By Any Other Name

Fluttershy huffed lightly as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. She had spent all morning tending to her garden and she was getting tired. She looked around her and she sighed contentedly. All was right with the world. Except for one thing. Fluttershy frowned as she remembered that day that Twilight had gone missing. It had been almost 3 months now and there was still no sign of her friend. She gazed at the entrance of the Everfree with longing in her eyes.

"Twilight..." She mumbled as she noticed a glimmer of light coming from the entrance. From the darkness of the Everfree emerged a lone mare. Her mane and coat were a bleached blonde and her eyes were silver. She wore a white jumpsuit with silver pauldrons on her shoulders. But the most eye-catching thing was the massive sword on her back. "What...." Fluttershy began, but she was cut off when a manticore burst out of the forest, claws and fangs bared to strike at the mare. The pegasus opened her mouth to warn the mare, but promptly shut it when she saw what happened. The mare drew the sword on her back and in one fluid motion, she cut the beast in half and sheathed the sword onto her back. Fluttershy stood there, dumbfounded as the mare approached her. Without her noticing, the mare had placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Eep!" She squeaked in fear. What would this mare do to her? She had just seen her kill a manticore in a single stroke of her blade. She pictured thousands of scenarios where she was killed by this mare. There was no escape and there was most likely no reasoning with this mare. Before she could let out a cry of terror, something unexpected happened. The mare pulled Fluttershy into a hug.

"Fluttershy..." She mumbled as she wrapped her hooves around the frightened pegasus. Her eyes widened in shock.

"T-Twilight!?" She exclaimed, her knees buckling underneath her. The mare nodded slowly as she got her to her hooves.

"Can we talk in your house?" Twilight asked and Fluttershy nodded quickly. They entered her house and as soon as they closed the door, Fluttershy broke down in tears.