Shy Can See

Fluttershy sunk low to the forest floor, pleading with her large, Turquoise eyes. Sombra bared his sharp fangs within his venomous grin. His blood red horn bubbled a deep purple and sickly green. Fluttershy's eyelids draped over her eyes, and her entire body tensed up; afraid of what might become of her.

His dark magic suddenly subsided from his horn.

Fluttershy's eyes twitched open after a brief moment of silence. King Sombra waited patiently with his eyes locked coldly onto her. Her mouth opened in an attempt to speak. To her surprise, her words were audible once again "Please..." Fluttershy began, "I never intended to--"

"I am already aware." interrupted the king. A chilling, demonic undertone was present in his voice. He eased away from Fluttershy. "I'm the one who gave you passage, after all."

Out of Fluttershy's mane levitated the terrified Angel, being brought in front of Sombra against the bunny's will. Fluttershy's eyes widened. She shot up onto all fours, about to retrieve Angel from his telekinetic grasp. She hesitated, and remained still.

Sombra kept his eyes fixed on his main captive: Fluttershy. "I saw you approaching my enclosed prison," His red irises became transparent to the green underneath. Angel began choking and fidgeting. His lungs tightened more with each attempted breath.

Fluttershy watched on in horror from witnessing the event. She thought for sure that he would end up killing her pet. Sombra payed little mind to her reaction, and continued on. "It wasn't long before I've discovered how to mimic, bend and alter Celestia's spell. I may now not only have the opportunity to bring others into the prison... But to leave it as well."

"LET GO OF ANGEL!"

Fluttershy thoughtlessly leaped at the king, showing much more concern for Angel than for herself. Sombra dropped Angel, releasing him from suffering. Sombra's physical form disintegrated into amorphous black smoke, engulfing Fluttershy quicker than she could react. Despite his cruel games, she rushed to Angel's side blindly, shielding him from further harm. Echoing laughter was heard from all directions, blocking out all else. Fluttershy stood up confidently, a severely angered expression on her face. "You... You are the king of nothing..."

The ominous smoke slowly subsided as King Sombra returned to his physical form, and stood mere inches away, displaying his knife-like teeth; eyes viciously glaring at her. "Shall you dare repeat your statement!" He growled wickedly.

At this point, she would have re-considered her statement. Instead, blind rage surfaced. Fluttershy tilted her head up at him, glaring back. "You are the king of nothing."

Sombra took a few steps back, and smiled. "I may no longer be king of the Crystal Empire, but as long as you're here... I am the King of YOU."

Fluttershy's once confident posture slumped into sadness. In a way, he was right. She hung her head as she laid down and scooped up the severely injured Angel, holding him in her shaky, weak arms. No longer did she pay any attention to the potential danger in front of her.

Tears trickled down her cheek, and onto the bunny's shaggy fur. Sombra looked on in satisfaction to Angel's condition. His anger subsided, and his red irises were visible once again.

Sombra walked to the edge of the force field. His horn bubbled with his dark magic, and began to spread throughout his entire body. Out of the counter of his eye, he took a final look at Fluttershy before his mysterious departure. He took his eyes off of her and stepped through the barrier; vanishing into the thick, grim forest

It wasn't long before Fluttershy noticed King Sombra was gone. She sighed in great relieve that he left her and Angel alone. She stroked Angel's side with a forehoof. His eyelids fell and his chest heaved. Tears continued to stream down her yellow face. There was no telling if Sombra was going to come back at all. For all she knew, he could have been her and Angel's only chance to get out. Why did this have to happen to me? Why did this have to happen to Angel?

Fluttershy looked up at the sky. The sun was setting on Everfree, making way for the starry night. She looked back down on Angel's bruised neck. Someone, anyone, please help us...

* * *

The bell above the door let forth a hearty jingle as twilight trotted into Rarity's boutique with a look of concern. Rarity was currently in the middle of applying finishing touches onto her dress.

"Rarity, can I please have a moment with you to talk about Fluttershy?"

Rarity quietly scowled as her back faced Twilight, and quickly applied a fake smile as she turned around to face her. "Of course, dear! What about her?"

"I really think you need to reconsider how you treat Fluttershy. You know she's extremely sensitive, and your attitude towards her isn't making her any less so. It's all getting way out of hand between you two." Princess Twilight said.

"Listen, Twilight, you don't understand why I treat her the way I do. Plus it's not like she has a problem with it!"

"How can you say that when I saw her running out of your boutique in tears?"

There was a slight pause from Rarity as she glared at Twilight, noticeably offended. "I'll have you know that Fluttershy was just in a bad mood from Angel's injury. I had nothing to do with it, I assure you." With a flick of her tail, she turned her back on Twilight and continued on with her work.

"Now I know that's not true." The princess said as she rolled her eyes, "Can you at the very least visit her and say you're sorry?"

Rarity was now steamed. Who was Twilight to make such accusations? She jabbed her sewing needle into the dress, and turned back around to meet her eyes with Twilight. "I already told you that I had nothing to do with it! Don't you have any 'Royal Duties' to perform!"

"Actually no, I don't. Thank you for asking. If you're not going to talk to her, then I will." Twilight concluded. She walked out from the boutique, leaving Rarity to herself. Her wings extended out to full length, and she bounded herself off of the ground and into the sky, headed for Fluttershy's Cottage.

* * *

Twilight flew just overhead the Cottage, ready to land.

Various things about Fluttershy's home stuck out to her.

None of Fluttershy's animals were to be seen. No lights were on, either. The entire cottage seemed to be completely vacant. Twilight landed on the front steps of the Cottage, and knocked curiously.

No answer. As expected.

She knocked once more, becoming more and more worried with each passing second of silence. Fluttershy never goes out at night. Plus It's never even been this quiet at her Cottage. "Fluttershy...?" Twilight was now greatly concerned. She went around and looked through every single window. No Flutter, and no animals. She went as far as to search around and anywhere near the Cottage to find any animals that would know where she went.

Her efforts soon payed off. At the edge of Everfree was one of Fluttershy's Squirrels. She smiled and gently approached it, taking care not to startle it. "Uhm... Hi." Twilight said awkwardly. She's never been one to talk to animals. Fluttershy has always been the animal expert.

The Squirrel perked its ears up slightly and cocked its head to the right.

"Did you happen to see Fluttershy at all today?"

The little critter nodded.

"Really?" She beamed with happiness that she was getting closer to finding out where her friend resided. "Where did you last see her?"

The Squirrel pointed directly into the Everfree Forest. Twilight's smile shifted into a deep frown. It's not at all like Fluttershy to be in the Everfree Forest at night! Not even Twilight herself would enter at night unless it was absolutely needed.

Twilight mustered up any courage she had, and went galloping into the forest. It was almost impossible to see in front of her own hooves from the sheer darkness of the forest. Hardly any of the moon's light made its way through the thick leaves of the trees. Twilight's horn lit up with a surrounding hot pink aura, illuminating the ground around her. She had to find Fluttershy; no matter the conditions.

* * *

Almost three hours have passed since King Sombra left her alone.

Fluttershy couldn't deny the fact that she was absolutely terrified. Not only was it night time, but she was out in the open with nothing but the grassy ground. She was exposed to everything in the forest. The gloomy ambiance of the forest made her unable to fully rest. Angel laid beside her, using her long pink tail as a blanket. This gave her at least a small amount of comfort knowing that Angel wasn't as afraid as her. Even though the force field is protecting them from predators --Excluding King Sombra-- she can't help but to still feel cautious.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy spotted a figure lurking in the bushes outside the force field. It looked like the figure of a pony, but it was difficult to tell within the night. She got up and slowly walked to the fields edge for a closer look. Angel remained on the ground, only propping his head up to watch Fluttershy.

A bright light came into vision, along with an all too familiar lavender Alicorn: Princess Twilight.

"Twilight!" Fluttershy yells in excitement. Her hooves shook, overjoyed from seeing her friend. She could hardly believe it was actually her! She began banging on the wall as hard as possible, while continuously calling her name. Second after second of yelling passed, yet Fluttershy was not noticed.

As hard as she tried to get Twilight's attention, she never noticed. She yelled and hollered as loud as her acute voice would allow, but Twilight continued searching; neither seeing nor hearing her. Twilight turned her head and looked in the direction that Fluttershy was standing, but somehow she still was not noticed.

Twilight turned around, and vanished into the tightly packed trees and shrubs.

"Wait! Twilight, I'm right here!"

It was too late.

Fluttershy's hooves slowly slid off of the wall, and onto the ground. She hung her head low below her shoulders and sobbed tremendously. Angel limped towards her, and placed a sympathetic paw on her hoof.