Fluttershy walked down the streets of Ponyville, enjoying a rather carefree, lazy day in Ponyville, when a flyer caught her eye. The flyer was tacked onto a pole. She walked up to it and read it.
A resident of Ponyville kidnapped by an evil demon. Fighters and warriors wanted to rescue her. See Mayor Mare for details.
A resident of Ponyville, kidnapped by an evil demon? This was no job for Fluttershy. She had no business with this demon, and she wasn't a fighter. And yet, something compelled her to go to Mayor Mare, not to apply, but merely to see who was up to the task. And so she went to Town Hall for details.
Upon arriving, she saw that Town Hall looked surprisingly quiet. Not much activity was going on. She walked up to Town Hall and opened the doors, stepping inside. She saw Mayor Mare sitting by her desk, examining papers. She had a sad, defeated look on her face. Fluttershy guessed what the reason was for her downer mood.
` "Excuse me." Fluttershy said to Mayor Mare. The Mayor looked up from her papers and smiled at her. The smile wasn't genuine, though. Through the Mayor's weak facade of happiness, Fluttershy could see worry and concern. That, and the Mayor had bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept well in a while.
"Yes, Fluttershy?" the Mayor replied.
"I saw the flyer in town. I know it's not my business, but may I please know who it was that got kidnapped?"
Mayor Mare's smile was wiped clean from her face, and she now looked torn, as if wondering whether or not it was a good idea to tell her.
"Well...." began the Mayor. Fluttershy noticed that she was hesitating when speaking. She normally didn't do that. She was now beginning to worry. What if it was one of her friends that got kidnapped?
"Well, what?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well.....uh....."
"Well, what?" Fluttershy asked again, more firmly this time.
"It's Rainbow Dash."
Fluttershy did a double take at that moment. Rainbow Dash?! Kidnapped by a demon?! No, that couldn't be. Maybe Fluttershy heard wrong. Maybe-
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy,' said Mayor Mare, defeated. "I've tried everything I could. I've hired so many soldiers and fighters and sent them to try to rescue her, but none of them returned. They all entered the Ruined Castle and disappeared without a trace. I'm truly, deeply sorry." She buried her face in her hooves. She was now openly crying.
So, Fluttershy didn't hear wrong. It was Rainbow Dash that was kidnapped. And it sounded like she was in trouble. Fluttershy thought about it for a moment, and then made her decision.
"I'll go." She said.
"What?!" Mayor Mare stood upright immediately, knocking her chair backwards. "Are you crazy?! You're not a fighter! You could never survive in there! You-"
"I. Will. Go." said Fluttershy. The look in her eye silenced Mayor Mare, leaving her with an agape jaw. Mayor Mare closed her jaw and then uprighted the chair and sat back down in it.
"Very well," said Mayor Mare, "Here is a map to the Ruined Castle." She opened one of the drawers in her desk and took out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Fluttershy.
"Thank you." said Fluttershy. She turned around and made her way for the front door.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mayor Mare suddenly asked.
"I'm sure," Fluttershy confirmed without looking stopping or looking back. The door to Town Hall slammed shut behind her.
"WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Fluttershy's friends stared at her as if she had just committed a murder. After Fluttershy had left Town Hall, she had call her girls for a meeting at the Library. She had expected them to object to her decision, but she hadn't expected them to freak out this badly.
"Do you want to get killed?!" yelled Applejack.
"You're not a fighter, Fluttershy! You can't do this!" Twilight yelled in frustration.
"I know, girls. I know," Fluttershy said, "but this is Rainbow Dash we're talking about."
"It doesn't matter whether it's Rainbow Dash or not, Fluttershy," said Rarity matter of factly, "the fact of the matter is, you aren't cut out for this."
"Everypony else that was sent to the Ruined Castle hasn't returned. I'm taking matters into my own hooves, and you can't stop me." Fluttershy was adamant about this. The girls all looked at each other uncertainly, then looked back at Fluttershy.
"Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," Twilight said finally. She walked over to Fluttershy's side and placed an arm around her, "I'm in."
"Thanks, Twilight," Fluttershy said gratefully. She was somewhat relieved, now that she wouldn't have to take on the challenge alone.
"I'm in, too," said Pinkie, "Besides, you'll definitely need my party cannon for this!"
"Uh, Pinkie?" said Applejack. "This ain't no party. It's a dangerous mission. You gotta take things seriously."
"I know."
"Well, then,” said Twilight. She turned to Applejack. “I’d ask you to come along, but I can see you’re not fit for an adventure like this....” She gestured to Applejack’s leg, which was in a heavy cast.
“Yeah, I wasn’t being careful when I, uh....well....” Applejack stared at the floor, embarassed.
“What, exactly, did happen to you?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Uh.....I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Alrighty, then.” Twilight then turned to Rarity. “And you?”
“Well, I’ve got a lot of unfinished business to take care of, but I can prepare supplies for you,” Rarity said.
“And I will, too,” Applejack said happily.
"Thank you all so much," said Fluttershy. She was glad to have such supportive friends. She didn't know what she'd do without them.
"You girls ready, yet?" Fluttershy asked her friends. They were all standing outside the entrance to the Everfree Forest. They were there, because the map that Mayor Mare gave Fluttershy had a very specific path to follow, beginning with the Everfree Forest.
"Ready," Pinkie and Twilight gave her a smile.
"Good." Fluttershy said. Fluttershy adjusted the bag of supplies she was wearing, and then they all stepped into the Everfree Forest together.
The ground was covered in dried leaves. A soft crunch was heard each time one of the ponies set a hoof down.
Their walk was, for the most part, uneventful. Soon enough, though, a low growling sound was heard.
"What was that?" Fluttershy asked out loud without meaning to. Twilight shushed her and listened hard. There was nothing but silence. The silence was not a good thing. It was thick and cloying.
The three of them stood there in total silence for what seemed like an eternity. Twilight cautiously lifted on hoof, and then set it back down. It crunched down on a dead leaf.
Without warning, timberwolves came charging out of the trees in front of them. Twilight unleashed a blast of magic, tearing one of the timberwolves to pieces.
"This way!" Fluttershy pointed in the general direction and gestured for Twilight and Pinkie to follow. She then turned and ran down the forest, with Twilight and Pinkie following close behind.
They ran and ran down the forest, the sounds of snarling, biting timberwolves never too far behind them. Fluttershy looked over her shoulder once to see how close they were. To her dismay, the timberwolves were gaining, quickly. She looked back in front of herself, only to be met with even more dismay. There was a cliff in front of her. There was another cliff on the other side, with a deep chasm in between them. Fluttershy suddenly hatched a plan from this.
Fluttershy stood as close to the edge of the cliff as possible, and then kneeled down and clasped her hooves together as tightly as possible.
"Jump!" Fluttershy yelled simply. Pinkie instantly knew what she had in mind. She placed one hoof firmly on Fluttershy's two hooves. Fluttershy lifted as hard as she could, beating her wings for extra leverage. Pinkie was sent soaring through the air, and then she landed safely on the other side of the chasm.
Fluttershy quickly did the same thing with Twilight, and then she was about to jump off, until a timberwolf bit down on her pack. She removed the pack and then bucked the timberwolf in the face for good measure, before leaping off the cliff and flying over the chasm.
They looked back across the cliff to see a bunch of angry timberwolves howling in frustration. The three ponies only laughed at this.
"Great job, Flutters," Pinkie said as she clapped Fluttershy affectionately on the back.
"Thanks," Fluttershy said in between pants and gasps for air, "but we don't have our supplied anymore."
"Who needs 'em?"
That sat down to catch their breath. Leftover adrenaline still coursed through them, but that quickly faded.
"Alright, girls," said Fluttershy as she stood up, "Let's go."
They continued their way down the Everfree Forest, getting closer and closer to their destination.
Later that day, as they made their way deeper into the Everfree Forest, they spotted the castle. They approached it cautiously, ready for an ambush, or really anything that could suddenly happen. But nothing did. Besides the earlier encounter with the timberwolves, their trek was relatively easy. Almost too easy.
They stood out the gates of the Ruined Castle. The gates were large and wooden, and decomposing and chipped in many places. The Castle was mostly constructed out of cobblestone, and moss was growing all over the place. Many pieces of cobblestone were either broken, damaged, or just flat out missing, and the place had a rotten smell to it.
"We've made it pretty far in a relatively short amount of time," said Twilight simply, "Who knows what danger lies ahead inside the Castle," she turned to look at Fluttershy and Pinkie, "But we're here for one reason and one reason only."
"To save Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie yelled. Twilight smiled despite herself. Even when rescuing a kidnapped friend, Pinkie was still extremely energetic . It was as if nothing could sap her of the endless energy she had inside.
"Well, girls. Let's go." They all stepped inside the Ruined Castle.
If they thought the smell outside was strong, they were in for a surprise here. The smell was a lot stronger from the inside than the outside, and the there was a lot more moss and crumbling cobblestone on the inside than from the outside, if that was even possible.
"Man, it stinks in here!" Pinkie said between coughs.
"That's an understatement," Twilight replied, "It's also dark in here. But don't worry, girls. I can fix that." Twilight's horn started glowing. One second later, and they were all suddenly breathing in fresh air. Twilight's horn continued to glow, illuminating the darkness within.
"Where should we begin?" asked Pinkie.
"Well, any path is as good as the other. Let's try this way." Twilight turned down a random path and started following it. Fluttershy and Pinkie followed close behind.
Their hoofsteps echoed loudly throughout the dark hall. Despite Twilight's glowing horn, the darkness was still rather thick. They could only see several feet in front of them. If their were any creatures that lived in the Ruined Castle, then they would be at an advantage.
Click, click, click
Speaking of creatures that live in the Ruined Castle....
Twilight heard the clicking sounds that came from behind. She stopped dead in her tracks. "Shush!" she said as quietly as possible yet loud enough for Pinkie and Fluttershy to hear.
Twilight's ears twitched, attempting to listen to the clicks.
Click, click, click
She then used her magic to sense for the presence that was making the clicking sounds. It was approaching them steadily. So steadily.
Click, click, click
The clicking noise seemed to be so close. Twilight froze, her muscles completely tensed up. The clicking noise suddenly stopped. Twilight used her magic to sense for the presence again. She felt it this time. And it was incredibly close. Twilight used magic to enhance her sense of hearing.
"DUCK!" The three ponies ducked at the same time, narrowly dodging the battleaxe that soared through the air and stuck fast into a the wall behind them. The wall wasn't close, either. Whatever threw the axe has an extremely strong throwing arm. Had Twilight not heard the faint whistling of the axe being thrown, she wouldn't have reacted fast enough to duck. It would have decapitated her.
Twilight got back up immediately and unleashed a powerful burst of magic straight into the darkness. It managed to hit their assailant, whose figure was briefly illuminated by the burst of magic. It was a tall, bipedal figure. It looked horribly emaciated. It's skin was a ghastly pale white. It stood on two legs which ended in shriveled up feet with long nails. Twilight mentally concluded that it was the nails that made the clicking noise.
The figure had two long arms that ended in large hands, and it wore a belt that held several battleaxes the same as the one it had just thrown. It's face was horribly disfigured.
A horrible, gutteral moan was emitted from the figure as Twilight's burst of magic blasted it off it's feet and sent it flying backwards. It's many battleaxes fell from it's belt and clattered to the floor.
To Twilight's dismay, more gutteral moans could be heard echoing all throughout the hallway, and many more moans could be heard coming from everywhere at once.
"Not good," said Twilight. She looked behind herself to see many emaciated figures slowly clicking towards them. She looked in front of herself to see even more coming towards them.
"Don't worry, girls!" said Pinkie as she whipped out her party cannon from who-knows-where. "I've got this!" Before Twilight and Fluttershy even knew what was going on, Pinkie grabbed them both and shoved them in her party cannon. She then shoved herself in along with them, and then smacked the side of the cannon. It blasted the three of them over the emaciated figures and soaring through the air. They landed hard on the floor, sprawled on top of each other. Without looking back, Pinkie grabbed Twilight and Fluttershy and whisked them back up on their hooves and shoved them forward into a sprint, before sprinting along herself.
"Pinkie," said Twilight as she ran quickly down the hallway, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank Celestia you brought that cannon with you."
Pinkie beamed as she sprinted along the hall. They continued running like this for a while. They suddenly came upon a set of large, wooden doors. They looked exactly the same as the wooden doors that were attached to the entrance to the Ruined Castle. From the other side, the three ponies could hear a low rumbling sound.
"Rainbow Dash must be behind this gate," said Fluttershy.
"We can't be too sure, though," replied Twilight.
"Well, it's worth a try." Fluttershy walked up the stairs and was about to open the gates, until they heard the moaning again.
"Uh oh," said Fluttershy. "What do we do?"
"Let us take care of this." Pinkie took out yet another party cannon and set it down.
"Yeah," said Twilight, "You go save Rainbow Dash. Pinkie and I will take care of them."
"Thanks, girls." Fluttershy went opened the gate and stepped through. It slammed shut behind her, and she stared into complete darkness for a few moments.
A torch abuptly lit on one of the walls. Another torch lit, and then another one, and another one, until a whole line of torches lit up, illuminating the small room before her. Standing in the middle of the room was a large, dinosaur-like creature. It's scales were black, and it bared it massive teeth. It had short, stubby arms that ended in little claws, and it's eyes were pure purple venom, full of menace.
It looked very bulky and clumsy. Fluttershy stood there, sizing up her enemy. A flash of cyan in her peripheral vision told her that Rainbow Dash was there. She didn't turn her head to look, though, lest the demon surprise-attacked her.
The demon stood there, sizing up it's enemy. Fluttershy appeared to be very fast and light.
It seemed as though Fluttershy had the advantage of speed. At least, it seemed like it....until Fluttershy saw a flash of black coming straight towards her, and she just barely managed to get out of the way. She lay on her back, surprised at the speed of her reflexes, and surprised at how deeply embedded into the wall the demon's fist had gotten.
Fluttershy barely managed to get up, until she had to dodge again, and the demon's fist was embedded into the floor just inches from her face.
Fluttershy quickly grew tired from this repetitive cycle of dodging the demon's lightning fast punches. She couldn't keep this up for much longer.
So much dodging. So much adrenaline coursing through her veins. But out of all this dodging, Fluttershy noticed something. Out of all the scales this demon had, one of them was ajar. It literally stood out among the others. This scale was on it's back. This gave Fluttershy an idea. A suicidal idea, perhaps, but an idea nevertheless.
Fluttershy dodged once more, but this time, instead of merely jumping out of the way, she jumped upon the demon's back. Without wasting any time, she bit down on the stray scale, and yanked as hard as she could. The scale was ripped free on the first pull. Pulling out the scale exposed the demon's soft, purple flesh. Fluttershy plunged the scale deep inside the flesh.
The demon wailed as loudly as it could. Purple blood spurted out of it's wound and all over the walls of the room. It even doused some of the torches. The demon fell down and stopped moving. Fluttershy hopped off of it's back and examined the demon closely.
She was still prepared, though, in case it got back up. But it never did. Fluttershy would have done a little victory dance at that moment, but Rainbow Dash and the others were waiting on her.
Fluttershy went over to Rainbow Dash. She was chained to the wall, and she was heavily bruised all over, and she had a black eye. She was unconscious as well. Despite that, though, she wasn't in terrible condition. Damaged, yes, but not broken.
"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy placed her hoof underneath Rainbow Dash's chin and lifted her head up to face her. Rainbow Dash's eyes flittered open.
"F-flutter...shy...?" Rainbow Dash's eyes closed again, but she kept talking. "Please get me out of here."
Fluttershy smiled. She went over to the demon's body and retrieved the scale, then went back to Rainbow Dash and used it's serrated edge to cut her free from the chains. She slumped forward, only to be caught by Fluttershy, who rested her as comfortably on her back as she could. "Let's get you out of here." Fluttershy opened the gates and stepped through.
Fluttershy was immediately greeted by the sounds of Twilight's magic being fired upon many of the emaciated figures, and Pinkie's cannon firing what seemed like an infinite amount of cannonballs that never seemed to end.
"Twilight! Pinkie!" The two ponies faced Fluttershy as soon as they heard her voice.
"Let's get out of here!" Fluttershy took out the scale and cut her way through several of the emaciated figures. They fell before her, allowing her and the others a safe path through. They all ran through the hallway and eventually found the exit. The gate slammed shut behind them, sealing off the Ruined Castle and it's inhabitants forever.
There was a knock on the door.
"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash called from her hospital bed, not even bothering to put down her Daring Do book.
"You have a visitor," said the voice from behind the door. The door opened, and in came Fluttershy and Mayor Mare.
"Flutters!" Rainbow Dash called happily as she set down her Daring Do book and embraced her dear friend.
"Oh, hello, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said timidly. "Mayor Mare and I just wanted to check up on you and see if you were okay."
"Ok!" Rainbow Dash said. "I'm more than okay! I'm Dash-tastic!" Rainbow Dash flashed a cheesy grin. Fluttershy looked at her for a moment, before breaking down in laughter. "I'm glad to see you're ok, Dashie."
"And you," Rainbow Dash pointed to Mayor Mare, "should have more faith in my friends, no matter who they are!" Rainbow Dash was genuinely disappointed in Mayor Mare for her doubt in Fluttershy, but she let it slide.
END
Author's Note
This story is based on a mini-story I once wrote for the Flutterdash Collab Group. That short story was, after some encouragement from a friend, turned into this one-shot story. Well, enjoy it. I guess.