MY LITTLE PONY: THE HADES CHAPTER
CHAPTER 1: AWAKENING
One more time in this dark world, I'm here again, thought Fluttershy as she walked through that terrible passage. Please, I want to get out from here.
Fluttershy…
"Who's there?" she asked, fearful.
Fluttershy…
An inmense black shadow raised in front of the pony, dragging her to itself, and then it started to devour her, little by little. The fearful pegasus fought against it, but it was in vain.
The last thing she saw were two cold eyes.
"AAAAAAH!" Fluttershy woke up, soaked in sweat. Angel, her little pet rabbit, approached his startled owner, who hugged him with all her strenght.
That dream again…
It was a new day in Ponyville, the great Celestia had risen the sun once more, and a little pony was returning from the market with food to nourish her little animals. Fluttershy was revising mentally, to make sure that she wasn't forgetting anything.
"Damn dog!" shouted a unicorn while he and his companion chased a doggy, cornering him in fear. His companion threw a stone right towards the eyes of the animal, but Fluttershy stood in the path of the projectile.
"Move, this is none of your business," growled the unicorn. "That fleabag stole our bread."
"Um… I… I know he did wrong, but that's not a reason for treating him like that…" the little pegasus tried to reunite all of her courage.
"You are that weird pony, aren't you?" asked the other. "The one who lives with all those stinky animals near the Everfree Forest."
"Get lost!" shouted the unicorn, throwing another stone at Fluttershy's head. "He stole our food!"
"If that's the problem… I can give you my market bag…" Fluttershy left her bag in front of them. "It's full of food. I hope it's enough for you to leave this doggy alone."
The two young ponies laughed and took the bag. They walked away, leaving the pegasus behind. She was carrying the doggy in her back.
"I like this," said one of them.
"LET'S SEE IF YOU LIKE THIS, TOO!" shouted a rainbow maned pegasus, landing in front of the bullies and kicking them.
The two ponies fled with their tails between their legs.
"Fluttershy," she said, to her friend, "Why do you let those idiots treat you like that? I've told you that you must be brave and stronger, or everypony will treat you as a weakling again."
"Oh, Rainbow… It's just that I couldn't let them hit the poor doggy," said Fluttershy, while nuzzling the puppy's face.
"Ugh..." Rainbow facehoofed. "Just try to return home safely, and don't let anypony bully you again." And she took off like a rocket, to the blue sky.
Fluttershy said goodbye to her new friend and returned to her path, repeating to herself, over and over again, that she shouldn't let others bully her. She had promised that she would never be weak, but that firmness had been fading away with time.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that she had entered deeply in the Everfree Forest. She started to tremble, her hooves had never been in that zone of the woods, she had never approached so much. It was almost as if the forest itself had called her. She wandered for some minutes, disoriented.
"Ah… I hope it doesn't get dark…" she mumbled, lowering her head, to not be heard. Her fear grew as she entered in the depths of the forest, until she saw a light behind the trees.
"The exit!" she said, with enthusiasm, as she ran as fast as her little hooves were capable of.
When she got out, she found a marvelous sight, she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing: a beautiful garden, teeming with life, hid in the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy walked through its marvelous meadows filled with flowers and butterflies which flew free, as in her cutie mark.
"It's wonderful," she said. "I'd never imagined that something like this could be near Ponyville." A big smile appeared on her face, as she approached the little animals and they curled near her. "It's beautiful."
"Right?" said a voice behind her. Fluttershy jumped several meters, startled.
"Oh, I'm sorry," apologized the voice. "I didn't want to scare you."
Fluttershy looked at her back, and she saw an earth pony, her coat darker than Twilight's and with a mane as black as her eyes, which were giving a friendly stare.
"Oh, you didn't scare me," said the pegasus. "So, is this garden yours?"
"No, I just take care of it until its owner returns," explained the earth pony, approaching. "I'm glad you liked it. I don't see many ponies coming here."
"It's a pity," said Fluttershy, looking around. "It's really beautiful."
"Would you like to come here more often?" asked the Earth pony.
"Oh, I would love to!" said the pegasus, with enthusiasm. Immediatly after, she lowered her head and mumbled: "That is, if you don't mind..."
"Of course not, deary. You can come whenever you want." The earth pony smiled, a big smile which made Fluttershy to feel calm, but fearful.
"Well, I'd better get going, before it gets dark," Fluttershy walked to the exit. "See you tomorrow. Um... I'm sorry, I didn't ask for your name…"
"Pandora," answered the dark pony. "My name is Pandora."
"Ok, Ms. Pandora, my name is..."
"Fluttershy, I know. It's a very beautiful name."
The pegasus felt a bit surprised that the earth pony had guessed her name, but she quickly forgot about that. She waved a hoof to say goodbye, and then she ran away, to get to her cottage as soon as possible.
It had been a very busy day for Shining Armor. He had spent all morning defending Canterlot from monster attacks. At first hour, some manticores had tried to break through the northern part of the city, followed by a pack of timberwolves and, finally, a group of diamond dogs.
"Sir," said one of the guards, salluting his captain. "The last soldier dogs have been succesfully neutralized."
"Rest, soldier," said Shining, taking off his helmet, to breath a bit more of air. "I hope it's over. What's happening with all these monsters? Did they suddenly get cocky, or what?"
"He is calling us," mumbled one of the fallen dogs. "He is calling us."
"What are you saying?" asked Shining Armor. "What do you mean by that? Answer!"
"He is here," said another diamond dog. "Our Lord is calling us. He will be here soon, to bring salvation to us all..."
After that, he fainted, leaving the captain with thousands of questions.
"Get them away," he ordered, walking towards the castle. "I will inform the Princesses about this."
Since that day, Fluttersy went to the beautiful garden to chat a bit with Pandora. In one of her visits, the dark earth pony gave her a lovely flower collar. Fluttershy was left speechless, she didn't know how to thank such pretty present.
"Your company is the best present," had said Pandora.
However, because she went to the garden so many times, Fluttershy abandoned her responsabilities, like feeding her animals or taking care of her garden. She even left Rarity in the lurch, in their weekly visit to the spa.
"How could she?" groaned Rarity, while walking with Twilight towards the Library. "She left me in the lurch!"
"You shouldn't get so upset, Rarity,", said the purple unicorn, trying to calm her friend. "Maybe one of her animals got sick and she had to give him an emergency care. You know that's the only thing which could interpose in a commitment with you."
"You're right..." sighed Rarity. But then her face changed to a face of suspicion. "But what if she is hiding something from us?"
"We're talking about Fluttershy," Twilight tried to reason with her friend. "She's incapable of doing something like that. She fears her own shadow, remember?"
"Or maybe..."
"What?"
"Maybe she has a coltfriend and she's hiding him from us!"
Twilight facehoofed.
"She's hiding him from her best friend!" continued Rarity.
"I think you're exaggerating a bit."
"But Twilight, that would be the most logical explanation! Maybe he is somepony from the town, or maybe from another town, or maybe somepony from her childhood..."
Then, they saw the yellow pegasus flying outside Ponyville.
"Fluttershy!" shouted Twilight, trying to get her attention. "Fluttershy, over here!"
But the pegasus didn't hear.
"Let's follow her!" said Rarity.
"What?" Twilight was startled. "We can't do that, it's very inappropiate."
"Look who's talking…" mumbled Rarity, obviously refering to that time when Twilight investigated the famous Pinkie Sense. "This is something we must do. Maybe our friend is in some kind of trouble."
The two unicorns followed Fluttershy from a cautious distance, and they saw her entering in the Everfree Forest.
"That can't be Fluttershy!" said Twilight, astonished. "She would never enter alone in the Everfree Forest!"
"You see?", said Rarity. "I told you, there's something fishy here!"
They entered in the forest too, but they didn't found her friend. It was like if she had vanished. They decided to wait for the next day and go talk to her directly.
"Hello, girls," said Fluttershy, happily. "Would you like to have breakfast with me?"
"No, thanks," said the purple unicorn. "We just wanted to know, what were you doing in the Everfree Forest yesterday in the afternoon?"
"We searched for you," added Rarity, with a worried voice, "but we couldn't find you anywhere."
"Oh, that..." mumbled Fluttershy. "I had to go to see a bunny family which lives in the forest, and I think I got lost..."
"See, Rarity?" said Twilight, lecturing the other unicorns. "There was nothing to worry about! Sorry for having bothered you at such an early hour, Fluttershy."
"Oh... no problem, girls. You can come to visit me whenever you want," whispered Fluttershy, saying good bye to her friends.
The two unicorns went to their respective homes to start their chores, but Rarity couldn't stop thinking that her friend was hiding something from them.
When Fluttershy returned to the garden a bit later, Pandora was waiting for her with a smile. She spent a very nice morning in that place, but the fact that she had lied to her friends was hurting her on the inside.
"What's the matter, Fluttershy?" asked Ms. Pandora.
"I would like to know, can I bring my friends here?" asked the pegasus. "Can I bring them tomorrow?"
"I am afraid it's not possible," said Pandora, with a shadow on her eyes, "because only special ponies can enter in this place."
"Special?" asked Fluttershy, confused.
"You are a very special pony," explained Pandora. "Very special."
Fluttershy couldn't help but to feel embarrased. Nopony had ever told her that she was special; she didn't have any outstanding habilities, like their friend.
"I don't think so," she mumbled, hiding behind her own mane. "I don't have anything extraordinary like Twilight or Rainbow Dash."
Fluttershy's words were suddenly interrupted when Pandora hugged her. The pegasus was even more embarrased by that.
"You are special," said the dark earth pony. "Perhaps the most special pony of all." She looked at Fluttershy's eyes, and the pegasus could see her big black eyes. "And, very soon, you too will realize about that."
The day started like any other, save for an incident with an enormous dog named Cerberus. Everypony observed as Twilight tried to dominate the gigantic hound. All of them retreated except Fluttershy. Something inside her was dragging her towards the hellish dog. She stopped right in front of the beast, and managed, somehow, to turn it into a docile animal.
After that, while returning to her home, Fluttershy was thinking about that. Why did she feel some sort of connection with the guardian of the Gates of Tartarus?
"Auch!" shouted the pegasus, suddenly. She had been hit in the head by a stone.
"It's you, Rainbow's friend."
They were the two bullies from the other day. They started to throw stones to the defenseless pegasus.
"You'll pay for what Dash did to us!" shouted one of them.
Fluttershy just ran away. It was the only thing she could do. She ran towards the garden, her special place, where she would lost them. However, they didn't allow her to flee, cornering her between some trees.
"Now, you're gonna pay."
Fluttershy started to cry, but at the same time, she felt something growing inside her, something she had never felt before.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she shouted, as something inside her exploded. Her vision became blurry.
Shortly after, Fluttershy shook her head. What had happened?
When she looked in front of her, she found the two bullies in the grass. She approached them.
"Um... are you ok?" she asked. "Can you hear me?"
But the two ponies were lifeless.
"What have I done?" cried Fluttershy. "Did... did I do this? Did I kill them?" She sarted to cry desperately.
"You didn't do anything wrong", said a familiar voice.
Fluttershy opened her eyes, and she found herself in the garden.
"I killed them!" shouted Fluttershy, in tears. "I don't know how, but it did it! What is happening?"
"You did only the right thing," said Pandora, while hugging the crying pegasus. "You gave them true peace, you saved them."
"What? Did I saved them? … No. I... I killed them..."
"You gave them peace, the true peace that comes with death." Pandora pointed at the two bodies. "Those ponies were unhappy with their lives, and so they relieved their frustration by harming others, but now they have found peace."
Fluttershy looked at their faces. Truly, they seemed to be in peace, as if they were only asleep, and having a nice dream.
"There is only suffering in this life, only bad things. But, when death comes, all those problems are left behind," said Pandora, cleaning the tears from the yellow cheeks. "Didn't you, want, sometimes, to free from the pain to one of your animals, when they were affected by some disease?"
Fluttershy didn't answer. It was true that she had seen her animals suffering several times, due to diseases, and she could do nothing to soothe their pain.
Or free somepony special from her life filled of hardships and difficulties...
My friends... Fluttershy thought of all the times she had seen her friends overwhelmed by dilemmas. Rarity looking for fame, Applejack trying to sustain her family, Twilight always thinking about studying, Rainbow and her frustration for not being accepted in the WonderBolts. She didn't know if Pinkie suffered too, but maybe her smiles were hiding something.
"Don't you think they would be happy, too?", asked the dark pony. "Not only them, but all of Ponyville. All of Equestria."
Then, Fluttershy had a vision. She saw all her friends running through that beautiful garden, all of them with huge smiles.
"Wouldn't you like that to become true?"
"I... want all of them to be happy... all of them…" said Fluttershy, looking down. "I don't wan't them to suffer anymore."
"Then, you know what you have to do." Pandora touched the flower collar, which shone and transformed into a star-shaped silver medallion. "Show them the true way."
Pinkie was happily bouncing around Ponyville, greeting everypony who passed by. Suddenly, everything got darker, although it was still too soon for sunset. She looked up, finding a big manticore standing right in front of her.
"Ooh..." she said. Then, she took a deep breath of air... "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"
All the ponies around screamed and ran away, trying to leave the manticore behind. The beast roared and started to attack the market.
"Oh, I don't think so!", shouted Applejack, while launching a rope at the legs of the beast, trapping it with all of her strenght. The manticore broke the rope, however, and launched Applejack against a tomato stand.
"My head..." groaned Applejack. She saw the monster jumping towards her. She closed her eyes and waited for the unavoidable...
"Applejack, are you ok?"
The earth pony opened her eyes and saw the beast surrounded by a purple aura.
"Good job, Twi," she smiled. "Just in time."
"Yes, but I won't be able to hold it for too long…" said Twilight, struggling with the monster, who was trying to break the magic jail. "I... I can't..."
The bubble popped, and the beast was free.
Suddenly, a tornado engulfed the creature, who started to spin, until it was launched to the deeps of the Everfree Forest.
"And that's how you take out the trash," said Rainbow Dash, proud of her job.
"Yahoo! Well done, Dashie!" Pinkie approached to felicitate her friend. "Can you do the same with the other two manticores?"
The pink pony pointed at the two beasts behind them. Other three appeared out of nowhere. They were ready to jump over the ponies, when...
"GO AWAY!" a powerful thunder-like voice shook the skies, and a flash of light engulfed the place. When the light went off, Twilight and her friends found themselves safe from the monsters, which had disappeared.
"I'm glad I made it in time," said a voice, coming from the sky.
"Princesa Luna!", shouted the ponies.
"Twilight! Applejack! Rainbow! Pinkie!" called a voice. It was Rarity, accompanied by the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Rarity! Applebloom! You're ok!" said Applejack, happy to see that her friend and sister were safe.
"I built a magic barrier around Ponyville," explained Princess Luna. "This will keep everypony safe, for now."
"What's happening, Princess?" asked Twilight. "The manticores went completely crazy!"
"Not only them," said Luna, worried. "All the monsters of the Everfree Forest are out of control. We must go to the castle inmediatly."
"Fluttershy!" exclaimed Rainbow. "We must go for her!"
No time. Without a further warning, Luna teleported everypony to the royal palace. Princess Celestia was standing in front of them.
"Princess..." said Twilight, kneeling, as well as her friends.
"My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,", said the Princess, with a tone of anguish in her voice. "I am afraid we are in great danger."
"Do you mean the monsters, Princess?"
"We suspect of an elder evil," said Luna, reuniting with her sister. "An evil we thought we wouldn't see again."
"What are you talking about?" asked Applejack.
"It's an evil which threatens with bringing misery to all of Equestria."
"BRING ANGUISH," echoed a voice which seemed to come from nowhere.
"Show yourself!" shouted Luna.
Suddenly, a cold wind engulfed the whole room, and a pony appeared in the middle of it. A pony with a mane as dark as a shroud.
"It's been a long time, Princess Celestia," she said, bowing mockingly.
"Pandora!" shouted Celestia.
"Princess..." said Twilight. "Do you know this pony?"
"I do, Twilight. She is Pandora, and her mere presence means..."
"Yes, Celestia, it means only one thing," smiled the dark mare. "He has returned to show you the true path of salvation: the path of death."
The room got dark, as if all the light had been sucked away. All the ponies started to feel a great fear, even Rainbow was trembling. Another figure appeared next to Pandora, a very familiar figure.
"Fluttershy!" shouted their friends.
"Fluttershy, I'm so glad to see you!" said Pinkie. She was about to hug the yellow pegasus, when a force pushed her away. Twilight caught the pink pony with her magic. "Fluttershy?"
"Celestia, Luna, Bearers of the Elements…" said Pandora, as Flutterhy's hair became black and he eyes turned into deep dark abysses. "Kneel before the great Emperor Hades."
