Enchantè

                                                            Fluttershy Unleashed

If the circumstances had been any different, Lorewise and Willow might have enjoyed their time in the Forest. Despite their son’s warnings, no “monsters” sprung out at them, no mysterious creatures lurked behind trees hungering for pony flesh. The full Moon shone brightly above them, and other than their rapid hoof falls there was no other noise but the sound of crickets and other small animals moving all around them.

As they ran along, Lorewise spoke roughly to their captive. “How much further, imposter?”

The Changeling had been silent the entire time through the Forest, hoping the guards were still at their posts in the cave. With any luck, he’d lead them right into a trap.

“We’re almost there,” he said, “it won’t be long now.”

Lorewise and Willow exchanged a look, and then he said, “Stop. This is far enough.”

The startled Changeling stared at them. “Wha…what do you mean?”

Willow answered. “What we mean is, we don’t trust you. This is as far as you go, we can’t have you warning your friends.”

The creature’s eyes got as big as dinner plates. “What are you going to do to me?”

They both stared at him, and then lit their horns. He was almost able to let out a frightened scream before their magic closed his mouth, untied the makeshift rope and then rewrapped it around his muzzle and secured him to a tree.

After making sure he couldn’t slip his bonds, Lorewise said, “We’re not barbarians, we don’t kill our captives. But you’re going to stay right here until we rescue our son.”

The Changeling looked all around, and then frantically shook his head ‘no.’

Lorewise stared at him without pity. “If you haven’t misled us, then we’ll get our son and then come back and free you. If this was all a trick, well then…” He let the threat hang unspoken in the air.

Turning to his wife he said, “Let’s go.”

       Without so much as a backward glance, they both ran off in the direction they’d been going, hoping they’d make it in time.

The cave turned out to be much bigger than Pawise had first thought. As they left the area where they’d been held, they entered a section where the ceiling stretched high above them, studded with stalactites. There must be water nearby, for they could smell it and hear the tinkling of its movement. He could see the glint of gems twinkling around them. These were lit by the faint luminescence of the lichen on the walls. Far above, the sound of bats roosting could be heard. A few torches had been placed strategically along the path, and in their meagre light Pawise was able to make out hoof prints in the dirt. He hoped these would soon lead Fluttershy and himself out of the cave.

Due to the lingering nullifier magic, he could only make the tiniest light from his horn, so he hoped they’d not have to fight any guards. He still couldn’t lift anything heavier than a pebble, but so far they’d been lucky. Outside of the bats, he and Fluttershy seemed to be the only living things in here. He turned to her.

“How are you holding up?”

“Fine so far,” she answered. “I hope we haven’t much further to go.”

She walked close to him due to her limited sight. As a result, she would occasionally brush his side, so he had a hard time keeping his focus. With an effort of will, he kept his mind on the task ahead, for he knew their lives may depend on getting out of here soon.

As they made their way forward, he searched his memory for anything and everything he had heard about Changelings. He recalled the Canterlot Incident, and how they had almost brought about the fall of Equestria. He had never heard of them actually harming ponies, other than draining their emotions, but that could have changed after the Incident.

From his brief encounter with her, he knew the Queen was no longer stable, if ever she had been. Also from his studies of history and earlier conflicts, he knew that desperation can make adversaries do anything to win, which could include bloodshed.

They had beaten him pretty badly when they’d brought him here, but they’d spared him otherwise. He could only hope the violence wouldn’t escalate, and he wouldn’t be forced to take a life. But he made up his mind he would do whatever he needed to do to make sure Fluttershy was safe, even if it sickened him.

Lorewise and Willow crouched behind some trees within sight of the cave. Further south, they could smell what must be the Bog, for it bubbled and spewed noxious fumes into the air.

“That must be it,” he said to his wife. She stared at the entrance.

“I don’t see any guards. Shouldn’t there be some?”

“It does seem too easy,” he said. “But we don’t have a choice.”

Here he turned and looked at his wife. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but if that creature had not lied, their son was somewhere inside this cave. So there wasn’t any time.

She caught his unspoken thought, and smiled. “Let’s go!”

As they had made their way through the Forest and finally entered the cave, their movements had not gone unnoticed. A rogue bear, twice the size ever seen by any pony, had caught their scent and began tracking them. It came upon the bound Changeling, and started sniffing it. The Changeling took one look at the bear and fainted dead away. After a few moments of sniffing the creature’s carapace, the bear decided this thing was no good to eat, and continued to follow the tantalizing aroma of ponies.

Pawise and Fluttershy came to a corner, and around it they heard the unmistakable sound of creatures talking ahead. Pawise’s heart sank. He’d almost begun to believe they’d make it out of the cave without incident. He could only hope there weren’t too many.

Turning to Fluttershy, he whispered, “Can you hear them?”

She nodded. “It sounds like two of them.”

He looked at her. “How can you tell?”

“I’m not sure if it is a result of trying to beat this spell, or my experience before as a bat pony, but my hearing is better than it was.”

Pawise did a double-take. “Your experience as a what?”

She smiled. “I’ll tell you the whole story once we get out of here.”

“I definitely want to hear it!” he whispered. He then faced forward, with a look of resolution. “But first we have to get past these two.”

Cautiously they crept around the corner. Sure enough, two Changelings were walking down the path towards them. The guards saw them and gave a yell, then ran forward.

“Fluttershy! Stay behind me!” Pawise cried as he ran at them. As he did, he tried to stop one of them with his magic, but it was no good, they were still too close to the source of the nullifier.

Well, he thought grimly, a unicorn’s horn has uses other than magic. He lowered his head, bringing the sharp point of his horn to bear, and continued to charge. The Changelings took to the air, and were about to dive bomb them both, when two large rocks came flying through the air with pinpoint accuracy. Striking the two on the head, they both fell senseless to the ground. Pawise couldn’t believe what had happened. He knew he hadn't done it, as the rocks had come from the direction of the cave’s entrance. Then he looked and could just make out the shape of two familiar unicorns in the cave’s mouth.

“M...Mom? Dad?”

They all ran forward and embraced, hugging each other fiercely. Fluttershy walked awkwardly behind them and quietly waited.

After a few moments Pawise broke away and said, “This is Fluttershy, Mom and Dad. The real Fluttershy.” Pawise’s parents looked at them both as the implications sunk in.

It was Lorewise who spoke first. “So you two haven’t ever actually met, I take it?”

“No,” said Pawise. “Not before tonight.”

“Well,” said Willow as she embraced her, “it is still good to meet you, dear.”

“Thank you,” said Fluttershy. Willow noticed her gaze was slightly out of focus. Full of concern, she asked her, “Are you alright, sweetheart?”

Fluttershy smiled. No one had called her ‘sweetheart’ besides her own mother in a long time.

"It’s nullifier magic…it’s affected my eyes and your son’s magic. I think we’ll be fine the farther we get from the source, which must be somewhere in this cave.”

“All the more reason for us to get out of here now,” said Lorewise.

Just then they heard a low rumble coming from the cave entrance. They all turned to look as a massive shape reared up before them, filled the ten foot entrance and roared. Everypony screamed almost as loudly.

About half a mile away, Zecora was just stuffing the last of her pouches when she heard the echo. It sounded like it was coming from Froggy Bottom Bog! Somepony was in trouble, and from the sound it was more than one.

Quickly she finished filling her bags and told Angel, “You’ll be safe, please stay right here, my help is needed there I fear.”

But he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight, and he didn’t want to argue. So he waited about half a minute, and then followed.

“RUN!!” shouted Pawise.

“Wait!” said Fluttershy. “I can talk to him!” The bear had dropped to all fours and was slowly advancing on the ponies.

“Are you crazy?!” said Lorewise. “That thing doesn’t want to talk, it wants to EAT!”

But Fluttershy stood her ground and said, “There, there, Mister Bear. What’s troubling you?”

The animal stopped and looked at her, just long enough for them all to believe she’d gotten through. Then it reared up again and lunged forward. Pawise grabbed her out of the way just in time as its claws whisked through the space she had been standing.

“Time to go!” he yelled. “Back into the cave!” They all turned and ran, with the bear lumbering just behind them.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Pawise. “Fly up and over it! Get out of here!”

“I can’t leave you all!” she shouted as they ran towards the narrower part of the cave. There was still a high area above them, but not for long.

“Leave before you run out of room! We can make it to the back passages! It’s too big to get in there!” he panted.

“GO, young lady!” yelled Lorewise. “Bring back help!”

Fluttershy gulped, then took flight. Shooting straight up and then back, she tried to fly over it. But it was too quick, and she was hampered by her diminished sight. It saw her trying to escape it, and lunged upward as she passed overhead. Its claws barely grazed her, but it was enough to cause her to scream and tumble to the ground behind it. It stopped and turned back towards her.

“NO!!!” yelled Pawise.

He quickly reversed and charged the bear. With the light glinting off his horn he lowered his head and hit it at full speed. The bear roared in anger and pain, then turned and struck Pawise away and unconscious against a far wall.

“MY SON!!” yelled Lorewise.

Concentrating fiercely, he just managed to stop it from advancing on Pawise. But it was too big, and Lorewise was starting to feel the effects of the nullifier magic this deep in the cave. The bear roared in confusion, and fought to get free. It dug in its claws and used its massive strength to fight its way towards the fallen unicorn. But Willow joined her husband and levitated the largest rock she could, and sent it hurtling towards the bear. A blow that should have rendered it senseless only dazed it, its thick skull near impenetrable.

But it was enough.

As the bear sank to its side, Lorewise rushed forward, grabbed his son and threw him across his back. Then both he and Willow ran to Fluttershy and helped her up, as the bear regained its feet. They all burst out of the cave just as over six hundred pounds of angry animal pursued them.

The sounds of battle caused Zecora to run faster than she had before. She cleared the tree line and was within sight of the cave when she saw the group running out, with the bear in hot pursuit. She could see Pawise being carried by his father, and she could also see Willow trying to help Fluttershy, who looked like she was also injured.

Zecora had only enough time to yell, “Come to me! Come to me!” when something white shot past her.

The bear was too fast, and Lorewise couldn’t carry Pawise another step. Willow was ahead of them with Fluttershy, and looked back in time to see her son and her husband fall down.

She pushed Fluttershy onward and screamed, “Go to Zecora!” as she ran back and threw herself over them.

Just as the bear was about to rake her with its claws, Angel leaped and sank his teeth into its leg. The bear roared, and struck Angel off itself. The bunny was thrown through the air and landed on some moss. He lay still.

Fluttershy, her eyes wide with terror, saw her pet get hurt. For a full second she stared, and then her voice changed into something no pony had ever heard.

“You! Hurt! ANGEL!!!”

She launched herself so fast from the ground she left a permanent gouge. Like a meteor she flung herself at the bear, and knocked it off its feet. She became a blur as she rained blow after blow on her enemy, finally striking it in the jaw. The bear’s eyes rolled back into its head and it fell like a mighty tree, unconscious. Lorewise, Willow and Zecora stared at her in shock as Fluttershy stood with her teeth clenched and panting over it. Then she remembered, and ran to her pet. He was badly hurt, but still breathing.

As she cradled him and wept, her tears fell on his face, and he opened his eyes. Fluttershy at last! He smiled up at her, then again fell unconcious.

“Zecora!” she yelled. “Help him please!” Zecora came up and ran one hoof gently over the comatose rabbit.

“His leg is broken, but do not fear, he’ll be fine once we take him from here.”

Then she walked over to Pawise, and checked him as well. Willow and Lorewise anxiously watched her for any sign their son was worse than he looked, but she turned to them and smiled. As she did, he came to.

“What…where am I? Wait! FLUTTERSHY?! Is she okay?!”

“She’s fine son” said Lorewise as she walked up to them. “Better than fine actually. I still can’t believe what I saw!”

Pawise looked around, and saw the bear. “What happened to it?”

Lorewise answered, “She happened to it!”

“Huh?”

“We’ll tell you all about it later, dearest,” said Willow. “Right now you and the poor rabbit need medical attention.”

Pawise got shakily to his feet. “I’m fine, just my head hurts.” Then he saw Fluttershy was looking at him, really seeing him for the first time. “You can see?”

She nodded, and smiled up at him while holding Angel. “I saw what you did back there. You saved my life.”

They both stood there blushing at each other, then Pawise said, “Wait! Ponyville! The Changeling Queen! We have to get back!” Quickly he explained what he knew for the benefit of his parents and Zecora. When he was done, their faces were grave.

“We already knew most of this,” said Lorewise. “But she may have found a way to accomplish her mission without the fake Pawise.”

"You knew about him?" asked their son.

"Yes," answered Willow. "He's how we found you here, but we didn't trust him so we tied him up and left him back in the Forest."

Pawise sighed. "I guess we'd better stop and get him before going back to Ponyville."

"If there's a Ponyville still to return to," said Lorewise.