Chapter 8: Matters of the Heart
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or just simply Cadance, was more than a little caught off-guard when her horn flashed pink and a scroll appeared out of thin air in front of her. She wasn't surprised that a scroll had appeared since that was how she communicated with her aunt Celestia, but simply the timing since she was not expecting a correspondence with her aunt for another few days.
"Shall I take that to the mail room your Highness?" the brilliant blue and white Serenity asked. She was Cadance's assistant, secretary, and friend.
"No, I should probably take a look at it," Cadance said, already levitating the scroll and opening it, "If my aunt is sending me unexpected mail, it might be important." It also might be something silly, as Celestia was known to do silly things. Inside the scroll was another scroll, but the outer one had a message on it also.
My Dearest Niece,
It seems that one of our Elements of Harmony is having difficulties of the heart. She wanted to reach out to you, and the quickest way was through me. I'm going to teach Twilight's assistant, Spike, how to send messages to you so that we won't need this silly middle-man setup again. Please keep in mind how much she helped at your wedding and with reviving the Crystal Empire before you make any decisions.
Love,
Auntie Celly
Cadance rolled her eyes and giggled, rolling back up that first scroll and levitating it over to Serenity. Of course she'd do anything to help Twily and her friends. She didn't need to remember the wedding to know that. The second scroll was opened and she first peaked at the sender. Surprised to see Fluttershy's name, she started to read the letter, going over it twice.
"Well this certainly is interesting," she said, but she smiled as she said it.
"Cadance?" Serenity asked, dropping the formality in friendly curiosity.
"Sorry, its a matter of the heart," Cadance said, rolling the scroll back up, "As such only I am privy to the details. But its nothing bad. Love is in the air!" She almost laughed as she said it. Love was such an amazing thing. So simple, so complex, so frightening and beautiful. Even Cadance, who knew all there is to know about love, knew nothing about it.
Giggling, she galloped away from Serenity, leaving her to do whatever it was she did when Cadance was not around. She was giddy as a school filly as she went back to her room to write her reply to Fluttershy. She already knew how to start the letter, and she would simply let the rest come from her own heart.
Dear Fluttershy,
I'm honored you thought to ask me about matters of love and it is never a bother to help my friends. Its my pleasure, a thrill even, to assist you in any way I can considering all that I owe you and your friends.
I'm overjoyed that love is in the air in Ponyville! There is nothing more binding than when someone manages to overcome their fears and tell that special somepony else how they feel. Unfortunately, there is nothing more painful than when that love is not reciprocated in turn. I sympathize with your position Fluttershy. It was hard for me to find true love among all of the ponies that I knew, but do not fear, it is out there.
If you want my advice, the first thing you should do is tell this friend of yours exactly what you told me. If she truly loves you, she will understand.
I'm going to be bold here and guess that she is one of the other Elements, am I right? I don't assume you all call yourselves that, but that's the only way I know you all as a group. Would it be possible for you to tell me who it is, or describe her if that's too hard? I don't mean to pry, I do mean to help.
I know, what about you tell me about each of your friends from your perspective. What makes you cherish each of them, and, above all, when you think about them how do you feel?
Your loving friend,
Cadance
And that was that. Everything flowed out better than she thought, but from how she knew Fluttershy she was worried that the pegasus might go into some terror stricken coma at the thought of exposing her heart on paper like this. But it was all she could do. Cadance would love to go visit her in person, but there just wasn't time. With Shining Armor back in Canterlot to help with a possible thread to all of Equestria she was needed here in the Crystal Empire too much.
Sealing the scroll, Cadance lowered her horn to it and concentrated. Soon enough, it vanished, and a certain pink maned pony would be in for a surprise when it appeared.
Twilight Sparkle was seated on the back of a chariot that Princess Celestia had sent for her. She didn't expect this kind of treatment for a simple conversation, but she could scarcely refuse Celestia's insistence. The most surprising part of it all was the speed at which the royal guards and chariot arrived.
Twilight had only sent the letter two hours earlier, asking Princess Celestia if she could visit and talk about a problem she was having with regards to a mare she had recently dated. The Princess had helped Twilight come to terms with her sexuality when she was younger, so maybe she could help her come to terms with her heart now.
The problem she needed her mentor for was the fact that, despite her greatest attempts at being romantic and showing true affection and love for Fluttershy, there was no spark. Or no spark more-so than the close friendship they already had. Taking Fluttershy on a date and to bed had felt almost natural, like something she could have done with any of her best friends. And this was what frightened Twilight, because if she didn't love Fluttershy then she would have to let the bashful mare know before they became too close and risk breaking her heart. But on the other side of that, Twilight couldn't resist the joy she got from treating Fluttershy as more than a chaste friend. Sure, the sex was fun, but the intimacy they now shared was spectacular. It made her want more. That was another point that Twilight would have to talk to Celestia about.
The fact that it was approaching midnight on the eve of the Summer Sun Festival had made quite the convenient excuse to leave Ponyville. Twilight, being the protege of Celestia and one of the Elements of Harmony, was prone to sudden departures at significant events. Even Spike didn't question Twilight when she said that at dawn she would be taking the first train to Canterlot.
The chariot had arrived hours after the letter was sent and the two royal guards had told her that Celestia requested she come with them rather than wait. So now she was standing on a chariot and Canterlot was in view. In the pre-dawn air it was quite cold, but the summer night was pleasant enough that she only shivered a little and she could wait until they landed before she'd have to worry about getting sick.
When she was left on the ground, Twilight went up the brick road to the palace where the guards greeted her with familiarity. She asked to see the princess but was informed that, although she was expected, the princess was currently out preparing for the Summer Sun Festival. This year she would be raising the sun in Fillydelphia but Twilight was welcome to wait in the palace or enjoy the Canterlot festival until her return in the morning. Twilight, knowing the grounds fairly well, decided to go out to the Canterlot Grand Square to celebrate the Sun
Most unfortunately for her, the Grand Square had a new stage set up on it and a very familiar unicorn grandstanding and garnering the attention of the residents of the capital city.
"Viola!" the unicorn said, her crowd applauding politely as a single flower in her hoof became a bouquet. Unlike the crowds she drew in smaller towns, such as Ponyville and Appleoosa, the social elite of Canterlot were unlikely to break out into roaring cheers and applause. Twilight smirked a little at Trixie's momentary irritated look at this realization.
The blue unicorn spotted Twilight as the purple mare tried to walk around the back end of the crowd. Feeling like she could earn more of a cheer if she really stepped up the showmanship, she called out to her.
"Why look everypony," She said, flourishing her hoof, "Its none other than the famous Twilight Sparkle, the living embodiment of Magic herself." All heads turned towards Twilight. The sudden attention made Twilight highly uncomfortable. Trixie apparently knew this and made a great fuss about Twilight joining her on stage. Twilight Sparkle tried to turn down the offer but a surprisingly enthusiastic crowd urged her on. Before Twilight could really grasp the situation, she was standing on stage beside a rather smug looking Trixie.
"Mares and Gentlecoalts," she said, "This is Twilight Sparkle, resident of Ponyville. Before I continue the show we shall let her regale us with the tale of how I vanquished the Ursa Major and saved her beloved little town from certain destruction.
Twilight blinked, shocked from her stupor by Trixie's blatant lie. Hadn't she learned her lesson last time. As all eyes turned to her expectantly, Twilight looked at Trixie quizzically.
"Vanquished? You were panicking in the street. And it was an Ursa Minor, not an Ursa Major. And it wasn't vanquished, it was lulled back to sleep and sent home. And it wasn't you that saved Ponyville, it was me." Twilight argued.
There were some surprised gasps but Trixie was quick to react. "You? Oh please. I know you are the student of our beloved Celestia, but how can you hope to compare to the Great and Powerful Trixie!" As she announced her own name her hat lifted up slightly so that her horn could be seen glowing. Sparks of light shot out in multiple directions, exploding like fireworks and earning some "Oooh"s and "Ahh"s from the crowd. The sounds of appraisal stopped with gasps as the exploding sparks of light all froze in place. Even Trixie sounded shocked.
All eyes went to Twilight, who's horn was now glowing as well.
She had frozen the illusions cast by Trixie in place, and was now rearranging them. Each spark of light floated towards a central point and they began to swirl around in a sphere, moving faster and faster and faster until they appeared to be one solid ball of light. The ball of light began to deform and reshape itself. Appendages began to appear and elongate from the central mass, and as they did so the sparks that were used to form the light slowed somewhat, showing of the swirling effect once more. Within seconds the irregular lump bore a strong resemblance to a rather large pony with a large hat, flowing cloak, and long beard. The lights swirled around within the beard and the pony of light, thrice the size of all present, appeared to walk over to Trixie, causing the blue unicorn to cringe back from it.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie should learn to be more modest in the presence of greater magic," Twilight said, "Meet Starswirl the Bearded, the greatest user of magic to ever exist. Second only to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." This display caused a much more vigorous applause and cheering from the crowd of onlookers. Trixie's cheeks began to look purple-ish as she flushed with embarrassment and anger. Her horn flashed light blue and the sparkling apparition of Starswirl erupted into a multifaceted explosion gleaming like a thousand diamonds in an array of light and beauty that would have made Rarity drool.
The ground where Starswirl had stood was now billowing with multicolored smoke. Twilight looked through the smoke at a surprisingly wicked looking Trixie. "Behold!" The Great and Powerful unicorn said as the smoke flew towards Twilight like ropes, each color separating into its own strand. They lashed around Twilight's legs and neck, lifting her into the air and twirling her around theatrically.
Turning to the audience, Trixie took a bow, but there was a sudden bright flash that blinded everyone for half a second. When the audience could see again, Twilight was standing in Trixie's place, bowing, while Trixie was neatly wrapped up by the smoke ribbons. There was even a big red bow on her head. She used her magic to have the smoke dissipate and turned to Twilight, stomping her hoof in irritation. Twilight smiled smugly at her. It was about time someone had properly put Trixie in her place.
Trixie smiled back. Clearly she had another trick or two up her sleeve. "You're rather impressive, I have to admit." she said, her voice once more inflecting theatrically for the sake of showmanship. "There must be some powerful motivator driving such extreme talent. Lets have a look at whats on your mind, shall we?"
Twilight froze up. Trixie's horn glowed and a matching aura wrapped Twilight's head. Memories of the night with Fluttershy began to well up, but even as Twilight fought the spell and tried to hide that memory, fantasies began to surface. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity...
No no no! Twilight struggled as illusions began to materialize around her on the stage. It was one thing to be a public lesbian, it was another to have your depraved sexual fantasies displayed on stage for everyone to see. Twilight was rather good at caring little about what strangers thought of her, but this would be something even she would have difficulty living down. Even more-so if her friends ever heard the news.
There was a tap on her shoulder and Twilight opened one of her eyes to look. It was...Pinkie Pie? She leaned in and whispered into Twilight's ear. "Think about your friends."
Think about her friends? That was the main problem! Trixie was pulling out thoughts and fantasies of her closest friends. If only Twilight could get her spell to pull out more appropriate memories. Apparitions of her friends not doing something sultry would be far more helpful.
And that's when it came to her. Think about her friends! That's exactly what she was doing! Twilight focused more and stopped worrying about Trixie pulling her friends out of her head. Instead, Twilight pushed them out.
Translucent, glowing images of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie surrounded her, all facing towards Trixie.
"Awww, how cute!" Trixie said, "The Element of Magic thinks about the other Elements of Harmony. Almost storybook, if I do say so myself."
"They're not just the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said, "They're my friends. And as long as they're here with me," she tapped her hoof to her chest, "You'll never beat me." With a smile of confidence, Twilight's horn burst with light and the illusions left Trixie's control and became her own spell. They ran towards her, the sounds of their illusionary hooves sounding like a stampede. They collided with Trixie and Twilight expected them to travel through her, but instead they actually shoved her offstage, carrying her back behind the curtains.
When the sounds of the hooves and shouts of anger and surprise of Trixie died away, there was a moment of silence before an almost undignified cheer rose from the crowd. They clopped their hooves on the ground and cheered Twilight's name. Blushing, she bowed and backed away off stage, going to the same side that Trixie had been taken.
Once she was out of sight, she ran around to where she had last seen the apparitions of her friends. Instead of five magically created ponies there was just one solid Pinkie Pie with an unconscious Trixie laying at her feet. Pinkie Pie was looking up quizzically when Twilight approached.
"Pinkie?" she asked. Her friend looked at her and beamed.
"Hiya Twilight!" she said.
"But...how did you...how are you..." She reached out and poked Pinkie Pie's shoulder. The pink pony giggled and poked Twilight back. "You're real? How did you get here? Where did you come from?" Twilight was overwhelmed by the relief and confusion caused by Pinkie Pie's timely appearance.
"My Pinkie Sense told me that a friend is gonna be in a bit of a pickle and that I needed to get to Canterlot to help her out." Pinkie replied with a big smile. Twilight lifted a hoof and was about to voice another question, but instead stopped herself. There was no point in asking Pinkie Pie about how she Pinkie Pie'd. She just did.
Smiling with appreciation, Twilight only said "Thanks Pinkie. I'm glad you did get here when you did." Pinkie PIe pulled Twilight into a hug and the two held each other for a few seconds. "Hey! Its almost dawn, want to watch the Summer Sun Celebration Sunrise with me?" she asked. The poofy haired mare about exploded with excitement before mimicking Twilight's emphatic 'Yes yes yes yes!' in a way not unlike how Twilight acted when she first got her cutie mark. "Here, I know where the best view in the city is." Twilight added, nodding her head for Pinkie Pie to follow her. They walked back around to the front of the stage and Twilight was relieved to see that the crowd had dissipated . Everyone was heading off to the other end of the central square where the Princess would stand to raise the sun if it were Canterlot's turn to host.
Twilight took Pinkie Pie into a tower whose entrance was guarded. They let Twilight in as well as Pinkie because of familiarity with the two Elements. At the top of the tower was a balcony and a telescope, the one used by the princesses to watch over all of Equestria when needed. Twilight moved the telescope to one side of the balcony then went over to the railing with Pinkie Pie. The two leaned on the rail and stared at the glowing horizon. "Here it comes!" Twilight said excitedly.
The sun broke the horizon and began to rapidly ascend. Brilliant golden yellow light flooded the landscape and shadows shrunk before its warm glow. Twilight basked in its beauty and leaned against Pinkie Pie. The pink mare leaned back against her friend and watched the dawn.
"This would be super romantic if we were on a date," Pinkie Pie said after a lenghty, peaceful silence. While some might consider the comment awkward, Twilight was inclined to agree. This would be incredibly romantic if she were dating Pinkie Pie. But then a nagging thought entered her mind. Would it be romantic? In the technical sense, sure it would be. But with all of the confusing problems with dating Fluttershy at the moment, Twilight was fearful that something was wrong with her that would take the romance out of anything.
Frowning, she stopped leaning against Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie Pie fell over now that the mutual support was gone. She gave Twilight a concerned frown when she stood back up.
"Is something wrong Twilight?" she asked, momentarily afraid that her comment had upset her.
"Yeah," Twilight said, "But if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell Fluttershy."
"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye." Pinkie Pie said with a smile, mimicking the entire process of her vow to secrecy. Twilight suppressed a giggle but couldn't suppress a smile. More than once she had thought What would I do without Pinkie Pie and she always dismissed the question because she'd never want this particularly quirky pony gone.
With a sigh, Twilight told Pinkie Pie about her feelings for Fluttershy. She told her about the date, briefly mentioning that they spent the night together without going into details, and how she was uncomfortable that even after all of the romance and how much she tried to fall in love with Fluttershy that nothing happened.
"This may sound weird," She said, "But for all that we did, I feel like I could have had exactly as romantic a time with you, or Rarity, or any of our friends." She looked down for a moment before looking back up in nervous surprise at herself, "I don't mean that in a bad way!" she quickly defended against an unaccusatory Pinkie Pie.
The pink mare reached out and patted Twilight's back. She truly sympathized with her friend, but from a different direction. Her fear wasn't that she couldn't love anyone, but that no one could love her. "I know whatcha mean," she said in her normally perky manner, but inside she was anything but. Inside she was feeling cold and bitter and worried.
Twilight's fears of not being in love froze Pinkie Pie's blood in her veins, and the fact that the purple unicorn had such a wonderful gift as the mere potential for love and was whining about not feeling anything special made Pinkie Pie almost spitefully bitter towards her friend. She was close to just smacking her across the face with her hoof and screaming into her face to not dare give up this chance at a joy that Pinkie Pie dared not even dream of. It also worried her because to see two of her closest friends be on the brink of something so wonderful and yet be so close to losing it all. Pinkie decided that, though it might benefit her to try and slide into one of these possibly breaking hearts, it would be better for everyone if she could keep Fluttershy and Twilight together. The thought of them breaking up hurt almost as much as the thought of herself breaking up with someone she loved.
Twilight received a summons from a royal messenger while they talked on the balcony and excused herself, apologizing profusely despite Pinkie's assurance that she'd be fine without her for a bit, and that her meeting with Celestia was the entire reason she was here in the first place. Once Twilight was gone, Pinkie Pie dashed back to the train station. She needed to get to Ponyville and hatch out a plan to save the romance between her friends. Actually, she decided to do her planning and thinking on the train. The ride would take most of the day and that way she'd have have something in mind and all of the details thought up thoughtfully so that when she got out of the train she'd be able to get started without any more minutes passing.
She pondered what to do while waiting for the train to get her back to Ponyville. What would save a relationship? She wasn't entirely familiar with the concept having never tried to save one before. There were books and sappy movies she could read and watch about breakups and get-back-togethers, so that was a place to start!
The rest of the train ride was laboriously long. Pinkie hadn't thought that she could think so fast, so now that she was eager to get back to Ponyville and find a romantic literary piece she was dancing about as though she had ants in her pants. The moment the train had slowed enough to allow it, Pinkie Pie leaped from the door and ran at breakneck speed away from the train station. Her target: the library!
As she had guessed, the only living souls in the library were Spike and Owlowiscious, the one capable of flight currently sleeping the day away, and the one with fire for breath carrying a short stack of books. He looked over when Pinkie Pie entered and gave her a smile and a wave.
"Hey Pinkie Pie."
"Hiiiiiii Spike" Pinkie answered, cheerily as ever. Having her mind set on saving the romance between two of her closest friends had put her in as dandy a mood as ever. She hopped along the library floor towards the side of the library where most of the fiction was. "Hey Spike, do you know any good romance books?" she asked when she started to peruse the shelves.
"Romance? Bleh," Spike said, making a gagging noise, "I don't touch the stuff."
"But I thought you're the one that puts all the books away?" Pinkie asked, looking over her shoulder quizzically at him.
Spike slapped himself in the forehead with a sigh. "Okay, I do touch them, but I don't read them or really look at them if I can avoid it."
"Aww," Pinkie Pie said, "But I really need to find a good book to help keep a couple together." She winced a bit as she said that, since that was a little too close to telling Spike what Twilight had told her in confidence. Spike didn't pick up on that, however. Perhaps he genuinely wasn't interested in anything romance related.
"Check that shelf to your right," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Its the romance shelf." He made another sickly face after saying 'romance' and walked back over to a cart full of book to continue his duties in Twilight's absence.
"Thaaaanks!" Pinkie said before taking a longer than natural sidestep over to the shelf in question. Her eyes bulged out as she leaned in close to examine each spine. Her head moved sideways from one volume to the next as she judged them by their spines, stopping every couple of books to bite on one and pull it out. She flicked them open to the middle with her hoof and read a couple of sentences in each one before moving on. Spike made a grunting noise when he saw the mess she was making but otherwise didn't complain.
"Aha!" Pinkie said as she all but buried her face in one of the books. She closed it and picked it up, running over to Spike and stopping just short of barreling the little dragon over. Spike had cringed at the sight of the pink pony approaching him at such reckless speeds, but let out a breath of relief when she stopped.
"Go ahead and take it," Spike said, not feeling like going through the tedious process of actually checking out a book. Not like he'd miss it, and Pinkie Pie was more than trustworthy.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Pinkie pie said while picking up the book and bolting out of the library so quick the sheer force of the air whirling around her knocked several books off of the shelf, which greatly irritated the young dragon.
Pinkie Pie went back to Sugarcube Corner as fast as she could. She greeted her kind landlords but without any further adieu she went to her room and shut the door to begin reading. She didn't so much 'read' the book as skim it for anything that seemed relevant to her cause. The words "I'm sorry" popped out at her and the phrases "I love you" and "I still love you". She completely ignored the entirety of the story, something about a young colt falling for a mare from a rival family, but none of it mattered. What did matter were the things being done in the story when the colt and mare get into a fight and split up. The colt tries to rekindle the romance.
Flowers, sweets, dinner Pinkie Pie thought, memorizing the list while at the same time thinking of what to do, in what order, how to do it, and where to start. Flowers would be the easiest thing to pick since she knew both Twilight and Fluttershy's favorite species of the pretty, tasty morsels. The sweets and dinner and other materials she would require would require a lot more thought and research.
"To the flower shop!" She cried loudly from her room, causing both of the twins to wake up and a someone irritated Ms Cake to come galloping up the stairs as Pinkie galloped down them. She was on her way to the best flower shop in town: May's Flowers.
The small store was more or less halfway between her home on the second floor of Sugarcube Corner and Rarity's fashion boutique. Pinkie Pie almost always stopped in to see the owner, May, or her assistant, April Showers. Today when Pinkie got there it was April Showers who was behind the counter.
"Hi Pinkie Pie," she said, waving her hoof.
"Hiya April!" Pinkie said, "Is that a new manecut?"
"Oh, yes, thanks" April said, "I'm trying to wear it to a different side, what do you think?"
"Hmmm," Pinkie Pie said, rubbing her chin as she examined her friend's hairdo. "I like it!" she said after a lengthy, speculative silence.
"Thanks," April said with a smile, "So what brings you here today? We have fresh lilacs if you're interested." April knew all too well that Pinkie Pie lovedlilacs, but today Pinkie was on a mission.
"Actually," she said, "I'm on a special mission that requires tulips and babiesbreath." April raised a surprised eyebrow at Pinkie Pie's request.
"Dare I ask why you're changing your usual order?" she asked, but she still smiled since she expected a very Pinkie Pie answer. She walked around the counter towards one of the rows upon rows of trough-like gardens, looking for the prime flowers for Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie hesitated before answering. She had sworn to Twilight not to tell Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie naturally extended that promise to anyone within the circle of friends. Even her little slip-up to Spike had been too close for her comfort. April Showers rarely had contact with any of Pinkie's closest friends, but telling her might be breaking Twilight's trust...but telling the expert on flowers about the situation could be beneficial since April might know what sort of flowers are best for stopping a breakup.
"Well...I can tell you...but only because it might be better for you to know since I only came here for flowers cuz I got the idea from a book." Pinkie Pie was visibly struggling with the dilemma and it caused a look of concern to cross April's face. "And you can't tell anybody" Pinkie added. April rolled her eyes, smiled, and made the gestures that went along with Pinkie Pie's famous Pinkie Promise. Relaxing a little at this, the curly maned mare took a deep breath and began to explain. "My friends Twilight and Fluttershy started dating a little while ago and they make such a cute couple but Twilight told me she's not sure if she's really in love with Fluttershy because even after all of their dating and other activities she doesn't feel anything different for her than when they were just friends and I'm really worried that they might split up which would be just terrible since my Pinkie Sense tells me they belong together and so I went to the library and got a romance novel and read it and got the idea to get flowers and some other things to try and rekindle the romance." She ended and took another deep breath, having let it all out in once burst.
April showers blinked, her face contorted in confusion and slow comprehension. Eventually she deciphered all that was said and nodded her head thoughtfully. "Okay...I think I see what you're up against...hmm." she looked down at the flowers Pinkie had requested and went on "But tulips and babysbreath aren't what you need."
"But they're Twilight and Fluttershy's favorites," Pinkie said.
"Maybe, but then you can't send them just bouquets of them. You need something more." She tapped her chin then began to calmly walk around the room, "Roses, for one. Long stemmed and red," she clipped a few and put them on a cart. Pinkie Pie followed and watched as April went to many different bushes of flowers and began to sort the few she clipped into two separate arrangements.
"Wowwwww," Pinkie said as the flowers came together in a pair of beautiful bouquets. She wasn't sure at what point they became beautiful, but from the pile of flowers and stems that April had started with to the two wrapped bouquets sitting on the counter, there was some magic being done, that was for sure.
"Yes, I think these should do," April Showers said, smiling down at the bouquets with a hint of affection. She turned the same expression onto Pinkie Pie before saying "You're a really good friend, you know? Most mares would stay out of their friends' business and let them work it out themselves. Heck, I know a few who would actively try to sabotage a relationship for one reason or another," She rolled her eyes at the sheer stupidity of some people. "I hope they realize how sweet you are."
Pinkie Pie felt the coldness in her chest begin to flare up again, spreading downwards to the pit in her stomach where she tried to hide all of her bad feelings. Her smile gave way to a nervous frown. "Gee, you think maybe they'll think I'm interloping?"
"Nah," April said, "If they're really in love, they'll realize this and thank you until the end of time for saving it. And I mean really in love, deep down in their bones, ya know?"
"Well, actually..." Pinkie Pie began, "I don't-" She was cut off by the ringing of the bell at the entrance. Pinkie looked over her shoulder to see half a dozen young ponies come running in.
"Uh-oh" April said with a concerned smile.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Flower Arrangers!" the children all said in one unified enthusiastic shout. Scootaloo, Pipsqueek, Air Horn, Applebloom, Toddleoff and Zippity Zip all but stampeded into the small store, almost knocking Pinkie Pie over, but the energetic mare managed to dance her way around them as they ran past her and up to April.
"Let me guess," April Showers said to the notorious youngsters, who were all looking at her with eager expressions, "You want to try and find your cutie marks by arranging flowers?"
"Yeah!" Scootaloo said.
"Well, alright," April said, "But-" before she could finish the foals had darted off in different directions. April's head turned from side to side with an increasingly horror filled expression as flowers were ripped from stems and entire plants were pulled out, root and all, "No...no no no no no!" April Showers said before she began to run to the Crusaders, trying not to tackle them away from their wanton destruction in her haste to save the flowers.
Pinkie Pie fought off the urge to laugh and instead went about to help, trying to stop the eccentric youngsters from ripping the flowers out by the root. By the time the litte ponies had abandoned the venture- briefly gathering by the store entrance to discuss their next idea- April was looking over what appeared to be the aftermath of a small tornado that had appeared and been entirely concentrated within the flower shop.
April looked at the ruins of her shop, her right eye twitching slightly. Pinkie Pie walked up next to her and looked around, surveying the damage. "Wow, what a mess." She said, "Want me to help clean up?"
This brought April out of her dumbfounded state of mind. With a sigh she gave Pinkie Pie a grateful smile. "Really? Would you?" She asked. Pinkie nodded and April Showers accepted the help. She went to grab a broom and dustpan while Pinkie Pie began to upright overturned flower pots and attempt to replant the ones that did not seem too horribly mangled by the young ones that had just left.
As April and Pinkie worked their way around the shop, slowly repairing the devastation, April started up the previous conversation. "You were saying?" She asked. Pinkie Pie blinked at her, having no idea what she was saying or what April was thinking she was saying. "You were worried your friends wouldn't like you nosing in on their business? I said if they were really in love, and you were saying 'You don't'?"
"Ohhhh," Pinkie Pie said, feeling that cold ache in her stomach return. Her smile faltered and April Showers blinked, having never seen Pinkie without a smile before.
"Are you okay?" April asked, stopping her sweeping while waiting for an answer.
"I'm...not...sure?" Pinkie said. April waited for a few seconds, and was about to ask some more when Pinkie Pie sighed. "I'm just...very...very confused." She sighed and sat down. April leaned her broom against one of the shelves that held partially fixed flowers and walked over to the floor beside Pinkie Pie, sitting next to her.
"About what?" she asked, "Maybe I can help?"
Pinkie Pie looked at April Showers, then nodded her head. "Maybe," she said "But...well..." She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Here goes...When Twilight asked Fluttershy out I was super excited and super jealous because I want them to be happy no matter what but I also do my best to make everypony happy and I've never been asked out once ever by anyone I reallycare about I mean I know everypony in Ponyville and a lotta people have asked me out but no one really special do you know what I mean? Like a minute ago you said that deep deep love you feel in your bones right? Well no matter who I get to smile and who I hang out with I don't get any warm fuzzy feelings except when I'm around my best friends and it gets very frustrating so that's why I'm really wanting to keep Fluttershy and Twilight together because if they split up then I don't' know what I'd do but I don't like the ideas that come to mind." Again she inhaled, having expended all of her breath on that miniature speech.
April gave Pinkie a moment to catch her breath. "Love isn't something you find, Pinkie," she said, patting the wild maned mare on the shoulder, "Its something that finds you."*
Pinkie Pie stared in slack jawed wonder at the simple statement. It was both all-explaining and yet left her feeling absolutely clueless. Eventually her mouth closed and her eyes stopped focusing on April and instead focused on something in the distance, something not in the real world. "Something that finds me..." she thought as her life did a fast-rewind before her eyes.
"I'm not going to make you a guarantee," April continued, "But its very likely you already found what you're looking for, and just haven't recognized it."
"Yeah..." Pinkie Pie said, standing up, "Um, sorry to leave you with this mess April, but I need to go."
"Its fine," April said, "You helped me clean most of it anyway. Good luck, by the way." She gave Pinkie Pie a wink and, smiling again, Pinkie Pie left the flower shop, her mind still reeling.
Princess Celestia walked ahead of the small procession of ponies down the hallway that led to the great Vault placed deep within the sprawling palace of Canterlot. With Celestia was Luna, walking less than half a pace behind and beside her sister. Behind them walked Zecora, who looked up at the tall stained glass windows as they passed them. Beside her was Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle's elder sibling. He had come from the Crystal Empire to assist his home in this upcoming time of need. Behind them were two of Celstia's royal guards, their faces grimly stoic, as always.
Zecora had set in motion the events that led to this. Her letter to Celestia had been answered quite promptly and she had been teleported from the train station in Ponyville directly to the palace. This had greatly surprised Zecora, but only for a moment. Once her senses had adjusted she began to answer the white alicorn's series of pointed questions. The princess then wrote to her niece, Cadence, and teleported Shining Armor back to Equestria to hear Zecora's description of Dune Sea and the Rising Sun Empire first hand. They grilled her for hours about the details of the Zebra's war against the Sphinxes and got everything they could learn from Zecora. Zecora was more than willing to help and very patient with them. What she was telling them was no small matter, and the fate of Equestria was in the balance.
Now Zecora was following them all to a rather majestic vault, the contents of which she could only wonder. Celestia and Shining had been in conversations without Zecora for quite some time before she was summoned from her guest room to join them, so she could only guess that what they had discussed involved this vault.
Just as she was examining a window that depicted the new Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle and her friends, turning Nightmare Moon back into Luna, she stoped walking along with everyone else. They had arrived at the massive doors.
"Guards," she said as her and Luna's horns glowed with magic, and the doors began to open, "You are to take these necklaces to each of the Elements of Harmony. Speak to no one about your assignment besides them."
"Yes your highness," the two guards said simultaneously, the unicorn of them taking the box with his own magical levitation after the princess removed it from the vault. Luna closed the vault doors as the guards left, and Zecora waited silently as Shining Armor watched two of his former soldiers leave.
Looking to Zecora, he blinked and gave her a slightly apologetic look. "Sorry to leave you in the dark Zecora," he said, "But we decided," he gestured to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, "That the Elements of Harmony needed to be moved to a safer place."
"What place could be safer than a safe?" Zecora asked.
"When Discord returned," Princess Celestia began, "He was able to get past my magical safeguards. He is a powerfully magical individual, as is this Dune Sea you have warned us about." Zecora only nodded, and waited because she could tell that Celestia had more to say. The princess continued, "When Queen Chrysalis attacked, her army was able to keep the Elements of Harmony out of the hooves of their wielders, much to all of our dismay. This Rising Sun Empire you speak of sounds as though it will be even larger than the Changeling army that assaulted us during Shining Armor's wedding. If Dune Sea can get beyond my magical seal or if her armies can keep my student and her friends away from Canterlot, then our greatest defense against the worst will be lost."
"Ah, I see," Zecora said.
"So we decided that it would be best to trust the Elements into the care of those who wield them," said Luna. "This way, should the Sphinxes enter Equestria, Twilight Sparkle and the others will be able to react immediately to any situation that threatens."
"This decision is very wise." Zecora said, nodding her head, "I merely hope Equestria does not get seen by Dune Sea's eyes."
"So do us all," Shining Armor said, "So do us all."