Prologue
“Thank you for coming, everypony,” the lavender princess began. She seemed a bit nervous, as betrayed by her hooves, which were clasped together, shaking ever so slightly. She was sitting on her haunches, surrounded by her five best friends in the world. She didn’t know what she would have ever done without them; she felt guilty about using Fluttershy as a lab rat, but she didn’t have anypony else to test her new spell on. Besides, the yellow pegasus had insisted. However, it was obvious she was terrified; her legs were shaking violently, her teeth chattering. Her fillyfriend, Rainbow Dash, was standing by her with a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “It’s okay,” Twilight heard her whisper. “I’m right here.”
Applejack and Rarity were side by side. Rarity was looking over at Fluttershy with a worried expression, eyes betraying her concern. Her lips were downturned in a frown, and it was quite clear that she disapproved of her very best friend being treated like this. The white unicorn looked over at Twilight, a hint of anger in her face. Applejack perceived this; gently, she tapped her friend’s shoulder and whispered something quick and low into her friend’s ear. Rarity looked briefly at the wooden floor, then back at the earth pony and nodded.
Last, but not least, was Pinkie Pie, bouncing in place. “I’m so nervousited! I’m so nervousited!” she repeated under her breath, with a look of pure anxiety—or was it joy?—on her face. For a moment, she stopped bouncing for no apparent reason and looked at something it seemed only she could see. As she was speaking quickly, the alicorn could only pick out the phrase: “Are you, reader?” before the pink pony went back to hopping around. Twilight sighed and looked down at the floorboards. Yes, she was certainly nervousited; nervous that things could go terribly wrong, but also exited that they might go terribly right. She had no clue what was going to happen. She looked back up, took a deep breath, and continued.
“As you all know, today we are here to observe the affects my new spell has on ponies. I have previously tested on small animals, such as rabbits, that I borrowed from Fluttershy’s animal farm. Now, however, we will soon witness the affect that my new spell has on actual ponies. Fluttershy has volunteered, and as such, we are here to both conduct the experiment and cheer her on,” The purple alicorn cleared her throat and continued. “Now then; Fluttershy, would you please step forward?”
The pegasus anxiously stepped forward, treading slowly and shakily. Stepping out, Rainbow encouraged her on, walking next to her. “Easy, Shy,” she said quietly, matching her love’s pace. “I’m right here with ya.” She was pressed close, their coats brushing. Twilight’s sensitive horn could perceive the warmth that flowed from the two. Since she had become a princess, her horn had become even more sensitive to her surroundings, as well as ponies’ emotions. It had been quite jarring at first, feeling the searing heat of anger and bitter cold of depression, as well as everything in between, at once. However, she had learned to cope, as well as find the silver lining; emotions could be pleasant, such as compassion. Fear, however—most prominently from Fluttershy at the moment—was strange and lukewarm, like a bittersweet kiss that stretched from the tip of her horn to the very base of her spine. No matter what she tried, her psyche couldn’t seem to make sense of it, and it made her shiver with distaste, especially with it coming from one of her friends.
In the center of the room was a small, pony-sized container made of a special Equestrian plastic, designed to keep even the strongest magic from breaking loose. Delicately, Twilight opened it, her purple aura dancing like a butterfly moving in slow motion. Fluttershy disconnected from Dash, leaving a small spark of warmth between their coats until it faded. Twilight thought she saw a glimmer of a tear in Rainbow’s eye, but it must have been the lighting, as a second later it disappeared. Twilight sealed the plastic back up and moved to the side, where a small horn-sized hole—designed to encompass the horn from the tip to the base, so that no magic could escape—was positioned. This was a dangerous experiment, and for a second, the alicorn reconsidered it entirely. But no; this had to be tested, as it could save lives.
The spell was designed so that the pony’s heath, psyche, and sleeping would drastically improve, as well as preventing future diseases. It couldn’t cure the diseases, as far as her previously conducted experiments had yielded, but it was a step in getting there. Fluttershy was sickly and small, however much the alicorn liked to admit it, if all went well, the spell might be able to be administered nationwide. The thought filled her with glee; she wasn’t going to live forever, despite her newfound princesshood, and she wanted to be remembered as somepony other than a temporary monarch.
“Alright, than. Everypony, please step back. This may be dangerous.” With that, the alicorn placed her delicate horn inside of the hole and began to concentrate. She could begin to feel sweat bead on her brow, and she breathed deeply. Mustering all her strength, she muttered:
“Sickness and death,
Sadness and sorrow,
They shall make way
For a better tomorrow.
“Never the sickly
Never the sad,
Never the one with
Whom disease is clad.
“Take away eyes
Of those who can’t see
Strong and healthy is what we are meant to be.”
A brilliant white flash swept through the room, along with it a searing cold the made Twilight’s horn numb. As the whiteness died away, Twilight opened her eyes. Blackness penetrated her vision, and she panicked. “Fluttershy? Everypony? Are you alright?”
“Ah’m over here!” Applejack called. Twilight quickly pinpointed the voice, and cried back.
“Can you see anything, Applejack? What does-“
“AAHHH! WHO TURNED OFF THE MOON?!”
“Darling, it’s so dark, I can’t see a thing!”
“Um, what just happened? Oh, crap, Fluttershy! Where the hay are you?!”
“I-I’m right here…” Twilight heard what she thought was Rainbow shuffle over.
“Twi! Get her the HAY out of there!”
Chapter 1
She couldn’t tell what was going on.
Everypony was panicking, yes, but for what? Pinkie had screamed something about the moon being turned off, Twilight was calling out for Applejack, Rarity she hadn’t heard, and Rainbow Dash—as far as she could tell—was tugging at the plastic urgently. Fluttershy spread out her wings; they felt like they hadn’t been moved in ages. How could she care for the animals like this? She felt tears running down her face, a sense of loss tugging at the edges of her heart. And Rainbow—oh, yes, Rainbow! The pegasus rushed over to where the pony was pulling, heart pounding, breathing heavily. “R-rainbow?!” she called, frightened.
“Fluttershy! We have to get you out of there!” Dash called back, putting a hoof on the plastic in hopes of feeling her way to her.
“I-it’s okay, Dashie. Y-you n-need to worry about y-yourself, f-find out what g-going o-on…” she stuttered, looking the direction she thought was down. Were her hooves there? Such a strong sense of fear was overflowing her; she couldn’t feel them, no matter how hard she concentrated. Was she here? That was a silly question; of course she was. The pain in her chest reminded her of that. It was almost all she could feel… Was it her heart? She wasn’t sure her heart could go this fast. She wasn’t sure if it could, and if it was, she might not be able to take it much longer. She almost never mentioned it, but a mild heart condition wasn’t exactly absent for Fluttershy—in fact, it had developed rather recently, and she couldn’t remember whether or not the doctor had told her to participate in anything that might stimulate her heart rate to high levels.
“TWILIGHT! WHERE THE HAY ARE YOU?!” Dash called, swinging her head back (as if that would do much good). Turning back toward Fluttershy, she cried “Stay right here!” and ran into the unseen ocean of confused ponies trapped in the small basement, shouting Twilight’s name over and over. Fluttershy’s back suddenly felt cold and wet, and she assumed it was sweat; if she imagined what else it might be, she was sure her heart might give out, and she didn’t want that to happen. No, that was silly. Of course she didn’t want it to happen! What would become of her friends? Her Dash? Her beloved animals? Her Angel? She simply couldn’t leave that all behind!
Steeling her courage, she walked back in the direction she had come from. Her pose was still and calm, but inside, she was sweating and shaking. Once she got out, she might get trampled. Bruised. Beaten, busted, badly hurt. She might even get-
No, Fluttershy, she thought to herself. You’ve faced worse than this. At least three times. And, hay, you’ve even reformed Discord! Don’t give up now… you CAN’T give up. And with that, she reached out with a forehoof, feeling for the seal that enclosed the plastic. As the tip of her hoof brushed against it, she felt the closed folds, and spread them apart. Across the room, Dash heard the rubbery yet crinkly noise of the enclosure unfolding, and ran over, caution thrown to the wind. Running over, she shouted,
“Fluttershy! Did you find a way out?!”
“Y-yes!” the sweet voice called back.
Dash ran over to the entrance, bumping into several of her friends, and locked the yellow pegasus in a tight embrace. “Don’t you EVER do ANYTHING like this ever again, or I swear, I’ll…” the mare paused. “I’ll…”
Fluttershy hugged her ever tighter, and whispered back, “You don’t have to think of anything! I promise y-you, I-I’ll never!” She buried her face, fur caked with tears, into her shoulder. “I’d never…” She could feel her love’s blind gaze upon her, and she matched it with her own. She couldn’t feel her eyes anymore; if she was blind, at least she would have been able to feel her eyes moving around; with this, she could not. Her best guess was that something very wrong had happened, and that Twilight’s magic had malfunctioned in some way or form. It seemed impossible to believe, she knew. That a princess would not be able to handle her magic properly. But she knew very little about magic. One thing she would never admit was that it scared her, and that she didn’t trust it. This was exact proof of how magic didn’t always go as planned; this was the most drastic thing she knew of that had ever happened to her, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know if this was the worst side effect that could have happened. One thing she knew for sure, though, was that things could always get worse. She had Rainbow Dash, steadfast at her side, as well as her very best friends, animals, and Angel Bunny. She didn’t know if there was anything she couldn’t do with them at her side.
“Okay,” Rainbow said, gently breaking their embrace. She gingerly put Fluttershy’s hooves, pressed together, against the pale yellow pony’s chest, only holding them for a moment before letting go. Fluttershy felt their gaze break and looked downwards, waiting for Dash to give an order.
“We should probably round the group up and make sure everypony’s fine, don’tcha think?” she asked, turning back. Fluttershy nodded quickly—then realized how silly that was, as Rainbow couldn’t see her.
“Yes,” she replied. “We definitely should.”
“Everypony, listen up!” Dash called, turning away again. Twilight called back, “You two! Are you alright?!”
“Yep, we’re just buckin’ peachy, having just lost our eyes and all!” she replied. Fluttershy put a gentle hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. Spite was just going to make things worse right now. The pegasus heard Dash take a deep breath and felt one of her hooves reach up and encumber hers. She continued.
“Sorry, I’m just ticked. Anyways, where the hay are you? And what do you think happened?”
“Hold on, I’ll find you!” the mare called back. Fluttershy could hear the sound of her magic, but couldn’t see any of it. Not a flicker. Pricking up her ears, she heard Twilight swear under her breath, and cry out again. “The light spell didn’t work, so I’ll just sense you!” she called.
After a few seconds, she heard hooves above the shouts of her confused friends. Suddenly, she felt a hoof on her shoulder and mumbled something so high-pitched and fast that it was unintelligible even to herself.
“Don’t worry, it’s just me!” the voice of the alicorn rang out from behind her.
Instinctively, Fluttershy spun around. Dash got up calmly and brushed against her coat, sending that soothing spark Fluttershy felt whenever their fur brushed into her body and relaxing her muscles. It helped her more than any doctor ever could. Shy leaned a bit closer to her.
“Okay, did you get in contact with Applejack?” the blue mare beside her asked.
“Yes. She’s trying to calm down Pinkie and Rarity,” she replied, nodding her head despite the fact she knew nopony could see her. Fluttershy strained her ears to listen for Applejack’s voice, which was quite easy now that everypony was calmed down, or at least almost. She could still hear Pinkie blabbering unintelligibly to herself under her breath, however. It was no secret that Pinkie had a quite literal tendency to go slightly mad, as Rainbow had once told her. As she whispered, however, Fluttershy suddenly got the feeling Pinkie wasn’t doing this on her own terms. Fluttershy could remember the slimy feeling on her back, and her heart flared up again. Automatically, she put a hoof up to her chest. It felt like her heart was on fire now, sizzling and releasing ash that buckled in her throat and refused to allow her to breath—however as Rainbow was asking her, then screaming at her, to tell her she was alright, her mind was on something else. What could that feeling have been?
Had it possessed Pinkie?
“Crap, crap, CRAP!” Dash cried as she felt Fluttershy’s knees buckle and fall onto her hooves. The steady thump her body made seem to resound within the mare’s ears, and she shook her head, both angry and disbelieving. “Does anypony know how to revive somepony?!” she cried into the blackness, feeling utterly alone. She couldn’t believe this… She could NOT believe this! “Twilight!” the mare shouted. “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“I’m right here!” her friend called back. She seemed to be over on the other side of the room for some strange reason, but a second later was at her side. “Here, let me try and revive her.”
Rainbow rolled Shy over onto her back, so that her heart was facing upwards. Twilight positioned herself over the pegasus, clasped her hooves over one another, and began pumping her hooves on her chest in the position her sonar-like senses had told her was correct. Up and down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up.
This continued for what felt like hours until Applejack and the rest of the ponies came over.
“Twi, ya need ta move. I can revive her easier then you can.”
“No, Applejack, you’re too strong. And without your eyes, you might push too far and break her ribs. We can’t let that happen, not in this place,” the alicorn told her.
“But—“
“No buts,” Twilight cut in, still concentrating on her work. “A couple of you, however, should probably go upstairs and call for Spike. We could really use his help.”
“I’ll go.”
“Me too. Y’all can’t just be left in the dark—“
“Applejack. No,” Dash glared inside.
“Why not?”
“I was talking about that dumb pun you just made. This isn’t the time for those!”
“Alright. Applejack and I will go upstairs and call for Spike. One we get a hold of him, we’ll bring him down to you,” Rarity finished.
“Okay. Just be quick, but careful, alright? Shy needs help NOW,” Dash growled, nearly snarling. She was so frustrated; she just wanted Fluttershy to be awake and well. Twilight was probably the only thing keeping her alive right now. Dash knew it was selfish, but oh! How she wished she had paid more attention in those Health classes in Middle School.
Those Health classes that would have taught HER to be the one keeping her Shy alive right now.
“Twi? Do you think she’ll wake up soon?” Dash asked weakly. She could feel Twilight’s gaze on her, and she sighed. She knew that if she could have seen, she would have seen a face that said ‘I have no clue’.
And so they were left alone with the soft, barely audible giggling that was coming from the pony on the other side of the room’s mouth.
