Somewhere

Chapter 1

“A New Morning”

Fluttershy woke up like she had for the past 15 years; alone. Sunlight crept into her room illuminating her tiny bedroom. The bedroom itself was plain and almost completely bare aside from the clothes in her closet. Her mane was always a mess when she woke up. Every morning it was frizzy from tossing and turning all night. It had been a while since she got a good night’s rest. She pushed her blanket aside, got up and walked over to her dresser. On her dresser was a brush carved from cherry wood. It’s deep, dark and rich color was reflected by the morning sun sneaking in through the curtains. Fluttershy picked up the comb and began combing her mane. Her pink mane became subdued, falling in line once more.Once she was done, Fluttershy put the brush back on the dresser and walked into her kitchen to make herself breakfast.

Her breakfast was simple: 1 egg with a side of toast. Fluttershy never had that much of an appetite. If she ate anymore than that she would make herself sick. She picked up a fork and ate her breakfast in peace on a small wooden table with a vase that had a wilted flower. The flower was a daisy that had a sickly shade of yellow; long past its prime. It was accompanied by no other flowers. She didn't buy the flower. She found it on the sidewalk growing out the concrete begging for freedom. The shy Pegasus plucked it from its stone prison and brought it home where it enjoyed the remainder of its life in multicolored vase. Each day Fluttershy watered and nursed it giving it the utmost care relishing its company, but she couldn't hold off the inevitable; she had to throw it out. Funny that the daisy’s end would be today.

Her breakfast nook was connected her kitchen and her living room which was no bigger than her bedroom. Like her bedroom it was barely furnished, just a couch, a bookcase and rug decorated the bare room. Outside the sun rose higher in the sky, flooding the room with more light. The excess light made the room seem more lively. It brought a small smile on the pegasus’s face. Fluttershy returned to her breakfast and ate in silence. The only noise that could be heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall. The timid pegasus looked at the clock; it read “7:58”, she sighed and returned to her breakfast. Soon afterwards, she finished her meal and proceeded to clean her plate and pan, then walked back into her room to get dressed.

Normally she didn’t wear clothes but today was a special occasion. Today she was going to visit someone very special. Fluttershy opened her closet and began to sift through her clothes. While searching through her wardrobe she came across a certain dress. It was a white dress with a red bow around the waist. Seeing the dress brought a flood of memories to the yellow pegasus.

“Oh Flitter! It is a beautiful dress!” Fluttershy exclaimed while twirling on her hind legs letting the ruffles of the white dress fly through the air.

“I knew you would love it.” Flitter responded while working on a another dress for a customer, “Just wait, you’ll be the toast of the dance tonight.” Flitter pulled a thread and cut it with her teeth. “And I just know Thunderlane will absolutely love it” she said in a playful tone.

Fluttershy slowed her twirling to a stop and hid inside her mane and spoke trying her best to feign interest. “Oh, um..I’m sure he will.”

Flitter stopped her sewing and looked up at Fluttershy, picking up on the stress in her voice. “What’s wrong, honey? You know if there is anything bothering you, you can tell me.”

The yellow pegasus still hidden in her mane was hesitant to answer her friend. After a moment she collected her thoughts and spoke softly, “Well, it’s...” she sighed, “it’s just that I wish Rainbow didn’t pair me with Thunderlane.” Before her friend could reply, Fluttershy blurted out, “Not that there is anything wrong with Thunderlane!” Fluttershy was afraid of sounding harsh towards her unofficial coltfriend. “He’s kind and gentle but...it’s just that...when I see him...there’s nothing.”

“Well what did you expect?”

“I don’t know.” She spoke even softer. “Something I guess.”

Flitter hung up the dress she was working on and continued talking. “You’ve never been in a relationship before so how do you know that there is suppose to be something?” Fluttershy didn’t have an answer.  Flitter continued talking, “Just be glad that Rainbow set you up with a nice stallion; especially since you’re new to the neighborhood. The only ponies you know here are, Rainbow, and me!” Flitter picked up a new dress off of a mannequin and began to work on it. “Just think of this as a learning experience. It doesn’t have to get serious.”

“I just kind of wish Rainbow would stop with the marriage jokes.” Fluttershy replied quietly.

“You know she is just joking.” Flitter paused for a moment, “But I do wonder if Thunderlane knows that Rainbow is joking about the whole marriage thing or if he actually think she is serious.”

“I don’t see how he can think it can be serious. I’ve only known him for a few weeks.”

“Just give it some time. I’m sure you’ll develop some sort of feelings for him”

“Yeah...maybe...”

‘Maybe’, Fluttershy thought. That word resonated in her mind. ‘Maybe’ Only now she knew that “maybe” turned out to be never. Thunderlane was such a nice stallion but she never developed feelings for him. It was something that was never meant to be. She looked at the clock in her room. This time it read 8:32. She glanced back at the dress. Fluttershy sighed once more. As much as she wanted to wear the dress, time had worn it down drastically. What was once a bright white dress was now more a pale ivory gown. She couldn’t risk damaging further for it was one of the few mementos she had from that night. She picked out a gray scarf decorated with an elaborate circular pattern and closed her closet.

***

Fluttershy opened her door to greet the old neighborhood: West Canterlot. Her surroundings greeted her back with its smile of decaying gray buildings with stains of yellow and orange rust. She saw that the neighborhood was wearing it's typical ensemble: worn out posters telling ponies to elect Celestia for another term, discarded cans and broken bottles littering the street, and graffiti on walls saying “Pegasi are brutes”,“Earth ponies are numbskulls” or something to that nature. Seeing the graffiti filled the pegasus with such sorrow. They were scars that were left on the neighborhood from a much darker time. The pegasus continued walking down the street.

Fluttershy didn’t always live in West Canterlot. She spent a good part of her childhood in Cloudsdale, but this was during a time where jobs were scarce. Her family eventually moved to Canterlot when she was 18 in hopes of finding a better life, but the only section of Canterlot they could afford to move into was West Canterlot; a slum, if you can even call it that, which was reserved for Earth ponies. Both Earth ponies and the Pegasi were considered to be “trash” or “worthless” by the Unicorn elite. They say that’s why the Unicorns made living in any other part of Canterlot nearly impossible for any non-Unicorn types. Whatever the reason was, Pegasi and Earth ponies had to share the same neighborhood.

The yellow pegasus continued walking down the street. As she passed the old playground. It was simply a lot that was surrounded by multiple apartments, used by children who had parents that worked all day. It had a jungle gym, a seesaw, a swing set and a sandbox. In the sandbox Fluttershy saw a filly and colt playing together making sand castles. One of them was a Pegasus and the other an Earth pony. Seeing such a sight lifted Fluttershy’s heart filled her with hope. A lot had changed since that night. She had only wished things were like that in the earlier. Fluttershy remembered when every morning was greeted with a rumble or a fight between an Earth pony or Pegasus. Most of the time it was Rainbow Dash who started them. She was always so quick tempered that if an Earth pony were just to look at her wrong she would jump on them and beat them to a pulp. Both Earth ponies and Pegasi hated being treated so badly by the Unicorns but instead of bonding over their injustice, they resented each other because they had to share such a small piece of the city which they wanted complete control of; to give themselves a sense of pride in such a cruel world.

Rainbow created a gang of Pegasi bent on controlling the neighborhood. Everyday they would patrol the streets looking to pick a fight with any Earth pony that dared to cross paths with them. Their favorite ponies to fight with was a group of Earth ponies who, like Rainbow’s group, wanted absolute control of the neighborhood. They were led by a prankster named Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy had met the mare only a few times before but from what she had gathered from those moments was that she was normally an easy going pony that loved to have fun and often joked around but when it came to rumbles her poofy hair would straighten instantaneously and be followed shortly by violence. Rainbow had encountered her many times before and each time Rainbow couldn’t lay a feather on her because she would always have some sort of prank waiting for her, knocking her off balance. Somehow that always made Rainbow more mad than actually losing to her in a fight. Each side had their own shares of wins and losses, the balance of power never straying from the middle. It seemed as if they were destined to play a game of cat and mouse for all of eternity. Fluttershy wanted to stay and watch the children play a little longer but there was a place she really needed to be.

As Fluttershy kept walking, she passed the old gym. The gym had been considered neutral territory since it lay directly in the middle of Earth pony and Pegasi “turf.” Fluttershy had to stop and pause for a moment. The gym, even though it was almost as rotten, as any other building in the neighborhood, had a special memory for the pegasus. It was the place of her first dance in Canterlot and it had also been the place where she had met her.

***

“Come on Fluttershy! It’s your first dance in Canterlot!” Rainbow exclaimed dragging the shy pegasus into the gym.

“I’m not so sure about this anymore, Rainbow.” Fluttershy said trying to weasel her way out of coming to the dance. Rainbow was wearing a grey tuxedo with white shirt and black tie. Fluttershy was wearing the white dress with a the red bow that Flitter had made for her. Rainbow had one of the ruffles of the dress in her mouth pulling it, trying to get the yellow pegasus into the gym.

“You can’t just stay at home all day! You need to get out and socialize! Mingle!” She muttered through her teeth.

Rainbow managed to drag Fluttershy into the gym. Rainbow proceeded to pick her up off the floor, dust her off, grabbed her hoof and brought her to a nearby group of Pegasi. Rainbow then proceeded to introduce her to the Pegasi. “Fluttershy, these are couple of my friends you haven’t met yet. They’re all from Cloudsdale just like us.” Rainbow pointed at random Pegasi and began naming each one. “This Cloud Chaser, Snowflake, Raindrops...” She continued to name at least 5 other pegasi, Fluttershy couldn’t keep track of so many new ponies. Rainbow finished with the introductions and concluded, “...guys, this is my friend Fluttershy. She’s new to the neighborhood.” The various other pegasi gave generic greetings and Fluttershy responded with a meek hello.

The group then disbanded leaving Rainbow and Fluttershy alone again. Once they were gone Fluttershy asked Rainbow, “Why are you even here? I thought you didn’t like dances.”

Rainbow replied with a smirk on her face, “Oh I still do but I want you to have a good time,  even if that means dealing with a stupid dance.” At that moment Thunderlane walked into the gym and waved at Rainbow to get her attention. Rainbow spotted him and waved back, calling him forward. Thunderlane quickly trotted over to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow put one of her hooves over Thunderlane’s neck in a playful manner. “All right Thunderlane, your job tonight is to show Fluttershy here a good time.” She then whispered the next part into Thunderlane’s ear so Fluttershy would not hear. “Be sure she stays out of trouble. You can’t be too sure around these Earth Ponies. There’s no telling what they might try tonight.” Thunderlane nodded in response. Rainbow let go of Thunderlane and clapped her hooves together. “Alright gang! Let’s get out there.”

Big band music blared throughout the gym. The screaming brass and the honking saxes electrified the air while the ponies danced to the drum set’s groove. The crowd was bustling with energy; both the Earth Ponies and Pegasi truly wanted to have a good time, yet this sense of unity wasn’t enough for them to mingle with one another. The gym was as divided as the streets were: Pegasi on one side and Earth Ponies on the other. The principle of the school, Ms. Cheerilee and Sergeant Sparkle of the Canterlot police force stood against a wall overlooking the entire gym. Ms. Cheerilee was full of enthusiasm and optimism but she was also a bit of an oblivious mare; completely unaware of the tension between the two groups. She even attempted to do an ice breaker in which stallions formed a circle and mares formed another circle on the inside of the stallion’s circle and then did a variation of musical chairs. The idea of game was to be paired up with stranger and dance with them. Of course that didn’t work out. When Ms. Cheerilee blew the whistle both Earth Pony and Pegasus disregarded whoever they were paired up with and just went back with their original dates. While this was going Sergeant Sparkle kept a cold glare not even smiling once. She was sent by Lieutenant Luna to act as riot control if any fights broke out and based on the track record of this neighborhood it was a sure thing.

The ice breaker turned into an impromptu dance battle. Each side taking turns strutting their “stuff”. Since it was still technically dancing, Ms. Cheerilee and Sergeant Sparkle decided not to break it up and let them continue. It was during this time of organized chaos, Thunderlane asked Fluttershy, “Are you sure you don’t want to dance?”

Fluttershy answered meekly, “Oh, uh, yes. I never been that much of a dancer.”

“Well then, could I get you some punch or something?”

“Oh yes, please. Some punch would be lovely.” Upon her request Thunderlane took off to another part of the gym. Fluttershy stood where she was for a few minutes watching the crowd dance in a game with no score. Being around so many ponies made her a bit uncomfortable. It wouldn’t have been so bad if her friends were there with her, but Flitter couldn’t make it to the dance, Thunderlane was on the other side of the gym and she had no idea where Rainbow went. Not wanting to be alone anymore, she decided to go meet up with Thunderlane and started to venture through the crowd.

She carefully sneaked by anybody who was dancing, not wanting to ruin anyone’s fun but that proved too difficult. The music that was playing was fast paced and kept the crowd of ponies as restless as the sea. She decided to try to make her way around the crowd. It still was difficult to move through since the gym was a bit too small for the crowd, but at least she wasn’t interrupting anyone’s dancing. Even though she wasn’t much of a dancer she couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the mob’s movements. Every single one of them moved with such passion, precision, elegance and grace she couldn’t but watch them. She was so absorbed into the dancing, she forgot to pay attention to where she was going and accidentally bumped into another pony. Although she did more damage to herself than she did to the stranger. Fluttershy lost her footing, causing her hoof to get caught in one of the ruffles of her dress. She tried to gain her balance back but to no avail; she tripped, landing face first. It wasn’t her finest moment.

“You okay, Sugarcube?” The stranger asked Fluttershy as she tried to regain her composure.

Fluttershy got over the shock of the fall and replied with hint of embarrassment in her voice. “Yes, I’m fine.” A hoof reached out to help her. Fluttershy grabbed it and got back on her own hooves.  She dusted herself off and checked to make sure the dress was still fine. Once she saw that the dress was okay she turned back to the stranger to give thanks. “Thank you so very much for-” At that moment all words escaped from her leaving her silent and in awe. It was the first time she actually saw the pony she bumped into. The pony was an orange mare with golden blonde hair dressed in a burnt orange suit; an Earth pony.

But that didn’t matter to Fluttershy. It didn’t matter if she was Earth pony, a Unicorn or even another Pegasus,  all that mattered was this moment they shared. Fluttershy didn’t know what was going on. It seemed that time had stood still. The roar of the crowd became muffled and dampened to a whisper. The only sound that pierced the silence was the accelerating beat of her heart.

The orange pony spoke. “Are you...” The orange pony’s emerald eyes met Fluttershy’s aqua eyes and just like pegasus, her words escaped from her just as they did for Fluttershy. They gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed to be eternity. Fluttershy didn’t want to say anything fearing that any noise would break the tranquility of the moment. This new found peace was intoxicating; overwhelming the Pegasus. In her heart there was a bit of fear; a fear of something new and unknown but it couldn't compare to the other feeling she felt. She couldn't describe it. Simply gazing to the eyes of this mare seemed like paradise; it felt as if now was the time where she truly knew how it felt to be alive. She wanted this moment to last forever. Without letting go of Fluttershy’s hoof the orange pony spoke with hesitation in her voice.

“Hav...have we met before?” The orange mare uttered trying to find the right words, still hypnotized by the pegasus’s gaze.

Fluttershy did not have the same problem. Her answer came naturally, as if the words came straight from her soul and heart. “No, we have not.”

The mare was stunned by the gentleness of the pegasus’s voice. She began to whisper to herself. “I felt...” The orange Earth pony was once again in a loss of words. “I felt that...”

Fluttershy gently interrupted the Earth pony, “Your hoof. It’s shaking.” The mare looked down at her own hoof. It was no longer holding the pegasus’s hoof as if she was helping her. Instead it was in a warm, embracing fashion. The mare looked back at her pegasus companion’s beautiful, calm eyes. Her cheeks began to turn a bright shade of red causing Fluttershy to blush as well.

Without any prompt, both ponies held out their other hoof and grasped the other’s hoof gently, becoming one. The mare spoke again.

“I felt...I knew something never before was going to happen; had to happen, but this...this is so much more.”

Fluttershy didn’t know what the mare meant by that but she didn’t mind. The mare’s voice had a unique tone that was soothing to Fluttershy’s ear. Every syllable uttered was poem and every sentence was a symphony.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice her hooves became ice in her companion’s embrace. “Oh I’m sorry.” Fluttershy apologized trying to hide her embarrassment. “My hooves are cold.

The other mare chuckled. “It’s alright, mine are cold as well.”

Fluttershy did not know what came over her. She let go of one of the mare’s hooves and gently stroked side of her cheek. ‘So warm’ she thought. Suddenly realizing what she was doing she quickly retracted her hoof and turned an even brighter shade of red. “I’m so sorry! I had no idea what I was doing! Please forgive me.” Fluttershy closed her eyes and turned away not wanting to see the mare’s reaction. She was surprised to feel a hoof on her cheek that lightly pushed her muzzle back towards the mare.

The face was not filled with malice or disgust, but rather compassion and tenderness. All of Fluttershy’s anxiety melted away leaving her without care in the world. For once in her life, she was at peace.

They slowly inched towards each other; their muzzles getting closer and closer. The world seemed to flow back into place, as if to say, this is reality and not some dream; Fluttershy closed her eyes hoping with all her might it wasn’t a dream. The proximity between the two grew smaller and smaller until...

“GET YOUR HOOVES OFF OF HER, YOU SCUM!” Fluttershy was in a state of shock as if she woke up from a horrible nightmare. She opened her eyes to see Rainbow pushing the mare away from her. Rainbow yelled at the mare once more. “Stay away from my friend!”

The orange mare, as in much shock as Fluttershy, could only mutter “Your friend?”

At that moment a group of Pegasi followed behind Rainbow. From behind the orange mare, Fluttershy saw Pinkie Pie and a group of Earth Ponies as big as the group of Pegasi follow her. Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy. She was filled with anger but she was not angry with her, she was mad at the Earth pony she almost kissed.

“Can’t you see she’s one of them?!”

Fluttershy was flooded with anxiety and nervousness once more. Her dream like state was shattered by the gravity of the situation she found herself in. Still, what she experience just now was real. “No, I... I only saw her.”

“Fluttershy, there’s only one thing these dirty Earth ponies want from a Pegasus.”

“No, that’s not true.” Fluttershy defended.

“That’s a lie!” The orange mare shouted back charging back at Rainbow.

Rainbow verbally attacked the Earth pony again. “She would listen to her best friend before she would ever listen to you!”

It seemed another fight was about to break out. The only separating the prism pegasus and the orange Earth pony was a pink mare.

“AJ! Later!” Pinkie shouted at the orange mare.“Look, if you two want to settle this, we can do it later but now...” The pink mare was stopped by Ms. Cheerilee, who was followed by Sergeant Sparkle” running through the crowd trying to calm everypony down.

“Please! Ladies! Things were going so well! We are all here to have good time!”

A whistle echoed through the gym and then Pinkie and her group of Earth ponies suddenly disbanded. Seeing this as a good opportunity to leave, Rainbow pushed Fluttershy away from the orange mare. Once they were in a secluded part of the gym, Rainbow turned to Thunderlane, who returned from the punch bowl as soon as the commotion started. “Take Fluttershy home right now. We're leaving.”

As much as Fluttershy disliked dances, she did want to leave the orange mare. “Please Rainbow, let’s stay a little longer.”

“Absolutely not!” She turned to Thunderlane once more. “Get her out of here.”

Thunderlane took Fluttershy by the hoof and proceeded to the exit. The two Pegasi walked past the orange Earth pony who couldn’t help but watch them as they passed by. Fluttershy stopped and tried to say goodbye, but Thunderlane wouldn’t allow her. He quickly pulled on Fluttershy’s hoof. “Let’s go, Fluttershy.” As they left, Fluttershy glanced back but the mare was gone. She did see the one they called Pinkie pulling Rainbow aside talking to her about something that she couldn't hear, but that was not what she was concerned about.

She couldn’t stop thinking about that Earth pony. ‘AJ,’ She thought. That’s want Pinkie called her. ‘Such a beautiful name.’