Epic Pony: Friendship is Legend

Part 1: Equestrian Secrets
Chapter 4: Attack of the Chimaera

“Do you think we should’ve told them what we were really doing?” Twilight asked, feeling sorry for lying to Celestia and Luna.

“No, I think it’s quite alright,” Rarity reassured, looking through her outfits, “Sisters or not, when two very important leaders are together, they eventually start focusing on issues, and… stuff. I’m sure they have a lot on their plate. Besides,” she added, carefully placing a fancy red hat atop her head, “We shouldn’t get anypony else involved, especially the princesses, until we’ve at least confirmed that this sort of thing is even real. Now, get your things together, dear, our train home will arrive at the station in a few minutes.”

It was the next morning, and the girls were getting ready to return to Ponyville. Not long after the princesses had visited them in the library, they had decided to give up their fruitless search and turn in for the night. Spike was currently out in the town square, getting some breakfast for the three of them.

Once their bags were all packed and they were ready to go, the two of them left for the station. They had hardly taken a few steps when they met Celestia at the top of the stairs. Twilight flinched, then tried to cover up for it by pretending to check under hoof for a rock she supposedly stepped on.

“Why, good morning, Princess Celestia!” Rarity greeted kindly, as if they weren’t expecting to meet her, “Have you come to see us off?”

“Actually, as a matter of fact, I have,” Celestia replied, not having even noticed Twilight’s little convulsion, “I just wanted to say that it was nice of the two of you to come over for my sister’s visit.”

“She’s not returning to Nocturnica so soon, is she?” Twilight asked, stepping forward.

“No, of course not,” Celestia assured with a smile, “She’s going to stay here for some time, while she and I attend to some… business.”

Rarity gave Twilight an “I told you so” look.

“Anyway, the two of you will miss your train if you stay up here,” Celestia continued, “I’ll walk down the stairs with you, if you don’t mind. We could talk as we go along.”

“Mind? Why, not at all!” Twilight uttered nervously. Of course, the thought of having to keep the secret away from Celestia while talking to her in person made her feel uneasy. Celestia turned and headed down the stairs, with the girls walking right next to her.

“So, how are things in Ponyville?” Celestia asked courteously.

“Hm? Oh, they’re fine,” Twilight answered, still feeling nervous, “Everything’s great, everypony’s doing wonderful; nothing to hide- I mean, report! Nothing to report!”

“I see,” Celestia commented, “And how are your friends?”

“My friends? Oh, they’re all right,” Twilight said. Pausing, she decided not to be entirely discreet, and added, “Actually, speaking of them, they sent me an interesting letter last night.” Rarity gave her a cautious look, but she didn’t notice.

“That sounds wonderful,” Celestia remarked, “What was it about?”

Twilight thought for a moment on what she should say. Finally, she explained, “Oh, nothing of consequence. Just a little happening in Ponyville, somepony thinking they saw something, that’s all.”

“Is that what you were researching last night?” Celestia asked. Twilight suddenly found herself speechless, but then Rarity cut in.

“Why, of course not!” she declared immediately, almost startling Celestia, “We were simply looking into fashion, both old and new. I found a very exquisite book with tips on making fancy dresses, entitled Glamour at a Glance.”

“Oh,” Celestia uttered, trying not to sound disappointed, “Well, I’m glad you found what you were looking for.”

“Yep, so am I,” Twilight lied, giving Celestia the most convincing smile she could, while feeling extremely upset on the inside.

“Well, here we are,” Celestia said, as they reached the foot of the stairs. “Have a safe trip home, you two.” And with that, she walked off.

Once they were sure she was out of earshot, Twilight and Rarity both gave sighs of relief.

“ ‘Just a little happening in Ponyville?’” Rarity scolded, giving Twilight a serious look. “ ‘Somepony thinking they saw something, that’s all?’”

“Well, at least she didn’t suspect anything,” Twilight noted.

“Ugh, whatever,” Rarity pouted, “Let’s just go, already. Spike should have some food ready for us, and I am simply famished.”

The train ride to Ponyville was completely uneventful. Rarity, still just a little frustrated with Twilight, spent the whole time reading Glamour at a Glance, which she had borrowed from the library after the search. Spike quietly sat next to her, smiling and looking up in deep thought. Twilight sat across from the both of them, next to the window. During the trip she stared at every body of water that passed by, half-expecting a pony with a fish tail to suddenly leap out of the water.

Finally, sometime around noon, a uniformed pony trotted down the aisle, announcing, “Next stop, Ponyville! All fillies and gentlecolts getting off at Ponyville prepare for disembarking!” Rarity closed her book, Spike blinked and looked around, and Twilight moved away from the window.

Once the train had pulled into the station, and stopped with a mighty heave, Rarity said to Spike, “Go on ahead of us, dear. I need to have a word with Twilight. Alone, if you please.”

Spike nodded, and left the compartment. Closing the door with her unicorn magic, Rarity turned to Twilight and gave her another serious look. “Now, not a word to anypony in Ponyville,” she instructed sternly, wagging her hoof at Twilight, “And I mean not a word. I don’t want to cause a riot, so don’t try to get clever with me. We went to Canterlot and came back. Nopony said anything about an unusual sighting. You got that?”

Twilight nodded in agreement. She was surprised that Rarity would act so severe towards keeping a secret. Then again, as a pony who often gave fashion advice and listened to gossip, Rarity could be trusted to know what did and did not need saying.

As they got off the train, they saw Spike running up to them. “You guys!” he panted when he reached them. “You need to come and see this! It’s Fluttershy!”

Twilight and Rarity looked at each other. Judging by the panicked look on Spike’s face, they could tell that, whatever it was, it was horrible.

“Take us to her,” Rarity commanded, looking worried. Spike turned and ran, with the girls following close behind. Within moments they came to the center of Ponyville, and as they hurried around the side of Sugarcube Corner they saw Fluttershy underneath a tree in the middle of the plaza. At first glance she looked all right, but as they drew closer, they could see that she was quivering intensely. She was also staring off into the distance, looking pale, as if she had seen a ghost.

As they approached, Rarity exclaimed, “Fluttershy, dear! What has happened to you that makes you cower so?”

Fluttershy looked at her but didn’t speak; keeping her mouth shut, she merely whimpered.

“She can’t talk,” Spike pointed out, “Or at least, she won’t. I found her like this, right here, and asked her what was wrong, and she did the same thing. No matter what I say, she won’t even open her mouth! Do you think somepony… stole her voice?”

“C’mon, now, Spike, you know nopony would do that,” Rarity assured, “However, something is keeping her far from speech. Just what is it, Fluttershy? You can tell your dearest friend Rarity. Has something scared you?”

Still trembling, Fluttershy nodded.

“Well, in that case,” Rarity noted thoughtfully, “We’re going to have to calm her down if we want her to talk.”

They took Fluttershy to the spa, but, even after being given every treatment imaginable, she still remained tremulous. So they decided to take her to her house, where they hoped they could find something that would get her to settle down. As they entered, Angel the rabbit woke up from his nap on the couch, and hopped over to them.

“Oh, Angel, you have to help us!” Twilight pleaded. “It’s Fluttershy! She’s been scared speechless!”

Angel gave Fluttershy a peeved look, crossing his arms and tapping on the floor with his foot.

“Please, Angel!” Twilight persisted. “We need to know what happened to her!”

Angel looked at Twilight for a moment, then nodded. With a confident look, he pointed at himself, indicating that he knew what to do. He hopped up to Fluttershy, positioned himself, and began rubbing affectionately against her front leg. Immediately, Fluttershy’s trembling started to lessen, and within seconds she was still.

“Why, Angel,” she uttered quietly, “I didn’t know you could be so sweet.”

Twilight gave a sigh of relief, while Spike cheered and Rarity put her hoof over her chest. Angel made a proud face, and hopped back to the sofa to resume his nap. Twilight stepped towards Fluttershy, who was now taking deep, slow breaths. “What happened?” she asked. “What made you so scared that you couldn’t talk?”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Fluttershy murmured. She began to shiver again, but explained, “You see, yesterday, I was watching over Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie came over, and then Sweetie Belle went off to join her friends. She said they were going to do something with Applejack. After Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and I sent you a letter- did you get it, by the way?” Twilight nodded, and then Fluttershy continued, “After we dropped it off at the post office, I went over to Sweet Apple Acres to check on Applejack and the fillies. I couldn’t find them, but Big Macintosh told me that they had gone into the mountains, and would be camping there for the night. He said they would be back in the morning, so I spent the night there. When morning came, I waited and waited, and they didn’t come back, so I decided to… to… go into the mountains myself. And then… and then…”

Fluttershy stopped and began to whimper and shudder all over again. For a moment, it seemed as if she was scared speechless again, but then she regained control, and proceeded with her story. “I heard screams, little filly screams, and I heard roaring, horrible roaring. I followed the sounds, and I found Applejack in a cave with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. They were all running from something. And then, I saw… I saw… a most terrible beast. It scared me so much that I ran away, and I tried to get help, but I was so terrified that I couldn’t even say anything.”

“Well, what was it?” everyone asked.

“It was…” Fluttershy stammered, “I-it was… a… a… CHIMAERA!” She dropped to the floor and covered her face with her hooves, whimpering.

Twilight and Rarity both gasped. “A CHIMAERA?” they both exclaimed.

“I’ve heard about Chimaeras,” Rarity stated, “Many a wonderful dress has been torn completely to shreds from a Chimaera attack!”

“Um, what’s a Chimaera?” Spike asked, looking bemused.

“They’re said to be one of the most ferocious and fearsome creatures in the whole world!” Twilight pointed out. “The Chimaera has a lion head, a goat head, a body that is half of each, and a dragon tail with a third head at the end!”

“Wow, that sounds cool!” Spike reacted, but quickly corrected, “I mean, terrible! That sounds like a really hideous monster!”

“They’re still up there, in the mountains!” Fluttershy blurted. “Unless the Chimaera has caught them by now, that is…”

Rarity gasped with horror. Her eyes began to fill with tears. “Sweetie Belle, my darling sister!” she wailed. “She’s out there with only Applejack to protect her, and she’s being chased by this… this… monster! Oh, she must be so scared!” Distraught to the point of anger, she turned on Fluttershy. “This is all your fault!” she screeched. “How could you let this happen? You were supposed to look after her! She’s only a filly!”

Fluttershy met Rarity’s glare with trembling eyes. “You’re right, Rarity,” she mumbled, “You told me to watch over her, but I let her go with her friends, not thinking that they might be getting into anything dangerous. I thought Applejack could take care of her instead, but now I realize that I shouldn’t have just left the job to her. It is my fault Sweetie Belle’s in danger now. This has happened before, too. I’m… I’m an awful babysitter!”

“Calm down, girls!” Twilight interrupted, “Now’s not the time to be blaming anypony! We need to get over there right now and help them out!”

“Hang on, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity cried, dashing out the front door, “Big Sister Rarey’s coming for you!”

“Rarity, wait!” Fluttershy called out, as she took off after Rarity. Twilight followed, leaving Spike behind. “You don’t know where she is! You could get lost in the mountains!”

“I have unicorn magic!” Rarity announced defiantly, “And the way I’m feeling, I would track her down even if she were hidden away in the farthest reaches of Equestria!”

“At least let me lead you to where I saw them!” Fluttershy insisted, flying ahead of Rarity.

As they ran on, they passed by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, who chased after them.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash called, as she and Pinkie Pie caught up with Twilight, “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Yeah, are you late for something?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Applejack’s in the mountains with Apple Bloom and her friends,” Twilight quickly explained, “And they’re being attacked by a Chimaera!”

“A Chimaera?” Rainbow Dash responded, “Sounds serious!”

“I don’t know what a Chimaera is,” Pinkie Pie stated, “But anything mean enough to attack innocent ponies can’t be good!”

“It’s not just not good!” Twilight shouted. “It’s bad! Very bad!”

“Oh my gosh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “That’s terrible! And horrible! It’s… torrible!”

“Then we’ll come along, too!” Rainbow Dash declared. “It sounds like you’ll need all the help you can get!”

And so, the group headed into the mountains. Fluttershy led them into a large cave, and, after running through a long tunnel, they stopped at a small pond. Looking up, they saw Applejack on a ledge high above the pond. She was standing bravely in front of the three young fillies, who were huddled up against the cave wall. And approaching them menacingly was the Chimaera. It was daunting in size, at least twice as big as Applejack. A vicious lion head and a brutish goat head were side by side at the front of its body, both glaring ahead at Applejack. Its body was almost distinctly divided in the middle, the front being golden yellow with lion paws, and the back white with goat legs. Coming out from the back was a scaled serpentine tail, ending in a scowling dragon’s head.

As it stepped closer to Applejack, the Chimaera gave a mighty roar with all three of its heads. The roar echoed throughout the entire cave, striking fear into the hearts of everyone who heard it.