Equestria Girls: Midnight's Ghost
by - LunarRepublican -
Chapters
Hosted
The early morning sun had begun its rise above the horizon signaling the start of a timidly warm Summer day for the city of Canterlot. As the rays began spreading out along the ground, the first man-made structure they ever hit was a lonesome, cottage-like home that sat near an open meadow that rested on the outer east edge of the city.
The rays then passed through the window lens and onto a group of seven, peacefully sleeping teenage girls who laid around in various areas of a humble looking bedroom decorated with posters and mobiles that displayed a variety of different animals. The first girl to rise up from the sun’s provocation had golden blonde hair that she wore in a loose ponytail, along with bright emerald green eyes. She yawned and stretched out her arms before reaching over to put on her brown Stetson hat.
“Mornin’, y’all,” Applejack addressed as she rose up to her feet.
She got a mixture of incoherent to coherent replies from her still groggy friends.
“How can you get up so easily without having the need to collapse back down on a comfortable bed, AJ?” Rainbow Dash asked while rubbing sleep residue from her eyelids.
“It’s a skill ya get from the farm Ah suppose,” the farmgirl replied with a shrug. “Quite useful if ya ask me.”
“By useful, you actually mean worrisome right?”
Applejack just rolled her eyes in response.
“So? How did I do as a host last night?” Fluttershy meekly asked as she got out of her own bed and slipped on a pair of lime green, butterfly-themed slippers.
Apparently, this was Fluttershy’s first time ever hosting a slumber party at her own home. All other times she was content with just having her other friends be hosts since they seemed to have much more confidence and expertise then she did in this kind of thing. However though, her friends had taken notice of this indifference and gently encouraged and persuaded her to give it a shot. Of course she was at first reluctant to do so in fear of disappointing her friends; but they didn’t accept that as an excuse and assured her just to try her best, along with saying that they would be proud of her no matter what happens. It was then that Fluttershy had the will to make the attempt, even though she was still doubting herself a bit.
“If you want my opinion, dear. I think you did simply superb,” Rarity replied as she removed her sleep mask from her eyes and rested it on her forehead. “I also appreciate how you managed to keep our activities simple and fun without them leading up to a ruckus.”
“But a ruckus is always the best part of any slumber party!” Rainbow complained which earned disapproving glares from the five girls with Fluttershy shrinking back.
“Of course… it’s not like it has to be a traditional thing. Last night was quite a unique experience for me and the rest of us. For that, I give kudos to you, Flutters.”
“Oh. Um. Thank you, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said with a small smile and blush as she opened herself up again. That did the trick of earning the approval of the girls again.
“Do people even still say that?” Sunset Shimmer asked with an amused look.
Rainbow shrugged her shoulders.
“Beats me. I just think it’s a cool word to say.”
“Also delicious to eat!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she gobbled down a Kudos granola bar from its wrapper. “Anyone else want one?”
The girls exchanged looks with one another before politely declining.
“Oh well! More for me then!” Pinkie exclaimed before going through the whole box like a crazed animal.
After a while of fully stretching themselves out and drinking caffeinated beverages to perk themselves up for the day, the girls got changed into their normal everyday clothes before going around to collect any belongings that any one of them could’ve left around the place from last night. Once everything checked out, everyone gathered at the front door to say goodbye or discuss any plans for later on. It just so happened that Rainbow had something in mind.
“Say. If anyone else is up for it; how about a trip to the pool later this afternoon like around one? I so wanna try doing a cannonball with a super-speeded jump. That would be so awesome!”
The girls exchanged glances with each other briefly as they pondered their answers.
“I don’t see why not,” Sunset said first. She then looked down at her necklace “However, I don’t think we should abuse our abilities for the concept of fun.”
“What? Why not?” Rainbow protested, clearly bummed out.
“Well for one thing, Rainbow. You could seriously hurt someone should your splash be big enough to clear the water out of the entire pool area; along with anyone who’s currently still in it,” Sunset stated matter-of-factly. "Secondly, we all know what happens when such power as Equestrian magic is misused: physical and mental corruption of the user’s soul.”
The rest of the friends immediately understood what Sunset was getting at, and that both Sunset and Twilight were definitely no strangers to the experience. Just recently at Camp Everfree, the director Gloriosa Daisy underwent a transformation that inspired the origin for the camp’s fabled nature spirit, Gaea Everfree.
“Ah’m with Sunset on this one, y’all,” Applejack said placing a supporting hand on the aforementioned red-head’s shoulder before turning to address the friends. “Mah brother, Big Mac always did say with great power comes a heck of a lotta responsibility in the long run.”
“Okay fine,” Rainbow sighed with still a little bit of irritation present. “It wasn’t like I was going to do it multiple times and get carried away with it or anything. I just wanted to see what it would be like.”
“Technically. If you do the calculations of your speed velocity colliding with the density of the molecular structure of the water contained within the pool; the result could lead to some serious pain,” Twilight pointed out.
Rainbow raised a brow.
“What kind of pain are we talking about here?” she then gave a cocky smirk. “I’m sure I’d be able to take it.”
“Well to sum it all up simply: you’d feel like you performed five or more belly-flops in one go… except your rear would be experiencing the brunt instead of your midsection.”
The girls, especially Rainbow cringed at such a thought. She even placed both her hands on her bottom cheeks to make sure they still had feeling in them.
“Ouch,” was all Rainbow could say.
“But anyway, I’m in as well for taking a dip and soaking up some rays,” Sunset said. “The rest of you?”
Each one of the remaining five girls gave their response of approval.
“You betcha!”
“Sounds simply wonderful.
“Mmhm.”
“Darn tootin’!
“Since it’s will all of you. Sure thing.”
“It’s settled then,” Rainbow said with a nod before heading out the door to her car, but not before waving goodbye to everyone else who were following suit. It wasn’t long before Fluttershy was the only one left at the stoop of her home, waving her friends as they drove off into the directions of their homes.
When the last of her friends’ cars disappeared around the corner of the block, Fluttershy took a relaxing breath of air before turning around to step back inside her currently empty home before closing and locking the door behind her.
“I probably should make double sure that every room in the house is neat and tidy before Mom, Dad, and Zephyr get back,” Fluttershy said aloud to herself before beginning her inspection. Unlike Rarity who demanded cleanliness for any reason whatsoever: Fluttershy cleaned as a way of alleviating any remaining anxiety spells she had. Sure her friends praised her well on a first time hosting a slumber party; but sometimes she couldn’t help but think that they didn’t have a good time at all, and forced themselves to say positive feedback instead of having the right to criticize in order to not hurt her feelings.
Truth be told; all the false positivity was hurting her more than the honest negativity. At least Rainbow made an exception, but was redacted on her own words by nearly a look from a sea of disapproving glances. An honest girl like Applejack should’ve joined and supported Rainbow… but instead decided to remain silent. Fluttershy guessed it was her way of telling the truth without saying a single word.
The more her mind set on this, the more uneasy Fluttershy became. Thinking quickly, she decided to head to Zephyr's room since out of all the members of her family: he was the messiest one of them all. However, Fluttershy’s focused mind made her oblivious to the fact that just a moment behind her was an ominous, humanoid shadow without a physical attachment following her down the hallway.
When she entered Zephyr’s room, it was as if a minor tornado had just blown through it with clothes and paper that had sketches of his recent hairstyle designs laying about the floor. Instead of being appalled, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile and shake her head in amusement.
“He really shouldn’t overwork himself like this if it means he can’t keep up with picking up after himself.”
Fluttershy started off with collecting the paper drafts off of the floor before neatly stacking them into her hands. Ever so often she looked down at the drafts and made compliments about most of them, but made sure not to indulge herself too much to stay focused at her self-assigned task.
Once she got every last one of them, she placed them on an available space on Zephyr's work desk where he currently had three, faceless mannequin heads on display each with a differently styled hairdo. When Fluttershy turned and headed away from the desk to take care of another task, a thin line of dark-purple smoke with a hint of pink in it materialized out of the mirror and steadily flowed in a snake-like technique into the back of the middle mannequin head.
The next task that Fluttershy took care of was picking up Zephyr's dirty clothes and putting them in the laundry hamper. Fluttershy knew that she is sort of violating her brother’s personal belongings; like his underwear for instance. She admitted to herself that it was a bit repulsive, but also knew that he barely had time nor the habit to provide himself with freshly-washed clothing.
As she went around the room, Fluttershy began having the feeling like someone was watching her. That seemed like a silly sensation to have since she knew the house was locked up with no one else in it, and that the blinds in Zephyr's room were drawn just enough to prevent any passerby Peeping Tom from getting a show; but at least allowed a decent amount of light into the room.
This feeling however more specifically gave her the impression that whatever it was that was spying on her was in the same room with her. Not only that, but in her peripheral vision she could swear that the middle mannequin head on Zephyr's desk was turning by itself as it tracked her movement speed whenever she passed it.
Mustering up the courage, Fluttershy made direct eye-contact with the mannequin head that was ‘watching’ her, to only to find it perfectly lined up and positioned forward symmetrically with its two companions.
“I still need to wake up,” Fluttershy murmured to herself as she massaged her temple. “Perhaps I could take a break for a morning shower. That usually helps.”
Fluttershy then placed the hamper down near the doorframe where she would be able to find it later when she got back before leaving the room toward the bathroom. Now the wispy smoke that did in fact occupy the mannequin head to watch Fluttershy dispelled itself from its occupied area and took on an almost human form, but remained featureless as it continued its pursuit of the soft-spoken girl.
Fluttershy adjusted the knobs till the water had a mild temperature to it. Satisfied with the result, she slipped off her bathrobe and stepped into the welcoming water which instantly gave Fluttershy a sense of relief and calmness as it pelted her soft skin and soaked deep into her hair. This is the feeling that Fluttershy wanted and enjoyed as she was going around cleaning her home. She also felt this way when she was around her animal friends at the shelter; and now that she had acquired the power to verbally communicate with and understand them, she felt absolutely ecstatic!
The necklace that granted her this ability was currently set down near a selection of clean clothes that she had picked out to wear when she was done showering. She worried that the magic contained within it would falter should the necklace rust up from getting wet. If only she knew she had a bigger problem to worry about, and that it was in the bathroom with her without notice or suspicion.
“Da, da, da, da, dah~
Da, da, da, da, dah~
La, da,da, da, daddadahh~,” Fluttershy hummed happily to herself as she coated a loafer with body wash before scrubbing herself down, still oblivious to the dark presence that was still watching her without making itself known. That was now about to change.
“Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy immediately and abruptly ceased her humming as she paused for a bit. She swore that she heard someone just said her name. The voice was definitely female and almost sounded like Twilight, but Fluttershy couldn’t be sure.
After a little bit more of waiting and not hearing anything, Fluttershy carried on thinking that she was just still imagining things.
“Fluttershy.” This time the voice was more firmer and more insistent. No way could she have imagined that!
“Who’s out there?” Fluttershy shouted as she yanked the curtain away to look around the empty space. She tried to sound stern and agitated with this invasion of privacy; but her cry came out as a frightened whine instead.
Still not being able to see anything, Fluttershy pulled the curtain back over her and adjusted the knobs to spray cooler water before she bowed her head forward into the stream. She thought that maybe some heat was still getting to her head and making her hear things that weren't there. Unfortunately she wasn’t prepared for what came next; and this time: she would see it with her own two eyes.
The water knobs were suddenly turned in a quick and sudden manner with the Hot turning right, and the Cold going on full left. This caused Fluttershy to be pelted now with stabbing, freezing water instead of a tolerable to mild temperature.
Fluttershy shrieked as she stumbled backward and out of the tub with the curtain partially wrapping her up a bit. She flailed frantically to get free of it which resulted in her ripping it up, but she was too scared to care. She snatched only a bath towel from the rack before darting out of the bathroom while slipping a bit on the tile since her feet were still too wet to gain traction.
Once she was in the hallway which thankfully had carpeting, she got the traction and speed she needed to bolt down the steps and go for the front door. She didn’t mind now if she would be partially exposed outside. What mattered to her at this very moment was getting away from whatever was in that house with her.
As she tried to turn the lock, its knob snapped off and fell to the floor. She then made a beeline for the back door which brought about the same result. Fluttershy knew she was trapped, but decided to make one last ditch effort by smashing a window with a piece of furniture.
Grabbing a chair from the dining room table, Fluttershy brought it out to the living room before focusing her sights on the main view window.
She knew that the price for replacing glass would be quite costly, but she was too deep in fear to have a care. With all the strength she could muster, Fluttershy launched the chair at the window with a grunt that was a bit more primal than timid. In mid-flight though, the chair halted abruptly as if something caught it before it came flying back toward her. She was luckily fast enough to get out of the way before it hit her.
Fluttershy ran back up the stairs toward her room before she slammed the door shut, took Angel Bunny out of his cage, and then dove under her covers of the bed for shelter before she began softly sobbing and rocking back and forth as she held Angel close to provide comfort.
“Hiding under the covers, huh?” the voice asked, clear as day but still disembodied. It definitely was Twilight’s voice, but it lacked the sweetness and comforting tone that it normally would’ve had. Instead, it was full of disdain and malice. “You honestly think such a childish theatric like that will protect you?”
“Please go away, please go away, please go away--,” Fluttershy cooed in a choked, soft whimper over and over again, non-stop.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I will soon. But not before I ask a favor of you,” the voice assured, mocking a motherly tone of voice. It however didn’t get through to Fluttershy and she just continued her chant a bit louder this time. That was just enough for the presence to lose its patience.
“ENOUGH!! it bellowed before violently yanking away the covers away from Fluttershy and hurtling them across the room. Fluttershy didn’t even bother to open her eyes to find out if whatever is attacking her had made a physical manifestation of itself or not. She just brought Angel closer to her and curled up tighter into herself.
“Cower all you want, it will do you no good, it taunted. “Just know that this the beginning of the end for you and everything else on this world. You will all cease to exist--”
Fluttershy felt Angel’s head move on her neck, but noticed how unnatural it felt. Opening her eyes, Fluttershy’s pupils shrunk to mere pinpricks as she held back a scream to the discovery that Angel’s head has rotated a complete one-eighty degrees, and that his adorable black-beaded eyes were replaced with glowing, menacingly light sapphire eyes with plum purple pupils that had their own glow to them as well.
“--which is no different from the fate that you and your friends sent me to,” it finished with its words solidly coming from Angel’s mouth as his lips moved in perfect sync with the words.
Normally if someone had their pet possessed by a spirit or demon and it made the animal talk like a person, along with having the head twisted at an impossibly unnatural angle; the natural instinct would be to scream and throw the animal away from them. Fluttershy however did neither. She just sat there with wide eyes and an agape mouth that partially open and closed repeatedly.
“Well?” the spirit pressed gesturing with Angel’s paw. “Say something already!”
Instead of following the command, Fluttershy’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as every muscle in her body relaxed, causing her to fall backward and hit the back of her head on the headboard of the bed. Fluttershy had just fainted from the high stress, and the impact trauma she suffered to the head had her out cold… but fortunately still breathing.
Free from Fluttershy’s grasp, the possessed Angel returned his head to normal position before the entity inside of him exited out through both his ears in the same wispy, smoke material. The now normal and terrified Angel scurried out of the room when he witnessed the smoke taking form of a human.
When the smoke was done shaping itself; it revealed itself to be Twilight’s own personal demon, Midnight Sparkle. Unlike the last time though, Midnight didn’t have her ethereal glasses on her eyes which still had their same sapphire glow… but they were now missing the pupils which gave them a horrifically empty and milky look. She still had her horn and wings, but just below her torso which she still bore her corset in, there was nothing than a spread out plum dark fog that was in the form of a dress where her legs should’ve been.
“Such a frail and pathetic thing,” Midnight mused aloud to herself while brushing an incorporeal hand over one of Fluttershy’s cheeks. “However, you’re the only one out of those six meddling girls who stopped me not once, but twice from taking over Twilight’s mind and body to achieve the understanding and capture of all the magic that exists in this world. Well not this time. Once Twilight is mine again, she won’t have the means or the power to stop me. No one will! And you, my dear are going to be my first stepping stone to victory. You’ve already taken the liberty of relaxing your will and resistance to me, and I humbly applaud you for that. Now the next step should be easy and quick. I promise, you won’t even feel a thing.”
After making that short speech, Midnight dissolved into her smoke form once again before she thinned herself out before entering in through the left nostril of Fluttershy’s nose.
Uncertain Suspicions
As hot as the afternoon was, the Canterlot City Pool didn’t seem to be all that busy. It was a moderate crowd, yes; but nothing too much to handle for anyone who was currently there. Young children played in the shallow area where mini water fountains and a giant mushroom-like structure had water getting pumped out of its top end before it came cascading back down in a full, three-sixty curtain which few of the children enjoyed darting in and out from repetitively.
Taking company in few of the lounging chairs was Sunset Shimmer who currently was reading a magazine that she brought along to read. She donned a dark red clad two-piece swimsuit with a pair of sunglasses that had matching color frames. Accompanying her on both sides was Rarity with her own two piece swimsuit with a hue of white that didn’t clash or blend in with her alabaster skin, along with a pair of definitely shaped sunglasses with pink frames and a fancy wide-brimmed sun hat; and Twilight who was the only one amongst the group who wore a dark-lavender one-piece swimsuit. She still wore her everyday glasses, but she had the lenses equipped with a couple of clip-on shades that matched the lense shape accurately. The activity that she was currently doing seemed to be texting someone on her phone.
After a while, Sunset was starting to get curious about who Twilight was texting; but made sure not to get too nosey with her choice of words.
“I never knew you were a texting enthusiast, Twilight,” she said in a teasing, but playful manner.
“Yep,” Twilight replied simply, still preoccupied with her activity. She then snapped out of her entrancement with her phone when she realized that Sunset had spoken to her directly. “Oh. Uh. What I meant to say was that I never knew it either.”
Sunset smirked at this.
“Hey, it’s what us teenagers do.” she then took a brief pause. “So?”
“So...what?” Twilight asked with a raised brow.
“So who is the lucky person who’s caught your attention to be so engrossed with texting to?” Sunset asked. “If it isn’t too much to ask or anything.”
“Um… you know. Just a friend of mine,” Twilight replied a bit sheepishly. A blush was already making itself apparent on her cheeks to indicate there was more to what Twilight was letting on: and that Rarity recognized this kind of behavior from the many romance novels and movies that she’s read and watched.
“Ooh~! Do tell who it is, darling!” Rarity sqeed with utmost giddyness. “Please don’t leave it in so much suspense either!”
“I want to know to!” Pinkie Pie chimed after she suddenly popped out of the water wearing a shark-themed swim mask complete with dark, blue-framed goggles with a dorsal fin on top. On her hands she wore a pair of gloves that had a dorsal fin off to the side where the pinky finger was, and on her feet was a pair of flippers that completed the themed set.
This sudden action caused Applejack, who was relaxing on an innertube nearby to yelp in surprise before her jolt caused the tube to flip over and dunk her into the water. When she emerged, she shot Pinkie an annoyed and unamused glance, which in return the party girl just gave a shrug at.
“I...uh,” Twilight stammered as she started shrinking back a bit. Sunset then realized that maybe her and the girls were putting unwanted pressure on their bi-spectacled friend.
“You know what? It’s fine, Twilight,” Sunset assured and signalled to the others to ease off. “If it’s something to wish to keep to yourself for now, then we can respect that. Right girls?”
AJ agreed without hesitation, while both Pinkie and Rarity gave a reluctant nod.
“I just thought it’d be something worth a conversation,” Sunset explained. “But I guess if you’re not yet comfortable with the topic; then we can let it slide until whenever you wish to talk about it, alright?”
“Mmhm,” Twilight replied softly. “Thank you, Sunset.”
“You’re welcome, Twilight.”
Sunset never told anyone, but she thought it was way too cute when Twilight got shy. She guessed it had to do with her bisexual crush on the lavender girl. This also extended to Princess Twilight to. Of course she was aware that the Twilight of this world had already had a thing going with Timber Spruce, Camp Everfree’s assistant director and Gloriosa’s brother. With the princess, it was for her ex Flash Sentry.
Sunset however remembered that back at camp, Flash actually proposed that they should try to start their relationship over just as friends since he seemed very impressed with how much she’s turned herself around since they first dated. Before she could give a proper response, she witnessed Timber sneaking off into the woods when she had her suspicion of him being Gaea Everfree. In her distraction, she just patted him on the shoulder and said that she needed to get going: giving him the impression that she wasn’t interested.
Thinking back on that moment now, Sunset wanted to dope-slap herself for choosing such a poor and misleading set of words. On the upside though, she knew that she helped Flash move on from not settling on Princess Twilight due to her being needed in Equestria for most of the time since it’s where she belonged. Yet at the same time, there were plenty of other single girls at CHS that he could hook up with before she could get a chance to talk to him and clear things up in the hopes of a second go.
The only thing that Sunset worried about was that she could screw up again despite now having a welcoming and warm personality. Like her hair, Sunset’s temper was like a blazing fire whenever she encountered extremely stressful or frustrating situations. If her old bullying days were one thing to end her first relationship with Flash, then surely her temper could be the second thing if she can’t find a way to control it.
Sunset decided not to dwell on that thought and instead go back to enjoying the day with her five friends. Wait. Five? Sunset mentally did a roll call of her friends. Both Rarity and Twilight were lounging next to her. Applejack and Pinkie were cooling off in the water, and Rainbow Dash was at the board practicing some diving moves. They were down by one.
“Hey? Does anyone know what’s taking Fluttershy?” she asked. “It’s been at least twenty minutes since we got here, and she still hasn’t shown up yet.”
“I certainly don’t know,” Rarity replied. “I just assumed maybe that she wished to find a fabulous swimsuit to wear and show off.”
Applejack furrowed her brow.
“Ah’m quite positive that ain’t the case, Rare,” AJ said with a shake of her head. “That girl ain’t too keen on makin’ a display of herself: especially in a public place such as this.”
“ Well, she is now!” Pinkie called out, prompting the friends to look up and over at the direction that Pinkie was pointing at. When their eyes fell on Fluttershy, their mouths hung in agape. Rarity’s sunglasses even slid down her nose to reveal her slight pinprick pupils.
The girls were used to seeing Fluttershy normally wearing a cover-up t-shirt that draped down to to the calves of her legs to completely shroud her striped green and white two-piece swimsuit since she always felt self conscious wearing it until she decided to go into the water. Not this time. Instead, she was proudly showing it off in a prideful, if a bit suggestive stride with a smirk on her face and a pair of her favorite oval-lensed sunglasses with pink frames and tinted lenses with a darker hue of the same color. As she passed male onlookers, they were practically drooling; but Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice or care in the matter. She just kept her attention forward and on her friends.
Once Fluttershy reached the girls, none of them said a word as they continued to gawk at their normally shy and self-reserved friend now proudly displaying skin that she would rather have censored out due to her social anxieties.
“Hello girls,” Fluttershy said in a tone that was slightly more assured than her familiar gentle one. The girls could have be imagining it, but there seemed to be a slight reverberation at the start of each word she said. “Sorry if I’m late. I hope I didn’t miss anything important.”
“Oh of course not, dear,” Rarity reassured. “We’ve mostly been pretty silent this entire time. We only were concerned about why you weren't with us sooner without even a notification of your delay.”
“I apologize for that. I was just so caught up in getting use to my new….swimsuit, that I let time slip by me a bit. I’ll try not to let it happen again. Promise.”
The girls glanced at one another for a brief moment, each with a concerned frown. Applejack was the first one to speak up, and voiced what each of them was thinking in her own saying.
“Are ya feelin’ alright, sugarcube?”
Fluttershy cocked a confused brow and frown at this question as if she didn’t know what Applejack was even talking about.
“Of course I am. Why do you ask?”
There was another brief pause.
“Well. It’s just that you seem more...poised than usual,” Sunset stated. “Not saying that’s a bad thing coming from you. It just seems so…. sudden, and not built up. It’s like you’ve become a whole new person overnight.”
“And that you’ve had that complimentary bikini for a couple of years now,” Rarity added in. “There should’ve been no reason for you to replace it. Was there?”
Fluttershy pondered this for a moment. The girls expected that she would tone down this newfound persona of hers if it was truly bothering them. Instead, Fluttershy just casually shrugged as if she acted like it was no big deal.
“I guess I just surprised myself is all; and yes, Rarity. I noticed there was a slight tear in one of the straps, so I decided I needed to go out and buy a new one of the same brand and design.”
Rarity gave a bit of a hurt look and asked, “Well why didn’t you instead notify me, darling? I would’ve loved to patch it up for you free of charge.”
“I...um,”
“Perhaps she jus’ didn’t wanna trouble ya, Rare,” AJ said.
Rarity frowned and turned her nose up in the air.
“I’ll have you know that I’ll always make an arrangeable time for my services for anyone who needs them, and that a simple patch or stitch-job hardly ever takes that much time.”
Applejack just sighed as she decided to drop the subject since it was not worth an argument over.
“There’s one question that still hasn’t been asked yet,” Sunset averred. “What gave you such a strong confidence boost that apparently took only one night to achieve, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy seemed to be very hesitant to find an answer to this question, and could only utter minor sentence stammers as she struggled to find a proper answer. Before she could collapse under the apparent pressure, Rainbow Dash’s voice spoke up.
“Isn’t it obvious? Giving her the opportunity to host last night’s slumber party had to do with it.”
The friends turned toward Rainbow with a variety of uncertain looks. Before one of them could make a disputed compliment, Fluttershy cut them off.
“That’s exactly the reason why. Thank you, Rainbow. I was just having a difficult time deciding how I should put it in a more interesting way. But that helps to.”
“No prob, Flutters,” Rainbow replied with a smirk as she finished up wringing the last of the excess water from her hair before tossing it over her shoulder. “You certainly have me impressed, that’s for sure.”
Fluttershy looked a bit uncomfortable with a compliment, but quickly decided to go along with it.
“Good to know,” she said with a smirk of her own. She then glanced over to Twilight and her smile seemed to grow a bit more. “And it’s good to see you, Twilight.”
“Um...same here, Fluttershy.”
Twilight couldn’t be sure since it could only be her imagination, but she found something about Fluttershy’s so-called confidence rather unsettling; and somewhat familiar that Twilight had yet to put a point on.
“I was wondering if perhaps maybe early on tonight, that you would join me at the” - their was a pause as if Fluttershy was looking around in her head for what she wanted to say next which was really starting to arouse suspicion and concern from the girls “- animal shelter to provide extra support for the….cute and cuddly animals?”
“Tonight?” Twilight asked with a hint of uncertainty and disappointment. “Oh. I’m so sorry, Fluttershy, but I already have something special planned for that night that I need to be home.”
“Ooh! Like a date?” Pinkie asked. Hearing that question made Twilight’s cheeks flush to dark scarlet.
“S-Something like that,” Twilight stammered a bit, but managed to compose herself before reverting her focus back on Fluttershy. “I would love to maybe try tomorrow night, if that’s alright with you.”
Fluttershy at first looked disheartened by Twilight’s excuse, and Twilight herself worried that she upset her; but she was put at ease when Fluttershy gave a soft and understanding smile.
“That sounds fine, Twilight. Speaking of which, I got called down to the shelter just the moment I arrived here so I need to get going anyway. I’m so sorry to put you all off all of the sudden on short notice, but things like this can happen time to time, and I thought I’d let each of you know. You girls understand, right?”
The friends were briefly hesitant since they were all still uncertain what to make of Fluttershy’s unfamiliar behavior, but mutually decided to give their approval before Fluttershy could suspect that they were holding her back.
“Well if they must really need you, dear, for any reason at all; then we all understand perfectly,” Rarity said with a nod and smile. The rest seemed to do the same.
“I was going to ask you to rate my diving moves, but there’s still plenty more days of Summer left for that,” Rainbow assured. “Besides, I bet it’s air conditioned enough in there so the air is more tolerable than out here.”
Rainbow then began to fan herself off as she felt the heat starting to get to her.
“Better get back in the water before I cook to death out here,” she said before taking off back toward the diving board.
“At least put on a new coat of sunscreen!” Rarity called out to her, but it fell on deaf ears.
“I’m glad we could all agree on this,” Fluttershy said one last time before turning around and heading away. This time, she was walking with what looked like a bit of a disgruntled march instead of her previously suggestive strutting.
When they were sure Fluttershy was out of earshot, Pinkie took the honor of being the first to speak up this time.
“Well...that was pretty weird.”
“Ah second that,” AJ agreed. “Even Ah know for a fact that people can’t change that drastically overnight: especially over somethin’ so simple as hostin’ a sleepover.”
“You don’t think she could be under some kind of stray spell that escaped from Equestria and targeted her somehow, right?” Rarity asked to no one in particular, but all the gazes fell on Sunset who herself looked unsure in the matter.
“I could ask Princess Twilight to see if anything passed through the portal on her side that could’ve caused this,” Sunset said once she became aware of her friend’s eyes anxiously observing her. “I don’t know how long it will take for her to respond though; but hopefully it will be soon enough.”
Sunset understood how busy Princess Twilight could possibly be due to her role as the Princess of Friendship with her own responsibilities, and Sunset didn’t wish to involve her in most of the magical mishaps that happen in the human world now: but the concept of stray magic spells that had the capability of travelling in-between alternate dimensions was something new, and very alarming to Sunset.
If only she knew that her assumptions were false, and that the situation that was currently at hand was much more worse than an AWOL matter of magic.
The last unusual thing that her and the girls took a mental note of was that before Fluttershy took off: that out of all seven of them, Fluttershy was the only one who wasn’t wearing her necklace.