The two unicorns and one Alicorn turned as one and let loose a scream loud enough that it echoed all throughout the Shadow Forest, no doubt perhaps, able to be heard from Harmony Valley.

Their hearts were pounding in their chests so hard that each of them felt like they were about to have heart attacks.

A bright yellow pegasus stepped around them, bringing a measure of relief to the group.

Twilight, who was rubbing her chest tenderly gasped, “Shy, you nearly scared me out of my fur.”

The others in the group nodded their agreement to this statement, however, as they looked at her, they soon came to realize that Fluttershy was in a particularly bad mood.

Fluttershy’s face was stern and drawn, a scowl clearly defined on her face. This was one of the few times that any of them had seen her like this, and each time it indicated one thing.

Fluttershy was furious.

The screaming seemed to rouse Flutterbat even more from her sleep, the chains clinking as the creature moved around. Despite having had opened its eyes and previously yelled, Flutterbat still seemed to be unconscious. Fluttershy turned to look at the creature and closed her eyes, focusing as she muttered,

“No, you go back to sleep, I’ve spent too long keeping you from escaping for you to be released now... go back to sleep!” Fluttershy yelled this last part, as if in desperation.

Flutterbat shifted only a little more before it’s eyes closed and head drooped forward into its deep sleep. She turned back to her friends and snapped,

“I warned you not to venture into areas that you had no business entering.” Turning at the two now shaken unicorns and sole Alicorn, fully comprehending that they had disobeyed her.

“Darling, we were not aware that you would be keeping such a reckless and, frankly, evil secret from us. Honestly, we tried to listen to you, but our curiosity got the better of us, please-”

“Nopony was suppose to know, Rarity! I can’t have her taking over my body again, she’ll kill everyone!” Fluttershy shouted, her face riled with so much fury it forced all of them to take a step back.

“But she only ate apples, Fluttershy.”

“Sure that would damage the apple crops and potentially ruin Applejack’s family business, but-”

“You don’t understand, no one does...she told me once how she had imagined tasting flesh, tearing the fur off of a body and other beings and feasting on it, if she wins, I have no doubt she will attempt it, I’ll be powerless to stop it if she savors the texture, I won’t let that happen.” She whispered back with a firm stomp of her hoof, turning her head to avoid her friend's’‘gaze before feeling salty tears run down her face as she wiped them away with a hoof.

“Fluttershy, it won’t come to that.”

“We can get rid of her and strip her of all that nasty-”

“You honestly don’t get it do you?” Fluttershy interrupted before she let out a harsh crackle.

“You can’t kill her! She’s stolen fragments of my memories over time that I can never get back, this whole cursed area, this ‘Shadow Forest’ is her doing, she’s been trapped here so long that she’s able to siphon parts of my mind, if you erase her here and now...it will drive me completely insane, that apparently ‘impenetrable’ barrier is the only thing keeping her from sizing everything I am or used to be.” Fluttershy groaned and shook her head swiftly.

“But I bet we can help you out Shy”. Vinyl said softly.

“If we use our combined magic-” Vinyl spoke before she was rudely cut off.

“It doesn't work like that Vinyl Scratch, didn’t you just hear what I said, she’ll drive me batshit crazy with no chance of recovery if you end her existence, she’s a part of me, a ferocious, sinister, destructive part of me.”

“I tried everything short of murder, even if I had the strength and confidence to do it, I would still lose in the end, I should have never agreed to this.” She muttered in part to herself and to her friends.

“Keeping her locked up is the only option I have, short of….nevermind. How do I know I can trust you, knowing you betrayed me without even bothering to ask permission.” She questioned looking into their eyes as they dropped their heads, ashamed of their actions, guilt washing over them like a tidal wave.

“But it’s not like she can control the vampire fruit bats or even speak any known language other than hissing and snarling, we can fight this together and try to restore your memories if we ask Princess Celestia-”

“The Alicorns can’t help me, Twilight...Celestia said so herself. Even using the Alicorn Amulet would only delay her for a short time, they were the ones who told me how to make this barren wasteland.”

“How to create the trees that used nearly all of my mental strength, and how to form the unbreakable Chains of Eradication, as they called it but only smaller in size to hold her...obviously they were not as indestructible as I thought and in exchange.”

“The immortals have my permission to use Harmony Valley whenever they like. I was told how to do it, but don’t you see...they never lifted a limb or glow of their magic to help me...when it could have mattered most...it took six months for Flutterbat to get her wings free, it’s only a matter of time until she escapes again.” Fluttershy wailed helplessly looking up into her darker version which was heavily sedated.

“How long has she been been chained like this?” Twilight asked making the Pegasus only snort before replying.

“A year, you’re right, at one time she never knew how to speak coherent sentences, but now she can speak the pony language fluently, her voice is so raspy and dripping with so much rage it’s unbearable.”

“I never meant to get her to learn it, it just happened naturally, she’s been asleep ever since she gotten her wings free...if she awakes again, another shackle will fall and she’ll no doubt be able to claim a larger piece of my mental territory, I won’t let that happen, I won’t!” She suddenly screamed, heaving with anger and exhaustion.

“There are times when I can hear her voice even in the physical world, but her eyes won’t open, she’s only been mumbling I know but I’m afraid she’ll wake up and attempt to tear off another chain, she’s getting stronger...oh so much stronger.” Fluttershy spoke, her voice laced with soul crushing pain that all of them knew they could not heal.

“Fluttershy, you don’t have to go through with this, alone-”

“Get out, I should have never have brought you here, especially you,” She seethed, pointing a furious hoof at Vinyl, making the mare shuffle back two more steps in shock and shame “I should have listened to my gut feeling that you would have caused so much trouble, I should have….get out.” She ordered a second time, finally making one of the three stand their ground to make her listen to reason.

“We thought the private thoughts you kept guarded were something naughty by nature, like, Celestia forbid you were raped, or done drugs or even, the gods forbid had an abortion.” Rarity said with a hint of anger in her voice at Fluttershy’s behaviour.

“Oh don’t give me that, those questions are so cliched there would be no reason for me to form such a shield or have to go through so much trouble if it were that easy, Rarity. I could have simply outright told you those things if you wanted to know.”

“I’m not ashamed, the past is the past. Besides...I wish it was that easy.” Fluttershy whispered softly, her head bowed in disgrace for the beast above her and how much ground she had allowed it to cover.

“I fought so hard to keep her at bay, so damn hard, I’m slipping, my will to fight and try to keep on the mask I do every day in the physical realm is sapping from me.

“I’m so tired of playing this charade any longer for anypony...please, just go.” She quietly pleaded one more time, jumping once she heard the chains above began to clank and swing once more, forcing her to stand on her hooves where she sat and glare at the foul demon which threatened her very being.

“But darling we can do all in our power to-”

“I believe the lady asked you to leave.” Discord’s cruel, but emotionless voice spoke behind them as they turned around right before he snapped his tail, their mental bodies were flung with the force of a train into the vortex he had summoned above, their screams reverberating throughout the entire realm of the Element of Kindness’s mind as she dropped to the ground and wept.

***************************************************************************************************

The trio was thrown back into their physical bodies with so much force they awoke coughing and sputtering, their mouths feeling as dry as sand, their eyes watering from the sudden light and their lungs working overtime to restore their breathing to it’s regular pattern.

Spike was at Twilight side in an instant, ordering Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack to get all of them large glasses of water as he held her close to his chest.

Reassuring her as much as he could that she was fine, stroking her back fur as she cried into his scales while Vinyl and Rarity thanked the girls and slowly drank the water given to them, Pinkie Pie making sure to grab an extra one for Fluttershy.

“What happened to ya’ll?” Applejack said with a puzzled look on her face seeing all of them in hysterics, seemly at their wits end.

“It was better than I imagined-”

“The impossibly clear lake, my mane getting braid-”

“Should have seen this bucking Timberwolf, it was the size of-”

Their voices overlapped each other quickly before they were forced to stop and breath in a calm, slow rhythm.

Then Twilight began to explain everything with certain added quips from Rarity and Vinyl in so much detail and awe in their voices, it was though they had glanced into the Heavens themselves.

At a certain point in their story they simultaneously pause, fearing the cruel claws of Fate rake against their sides without hesitation as they each told segments of the unmerciful forest they had traveled, the monsters that stalked them and then finally.

Of the very abomination they had witness with their own mental eyes, tears streaking down their faces at the description in which they told of their old, adorable friend.

“Hold up, you’re saying Fluttershy got angry enough to throw you out? Fluttershy, the pony afraid of her own damn shadow, seriously?!” Rainbow laughed mockingly before rolling her eyes.

“Ah agree, certainly does not sound like the mare we know and love, girls.” Applejack’s southern drawl drew their attentions to her before all of their eyes were directed to the Pegasus who groaned loudly.

Using a forehoof to push herself from the ground before eyeing the water beside her and in a flash using her teeth to drain it down without a moment’s pause, shocking all of the ponies and dragon before her.

She released the glass with a large sigh, panting as the empty cup fell to the ground and shattered on impact, causing all but the mare herself to wince as they looked into her narrowed, furious unblinking eyes.

A very serious expression on her face which masked her usually loving smile forcing all of them, even Spike to shudder, uncomfortable with the anger that seemed to radiate through her body.

“How dare you have the nerve to frolic through any portion of my head without my permission!” Fluttershy uncharastically growled, baring her teeth causing all of her friends to finally take notice of the twin fangs nestled at the back of her mouth.

Rainbow Dash walked towards her until she was able to touch her then slowly put a hoof on her left shoulder which the mare jerked away with a snort.

“If you were really my friends you would have simply bothered to not stick your noses in any of my business that had absolutely nothing to do with you.” Fluttershy whispered before quickly moving past Rainbow Dash and trotting towards the door.

“Fluttershy wait, we’re sorry, honest, we never meant to-”

“If she awakes and rips off all the chains that bind her...the blood of the souls she reaps will be on your hooves, so you better be ready to bucking kill me, I won’t let her ruin innocent lives.” The Pegasus spoke softly, turning her head to look over her shoulder at Twilight before she, without another word opened the front door and closed it with a slam that scared the feathers off of Owlowiscious and Peewee who had flown to their owners to see what the commotion was about.

********************************************************************************************************

Rain pelted the dirt at a brisk but harsh pace, ponies scrambling to find shelter from the undaunting liquid and the slowly increasing thick, gray clouds that began to block out the sun’s gentle, loving rays.

But getting out of the rain and rapidly turning mud was the least of Fluttershy’s concern as she trotted at an even stride towards the destination of her comfortable, secure cottage.

Her top teeth grinded painfully against her bottom lip, threatening to slice open with small drops of blood if she did not halt in her actions.

Her thoughts on edge that the soul stealing creature would only relish in the chance to taste something besides apples, for once, even if Flutterbat was not the one to physically experience it .

Fluttershy’s mane was basically attached to her shoulder fur, her tail slogging in the rain and mud, her hair being wild and unruly in the sudden blast of wind that stung her eyes and caused her to blink quickly.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the cold water being flung into her eyes as she tried to clear her vision and with a heavy sigh, start to gallop home.

The bang of the wind plus their owner’s annoyed close of the front entrance alerted every animal being safeguarded in the warm, smelling like fresh cut grass house to their owner’s distress.

Fluttershy would very rarely vocalize her rage to her animal friends, not from a lack of communication but from the fact that many of them were still very young and she did not wish to fill a baby’s mind with garbage spewing from her tongue.

So she ran upstairs to her room, swearing a bit under her breath as she felt her wing clip the sharp turn before closing the door with as much contained patience as she could muster.

Hearing Angel Bunny scrap against the wood with his nails but for the time being she wanted to be alone as she dropped into the safety of her bed, grabbed the pillow a few inches in front of her with her hooves then screamed into it with all the air in her lungs that her body would allow.

Feeling light headed and really tired she turned around, laid in a soaked blanket on her back, with an emotionless gaze at the ceiling before breathing in deeply then releasing the exhaled air out as calmly as she could.

She needed a cigarette.

*******************************************************************************************************

Though assembled with their friends, the three unicorns were now physically exhausted, Rarity barely able to stumble to her house with Applejack’s help as Spike offered to take Vinyl to her’s who only let out a dry chuckle.

Slapping the drake with her tail and saying she needed a drink as they walked out the door, Spike helping her get stable flaring the jealousy inside of Twilight’s eyes to their full limit once more.

She would have thought his presence and comfort for her once they were forced out was special, obviously not and Spike was merely helping his caretaker.

“Like a little brother would.” She thought bitterly before turning to the task at hoof and attempted to write down all the information to Princess Celestia she could, with the assistance of Pinkie Pie which caused her to slowly smile and thank her friend.

After all the analyzing and detail in the tale was written she had meant to send it to Princess Celestia immediately but with a huff had forgotten Spike was with Vinyl, as she stomped on the wooden floor beneath her angrily knowing the two were probably enjoying a beer.

“What does she have that I don’t? That...that bitch.” She swore to herself, knowing that she would normally never use cuss words to release her emotions but this time she felt it was justified, Pinkie Pie looked outside and saw the pouring rain stating that she had better start heading home as Twilight wished her good night.

The library was as quiet as a crypt which caused the Alicorn to shudder looking around the empty living room and kitchen, noting that Owlowiscious and Peewee might have flown out the tree before the storm hit and stood from where she sat to write, feeling a wave of dizziness assault her as she held a hoof to her head and waited for it to subside.

She was to tired to do anything else tonight so she slowly began to walk up the stairs, eased her way into her comforter and blanket and with her head resting on the pillow she started to doze off into slumber.

But Fate had other plans as a very bright red flash caught her eyes forcing her out of bed to see the form of a very angry Discord before her who glared with an intense stare into her eyes.

“Do you have any idea exactly what you have done, Twilight Sparkle?” He growled and gripping her throat in his eagle talon brutally slammed her against a wall, his claws digging into her flesh causing her to cry out in pain.

Without skipping a beat he snapped the fingers on his lion paw and instantly summoned Rarity and Vinyl Scratch behind him, Rarity’s fur was drenched as though she had been taking a shower.

Which was true because there was still soap in her mane that had started to run down into her eyes, making her furious at how the god had forced her to be brought before him and screeched in pain at the suds now getting into her open eyes.

Vinyl was buzzed, her mane, coat and tail were dirty and she had an open bottle of white wine in her tail, which was now dripping onto the floor causing Twilight to shout at her in shock before stopping mid sentence as Discord only added more pressure to her now slightly bleeding neck.

“You….mortals, are so bucking careless and native with your thirst for knowledge, your curiously truly knows no bounds, no sense of being sated, now does it?!” The draconequus growled menacingly before tossing Twilight to the ground like a rag doll, his face more angered and serious then they had ever seen, completely making all of them give him their undivided attention.

Rarity, after getting rid of all the soap in her mane and tail asked the spirit why he was so concerned with Fluttershy, even though she knew that the Pegasus was his friend, though by the scene he was making it appeared to her as though they were more.

“We are, little pony.” His tone of voice was one of defeat, somber and small as he looked into her eyes, knowing what she seemed to be wondering, it appeared.

“After showing me the compassion and trust of a friend like she had, which I now realized I rudely ignored, we formed a stronger bond...it was one I have not felt in eons, a perfect sync that appeared to open both our eyes and...well, we just allowed things to process naturally, none of you would understand….I doubt you ever will….she’s losing this battle...and she’s eventually going to lose the war.” Discord sighed loudly, before vanishing and re forming onto Twilight’s couch with Vinyl's bottle as he took a large swig.

His lion paw over his head and his anger seemly and unnerving instantly fading, they calmly walked over to the depressed immortal, not able to come up with any reassuring words to cheer him up.

They were frankly still confused on how to help Fluttershy though, they knew that magic could help her in some way before Discord let out an emotionless and sad chuckle.

“You can’t do anything she would not want you to, we can’t intervene, by my own name I would give anything just to be able to bring her back to the pony she used to be, anything.

“I love her, me, a god who been through so many wars and seen things you could not possibly fathom loves a Pegasus who only has at least sixty more years on this planet more than I could ever dream, it is not a normal situation, you understand and not one to be taken lightly but...she trusts me.” He was now speaking to himself, unaware that he even had company behind him and talked about all the instances he and Fluttershy had together.

Their first date that the mare had kept hidden from Rarity who made her dress a for that special occasion, the secret routines Discord had came to to cheer Rainbow Dash on beside his mate while holding her hoof without any of her friends knowledge.

The very first kiss Discord had given to the virgin pony and the first one he had ever received on the lips by a mortal, the very first time they made love.

In Celestia’s own bed nonetheless infuriating the Alicorn so much once she caught them that she had imprisoned the spirit into the sun for a week and made Fluttershy tend to her garden alone prolonging Fluttershy’s stay at Canterlot for those grueling seven days that her friends had to take care of her and tend to her animal friends by order of the Princess.

Sincere, heart wrenching tears ran down his face as he spoke, so much that he used his own tail to dabble them away and then Twilight’s tail to blow his nose loudly to which she silently shivered in horror and used her magic to make the trailing snot disappear.

He then began to speak of how he became Fluttershy’s guardian for when she slept and kept watch over the signs of her incredibly wicked foe, speaking that the batpony was starting to stir more in her sleep and in no time would dispel of her grogginess and find the strength in her muscled limbs to break another bounding weight off.

“Your interference has only complicated matters in ways you simply don’t understand...of ways I doubt you’ll ever understand.” He muttered half heartedly before without even a goodbye he vanished before their eyes, leaving the unicorns to be crushed with the guilt and ramifications of the struggle they had only fueled of their friend having to protect her mind now more than ever.

********************************************************************************************************

As Spike ran back home to an annoyed but sad Vinyl who trotted away without even a thank you in the heavy rain along with Rarity who used her magic to try to teleport herself back with some suggestion from Twilight causing her to somehow end up in Rainbow Dash’s bed which fortunately once Derpy Hooves was able to rescue her from her impending doom they all went to bed, none being aware of the plight the young, butter furred Pegasus was going through at the moment.

Squeezing her eyes tight as she tried to fall asleep and speaking words that made no sense was the least of the fidgeting pony’s worries, for in her very mind she could feel the rattle of another chain shift and groan loudly.

Being stretched to its full limit before she, with a thunderous slap heard it fall and crash into the base of the tree below it.

Flutterbat’s right rear hoof was freed of its captivity at last, making the nightmare causing creature open her demonic crimson eyes slowly, lift her head with as much access upwards that her neck chain would allow and stare Fluttershy right in the face of her mind eye with a dark, twisted grin.

“Not so long now, puny herbivore.” The insane fiend whispered quietly, a second before Discord put a paw around his love.

Forcing the mare into such a frenzy that she jolted up from the bed so quickly it would have looked at though she had been struck by lightning, screaming at the top of lungs and no amount of words or physical contact was enough to calm the bawling mare in the draconequus’s arms, no amount at all.

Author's Note

Forgive me for not having this edited. Figured everyone waited long enough.

It's time I finished this story, the next chapter to be posted soon.

I tried to tone down the swearing and such, I hope you all can understand Fluttershy's behavior, I have a feeling I didn't really keep her all in character but honestly could you blame her?