fLuTtEr

Author: Annonymouse
MLP:FiM is property of Hasbro. This is a free fan-fiction, not to be sold or traded for any money, goods or services.
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WARNING: GRIMDARK. Contains bittersweet and emotional content. Make sure you're either heartless or have a box of tissues at hand or hoof.
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fLuTtEr
sIxTeEn
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The magical Crystal Ball had cracked.

Princess Celestia paced back and forth, her nerves frayed as she kept looking out he window toward the Everfree.

“It... It was Fluttershy this whole time. I should have realized that right from the start. The stinger in Twilight's report, Angel's death. All the events after that. It's so clear now.” The Ancient Alicorn frowned and glanced out the window.

A dot.

She rushed to the window and threw it open and looked outside. She used magic to enhance her vision.

It was a skeleton drawn chariot.

She could barely make out any details on the dark chariot, but there was a flash of orange.

It was the missing pony Carrot Top, she was not moving.

Neither was the lavender for next to her.

“Oh dear... Twilight? I don't see any blood.” She jumped out the window and flew toward the chariot in the distance. She flew with all the speed she could muster. Rainbow Dash had indeed been the fasted flier in all Equestria, but the Princess had to be the second fastest.
...

“Twilight?” Carrot Top nudged the frail looking Unicorn.

Twilight's breathing was ragged. She was losing a lot of blood from her wounds. The slash down her side went from her shoulder, down her flank to her hindquarters and right across her dull grey cutie mark.

Her mane and tail were white, like the pony had aged fifty years suddenly.

Her eyes would flicker only slightly from time to time. She was barely conscious.

The worst was her horn. Blackened and cracked, the quarter tip having broken and fallen off. Carrot Top had this cradled between her forehooves so gently, like it might break and fall apart in the wind.

“Princess Celestia comes.” Silence Grave spoke suddenly.

Carrot Top looked forward and spotted the bright, soft rainbow coming toward them. “Oh thank Celestia.” She sighed. “Maybe she can make sense of what happened.”

“Silence Grave.” Celestia reached them and flew along next to the skeleton. He looked lie he was ready to fall apart. “What happened?”

“I was commanded by Mistress Deathspark to fly to Canterlot Castle, and to stop for nothing.” His voice not quite sounding as strong as it should. “I will not make it though. The magic that hold me is nearly gone.”

Celestia ducked down and then up again, taking the second harness. “Thank you Silence Grave. I have it now.”

“Thank you Princess Celestia.” He bowed his head, and in that instant, he simply fell, turning to dust and blowing away in the wind.

Celestia drew the chariot toward Canterlot. She was so worried. What had happened after the crystal shattered? What did Flutter mean by “An eye for an eye.”

Her royal guard met her half way, but Celestia refused to relinquish the reins. They nodded and provided a full thirty Pegasus Royal Guard escort directly over Canterlot City.

Those who were witness to Celestia pulling a chariot did not believe their eyes. It had to be a prank, right? Well, those who were from Canterlot. Those refugees from Ponyville knew the Princess better, and they knew something big had happened.

Celestia finally landed. She was glad to see the medic teams were already present. She only now relinquished the reins and stepped free. Some minor chafing was examined by a young paramedic whole the more experienced ones rushed Twilight Sparkle and Carrot Top to the castle hospital.

Celestia let the young Unicorn paramedic tend to her burning back and sides. The reins were not meant for a pony her size after all.

“Thank you, I will be fine.” She nodded to the Unicorn.

“Of course Princess.” He bowed, glad he had been able to at least apply some odourless salve and enchanted bandages that blended in with the coat. One would never know she was even wearing them without actually scrutinizing her sides carefully.
...

Carrot Top was not in bad shape, but the Unicorn Doctor, Dr. Reeds Jr. kept her confined to bed.

“How is Twilight and her friend?” Celestia's voice asked before Carrot Top was even aware the Princess was there.

“The Earth Pony will be fine. She's just exhausted. We will perform a full examination on her once we've taken care of the more concerning issue.”

“Twilight?” Celestia frowned. “What is her condition?”

“I've never seen anything like it before. Her magic... It's gone. Even Earth Ponies have magic, but Twilight... She doesn't even have a trace left. I think she'll live though.”

“If you can call that living.” Carrot Top blurted out, glaring at the young Doctor. “I may not have known Twilight all that well, but she IS a Unicorn. Without magic, she's like an Earth Pony with a blank flank and a boney growth on her forehead.” She glared angrily at the Unicorn. “Imagine if you didn't have any magic left?”

“Hold on now Carrot Top.” He glared back at her. “I never said her magic couldn't eventually recover. She's just spent, that's all.”

“You don't understand.” Carrot Top's eyes teared up. “Her magic was not used up. It was burned out. The Elements of Harmony may have defeated Blackthorn, but they destroyed Twilight as well.”

Celestia winced. She had not thought the Elements would react to the very magic that had allowed her sister and herself to become Alicorn in the first place. Then again, that had been a VERY long time ago, and just the first step on their evolution.

“Burned away...” Celestia walked over to Carrot Top. “Please, tell me what happened. Did... Fluttershy do all this?”

“I believe so. I mean, she attacked and ponynapped me.” She took a drink of water, then began her tale. How she had been taken, locked away in darkness. She described her escape and how she had been lured into the tree where she mean Whisper Wing Blackthorn. Her enslavement and how she was treated.

Fluttershy would bring meat, another pony corpse every week. In the last couple weeks, even Blackthorn would join his mother and hunt, bringing home more meat.

Carrot Top was fed fruits and vegetables, but never given any of the flesh, which she was fearful would happen. She detailed the mental games Blackthorn would play with her, wearing her down and making her mind nearly break.

She remembered everything that had happened.

But, it had been the magic of the Elements of Harmony that had healed her body and mind, purged it of the evil that Blackthorn's seed had placed into her.

“Wait.” Celestia's eyes went wide. “He... Impregnated you?”

“Yes. Even now it's growing in me, but the evil in it is gone.” Carrot Top placed a hoof on her belly. “I could feel its malevolent mind before, but now, I feel at peace. You're not going to take my foal away, are you?”

Dr. Reeds stepped up to the other side of the bed. “May I perform a magical scan?”

Carrot Top nodded.

His horn glowed for a moment, then he smiled. “A health pure pony embryo.”

Carrot Top smiled. “I... I won't blame this baby for the sins of the father. This one is innocent now.”

Celestia smiled gently. “I'm so happy for you, this seed of light among all the darkness. Now... I know you must be tired, but... What happened after Fluttershy appeared on the Chariot?”

Carrot Top's eyes fell at this point. “This... This is the strange part.”
...

Flashback.

She had come out of nowhere. The monstrous Flutter, not the kind and gentle Fluttershy.

Flutter stood over Twilight Sparkle, the most cruel and hate filled snarl on her face.

“An eye for an eye Twilight... An eye for an eye...”

Twilight looked up, her expression pained, but also one of shock. “But... Applejack killed you...”

“Killed me? Yes, she killed me, all for the deception. You were getting too close. You almost figured out I was the one behind all this. But in the end, you screwed everything up.” She growled angrily. “You took away what is most important to me. My son, Whisper Wing Blackthorn. Do you know what it is like to loose your son?”

“Blackthorn killed my son.” Twilight choked. “I know your anger and hatred...”

“What?” Flutter blinked, her cruel and horrid expression suddenly fading. “You mean Spike, don't you? I didn't know he... Oh dear...” Her anger and hatred cracked like a piece of glass.

“Yes. I mean Spike. I may not have been his biological mother, but we've been family for many years now. He called me Mom for so many, until we moved to Ponyville. Even then, we were mother and son behind closed doors.”

“Why did you keep that a secret from us, your friends?”

“We kept it a secret because we thought everypony would thing strange things about Spike and I. Jump to conclusions and all that.” She paused and took a calming, if ragged, breath. “Why did you keep your baby secret from us, YOUR friends.”

Flutter stepped back. “I... I thought you'd think differently of me. That you'd fear my baby.” She looked away. “I... Oh Twilight. I don't know what's come over me. I've killed and done so many horrible things.” She looked at her claws. “I'm no better than... Blackthorn...” Her eyes went wide. “He stung me. He made me give birth to the thing you killed. He twisted and corrupted my mind... He killed Angel Bunny and made me lie.”

Flutter's eyes started tearing up as her mind threw off the mental manipulations that her 'son' had done to her. “But... I loved doing all those horrible things... Oh Twilight... I've become an evil monster.”

Twilight coughed. Black blood spattering up on the floor of the chariot. “No... You were not evil. You were, are a victim of Blackthorn's. He used you, twisted you, the kindest, gentlest and most loving Pony I have ever met. He used your strengths to grow stronger again.”

“I...” Fluttershy looked into Twilight’s eyes. “I don't know what to do. My body craves the hunt, the kill. It craves the flesh of the innocent. I can't go on like this.”

“What are you going to do? If you re like Blackthorn now, you can be killed, but you cannot die. You're immortal now, like he is.”

“No, there is a way for me to die...” She closed her eyes. “Your magic is burned out, but you still have your horn.”

“What are you talking about? There might be some way to reverse this.”

Flutter shook her crimson maned head. “I am what Blackthorn was. I'm a monster that will just come back to life time and time again, unless I accept death forever. My very soul has to be burned. I need you to do that for me, or I will just come back and find some way to free Blackthorn. I still... still love him.”

Twilight reached up her still lavender hoof. She caressed Flutter's cheek. “My magic is burned out. What can I do?”

“Take all my magic.” She touched Twilight's horn with her own. The dark pink magic flowed into Twilight. The Unicorn's horn screamed in pain as the magic built up, then suddenly surged back into Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gasped, then smiled. “Thank you Twilight Spark...” She never finished. Her form just turned to dust and blew away in the wind.

Twilight felt her horn crack, the tip breaking off and falling to the deck. She blacked out, fading in and out of consciousness for the remainder of the trip.

Carrot Top cradled the broken, blackened horn tip till they arrived at Canterlot.

End Flashback.
...

Celestia was shocked. “Fluttershy... She broke free, then had Twilight kill her...” She nuzzled Carrot Top's chin. “Thank you Carrot Top. I... I think I know what to do now.” She turned and left the room.

Carrot Top and Doctor Reeds looked at each other.

“What now?” Carrot Top asked.

“Well... You're fine. I'll keep you here for the night.”

“What about Ponyville?”

“I've heard Princess Luna is taking soldiers there to burn it to the ground. They are going to purify the entire land of the corruption, than Ponyville can be rebuilt.”

“I don't know if I can return to Ponyville... All the horror. I'd never feel safe there again.”

Dr. Reeds nodded. “You can start over anywhere else. I'm certain the Princesses will be more than willing to assist you in starting a new life for yourself and your foal.”

“Thank you doctor.” Carrot Top lay back and looked out the window and smiled. A chance at a new life, with the new life growing within her.
...

Celestia stood next to Twilight's bed. She had cast out all the Doctors and Nurses who had been poking and prodding at the burned out, hundred year old looking Unicorn.

“Oh Twilight. I can feel your soul burns brightly still. Your body, it may still live, but can you really call this a life?”

A hoof rested against her cheek. “Tia...” Twilight's eyes were barely open. “Fluttershy...”

“Shh. I know. She sacrificed herself to save the world from the evil she had become.”

Twilight sighed. “In the end... we all lost. All my friends, dead. I killed three of them myself. Am I no better than Blackthorn? I don't deserve to live. No, I do deserve to live, as I am. Frail, with no magic. Suffering and in pain. I became a Necromancer. Tia, I tried to become what you are. I failed.”

“No Twilight. You did not fail. You have only begun your evolution.” Celestia smiled at her student. “You can be killed...”

“But I cannot die.” Twilight finished. “I understand. When I am reborn, maybe I can meet you again?”

“Of course my dear Twilight. I will make sure it happens.”

Twilight looked up at her Princess. “How? If I'm reincarnated, will I be reborn from my own body or ashes like a Phoenix? Will I be reincarnated into a new body?”

“Twilight, do you trust me?”

“Of course. I love you and trust you so much.”

“Then... Let me end this suffering.” She smiled softly. “I will ensure you are reborn so we will meet again. You may not remember at first, but as you grow, your memories will return. This, I promise.”

“Yes, of course Princess. I would be honored... No, I wouldn't want it any other way.”

Celestia's horn glowed softly at first, then grew brighter and brighter. In a flash, they were floating within the flames of the Sun itself.

Twilight felt the warmth and love of the golden flames. She smiled up at Celestia.

“My dear Twilight Sparkle, your soul will become part of me.”

“I don't understand.” Twilight asked as the flames burned away her body painlessly.

“Twilight Sparkle, when you are reborn, We will be family. You will call me mother.”

Twilight sighed as she was burning away in these flames of compassion and love. With her final breath, Twilight Sparkle spoke these final words...

“Mother... I love you.”
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The End.
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Editor's Note:
The author kept tearing up as she was writing this chapter... Hell, I shed a manly tear myself while reading it over and editing it. It was such a bittersweet ending...
At least Carrot Top's baby won't be some evil monster.
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Or will it? 'Insert evil grin here'.
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Author's Note:
Took longer to write this chapter than anticipated, and it's a rather short chapter too. I know I wanted it to be a bittersweet ending and all that... 'sniffle'... Burned through half a box of tissues. Unknown burned through the other half, partially from the story, and partially from his cold. Mostly the story though.
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And no, Carrot Top will have a sweet, innocent and NOT evil little Earth Pony filly that she will name Golden Hope.