bright blue electric swirls appear in the middle of her living room. She can feel her fur and hair stand as the energy zips through her, and the taste of ozone clings to her tongue as the orb gets larger and brighter. Then there is a brilliant flash of energy that blows away the furniture and knocks Fluttershy into the wall.

Her eyes roll and she groans as she rubs her head with the ball held to her barrel, but when her eyes regain focus she sees a round portal with a peaceful swirl of light blue clouds on its edges. On the other side is a city of tall spires, smooth in design with crystals running up their lengths and purple roofs, and in front of these buildings are large healthy trees in full bloom. Purple swallow tail banners with gold fringes and a golden sun with swirling flares as their sigils hang from tall poles or at an angle over the cobblestone roads, and in the clear sky are large cloud buildings and dots of pegasi flying around.

Fluttershy's breath is taken away by such beauty, and even though her eyes hurt from the brightness of the portal she cannot take her eyes away. She wants to go into the portal, she wants to see what amazing world is on the other side, but her hoofs keep her locked in place. Her heart wants to go, but her mind is chaining her to her realm, warning her of the possible dangers on the other side.

Then a figure appears.

A unicorn mare of great beauty.

She steps towards the portal and its gateway ripples as she goes through, using her horn to pierce the barrier. There is a crackle and a hum and sparks of light, but when she fully enters on the other side the chaos of the transportation subsides, and Fluttershy is left in a state of wonder, for this unicorn is more than just beautiful. She is also tall.

Taller than her and Applejack! But not quite as tall as the alicorns.

Are there even alicorns in this unicorn's realm?

She wants to ask about the alicorns, but her tongue is tied and she can only gawk at the unicorn's lean figure and yellow coat groomed to be smooth and lustrous. Even her long mane and tail flow free and smooth like water, and they are decorated with butterfly jewels made of the finest sapphire she has ever seen and held together by carefully crafted strands of gold. The visitor's eyes are also a bright blue and radiating a kindness that Fluttershy has never seen before, and on her plush, heart shaped flanks are cutie marks made up a large pink butterfly with a blue vine surrounding it.

Cutie marks are good... That is a sign of common ground and a place to start once Fluttershy's tongue decides it wants to start working.

Fluttershy tries to speak to talk about the nice cutie mark, but instead timid gibberish comes out, and the unicorn smiles and walks forward with well practiced majestic steps. The Element of Kindness can't help but stare in wonder at this stranger's beauty and grace, and more questions flood into her.

Who is this mysterious pony?

Where did she come from?

What does she want?

Does she want her?

Is she going on an adventure?

Questions like these race through Fluttershy's mind as the unicorn gets closer to her, her smile never breaking and her eyes remaining just as soft.

When the two are but a pace apart, Fluttershy has to tilt her head up, and her hind legs bend down as her mouth hangs opens, wanting to ask the questions she so desires to ask, but the gibberish disappears and she becomes mute, and the unicorn keeps smiling.

Until...

“Give me your toy!” snarls the unicorn.

She viciously yanks away Fluttershy's red ball with her magic and jumps back inside the portal, and the portal implodes with a tiny pop, leaving Fluttershy alone in the destroyed living room.

Fluttershy's jaw drops; her eyes fill with tears and her lips tremble as her plot falls to the floor.

And then she weeps.

THE END

Author's Note

So that happened.