Laughter is One Letter Short of Slaughter
Chapter 2
Axel was hanging on for his life. One hoof jabbed into a small hole on the side of the massive cliff. Above him, heaven, below, hell. He struggled to climb back up onto the cliff. His wings were seemingly absent. As he slowly propped himself onto the cliff edge, he saw a yellow pony wings made of pure stardust. Thus explaining the uselessness. She slid uncontrollably to the cliffs edge where Axel lunged in a effort to grab hold of her. he missed by mere inches. And watched in horror as the yellow Pegasus pony fell towards the depths of hell. Shrill crys and a faint 'save me' was all he heard until all was silent again. accept from the roaring crackles of the flames below. Caught up in his daze of what just happened he lost his footing on the rocks. Slipped, and plummeted towards the fiery depths. He could see the fire filled walls close in around him. The light slowly dimming until… nothing. Axel opened his eyes and jolted upright in his bed. He was covered in sweat despite the cold night air rushing in through the window. He realized it was only 2AM but he was hungry and now purely exhausted. He walked downstairs the dim moonlight guiding him. As he came to the bottom floor and passed the kitchen window, bright lights shot into the house. He looked back to the window to see bright white balls flying past the horizon.
'Luna's tears' Axel thought to himself. 'she must be crying… but why?' he pondered for a moment before going to his basement and fetching a book called 'Princess Luna 101' he flipped through it a bit to a part he had recognized. He read the passage slowly in his mind.
'Luna's tears only show when somepony very important to equestrian has passed on.' More info followed but he pondered the sequence of events. 'a yellow Pegasus pony, pink mane falling into hell… and then Luna's tears… could… it couldn't have been. It was only a dream.' He had seen a yellow Pegasus pony with a pink mane in the newspaper about the celebration for defeating discord. It said her name was Fluttershy. Nothing else. He took it upon himself to visit the princess about it in the morning. In the meantime, he walked back upstairs and fell back into his oppressive dreams.
The morning came as Celestia's sun rose slowly into the sky. He groggily sat up rubbing his eyes and quickly patting down his frizzy mane. He promptly got into the shower and out before eating a quick bowl of cereal and packing some things for the trip. He gave his wings a quick exercise as well. He jumped out his front door blinded for a moment by the intense sunlight, to see Adrian coming to see him.
"oh hey Adrian your out early." He flicked his head up slightly aiming his eyes and the saddle bags.
"going somewhere?" he questioned slightly hesitantly. Axel's initial response was a nod followed by a more detailed answer.
"I'm going to Canterlot, I need to inform princess Celestia of a possible tragedy." Adrian gasped
"tragedy? What happened?" it was obvious that Adrian was very concerned, Axel gave a sigh and proceeded with his reply.
"I had a dream last night where I was about to fall into hell… I saw this yellow Pegasus pony slide in. and when I woke up to go get a midnight snack, and I saw Luna's tears" Adrian gave Axel a confused look, and questioned,
"Luna's tears? What are those?" Axel knew his detailed answer but shortened it and simplified it to be easier on the brain.
"When a very important pony, to Equestria dies, Luna begins to cry and when Luna cries you get a unplanned meteor shower." Adrian gave a slight 'huh' before proceeding hesitantly to ask one last question.
"can I come with you?" Axel thought about the idea or a minute thinking out his reply. After he had decided he talked with no haste in his voice
"well… I guess you can come. But I may not be the best flier in Equestria but I can go pretty fast. You're going to have to keep up." Adrian scoffed
"I can run pretty fast. I won the running of the leaves last year" Axel nodded and replied
"ok you can come. Just keep on the down-low when we get to the castle and leave the talking to me. Go grab your saddle bags, some drinks, and some snacks. I've got us lunch in mine. I expect you back here within the hour" Adrian took off back to his home and was prepared within 10 minutes. When he got back the two took off towards Canterlot Axel in the air and Adrian keeping up well on the ground. Eventually the duo stopped for lunch before shoving off again arriving in Canterlot not 20 minutes later. Upon request of seeing the princess it was denied several times before the princess came out and wondered what was wrong. The two ponies were brought back to the throne room down a long marble-floored hallway lines with torches, and spots of gold and diamond. Hoof clops echoed through the palace's many endless corridors Luna waited patiently in the throne next to her sisters, as the two ponies followed princess Celestia to her throne where she sat down and began to speak
"Now, what seems to be the matter of such urgency?" asked the princess softly. Axel spoke slowly choosing every word carefully.
"Not many astronomer ponies know about this but, I saw 'Luna's tears' last night. Right after a very harsh dream of a pony possibly name Fluttershy being thrown into hell. She was one of the ponies who defeated discord. Correct?" upon hearing all of this the princess was flabbergasted. She remained calm and told Adrian to leave. As soon as the throne room doors shut she talked swiftly and sharply.
"How did you know?" the princess inquired. Axel was stunned
"So somepony important did die!" princess Celestia nodded slightly and began to speak.
"A very unfortunate accident brought that young pony to her end. Only Ponyville has really heard of it. You must be a very good astronomer to know something is up when there is an unplanned meteor shower." Axel's curiosity was beginning to get the better of him.
"Who was this Fluttershy exactly? And how did she die?" the princess's response began with a sigh as she proceeded to speak
"Fluttershy was a dear friend of my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, she helped not only free Luna from nightmare moon, but also defeated discord as well. She helped move a dragon out of its cave that was threatening Equestria. She always wanted to help in any way possible. And as for how she died… it was a very unfortunate accident. One that may destroy 2 lives."
"how so?" asked Axel. princess Celestia proceeded to make another short speech.
"Rainbow Dash the supposedly fastest pony in Equestria, was doing some flight practice with Fluttershy as her cheering section. She lost control and slammed right into Fluttershy rib cage, she was killed on impact, and now rainbow dash is extremely depressed and says she won't ever fly again."
"my gosh that's terrible…" princess Celestia nodded slightly. None of our physicians can get through to her. They say she's too far gone." Axel's feeling of 'guilt' led him to an extremely radical decision. He sighed before talking
"Princess I don't want 2 of the elements dying. I'll do everything I can possibly do to get Rainbow Dash back" the princess grinned. And made a small proposal.
"As a thanks for your efforts, I will give you a free ride to Ponyville and have a house bought under my name for you" Axel was stunned at her propostion.
"But princess!-" the princess swiftly cut him off
"if your going to help one of the elements from certain death, then I thank you very much. It's the least I could do" Axel didn't want to cause grief to anypony. Especially the queen of Equestria! But he felt satisfied, and thanked the princess for her kindness
"Thank you princess." He bowed to her as she talked again.
"The flight to Ponyville will arrive in 10 minutes, until then I will have one of my guards escort you to the flight deck. Safe travels, Axel was it?" Axel nodded and replied
"Axel Levletribgen" the princess remembered now
"Ahh yes! You're that immigrant from Germaney! Why did you come to Equestria?" Axel wanted to make the response quick as he was excited for his journey
"Germaney is in an economic collapse so I took whatever money I could and booked" the princess understood completely.
"Wise decision, now go your flight will be here soon" Axel bowed again and replied
"yes princess"
Hey guys, sorry for such a massive update gap. I can't exactly and wont blame any one person for the delay but I can say that things of this manner will continue. If there is a large gap in-between beta to final, then I will post a non-corrected version and update it once I get the updated version. Once again guys I apologize for the delay.