MLPFiM Original characters created by Lauren Faust & Studio B. MLPFiM © Hasbro
This fan work is in no way designed to infringe upon the rights of Hasbro and Studio B. It is, completely and utterly, a fan-based concept and intended for free distribution for the promotion of My Little Pony.
~o~O~o~
METANOIA
Arc 1 - Potency
Part 1
~o~O~o~
"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land.
To do this, the elder used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn and the younger brought out the moon to begin the night.
Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects.
But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful of her elder sister and their subject.
The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.
One fateful day, the younger alicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn.
The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into the wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.
She vowed that she would shroud the land in an eternal night.
Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: The Elements of Harmony.
Using the magic of The Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon.
The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since."
We all know or have heard this story. Much of it is fondly regarded as a nostalgic tale from foal-hood.
For many parents, Nightmare Moon has been a bogeymare used to coerce free-spirited colts and fillies into obedience for centuries.
The story may have changed slight overtime, but she was always there. The Mare in the Moon we came to know as Nightmare Moon.
Until this last Summer Sun Celebration, many ponies were content to leave the story in the domain of stressed parents and students of mythology, letting it slip into the realm of such things as the Smooze and the Volcano of Doom.
Then there was the day the sun did not rise.
Panic and unrest burst out in cities across Equestria and beyond as it seemed that the age-old promise of a long dismissed bogey-mare had come to pass. Eternal night had seemingly come to Equestria and it seemed nopony could find Princess Celestia, magnate of the sun, to aid us in this dark time.
The panic proved to be short-lived in the end.
Not only would the sun rise that same way, but we would find ourselves welcoming not only Princess Celestia back to Canterlot on that day, but her long lost and seeming forgotten sister: Princess Luna.
One can only imagine the ripples that were sent through Canterlot's back rooms that day when a new authority simply came into being.
Almost immediately the rumors began.
If this new mare, this mare of the moon, were truly the one of legend.
If that were so, then had she been the cause of the day the sun did not rise.
And if that were so, then what did it mean for the rest of the legend.
During the year after this more than eventful Summer Sun Celebration, there has been a great deal of interest paid to archaeologist, historians and even the occasionally nut-job conspiracy theorist.
Interest in these old legends has become stronger than ever, becoming a fertile ground for anypony's imagination.
This became especially true when more came to light about the Elements of Harmony.
Once it became common suspicion that the Elements of old had been actual ponies rather than magical artifacts, the search began for these special ponies: these ponies of destiny as some have called them.
However, as we draw closer to the first Summer Sun Celebration since the arrival of Princess Luna in Canterlot, we are left with far more questions than answers.
Where are these mysterious Elements of Harmony?
"...And, more importantly, who are they?" Fluttershy finished, unable to keep herself from smiling as she gently closed the magazine. It certainly struck the pegasus as a silly question, but of course, she along with her friend knew the answer to the pony's question.
"What do you think, Roby?" Fluttershy asked the blue crested robin that sat at the top of her mane, the bird giving her a light chirrup as a response. "I think it was a nice article, don't you?"
The robin gave an discordant chirp before hopping down onto the magazine, gazing up into the pegasus' kind blue orbs as the bird scratched lightly at the cover.
"Well...I don't like those rumors either, but those aren't his fault, now are they?"
The bird tilted its head in thought a moment before a solemn, conciliatory chirp escaped its beak, pawing at the closed cover with a closed talon.
"There's a good bird," Fluttershy cooed affectionately before rising up and stretching her sore limbs. Sitting on the ground for so long, even to do something as relaxing as reading to one of her animals, usually had the side effect of throwing her spine out of whack. As she finished stretching out the kinks, a few gentle pops echoing in the quiet meadow where she had been reading for a good hour or so, she leaned her head down to the bird, allowing it to hop back onto her mane.
"Be careful now, Roby," Fluttershy reminded the little bird as it clutched at her mane with its diminutive talons, "Don't use your wings. I can crouch down more if you'd like to climb up my back."
The bird simply dismissed the notion with an aggressive chirrup, climbing up a particularly thick section of mane with its talons, making in to the top of the pegasus in good time.
"There you go." She knew she needn't worry. She had done her work on the robin's broken wing and she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't a reckless or dumb bird. He had a nest, a family and a life to get back to after all.
The yellow pegasus found herself staring out at the meadow, she almost wanted to lay back down on the hill and bed down for the night it was so peaceful, the sun's last rays of light feathering out over the horizon, the moon already peaking over the mountains in preparation for the night.
It had been a beautiful summer day. Almost a year had passed since that fateful day when Nightmare Moon had returned to wreck her vengeance on Equestria. A year since she had met Twilight Sparkle and become a part of the Elements of Harmony. A year since she found herself suddenly a part of five other ponies lives as a part of seemingly indivisible group of friends.
It didn't seem like it could be only a year, really. It was strange to be linked by... by... Fluttershy didn't even know what to call it. Destiny seemed the right word, but a pony as meek and timid as Fluttershy didn't fit into anything involving destiny.
Whatever you want to call it, I'm just glad it happened, Fluttershy thought, sighing happily as she strolled gently down on the hill before shutting her eyes, taking in the sounds of the approaching night. She knew the path home by heart. She may have been close to the Everfree Forest, but she had no fears when she walked the meadows and forest that surrounded her cottage home.
The gentle summer breeze coursed through the branches of the forest, the rustling leaves creating a soothing chorus to the falsetto singing of nightingale and chirping of the crickets.
Sometimes, if she listened to them long enough, she could almost hear meaning in their harmonies. She could nearly hear the words to their songs. What are you all singing about tonight? What songs do you have for this—
"Fluttershy!" The pegasus gasped, eyes shooting open as the songs of the forest suddenly grew quieter. "Fluttershy are you home?"
"Oh dear," Fluttershy exclaimed as she broke into a quick trot towards her cottage where she found a purple unicorn shouting at the door, a hoof raised and ready to knock again before she spotted the yellow pegasi's approach.
"Oh, there you are, Fluttershy," the unicorn smiled, taking a few steps towards the approaching pegasus. "I hope... I hope I'm not interrupting anything." She smiled sheepishly, noticing the now desolate silence she'd left in the wake of her yelling, the robin nested in Fluttershy's mane letting out an annoyed chirp. "Er, Sorry."
"Oh, it's okay, Twilight," Fluttershy reassured, pushing the cottage door open before turning to motion her friend inside, "I must have forgotten you were coming over for tea. I was just watching the sun go down when I should have been watching the time," she continued, wearing her own, equally sheepish grin.
"It's okay, Fluttershy. There's no reason for apologies," the unicorn replied, trotting into the cottage before Fluttershy entered as well, closing the door behind the pair.
Outside, the confused silence of the forest was suddenly broken by the off-key caterwauling of a noisy sparrow.
~o~O~o~
"Wow, this is really good tea, Fluttershy. It's even better than the tea I get from Zecora..." Twilight admitted in surprise after her first few, careful sips from the hovering teacup, "What's in it?"
"Oh, it's nothing special...just rosemary with a bit of lavender really." Fluttershy blushed lightly, scratching the back of one foreleg with the opposite hoof nervously before looking over the table to the unicorn. "The soil is really rich near the edge of the Everfree Forest. The herbs and flowers just grow especially well."
"I always wondered about that..." Twilight began before a sudden nervous grin silenced her.
"About what, Twilight?"
"Well...you live so far from Ponyville...and so close to the Everfree Forest," the unicorn began awkwardly, "I mean, I know you're not the...the..." she trailed off as her tongue seemed to be a few sizes too large for her mouth, her words blocked by the uncooperative organ.
"The type to live in the middle of things?" the pegasus offered helpfully, smiling softly at the tongue-tied unicorn.
"Well, that too...but you don't seem like somepony who would live so close to a place like the Everfree Forest either," Twilight continued, some of her confidence returning as she took another sip of the tea, its warmth helping too relax her, "I mean, you could live by one of the farms and still be close enough to your animals. This place just seems so remote and...well...don't you get lonely out here."
"Well, I always have them to help with that," Fluttershy smiled, motioning to the animals that filled the air around them with a variety of chirps, squawks and squeaks. The little robin, Roby, sat outside a small birdhouse, seemingly discussing something of grave import with a small white mouse that had climbed up one of the numerous ramps that seemed to cover the cottage's limited wall-space. Fluttershy's gaze hung on one particular animal before she continued; a small white rabbit that had taken to snoozing cutely on the living room couch. "And I am a little scared of the forest sometimes...but I couldn't just abandon my home or my animals."
"But what about other ponies?"
"Oh, Twilight, I have plenty of company. You're here right now, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't always," the purple hued unicorn sighed at this admission, leaving her friend with a look of confusion.
"Is...is that why..." Fluttershy struggled with her words a moment, examining the suddenly sullen looking unicorn. "You're not really here for just tea and conversation, are you?"
"Yes," Twilight admitted rather loudly, stomping a hoof on the table in affirmation before grinning sheepishly at her outburst. "Er, yes and no, really. I am here to talk to you, and the tea is lovely...but I did want to ask you some things. You're not mad at me are you?"
"Why would I be mad? I'm glad you're here, Twilight, but if there's something on your mind you shouldn't keep it all bottled up."
"Well, it's just that I've been here for almost a year now and I'm starting to realize that there's a lot more to you all than I thought at first," the unicorn started, her tea cup clinking against its saucer as she began to pace restlessly back and forth, "I feel as though I've failed."
"Failed. Failed at what, Twilight. You've been a wonderful friend since you arrived... I mean, maybe you were a little...intimidating at first and there was the whole thing with the parasprites—"
"No, no, no, no, no...please don't bring that up again," Twilight interrupted, waving her hoof dismissively as though she could banish the topic from history and memory with her waggling appendage, "I'm just glad that Pinkie was there to pull my flank out of the fire on that one," she paused before muttering under her breath, "I still think Celestia knew exactly what was going on..."
"How could you say that you've failed then?" Fluttershy asked, taking a sip of her own tea as she looked at the unicorn with a look of veiled incredulity.
"You remember why I'm in Ponyville in the first place, right?"
"Well, at first it was to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration," the pegasus began, looking to Twilight for affirmation before continuing, "then it was to study the magic of friendship..."
"Right, exactly!" Twilight affirmed excitedly, hopping to her hooves and trotting around the table where there tea cups now sat, forgotten as the unicorn sat right beside a now somewhat flustered Fluttershy.
"I'm still a teeny bit lost, Twilight. You've written a lot of letters about friendship to the princess. You've learned a lot, haven't you?" the pegasus asked, the cacophony of chitters and chirps in the background having died down to a dull roar as outside the sun disappeared below the horizon fully, making way for the quiet splendor of the night.
"I have...but I feel like there's so much more that I haven't learned. I've learned a lot about the ways ponies act and react...more in this past year than I ever did in Canterlot, but," Twilight's face fell at her use of the contrarian conjunction, having been animated and thrilled by her acquisition newfound knowledge, "I don't even feel like I've scratched the surface. Not even of my best friends..."
"Oh, come now," Fluttershy reproached her friend as gently as only she could in her motherly way, "Most ponies spend entire lifetimes just trying to figure out just one pony. Did you really expect to know everything in just a year?"
"You know... I really thought I could at first," Twilight chuckled at the pegasi's apt reproach, "Everypony seemed so simple at first...all of you seem to have your roles and I was really just looking for my own place, but then you all just keep surprising me."
"How so?"
"Well...how about you standing up to that dragon?"
"Oh," Fluttershy's motherly authority wilted at the mention of her exploits, the bashful pegasus looking down in response, "that was nothing really...I just couldn't let my friends get hurt while I just stood there, could I?"
"No...but I would have never thought that'd you'd make a full-grown dragon cry like that...I didn't even think you could be angry," Twilight laughed at the memory of the demure pegasus staring down a dragon that had been easily a hundred times her size.
"Well, sometimes ponies can do amazing things for their friends..." Fluttershy agreed nervously, the phantom itch on the back of her fore leg having returned with a vengeance.
"That's just it, though. I would have expected Rainbow to go and try and buck a dragon or even for Applejack to do it, but there you were, terrified of dragons and all but threatening to tell one's mother that he'd been a bad boy."
"He wasn't bad," Fluttershy corrected, a consistent blush seeming to have stained the pegasi's cheeks a deep crimson, "He just made a bad decision."
"That's the Fluttershy I know," Twilight replied with soft chuckle before her face fell suddenly, "And that's just the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't feel like I really know you all."
"Oh, Twilight, don't be silly. Of course you know us. We're all friends."
"I know...I know we're friends. You all are my best friends. You might even be my only friends besides Spike," the unicorn mulled over this fact a moment before continuing, "But I want to know you all better."
"I shouldn't be surprised," Fluttershy grinned as a deep reddish hue graced the unicorn's face. "That's who you are, Twilight."
"Yeah, as Rainbow already told me, always the egghead."
"Oh, she didn't," Fluttershy put on a play of shock, knowing that her brash counterpart most certainly would have.
"She didn't mean anything bad by it, but she's right anyways. I am an egghead...my best friends before you all were all books...it would figure I'd start trying to study you all like I would them."
"But that's you, Twilight, and we wouldn't have it any other way," Fluttershy stated, laying a reassuring hoof on the unicorn's shoulder.
"Applejack said pretty much the same thing," Twilight said softly.
"Oh...have you already talked to her about all this?"
"Yeah...actually I've talked to pretty much everypony else about this," Fluttershy's ears drooped slightly at this, "Oh no, nothing like that...it just kind of happened over the last few days. I was really just running around like a curious little filly at first...I didn't even know how to start and then it just kind of came up when I was at Rarity's boutique this morning."
"So...what did you learn?" Fluttershy asked, quickly forgetting any trepidation she had previously felt towards the unicorn's final research subject.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't have thought that Rarity and Applejack would have been friends when they were young...they just seem so, so..."
"Opposite?"
"Yeah, who would have thought?"
"I don't think anypony who just met them would, but they at least seem to get along in their own way," Fluttershy offered, having not been privy to this bit of information either. It was a surprising revelation.
"Yeah...in their own way...remind me to tell you about my first slumber party sometime," the unicorn chuckled softly, drawing a look of confusion from the yellow pegasus, "Anyways, after I was done talking to Rarity, I bumped into Pinkie and Rainbow in the market and I just kind of started asking questions."
"And what did you learn from them?"
"Well, I think I may have somehow become Dash's unofficial biographer. She's the only pegasus to ever perform the Sonic Rainboom and she'll be a famous Wonderbolt someday," Twilight smiled as she recalled the quite animated conversation she had held with the rainbow-maned pegasus, "But Pinkie was a whole other conversation...I just couldn't get her to talk about her past, she just sort of kept steering the conversation away from it. I managed to bribe her with cupcakes at Sugar-cube Corner, but she just repeated what she apparently told the Crusaders."
"They told you?"
"Well...to be honest, I may have bribed Apple Bloom after talking to AJ..."
"Twilight!"
"Sorry, I was curious...figured she might have the 'inside scoop' so-to-speak," Twilight replied, ears pressed against her skull as she made hoof-quotes in the air, "I was just curious."
"Still, bribing Apple Bloom to learn about Applejack. It's not as though Applejack wouldn't have told you herself," Fluttershy said, giving the unicorn a stare any mother would be proud to have as a part of her repertoire, "She not one to lie about things."
"I know, I know. Element of Honesty after all...but still. After talking to Rarity about her own past, Applejack's just not as forthcoming as I thought she was," Twilight seemed a bit saddened by her own recollection, taking a moment to drain the rest of her now lukewarm tea, "She might not lie, but I don't think she always tells the complete truth... everypony's has their own secrets."
"That...that is a surprise," Fluttershy murmured, her own cup of tea long since forgotten.
"That's what I've been trying to get at. As close as I feel to you all, it like I'm just as far from the real you as I was at the beginning," Twilight stated, stomping a hoof on the floor for emphasis, "And that's something I want to remedy."
"So that's why your here?"
"Pretty much," the unicorn paused for a moment as she set the empty tea cup down on the table, turning to look the pegasus in the eye only to find that Fluttershy's gaze was now firmly tethered to the wooden floor of the cottage, "Fluttershy?"
"Yes?"
"I really do want to get to know all of you...especially you?"
"Especially me?" the pegasus squeaked nervously, the beads of sweat forming on her brow threatening to flood her eyes.
"Yeah...you and Pinkie seem to be a biggest mysteries. Rainbow told me a lot about when you guys were in flight camp together, but past that... well, that's really all I know about you. I know a little bit more about Pinkie from the Cakes...but you...you're like an enigma to me," Fluttershy broke out into a soft shudder at this last statement, giving Twilight a moment's pause, "But I...I don't want to press you or anything."
"Tha...that might be for the best. I'm not very interesting anyways...it'd just be a waste of your time," Fluttershy stammered, eyes tracing a particularly interesting fracture in the wood floor as she strained to lift her gaze.
"You're my friend, Fluttershy, you couldn't possibly waste my time," Twilight spoke quietly, the soft smile on her face translating perfectly into her words, "But I don't want to make you uncomfortable. The last thing I want to do is to push any of you away after all."
"I appreciate that, Twilight," Fluttershy whispered, finally looking up into the unicorn's purple hued eyes, "Maybe I'll be...maybe I can talk about this another time...I just don't like to bring these things up..."
"It's okay, Fluttershy," Twilight whispered, running comforting hoof down the pegasus's back, feeling the shudders coursing their way down between her wings.
"It's not that I don't want to, I—" she began, casting her eyes floor-ward once more, biting her lip before the unicorn merely shushed her.
"I just want to know you Fluttershy," Twilight began, "But I want you to want me to know you...or rather, I want you to be comfortable...or..."
"It's okay, Twilight...I know what you mean...I just don't know how to—Twilight, are you okay?" Fluttershy found herself glancing up to greet a much paler looking Twilight.
"Ooo...feeling kind of light-headed all of a sudden..." the unicorn muttered, staggering to her hooves before bracing herself on the table, "Was there something in that tea?"
"No...I don't think so...just rosemary with a bit of lavender. Nothing out of the ordinary," Fluttershy replied, giving her own tea cup an accusatory glare, "You're not allergic are you?"
"I dun think so," Twilight wavered back and forth a bit before steadying herself, "It's just a bit late I think...haven't been sleeping so well lately..."
"Maybe I should walk you home then," Fluttershy rose to her hooves, the quakes that had wracked her body forgotten as she worriedly drew herself even with the unicorn. Extending out a wing, Fluttershy drew her friend closer, allowing Twilight to lean against the pegasus as they made their way towards the cottage door.
"Th...thanks, Fluttershy, I don't know what's come over me...maybe I should just sleep in tomorrow," Twilight tried to put on a reassuring grin, but managed only a grimace as a wave of nausea washed over her, "Yeah, just a good night's rest in my bed..."
"You'll be so warm and cozy in your snuggly wuggly bed," Fluttershy smiled, grasping the door handle in her mouth, pulling it open as she bore the unicorn's sagging form in an attempt to keep her friend off the ground.
"Hee, hee...snuggly wuggly...you silly filly, I'm not a foal..." Twilight giggled as she closed her eyes, a dumb little smile making its way onto her face as the pair stepped into the cool night air.
"Of course you're not," Fluttershy nodded, sweat building on her brow as the unicorn leaned more and more heavily on the pegasus.
I don't think either of us are in any condition to get you all the way back to your home, Fluttershy thought to herself as she gave the unicorn an extended look.
Twilight trembled slightly as she leaned against her friend, her brow already dark from sweat as her hooves struggled to maintain her balance. For the moment, the pegasus was the only thing keeping the unicorn from face-planting directly into the ground.
"Twilight?"
"Yeah, silly pony?" the unicorn giggled deliriously.
"You know...there's a really comfortable bed right upstairs as well. It's so very nice and soft. just the thing to make you feel all better," Fluttershy offered, slowly beginning to steer the unicorn back towards the cottage.
"Tha sounds nice...but where would you sleep?"
"Oh, don't worry about me. I can always sleep on the couch or bring in a nice fluffy cloud to sleep on."
"Oooo...a cloud, that sounds really nice an—" Just as Fluttershy managed to get the cottage door open all the way, the weight became too much. The unicorn's hooves, unable to find purchase on the wood floor, slipped and left the pegasus bearing Twilight's weight by herself, sending the pair to the ground.
"H-h-heavy..." Fluttershy groaned, her wing trapped in an awkward position as her other was pressed hard into the floor. They'd be sore in the morning. "Come on, Twilight." She pleaded with unicorn, Twilight having apparently slipped into unconsciousness, only getting a grumble for her troubles.
"Fluttershy!" A familiar voice called out from behind her in a very unfamiliar tone, but the yellow pegasus didn't notice until she felt the unicorn's weight rolled off of her. "Are you two, okay?"
"Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy gasped, thankful for the night air the filled her lungs before finding more questions, "What are you doing all the way out here? And at this time of night?"
"Pinkie-sense," the pink earth pony submitted bluntly with a knowing grin, leaving the pegasus baffled.
"But nothing fell, and I wouldn't call this a doozy, she just fainted..."
"Well, I did get a doozy...just not about here...it was...it is..." Pinkie stammered, drawing a knowing smile from the pegasus. It was Pinkie being Pinkie after all. She had a knack for just being in the right place at the right time and Fluttershy certainly wasn't going to question it at a time like this, Pinkie-sense and all.
"You can tell me all about it in a minute, but we should really get Twilight off the ground and into a bed so I can take a look at her," Fluttershy stated, casting a worried glance at the purple lump blocking the doorway. The pink mare nodded exuberantly before wiggling under the unconscious unicorn and rising with her balanced precariously on her back.
"What happened to her?" Pinkie asked as she trotted into the main room of the cottage, Twilight murmuring in her sleep, sweat dripping from her forehead despite the cool night breeze.
"I don't know...I think maybe she had a allergic reaction or something to my—"
Fluttershy didn't make it another word and Pinkie didn't make it another step as the cottage was suddenly filled with a blinding flash of purple and they found themselves pressed against the interior of the cottage by some incredible force.
The yellow pegasus found herself thrown hard against against a window, the glass cracking from the force, while Pinkie was nearly tossed out the cottage door. The pink pony's body pinned awkwardly against the door frame, half of her limbs whipped about under the influence of an unnatural wind while the other half struggled to hold her in place, scrabbling for something to grab or grip or hook around.
Fluttershy eyes were screwed shut at first as she felt the wind tearing at her fur and feathers, the light nearly bright enough to see through her eyelids, but slowly she cracked them open before the wind snapped them wide open. Fluttershy's pupils expanded in horror as her friend's eyes stared out at nothing, the once lavender eyes of the unicorn had been replaced by a pair of glowing white orbs. Twilight's gaze darted wildly as her body contorted into seemingly impossible forms for any pony not made of rubber or at least double or triple jointed.
Bolts of violet hued magic shot out from her friend's writing form, leaving scorch marks on the wooden floor, a stray bolt hitting a tea cup and leaving a ficus tree in its place, before they slowly condensed and formed a solid barrier of magic around her.
"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled over the cacophony of snaps and crackled exuded by the display of unicorn magic before her, "Twili—"
The pink pony didn't finish as a fresh burst of tremors coursed through her body, Fluttershy watching as Pinkie's doozy vibrated the mare right out the door, disappearing with an audible cry of excitement.
"Pinkie!" the pegasus called after the earth pony, just barely able to hear a resounding thunk from outside, before turning her attentions back to Twilight and her more immediate problem.
The sheer volume of magical energy set Fluttershy's fur on end as she felt herself being pressed hard against the window. She swore that she could hear the glass slowly splintering beneath her as she stared at her friend's floating form. She needed to get herself onto something more solid as quickly as she could. Then she had to get to Twilight somehow and get her back under control.
"Twilight!" the yellow pegasus cried out as she rolled herself slowly off the window and, legs shaking and wobbling beneath the strain of the magic, managed to rise to all fours, albeit shifted ninety degrees from the position she was used to. The pegasus panted, her legs under the constant buffeting by the apparent cyclone of magical energies that filled the cottage. As she looked around she found the main room empty, save for herself and Twilight.
I hope everyone's alright, the pegasus thought to herself as she stared at the spot where her couch was pressed against the wall, her lapine assistant having disappeared from sight.
"Twilight, can you hear me?" If the unicorn could, she gave no sign of it, eyes continuing to dart every which way, blindly searching for something. The unicorn's face contorted into a mixture of fear and pain as her body twisted.
Gathering all her strength, Fluttershy began to inch her way along the wall, moving away from the front door and towards the kitchen. Twilight had ended up almost perfectly in the center of the room, leaving only one way to get close to the writhing unicorn.
"If you can hear me, Twilight," Fluttershy yelled out as she tentatively tapped a hoof on the ceiling before, feeling the unicorn's magical energies rolling over her in waves, "I'll be there soon."
Just a hop... The pegasus thought to herself, rocking herself back and forth above the door to the kitchen. A skip... flaring her wings nervously, she locked her eyes on her friend's thrashing body, ...and a jump!
Fluttershy flapped her wings in as powerful a stroke as she was capable of as she pushed off the wall with all four hooves, twisting herself into an upright position. The magical wind caught in her wings, unceremoniously slamming the pegasus right into the ceiling.
That was a bad plan... she groaned silently. It had worked however as the same pressure that had pressed her against the wall was now working to keep the pegasus pinned against the ceiling.
"Need to..." the pegasus huffed as she rolled over onto her hooves, rising unsteadily on them, "practice landing."
She could feel the blood rushing to her head as she crept upside down along the ceiling joist, using it to steady her steps as she drew closer to the unicorn. The arcane winds that tore at her body began to grow steadily worse and more chaotic as she closed the last few feet between her and Twilight, tearing at her from seemingly every direction at once.
Soon enough she found herself crouched on the ceiling just above the unicorn, the barrier threatening to tear the pegasus to pieces as it crackled and snapped violently at her with arcane power. The yellow pegasus could just make out the nearly imperceptible tendrils of energy that slowly reached out for her.
"Twilight!"
"Fl-flu..." the unicorn stuttered, white, sightless eyes turning to focus on the trembling pegasus above as her body twitched beneath, her breath coming in short, stuttered gasps of air.
"Yes!" Fluttershy yelled back, her voice growing hoarse as she felt her energy slowly bleeding away as the tendrils of purple energy grasped at her, "I'm right here, Twilight."
"Whuh...what's going on?" Twilight nearly whispered, sounding like a lost foal searching for its mother, but still Fluttershy could hear her, "Why can't I see you?"
"I have no idea," the pegasus cried out, tears cresting her wind-swept eyes as she tried to lift herself onto her hind legs, wings adjusting fruitlessly to keep her balanced, "Just know that I'm here."
"I...you're here?" the unicorn asked in obvious confusion as she tried to close her eyes to no avail, "Where am I?"
"You're in my cottage, Twilight," she reassured the visibly frightened unicorn, finding strength as her friend's body seemed to have noticeably calmed, "Everything's going to be okay. Just focus on my voice and repeat what I say. Everything's going to be okay."
"Okay, I...I trust you," the unicorn replied, biting her lip as a stray tear bled out of her eyes before flying off to splatter against the far wall, "Everything will be okay...every will be okay..."
"Everything will be okay," Fluttershy replied, her hind legs shaking terribly as she reached a hoof towards her friend, before drawing it back with a cry of pain. The barrier crackled with electricity where her hoof had hit it.
"Fluttershy?" the unicorn cried out, her body spasming as her face twisted into a look of worry, blank eyes glancing towards the ceiling.
"Ev—everything will be okay," Fluttershy repeated the mantra, staring at the scorched tip of her hoof as tears threatened to blur her vision and her body threatened to give out from the strain. She looked down through the magical barrier at her friend's expression.
"Everything will be...will be okay."
Fluttershy bit her lip hard as she reached her hoof out once more. She could feel the heat of the barrier, the crackling power that coursed through it as it drew power not only from the unicorn, but seemingly from the pegasus as well. She could feel the scorching heat as with gritted teeth she plunged the hoof through the barrier. As her leg passed into the bubble of energy, time seemed to nearly halt for a moment, the winds slowing to a strong breeze and Fluttershy could feel...something.
A presence that seemed to tap into her own energy as she strained her hoof down towards her friend. She suddenly felt as though she were being watched from everywhere at once, as though she were being examined.
Who do we have here? a soundless voice inquired, its tone curious and nonchalant as the phantom watchers seemed to circle her.
Ignoring the strange voice, her eyes shut screwed, she made one last, desperate grab at Twilight and found her. Her hoof resting on the unicorns shoulder, a thousand staring eyes watching the act as the storm returned full force, the energy of the barrier coursing through the pegasus.
"I'm right here, Twilight," she whispered weakly, the unicorn's body settling as the white glow began to fade from her eyes and with it the unknown observers were gone as well.
With a loud crack of energy, both ponies dropped to the cottage floor in an unmoving heap, the purple glow dispelled as the magical winds were snuffed out at their source. The cottage sat for a moment, only the sounds of labored breathing to be heard.
~o~O~o~
"Fluttershy! Twilight!" A sudden cry stirred Fluttershy, drawing a long groan from the pegasus as a blur of pink mane and fur appeared above her. "I was so worried when I got thrown out the door. I was all like whoosh right out the door and then I hit a tree with my head and I was a little woozy for a while—"
"Pinkie?" Twilight groaned, "What happened? What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was sleeping upstairs at Sugarcube Corner when my Pinkie-sense started acting up and I vibrated right off my bed and almost went right out the..." Pinkie trailed off as a soft whimper emanated from the yellow ball at her feet, "Fluttershy?"
"It hurts..." was all that the pegasus could mutter as she curled tightly into the fetal position.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed as conscious returned fully, rolling unsteadily onto her hooves, Pinkie helping to steady her as the pair looked down at the trembling pegasus. "What is it? What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"
"My...my hurts..." She muttered in response, struggling to uncurl enough to show the pair. Pinkie sat down next to the pegasus, running a comforting hoof through Fluttershy's long mane, her own sagging as she teared up.
"It's okay, Fluttershy," Pinkie whispered with a sad smile, "Auntie Pinkie here."
"I'm a...a..."
"A year older than me, I know," Pinkie finished for her, a tear streaming down from her eye, "Auntie Pinkie's still here for you."
"Twi...Twilight?"
"I'm here," Twilight spoke softly as the pegasus' trembling blue eyes met her own. Slowly, but surely the pegasus uncurled to reveal her injury. Twilight restrained a gasp as she saw her friend's hoof, the end of her leg seeming to be nothing more than a solid cylinder of ash.
"I can't...I can't..." Fluttershy couldn't feel her hoof, but there was the pain. A throbbing, searing pain that kept her from thinking of anything but the pain.
"I...I..." Twilight stuttered for a moment, her brain searching for something, anything, "Maybe a first aid spell?"
"Try it, Twilight," Pinkie gave her affirmation, still trying to comfort the pegasus as best she could.
Twilight closed her eyes in concentration as she visualized the charred hoof. She held her breath as she tried to tap into her magic, opening an eye to find that a few purple sparks shot from her horn before a sudden splitting headache overwhelmed her. The unicorn groaned as she threw herself to the floor, hooves grasping to soothe the sudden ache.
"Ahh!" she cried out after reaching a hoof up to her horn. It was scorching hot to touch. As she glanced up at the spire of bone she could see wisps of smoke whipping away from its now white hot surface, the smell of singed mane and flesh invading her nostrils.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Pinkie asked, her hoof moving methodically through the pegasi's mane, the pink pony's own mane seeming on the verge of deflating.
"Twili..." Fluttershy groaned weakly, her eyes blinking rapidly as if on the verge of fainting dead away, everything around her a multi-colored blur.
"I...I..." Twilight's brain was seemingly unable to process anything for a moment before a single phrase replayed itself in her mind, "Everything will be alright."
"Ev—Every..."
"Everything, Fluttershy."
"Everything will be alright..."
Everything will be alright...
~o~O~o~
Last Updated:
August 25th, 2011