Celestial Eclipse

Chapter 14 - The Scratching

Fluttershy flew through the shy towards Rainbow Dash's house. The last couple of days had been horrible. Princess Celestia had publicly declared all of the Elements of Harmony as traitors of Equestria, and placed bounties on them. The general public were surprised at first, soon found it easy to trust in their loyal Princess.

No word had come from the Crystal Empire, which was unnerving, considering both the Price and Princess of the Crystal Empire had close relations with ponies on both sides of the conflict.

Whole battalions of the Equestrian Guard had been placed in every big city, and little town in Equestria, not excluding Ponyville. Their sole purpose was to search for the traitors, and bring them to Canterlot. The treason of Princess Luna, and the presence of Solar Eclipse were also announced to the Equestrian public.

Thankfully, most of the ponies in Ponyville were resentful of Princess Celestia, and her decisions. The towns ponies did everything they could to help them at any time. It did little to help, but it made living in Ponyville slightly more bearable.

However the last couple of days, the Ponyville Weather Office had scheduled an intense rainstorm, that was supposed to last for the next week. Fluttershy would have no problems with the rain on a normal day, but the constant downpour was starting to irritate the animals, and wildlife around her cottage, and they were making quite a fuss.

Fluttershy decided to take it upon herself to ask Rainbow Dash, if she could stop the rain for the animals. However, something else had been scratching at the back of Fluttershy's mind. Whenever she wasnt paying attention, her thoughts would often run away to murdering her friends.

Fluttershy didn't want to hurt her friends, and these thoughts forced her into self seclusion. She refused to leave her house, or have any visitors, but the local animals had finally pushed her enough to take action. She had to admit though, the closer she got to Rainbow Dash's house, the more the scratching lessened.

It also helped Fluttershy clear her mind when she flew. Although she didn't fly much, it always made her feel better when she was done. That 'better' feeling quickly dissipated, when she looked up into the night sky, and towards an odd clearing. The moon was resting directly in the center of the cloud hole.

The moon. The thought of the moon brought about the scratching sensation more than ever. Suddenly her mind was occupied by the thought of slicing Luna's throat, and laughing, while watching her blood spill out.

Before she knew it, she was standing on Rainbow Dash's cloud porch, shivering from being soaked in rain, and chilled to the bone. She shook the murderous thoughts from her mind, and knocked on Rainbow Dash's door.

Fluttershy was surprised by the quick response, when Rainbow Dash threw open the door. "Fluttershy?! What are you doing here, this late at night?"

Rainbow Dash scanned over Fluttershy, and noticed that she was soaked, and shivering. Looking around to see that it was still raining, Rainbow Dash ushered Fluttershy inside her cloud home. "You know what? Never mind. You need come inside, and get out of this weather."

Rainbow Dash's home looked cleaner than usual. The walls were all mostly spotless, and the pictures were mostly straight. The few pieces of furniture that Rainbow Dash owned, looked surprisingly clean.

Fluttershy's observation was suddenly interrupted by the voice of Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy, you look really bad...no offense. I'm gonna go grab you a blanket, and warm up some soup me and scoots made yesterday."

Fluttershy sat down on one of Rainbow Dash's couches, and watched Rainbow Dash, as she rummaged through a closet.

"It would be so easy to just walk over to her and shove my dagger into her side, and gouge...NO! No...Fluttershy stop it right now." Fluttershy whispered to herself.

Rainbow Dash pulled a blanket out of the closet, and flew over to Fluttershy. She quickly threw the blanket over Fluttershy to help her warm up and dry off. "Did you say somethin' Fluttershy?"

"Um...no."

"Okay then." Rainbow Dash responded, making her way over to the kitchen. "I'm gonna warm up some soup for you now okay? You just stay under that blanket and warm up."

Fluttershy turned to see what Rainbow Dash was doing, and felt her body to numb when she saw that for the entire time the soup would be being prepared, Rainbow Dash would have her back turned toward her.

Fluttershy tried to stop herself, but the scratching grew more intense by the second. Before she could react, Fluttershy had drawn out her dagger, and was sneaking up behind Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy tried to force her body to stop moving, but the thought of having Rainbow Dash bleed on her dagger, forced her body and mind onward. Seeing as there was no way to stop herself, she did the only thing she could do before succumbing to the urge. "RAINBOW DASH! RUN!"

Rainbow Dash turned around, and dropped a bowl on the floor when she saw Fluttershy. Fluttershy was breathing heavily, and held a large knife in her mouth. She was slowly walkin towards Rainbow Dash, and she could see violence radiating from Fluttershy's eyes.

Before Rainbow Dash had time to react, Fluttershy jumped through the air. Rainbow Dash had just enough time to dodge, and watched as Fluttershy's dagger dug into the wooden countertop.

Fluttershy growled, and pulled the life out of the counter top.

"Fluttershy?! Wha...What are you doing?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

The only response was Fluttershy rearing her head back, and launching the dagger directly at Rainbow Dash's chest. However, this time Rainbow Dash wasn't so fast, and the dagger scraped her side, extracting a small gash of blood.

Rainbow Dash waisted no time in bolting out of her home, Fluttershy close behind. She knew that Fluttershy was a slow flyer, and she could outfly her in the sky.

Rainbow Dash dove into the nite sky, and flapped her wings hard, to gain as much speed as she could. Rainbow Dash gasped, when Fluttershy grabbed her from behind. They both fell into a free fall. Rainbow Dash did everything she could to escape, and succeeded, but not before receiving a large cut to the base of her right wing.

If Rainbow Dash was going to survive, she knew she had to fly as fast as possible. She flapped her wings like mad. She made a run for the closest aide possible. She flew for Twilight's Library.