Chapters The light of Luna’s moon washed over the small town of Ponyville as the inhabitants lay in their beds sleeping, not all of them however. There were the usual places, the inn, the guard station, and the castle, where Princess Twilight was busy in one of her all night study sessions. Sweet Apple Acres was dark as everyone in the apple family was asleep, the Carousel Boutique was black as Rarity was asleep, and the same went for Rainbow’s home and Pinkie’s home. There was one other home however, the home resided a fair distance from the town, just a short walk away from the Everfree forest. Light shone through the windows and a silhouette of a pony moving around could be seen.
That pony was Fluttershy, and as she walked around her house making sure all of her animal roommates got into their hovels and nests she hummed a soft lullaby. On her back stood a white bunny, Angel, and as he munched on a late night carrot he directed the yellow pony in what she had to do. Fluttershy, after putting all her animal friends to bed, she walked over to Angels little bed that she had set up for him.
“Angel, its time to go to bed if you want to,” Fluttershy said. Angel let out a series of angry squeaks meaning he didn’t want to.
“Oh- uh- ok you don’t have to if you aren’t sleepy, oh but try not to stay up too late please- if you wouldn’t mind.” Fluttershy responded in her usual quiet tone. She gave the little bunny a smile before going over to her bedroom and turning out the lights to the living room, the only room lit up. She knew for a fact that while Angel might not go to bed soon, he wasn’t going to turn out the lights when he fell asleep. She tucked herself in and let the dream world take control of her.
Two hours later all was quiet in the little cottage, even Angel had finally fallen asleep. Nothing stirred inside the house not even the mice. Outside strange winds started picking up from the Everfree forest. The winds were strong but they didn’t do much to the little house besides blow a few loose branches off. No one inside was disturbed from his or her sleep.
Out of nowhere there came a loud explosion sound from the Everfree. This sound immediately woke everyone in the small cottage and sent Fluttershy diving under the covers, scared out of her mind. She made whimpering noises as she heard a few more explosions. Being braver then Fluttershy, Angel looked out the window. He made a squeak and motioned for her to come over to the window. Fluttershy inched her way towards the window. She was still scared but she knew that Angel wouldn’t call her over unless it was important, and what she saw was definitely important.
Fluttershy gazed at what looked to be like a tear in the air itself. It didn’t touch the floor or any of the trees it hung near. It seemed to be just on the border of the Everfree. A bright blue glow radiated from the edges of the tear but the actual inside was completely white. To Fluttershy and all her animals, this tear looked completely alien to them. The sight of the tear made Fluttershy want to go hide under her blanket again and pretend she never saw it, but something about the tare seemed somehow familiar to her, something deep down told her to go to it. However the fear in her had her frozen in place.
Fluttershy simply starred at it. However a new explosion occurred which caused Fluttershy to flinch, ducking down under the frame of her window with a yelp. She was lucky she did, because a medium sized object, about the size of a foal, shot out of the tear and smashed right through the window where Fluttershy last stood. Fluttershy quickly hid under her bed. She didn’t see that the tear had vanished from view, like it was never even there.
Fluttershy glanced at what had crashed through her window, but it was hard to see in the dark. She whispered to Angel to turn the lights on, and the white rabbit jumped up and hit the switch illuminating the room.
Fluttershy gasped at what she saw lying in a pile of glass and blood. It was a foal and from what its mane and figure looked like it was a filly. Forgetting her fears she quickly went over to inspect the filly to see if she can do anything. The pegasus filly had cuts all along her sky blue body and legs. The wings of the young foal looked terrible, cuts and feathers missing in many places. While she could bandage the cuts, Fluttershy couldn’t do much about the feathers. They would have to grow back in on their own.
“Oh, Angel, who could of done this to such a sweet looking filly? She doesn’t even have her cutie mark yet,” Fluttershy said to her rabbit companion. The bunny responded with a series of gestures and squeaks which Fluttershy understood as “Will she be ok?”
“She should be. Nothing was that bad, although I’m not sure if I should take her to the hospital or not.” After a few moments, she decided that it would be best if she did. However, seeing how she had already taken care of the issue, she would wait until the morning, to give herself some sleep and also not to bother the doctors and nurses of the hospital with what she thought would be just a checkup.
Fluttershy lifted the filly carefully and brought her to the couch in the living room. However, before she could set the filly down on the couch, Fluttershy got a feeling about the little filly, like one of the feelings she gets with her animals.
“Oh Angel, what if she wakes up? I don’t want her to be scared seeing herself in a house with nothing but animals she doesn’t know, even if they are all such wonderful animals. She’ll sleep in my room,” Fluttershy Explained. She brought the filly upstairs and laid her in bed. Fluttershy got an extra pillow and blankets from her closet and set herself up just off her bed, so she was close just incase she was needed. Fluttershy looked at the filly with a smile and put her head down and drifted off to sleep again.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and she noted she was not in her cottage any more. It seemed she was in a throne room like the one in Canterlot. She looked around the hall seeing banners adorning the pillars and walls with her cutie mark inside a shield on banners. Two royal guards walked into the hall dragging a stallion in shackles between them. The guards, a stallion and a mare, both wore the armor that was standard to Celestia’s royal guard. The stallion between them looked roughed up and disheveled.
Fluttershy smiled at this. She didn’t want to but it was as if she didn’t have control of her body. “This is just a dream,” she thought to herself. She willed herself to open her mouth to tell them to let the stallion go, it was her dream, she should be able to change it, right? To her relief her mouth opened and she inwardly smiled. That lasted about two seconds as she heard what she said.
“Ah, the prisoner is here, are you ready for your trial, TRAITOR,” she snarled. In her head she was surprised but it was clear that she wasn’t controlling herself now.
“I have nothing to say to you, you tyrant, the rebellion will live on even if I die,” he replied to her with a grin.
“HA! How noble of you. Well if that’s it then I shall ask you one question before I give my verdict.”
“And what’s that, your Highness,” he spat.
“How much did you reveal while spying? I know you contacted your leaders already. How much am I screwed?” She asked. He responded by laughing. “What’s so DAMN FUNNY?”
“The fact that you and your cronies have maybe a week left to live. Oh and don’t worry about your daughter, she wont get a public execution but a nice private one. We do have to eliminate your lineage after all,” he chuckled.
“YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER,” she seethed. Fluttershy was getting worried about the unfolding events that she was witnessing, she didn’t know what it all was about but she knew it wasn’t good. She had a feeling that the stallion wasn’t leaving this the room alive. But as much as she was horrified with the thought of having to witness the stallion die, something in the back of her mind kept saying he deserved it, he threatened her daughter! Wait no… not her daughter, she didn’t have a daughter, she’s never even liked another pony in a coltfriend, marefriend way.
“Queen Fluttershy, what is your verdict on the traitor?” A guard asked, halting Fluttershy’s thoughts like a freight train. Did he say “Queen Fluttershy”? This dream was rapidly turning into a nightmare and all Fluttershy wanted to do right now was just wake up.
“Well that’s obvious, death by decapitation, bring in the executioner.” Queen Fluttershy announced. DEATH? Fluttershy was ashamed her other self would even think of something like that let alone sentence the stallion to death. She had to wake up she just had to, this was getting too much for her. She thought about waking up, anything to just-.
“Maris, sweetie come over to watch with your mother,” Queen Fluttershy said, interrupting Fluttershy’s thoughts. Her eyes went to the left of where they were as Queen Fluttershy looked towards her daughter who had appeared from a doorway. She was a perfect match to the filly sleeping in her bed in her cottage. Maris walked up obediently and sat next to her mothers throne.
“Mommy? Why do I have to watch all the executions you do? I don’t like watching them. If it’s all right with you… I want to go back to playing,” Maris said, suddenly very interested in one of the floor tiles, even pawing at it with her hoof. Queen Fluttershy smiled down at her.
“Sweetie, its important for you to experience this kind of thing, when you rule over Equestira you’re going to need to do stuff like this, and believe me I don’t like them either, but –“
“Your whorse of a mother LOVES them kid!” The stallion awaiting his execution interrupted. Both Fluttershy and Queen Fluttershy apparently forgot he was even there.
“Why isn’t he dead yet?!” Queen Fluttershy snapped. As if on cue a pony in black executioner walked in with an axe and a box.
The box was placed down in front of the stallion. Without prompting, the stallion kneeled down with his head over one side of the box. He had the same smile he’s had all that time and he stared directly at Queen Fluttershy. The executioner asked him if he had any last words. What he said seemed to anger Queen Fluttershy, “Glory for the Rebellion.”
“DIE!” Queen Fluttershy snarled. At her order the axe dropped and a moment later steel met flesh.
Fluttershy woke up with a small yelp. Fluttershy shook her head trying to rid herself of the dream and then looked over to the filly. She yelped when she saw that the filly was looking back at her. She had the most beautiful emerald eyes Fluttershy had ever seen. However she didn’t concern herself with how the filly’s eyes looked. She hadn’t expected the foal to be awake by this point.
“Good morning Maris, that’s your name right?” Fluttershy asked trying to be brave and polite.
“Yes mommy, my name is Maris Thalassa, and that wasn’t a dream, it was a memory,” The filly replied with a soft voice, almost sounding like Fluttershy’s.
“A dream, but whose? They couldn’t have been mine!”
“They are yours, it’s a special enchantment you put on me so we can share memories while we sleep, you first did it so I could have happy dreams at night when I was a baby.”
“But I don’t even know you, how could I be your mother?”
“You’re my mommy because the spell worked. It only works between my mommy, and it works between you and me so you’re my mommy, simple logic. I think.”
Fluttershy looked at her, thinking about what Maris said. After a moment she replied, “We’re going to go see Twilight. I’m supposed to meet her at Surgarcube Corner.”
Fluttershy brought Maris downstairs on her back as Maris was still weak from the night before. They stopped in the living room and Fluttershy looked over her shoulder at the filly and smiled as she asked, “Are you hungry, I could make you something before we head out, the girls and I were going to have lunch at Sugarcube Corner.”
Maris stared at her like she suggested going out to Tartarus to eat, “I hope this Sugarcube Corner isn’t the same as the one I’m thinking of. Oh! Please don’t tell me Pinkamena is going to be there,” Maris begged. She looked genuinely scared about going. Fluttershy looked at her with a confused expression. She knows Pinkie is a bit much but she has never seen someone actually scared of Pinkie.
“Well she will be there but Pinkie Pie is nice, she wouldn’t harm a thing.” Replied Fluttershy calmly. She gave Maris a reassuring smile that while it worked it only worked somewhat. Maris was still afraid of going, however knowing Fluttershy was going to make her go anyway she decided not to argue.
“Ok mommy, I’ll trust your decision.”
“Great, now would you like breakfast before we go?” Fluttershy asked and was answered with eager nodding from the filly as well as the rumbling from said fillies stomach. “Ok wait here, Angel will keep you company while I make breakfast, it’ll be a couple minutes.”
Maris watched with a smile as her mother walked into the kitchen to make her breakfast. Maris couldn’t help think to herself about how odd this world was compared to her own world. It was a welcomed change of course, she has been in this world for several hours now and no one has attempted to take her mothers or her own life…yet. All around this world seemed safer to Maris from what she’s seen so far, which granted wasn’t much.
A white bunny rabbit hopping up to her on the couch with a carrot in his paws interrupted Maris’ thoughts. Maris looked at him with a smile, “You must be Angel, right?” She asked. She received a nod as an answer. Maris nuzzled the bunny on the head and exclaimed, “ You’re cute!”
She received a paw across the muzzle for her natural reaction to the cute animal. It was a light hit and didn’t do any physical damage. It was merely a way for the bunny to say, “Back off.” However Maris’ expression went from happy to angry and she raised a hoof and brought it down on the back of the poor bunny’s back sending him flying across the room where he shot into one of the many dens in the house. Maris, having her mood change again by the display, began laughing… until the scolding voice of Fluttershy cut her off.
“Maris! How could you be so mean to an innocent bunny and then laugh at his pain! What do you have to say for yourself?” Scolded the legitimately angry Fluttershy. Maris’ ears flattened against her head as she looked down as any child being yelled at would.
“H-he hit me mommy!” She explained looking up to see Fluttershy’s disposition was a bit more calmer having made her point that she was angry. To Maris’ surprise Fluttershy lifted a hoof and ran it gently through her golden mane.
“It was probably a misunderstanding Maris but you need to understand that hitting ponies and animals just because they hit you isn’t the answer. You need to go to somepony for help like me. Do you understand?” She asked receiving a nod from the filly, “Good now I want you to apologize and then we’ll have breakfast ok?”
Maris got up and walked over to the den that the bunny flew into. As she approached the bunny in question poked his head out with an angry look on his face. Angel shook a paw at her and made various squeaks that Maris had no clue what they translated to. She was about to ask Fluttershy what he was saying when Fluttershy gasped and said, “Angel Bunny! Language! There are foals present!” Maris couldn’t help but giggle, not at the bunny being scolded but by the fact she was being cursed out by a somewhat sentient bunny rabbit.
She stifled her giggles and cleared her throat, this caused the bunny to look away from Fluttershy and down at her. “Angel I’m sorry for hitting you, can you ever forgive me?” She asked Angel. He narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking about it in his head; he then looked at Fluttershy who gave him a nod with a smile. The bunny looked back down at Maris and nodded, though still with a grimace on his face.
“Thank you,” Maris said as she turned around to go have breakfast with her mother. In truth she wasn’t sorry at all for hitting the bunny. She felt like she was totally in the right in that situation. Her world’s Fluttershy taught her that violence is the answer to violence. Although she would never voice this to this world’s Fluttershy, because to Maris they both were the same mother, the world not mattering, and mother was always right so she listened to her mother.
An hour later found the two ponies on their way into Ponyville. Their breakfast was a quiet affair, neither of them finding much they wanted to talk about. The truth was they both were afraid of what they would find out if they asked any questions.
“It’s about nine o’clock,” said Fluttershy to the foal on her back, “We can go to the market real quick and pick up a few things then we will go over to Sugarcube Corner to see Twilight and the girls for lunch.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Maris exclaimed happily, finally being able to see the outside world for the first time since she got to this world. The first time being when she flew from the portal and she didn’t quite remember that after slamming into a certain yellow pegasus’ house. It was a lot more colorful then she expected. More greens, blues, and other vibrant colors and less of the reds, blacks, and oranges she was used to back in her rebel ridden world. Her head lifted and her eyes widened as she saw a distant city built into the side of a mountain.
“Hey! It’s home!” She said excitedly pointing towards the city and bouncing on her mother’s back. Fluttershy raised her wings and gently urged the young filly to calm down, which after a minute she did.
“That’s Canterlot Maris, you lived there in the other world?” Fluttershy asked surprised. She received a nod as her answer.
“You were the queen of Equestria so you needed to rule from the center of it!” Maris said as if it was common knowledge, which in her world it was.
“Hmmm, there’s a lot you’re going to need to tell Twilight, I’m sure the others will be interested too. I know I’m a little interested and a little terrified of what I might find out.” This got the young filly eerily quiet, which shook Fluttershy up inside a bit more. Trying to make herself feel better, Fluttershy changed the subject and asked, “So, what do you like to eat so I know what to get you at the market.” This got the young filly smiling again.
“Well I like haycakes with butter and syrup, umm dandelion soup …”
The list of her “favorite” foods was about as long as Equestria was wide. But then again did Fluttershy expect any less from a foal. Granted some of the foods Maris listed were less sugar filled and healthier but most of them were sugary. But the question did manage to keep Maris occupied until they got to the market. Fluttershy brought Maris to several of the stalls to get various items: hay, vegetables, and flowers. Now one of the last things on the list before the two would have to go to Surgarcube Corner were apples.
As they approached the apple stand Fluttershy gave a happy smile to the stands proprietor, a large red stallion with a green apple for a cutie mark, Big Macintosh.
“Miss Shy,” Big Mac said with a nod and a small smile of his own, “Here for yer usual order?”
“Oh Big Mac, I thought I said you didn’t have to be so formal with me, but yes and one Pink Lady apple please,” she replied just as the young filly on her back poked her head from behind her Fluttershy’s and gave an excited “Hello!”
Big Mac raised an eyebrow at the appearance of the filly, with Fluttershy no less. He looked over at Fluttershy with a questioning look, “Ah didn’t know you had a kid Miss Shy. She’s practically Bloom’s age too.”
“Oh, well that’s something we need to ask Twilight about, but anyway Big Mac, this is Maris, say hello to Big Mac Maris.” Fluttershy spoke over her shoulder.
Maris tilted her head slightly before announcing, “But I did already!” Fluttershy and Big Mac received this with giggles and chuckles.
“Hello there young mare, ah assume this here apple is fer’ you?” Big Mac asked as he handed an apple to Maris. Maris nodded as a response and gave an enthusiastic thank you. Fluttershy put the Bits she owed on the counter.
“Oh look at the time, we better head over to Surgarcube corner, bye Big Mac and thank you again!” Exclaimed Fluttershy, as the two of them started to walk away. They made it about two feet before Big Mac called out to them.
“Ya might want to go the long way Shy, Dancing Blade is over that a way in th’ market,” He warned. Fluttershy gasped at this before turning around.
“Thank you for the warning Big Mac, goodbye.”
As they walked around the market Fluttershy only ever took her eyes off the center of the market to look at the road in front of her. This is why she nearly jumped when Maris, whom she forgot was on her back, spoke up, “Who is Dancing Blade?”
“Oh…. Well um…. He’s an ex coltfriend of mine, that’s really all I feel comfortable saying. All I will say is get to know the person before you date them, even if they seem perfect.” Replied Fluttershy sadly with a small sigh. They made the rest of the journey silently towards Surgarcube Corner.
The two of them approached Surgarcube Corner and much to Fluttershy’s relief, Maris seemed calm and seemed not to recognize the place. They were just about to pass the mailbox when it suddenly burst open revealing the head of a certain pink party pony. This incited squeaks of surprise from Fluttershy and Maris, as well as them jumping. Fluttershy felt Maris hide in her mane and could also feel the fairly frightened filly shaking. Pinkie didn’t seem to notice Maris but she did however notice Fluttershy.
“Hi Fluttershy how’s it going came here for the meet up I just came to get the mail and I see you and I thought I’d surprise you isn’t it fun…” The rapid-fire speed of the words Pinkie was saying was a bit too much for Fluttershy, she tuned it out slightly and Fluttershy barley caught what Pinkie said last, “What was that Pinkie?”
“Iiiiiii asked why your mane was shaking is it like a new shampoo like what the princesses wear you know that’s a funny word shampoo its like cumquat and chimmy-cherry-chonga…” Pinkie then noticed Maris’ head slightly poking out of Fluttershy’s mane, “ HEY you have a filly with you that’s why your mane was shaking what’s your name my name’s Pinkie Pie and I’m Ponyville’s number one party pony and because your new here you have to get a PA-“ Pinkie was cut off by Maris’ hoof being pressed to Pinkies lips.
“Is there an off button on you…” She exclaimed before lowering her voice to a mumble that only Fluttershy could hear, “I knew she was an information getter but that kind of torture is too much.” Fluttershy chose to ignore her inappropriate behavior and comment because while she loved her friend she was bringing to get a headache herself.
“Pinkie this is Maris, she’s going to be staying with me for awhile, I wanted to introduce her to the girls, especially Twilight. Maris has a problem that I think involves us… but I’m not good with that kind of problem solving so we’re going to ask Twilight, are they inside already?” Fluttershy asked. The Pink pony nodded and led them inside.
To Maris it appeared as if as soon as they entered Pinkie was gone, she caught the faintest glimpse of pink go through the doorway to the kitchen. Knowing her own Pinkamena, Maris was scared by this action, especially how there were only a few differences between Pinkie and Pinkamena. Her thoughts were cut off by another pony’s accented voice. “’Nother lost foal surgarcube?” Maris looked to wear the voice came from and she saw a face she was familiar with: Applejack. Her orange coat, blond mane, and three apple cutie mark was expected from Applejack. What she didn’t expect was the Stetson; she never saw that on Applejack before, however new world meant a lot of things she didn’t expect.
“Umm… sort of Applejack. This is Maris everypony. She’s going to be staying with me for a while. Say hi Maris.” Fluttershy said looking over her shoulder. Maris did so while looking at all of the familiar faces. There was the unicorn Rarity, her white coat and purple mane as well kept as always, Rainbow Dash, still the same as she knew, but her eyes stopped on the pony in the middle. She knew the face, however there were some added bits to this pony that she didn’t have before, namely wings. Standing in front of her was Princess Twilight. Maris couldn’t help but stare.
Applejack waved a hoof in front of the staring filly’s face while saying. Uh… Ah think ya broke ‘er Twi. Ya seem to be doin that a lot lately.” This was answered with a sigh from Twilight. Fluttershy looked over her shoulder at the filly and scolded softly, “Maris it’s not polite to stare.”
This got a reaction from Maris who shook her head before explaining, “Sorry mommy, it’s just I knew Twilight was a powerful mage but I didn’t think she was so powerful she could ascend!”
Everypony giggled at this, all except Pinkie who wasn’t in the room and Maris who was looking at the others with an eyebrow raised. Twilight was the one to explain their reaction.
“I’m flattered Maris but I’m just a norma- wait Fluttershy. Did she call you ‘mommy’?” She asked looking over to Fluttershy.
“Oh, um, yes that was something I needed to talk to you about Twilight, apparently Maris isn’t exactly from our universe…. I think.” Fluttershy explained.
“Whoa, whoa Fluttershy start at the beginning and maybe I’ll understand this a bit better.” Twilight responded with a questioning yet intrigued tone. Fluttershy went on to explain, starting with the portal and then going on to explain everything since then, the dream and everything Maris told her. Twilight was writing what she heard down on a pad she conjured and gave appropriate reactions to what she was hearing, as did the others.
When Fluttershy finished, Twilight lowered her note pad and asked, “Wow Fluttershy that vision sounded horrible, and to think that’s supposed to be a memory of the other you. Was that all?” Fluttershy responded hesitantly, “Umm… well there was something else but I’d rather tell you that in private.”
“Ok, we can talk about it in the other room, this could be huge for the scientific communi-“ Twilight was cut off when Maris asked a question, looking around nervously, “Has anyone seen where Pinkamena went?”
“Right here!” Came Pinkies voice from behind Maris as she popped up behind Fluttershy and Maris. While Fluttershy yelped and jumped a bit, Maris softly shrieked and shot upwards landing on one of the rafters near the celling a good 10 feet in the air. Fluttershy turned to look at Pinkie, “Pinkie you scared her.”
Pinkie frowned slightly and looked up at Maris, “Oops sorry Maris.” Maris, still on the rafter didn’t look down but replied with an “It’s ok.” Pinkie smiled again and bounced over to the table they were all sitting at and placed down a tray of sweets.
Fluttershy looked up at Maris, “It’s ok Maris, nopony’s going to hurt you, you can come down now.”
“No I can’t…” Maris replied shaking her head but still not looking down at Fluttershy. She turned her head and looked down at her slightly… and froze, “I’m afraid of… heights.” She said the last word with a little squeak. This caught everyone else’s attention.
“She sure is related to you ‘Shy,” Rainbow Dash commented as she flew up to go get her, “Ok squirt close your eyes and you’ll be down in a jiff,” She said while putting her forelegs around the filly. Maris complied and was brought down. Maris opened her eyes and quickly ran over to Fluttershy and nuzzled her foreleg. Fluttershy nuzzled the top of Maris’ head before looking up to Twilight and was about to speak to her but Twilight was ahead of her, “Well now that that crisis was averted do you want to talk in the other room Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy nodded and looked down at Maris, “I’m going to go talk with Twilight ok? Can you stay with the other girls for me, it will only be a couple of minutes.” Maris nodded, so Twilight and Fluttershy walked into the next room while Maris sat down at the table with the others.
“So Maris dear, you said we were Fluttershy’s servants. Now what exactly did we do? If you don’t mind me asking.” Rarity asked with her proper etiquette. Maris had expected this question.
“Well, you Miss Rarity were mommy’s personal dress maker. I think a lot of the higher-ranking ponies wore your dresses to mommy’s balls. Although in the last few weeks of me being home mommy didn’t host any balls. General Rainbow Dash was the leader of mommy’s army, but I haven’t seen her since she went on a mission around the same time mommy stopped having balls. Twilight was mommy’s head mage and scholar; she was the one who came up with the magic for the portal. Dame Applejack was the Royal Chef as well as the head of the farmers guild… and then there’s Pinkamena who was mommy’s information getter, I never saw her in action but from what I heard I’m glad I never got to see.”
“I got to design dresses for royalty, as well as nobles! However, the only question I have is why didn’t you have any balls for a few weeks before you came here?” Rarity asked.
“Yea, and why was I on a mission that I got lost in. That is so uncool I’d surly come back.” Rainbow added.
“Well no one wanted to risk going out when the rebels had the city surrounded, and it wasn’t just you who disappeared, all five of you did, although we found Rarity a few days ago.” Maris looked down when she talked about finding Rarity and the tone of her voice became saddened.
“Where was I darling?” Rarity asked.
“Um… well I didn’t see it personally but what we were told was the guards found you… hanging from the front gate to the castle…” Maris looked up at the four. They all were staring at her with their mouths agape. Rarity turned a slightly lighter shade of white when she heard it.
“Oh…Oh my. Th…That’s… scary.” Rarity said trying to compose herself, “Umm can we talk about something a little less… morbid please?”
“I was actually rather intrigued Miss Rarity” Came a voice from the front door.
Fluttershy followed Twilight into the living room of Surgarcube Corner. Twilight turned around to face Fluttershy, “What did you want to talk to me about Fluttershy?”
“Well I’m a bit concerned about Maris.” Fluttershy responded.
“I can see why, what with the environment she seemed to be raised in. Thinking everyone is gonna kill you has got to be hard on a filly.” Twilight said.
“It’s not that it’s about something that happened more recently.”
“Oh that’s nothing to worry about Fluttershy. Some pegasus foals are afraid of heights but when they start to get used to flying they usually get over their fear.”
“No, no this happened this morning, I was making Maris breakfast and she was in the living room. I walked in and I saw her send poor Angel flying into one of my other animal’s hole. I mean hitting him is one thing but what worries me is the fact that she was laughing after she did it.” Fluttershy said was a worried tone.
“Hmm… I’ve never heard of anything like that, I’ll look into it ok? Was that all?”
“Well not really, what about the portal, what if it opens again and brings one of the rebels here, they could try to come after Maris if she is the queen err my daughter.” Fluttershy said even more worriedly.
“I’ll look into it Fluttershy, and I’ll send word to the princesses, they’ll no doubt send some guards to keep an eye on things.” Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. They walked back into the café part of the building again and along with the rest of the girls and Maris heard the regal filled voice from the front door. They all looked over with gasps. There in the doorway was Princess Celestia.
Princess Celestia was known for making surprise entrances, therefore she fully expected the gasps of surprise she got. She had thought she heard everything with these sudden arrivals: gasps, thanks, curses, yep she heard them all, or so she thought. The sudden scream of terror from the small sky blue filly was an unexpected reaction. Princess Celestia winced from the scream, as did the other six in the room. Maris bolted behind Fluttershy’s forelegs and shook with fear.
“Maris, what’s wrong? It’s nothing to be afraid of its just-“ Fluttershy started softly only to be interrupted by the very pony she was comforting.
“The rebel leader Celestia! Don’t let her kill me mommy!” Maris shouted loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. They all stared at her wide-eyed and with questioning looks. All except for Pinkie Pie who was still bouncing like she hadn’t a care in the world. Even Princess Celestia was flabbergasted at the accusations thrown at her. She shook her head a tiny bit to regain her composure before putting a small, kind smile on her face.
“Don’t fret my little pony, I’m not exactly who you think I am. I am indeed Celestia, but I am Princess of Equestria, not a rebel leader and I would never kill anypony especially a young foal such as yourself.” The Princess said softly.
“Y-Y-you’re a princess… but… I guess I should just count myself lucky that you aren’t going to kill me” Maris sighed and then looked to her Mother, “Can I trust her mommy?”
Fluttershy nodded, “Of course you can trust her Maris, the Princess is one of the two most trustworthy ponies I know and I also know we all trust her with our lives and our sun.”
“Well… ok mommy if you trust her I will too… for now…”
Twilight stepped up now that the conflict was resolved, “Princess may I ask what you’re doing here, if you had sent me a letter I would have prepared some sort of dinner or parade. Also where’s your guardsponies?”
The Princess chuckled slightly, “ Twilight I thought I explained that you can drop the ‘princess’ title now that we’re equals,” She paused for Twilight to wince at her honest, yet still serious to Twilight, mistake, “I came here because last night I sensed a powerful amount of Alicorn magic and I came to investigate by myself because depending on what it was my guards would have sacrificed themselves for something only I or my sister could defeat.”
“But Celestia,” Twilight exclaimed, “ How do you know it wasn’t me who did something, I was practicing with my magic last night.”
“I know Twilight because it was very dangerous Alicorn magic that hasn’t been seen in thousands of years. I hid it a very long time ago and even I have forgotten where I hid it, there is no possible way you could have known it. That is why now I know it was this young filly, Maris, who came through that portal which caused this disturbance”
Fluttershy looked up to princess Celestia, she had been stroking Maris’ mane gently as the filly was still a bit scared. “So Maris being here was caused by Alicorn magic?”
“Yes and if the same is true in her universe as it is this one then we must be careful because only I would know it and from what Maris has said about her universes Celestia, she will stop at nothing to kill your bloodline Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gave a small squeak at the idea of someone being out to kill her, and it did not help the fact that that person was an all-powerful Alicorn. Then a thought occurred to her, “Umm Princess, how do you know Maris’ story so well like that?”
“Oh… well, “ The Princess gave a nervous chuckle and actually blushed, “ You see I was kind of outside with an invisibility spell…to get around without being seen! Not to eavesdrop or anything like that.”
“Busted.” Rainbow chirped. This caused all of the ponies in the room, Maris and the Princess included to giggle.
Lunch had been had and after saying their goodbyes, Fluttershy and Maris parted with the rest of the group. Princess Celestia had stayed for lunch, much to Maris’ discomfort, however once the Princess started asking Maris questions about her life, interests, and the like, Maris opened up and seemed to be enjoying the company. Maris though was still untrusting of Celestia although she hid it well. They told Maris all about their various misadventures with the Elements of Harmony. Maris was amazed not only because of the stories but also that even in this universe her mother was important. Before they all parted, the Princess had informed them that she would dispatch a couple of Royal Guard to keep an eye on things. Fluttershy had tried to assure her that it wasn’t necessary, which Maris agreed with, although Fluttershy knew that was because of Maris’ discomfort with anypony working for Celestia. However, the Princess insisted and one does not argue with a princess who is looking out for your best interest.
The Princess also said that while not in writing, Fluttershy would be Maris’ guardian, for many obvious reasons. This confused Maris but Twilight informed her that while in the other universe Fluttershy is her mother, in this one, legally, Fluttershy has no claim of authority over the filly. This disappointed Maris slightly but she was still happy she would be living with Fluttershy and got even happier when told it would only be temporary until Fluttershy did the paper work to legally adopt her.
So they walked back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy had to feed her animals as well as take care of the various other chores that came with her job. As they got close to the cottage, Fluttershy looked down at the filly happily walking beside her, “I’m going to be taking care of the animals inside first, you can play outside if you want. Oh! But don’t go near the Everfree or too far towards town, I want to be able to see you from inside, ok?” With a nod the filly went over and started to frolic in the field outside the cottage.
Maris even started to play with a butterfly that was fluttering about. Fluttershy smiled as she watched the happy filly and went inside to tend to her various animals. Just as the door closed Maris jumped up and clapped both hooves onto the butterfly squishing it. Maris looked at her hooves with a slight questioning look. She realized what had happened and gave a little giggle, “Oops.” She said as she went off have more fun.
About an hour later Fluttershy had finished doing her various jobs. She fed all the animals, put a cast on Mr. Squirrel’s leg, she swore that she just took one off a couple of days before, as well as do an assortment of other things for her animal friends. She washed her forelegs and then walked over to the door and opened it. “Maris you can come in now.” She called out softly. Fluttershy immediately thought she was a bit too quiet but then the sky blue pegasus filly turned and fluttered to the door and inside. “Where is your butterfly friend Maris? He can come in if he wants.” Fluttershy said as she watched Maris enter. She was answered with a giggle, “He left.”
“Oh… ok,” Fluttershy said slightly confused, animals of all types loved to be around her cottage but butterflies especially did because of the various flowers around the cottage. “Anyway I wanted to talk to you about school.”
“Well Maris you have to understand your mom err- me… umm… I’m just going to refer to her as ‘she’. She was a queen and was rich, I make a fair amount of money, more then enough to support you and me, I’m afraid I could never afford a private tutor for you, Besides,” Fluttershy said smiling, “ It’s important you go and make friends your own age.” Maris tilted her head slightly at this and looked on with a questioning look. “Is friends really important?” She asked. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she exclaimed in her soft voice, “Why of course it is, remember all of our storied? The girls and I would never have been able to do any of it without the magic of friendship. Plus having friends is great because you can rely on them when you need something.”
“Ok mommy, I think I see your point, I’ll go to school… umm when would I start? And what if no one likes me? What if they make fun of me for some reason –“ Maris continued on her nervous rant until Fluttershy gently rubbed a hoof over the fillies back and nuzzled her. “Don’t worry Maris everything will be fine, the only problem might be that you will be starting a couple months after school has started so you will be a little behind. You are going to start in a couple of days on Monday, and don’t worry about bullying, if anything happens I want you to go to Ms. Cherilee. She is a very nice teacher and will help you with any problems ok?” With the nod as a response, Fluttershy pulled away. “Now do you want to help me with my outside work, it should take us a few hours so after that I’ll start on dinner.” She said leading the filly outside.
The work wasn’t too hard for Maris, although some things she couldn’t do. She still wasn’t sure how Fluttershy was able to lift those heavy bags of birdseed so easily but she did it. As they walked back into the cottage Fluttershy told her to go wash up in the bathroom while she started on dinner, the sun was already starting to sink. Fluttershy waited and made sure she heard the water running before she went into the kitchen. She washed her forelegs and was about to start on dinner when a knock caught her attention. She walked over to the front door and opened it to reveal Twilight. “Oh! Hi Twilight what are you doing here?” She asked as she stepped to the side so the Alicorn could walk in. They both sat down in the living room as Twilight began to speak, “Well after you and Maris left, I went home and started to do some research, specifically on her name. As you can probably tell it’s not a normal pony name.” Fluttershy nodded, although she though that was just because of different universes.
“Well as it turns out her name is a mix of Ancient Unicorn and Ancient Pegasus, ‘ Maris’ meaning Sea’s in Ancient Pegasus and ‘Thalassa’ meaning Sea in Ancient Unicorn. This however is the literal translation. A more accurate translation is the Sea of Seas or more simply, the first of many.” Twilight sounded giddy as she explained, clearly proud of herself for figuring this all out.
“Thank you Twilight that’s… informative, was there um… anything else?” Fluttershy asked awkwardly as she didn’t share her friend’s giddiness for knowledge. “Well actually yes Fluttershy, I wanted to ask that if you see any more of those visions like you saw last night that you tell me immediately.”
“Of course I will Twilight I Pinkie Promise. Now I was just about to make dinner, would you like to join us?” Fluttershy asked as Maris trotted out of the bathroom. Maris said hi to Twilight whom replied in turn. “I would love to Fluttershy, if I’m not imposing that is.”
“Oh no you not imposing at all, I haven’t even started dinner so it will be easy to make enough for all three of us.” Fluttershy smiled.
“Well ok then”
Dinner was a quiet affair, a bit of small talk but that’s about it. Maris seamed surprised to find out what her name meant however. After dinner Twilight bid them farewell and returned home. Fluttershy prepared the couch for Maris and tucked her in before she went to bed herself. Thankfully no visions were had tonight, nor were they had the rest of the weekend.
It was Monday morning and that meant a certain blue coated, golden yellow mane pegasus filly was about to go to her first day of school. Fluttershy was happily making breakfast as Maris packed her saddlebags which they had bought the day before. While visually smiling, Maris, on the inside, had mixed feelings on the whole aspect of actually going to school. ‘Maybe if I keep quiet no one will bother me,’ she thought to herself. Although she figured it wouldn’t be so bad, she was told that Applejack’s and Rarity’s sisters, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle would be in her class, so she’d have some company by association if nothing else. She finished packing her bags and trotted into the kitchen where breakfast was being put on plates. Fluttershy smiled at her and they both took their seats.
“Now Maris, do you remember the rules we talked about?” Fluttershy asked with a smile.
“No hitting, if I’m getting bullied go to Ms. Cherilee, and no talking about my universe.” She replied with a rehearsed answer. This wasn’t the first time Fluttershy asked the question and, unfortunately for Maris, it wouldn’t be close to the last time either.
Fluttershy giggled softly at the filly’s almost robotic response, “You forgot one, the most important one to be exact.” Maris looked at her confused as she was sure she remembered them all, at least the important ones. “Make some friends.” Fluttershy smiled again, answering for the filly Maris audibly sighed. “I’ll try mommy ok?”
“That’s all I’m asking Maris, now finish up we need to get over to the school house before class starts.”
They finished their meals and Fluttershy put the plates in the sink while Maris grabbed her bags and moments later they were on their way to the red schoolhouse in the distance.
They walked through town on their way and were soon at the gates of the schoolyard. Fillies and colts ran around, played, and chatted as they waited for the bell to ring to signal the start of school. Fluttershy, Maris could tell, was extremely nervous. Maris nuzzled Fluttershy’s foreleg, which calmed the yellow pegasus down slightly. Fluttershy looked down at Maris and nuzzled her before saying, “Well this is it, have a good day at school Maris, and remember the rules, and also, I’d like you home right after school”
“Ok mommy,” Maris quickly nuzzled Fluttershy’s foreleg again, then she slowly walked into the yard. She nervously looked back at Fluttershy who gave her an encouraging wave. Maris took a deep breath and walked up and into the schoolhouse just as the bell rang causing every other foal to walk into the building.
Fluttershy watched Maris walk in and silently begged Celestia to watch over Maris today, she turned and walked towards town. For the past couple of days Maris has slept on the couch in Fluttershy’s living room and while Maris claimed she had no problem sleeping there, Fluttershy wanted Maris to have a bedroom. Fluttershy had a room that could be turned into a bedroom but she still needed the bed and extra hooves to moves stuff from the room and put the bed in. That’s what her goal was today, to get Maris a bedroom before Maris got home. It would be a mix of congratulations on your first successful day of school and a way of avoiding annoyances with Foal Protection Services, which might end up coming if Fluttershy choose to adopt Maris. But that was a decision for another day, now Fluttershy had a bed to buy.
“Good morning everypony!” Ms. Cherilee said with a warm smile, “Now before we begin todays lesson let me introduce a new member to the class, Maris Thalassa.” She motioned to Maris who was standing next to her. “She was recently taken in by Miss Fluttershy and from now on will be in our class so I expect all of you to be nice to her. Now Maris why don’t you go sit in the back next to Diamond Tiara and Scootaloo.” She suggested motioning to the only empty desk in the back of the room.
“Ok” Maris replied as she trotted over to the desk. She glanced at the various faces of the fillies and colts. Most showed no level of interest while a few gave her warm, happy smiles. However there were also two frowns coming from two of the fillies. One of them from the filly Ms. Cherilee referred to as Diamond Tiara who’s cutiemark, just as her namesake suggested, was a diamond tiara. The second one came from a filly on the other side of Diamond Tiara, she had a grey coat and glasses on, her cutie mark was a spoon, so Maris guessed her name had something to do with the word spoon. ‘Such creative parents’ Maris thought to herself as she sat down. She tried not to notice the glaring from the two fillies as she started to take notes on the lesson. However as much as she tried she couldn’t concentrate with the feeling of being glared at. Of course they weren’t constantly glaring at her but whenever the two glanced at her it was with a glare.
‘That’s it… School is gonna suck…’ Maris thought to herself with a sigh.
Fluttershy walked through town towards “Beds and Parchment.” A shop that had just opened up after “Quills and Sofas” was a huge hit in town. She smiled and said ‘hi’ to some of the stall owners as she walked though the market. Fluttershy was about to open the store’s front door when a grey hoof blocked her way.
“Well, well, well, now what do we have here?” An unfortunately familiar gruff voice said. Fluttershy yelped at the suddenness of the stallion being there.
“Dancing Blade!” She squeaked, backing up slightly, “What are you doing here?”
“What? Can’t a stallion simply walk up to a mare to say hi?” He asked with a devilish smile on his face.
“Not you Dancing Blade…” Fluttershy replied. She soon found herself with her back flat on the ground after Dancing Blade roughly pushed her down.
“You’re right, I want my money back. I was kind enough to pay off the loans you had on your house but now I bucking want them back.” He said, his tone very angry and forceful. All he got as a response was a squeak from Fluttershy. “Answer me bi-“
A powerful force knocking him to the side cut off Dancing Blade. “Get the buck away from her!” Said Rainbow Dash, now standing next to Fluttershy. Having known he wouldn’t get to do much else with that mare here Dancing Blade just got up, grumbled something about if he was on duty and she was in trouble, and walked off. Once satisfied that Dancing Blade had no intention of coming back Rainbow extended a hoof for Fluttershy to take, which she did. “You ok ‘Shy?” She asked.
“Yes I’m fine Rainbow, thank you for helping.” Fluttershy replied, running a hoof through her mane to get any dirt out of it.
‘Well I survived the first half of it at least’ Maris thought to herself as she walked out of the school building and into the playground for lunch. She chose a quiet spot off to one side of the playground and got out her meal, a dandelion sandwich, not her favorite but still good none-the-less. She took small bites of it as she watched the other foals playing. Therefore she didn’t fail to notice Diamond Tiara and her grey friend, whom she found out through Cherilee calling on her, was Silver Spoon (Maris knew it had something to do with ‘spoon’) walking towards her. She sighed and braced for what she expected to be some sort of torment. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would not disappoint her.
“Oh look Silver Spoon, like another blank flank. When will they learn that they’re too lame to be here?” Diamond Tiara said with a smirk.
“Yea and not only that but even her parents didn’t want her, that’s why she has to live with Miss Fluttershy,” Her accomplice added.
“That isn’t true… just please leave me alone. I haven’t done anything to either of you, heck I just came to school for the first time today.” Maris said trying to defend herself. She recalled what Fluttershy told her to do if she got bullied but saying it and doing it are two drastically different things. She simply didn’t want to give in to what they wanted.
“Oh what’s wrong, like are you gonna cry?” Diamond Tiara prodded.
“What? No! Of course I’m not!” Maris exclaimed. It was true she wasn’t close to crying, although she was getting plenty angry.
“Like you totally are! Silver Spoon, not only is she a homeless blank flank but she’s a cry baby too!” Diamond Tiara said laughing. Silver Spoon joined in her laughing. Maris was slowly making her way to her hooves. She’ll show them. She knew she wasn’t supposed to hit but maybe a small shove would do.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Came a cry from behind the two bullies. All three fillies looked to see where the voice came from. It had come from a young unicorn colt. His coat was red with a yellow mane. His glasses made his blue eyes look slightly bigger then they actually were.
“What? Like did you just tell us what to do blank flank?” Diamond Tiara sounded both surprised and angered at the colt.
“Do you not understand Equestrian? Well I’d speak Prench but I’m afraid I don’t know it, so I’ll say it clearer so that even you will understand. Leave.” The colt demanded. Diamond Tiara looked like she was about to say something more but the last second she scoffed and walked away and Silver Spoon followed. The colt watched them walk off and then once he was satisfied they weren’t coming back he turned around to Maris.
“You good? I hate ponies like that, all high and mighty because were born into money. I’m Cover Art by the way.” He introduced himself, putting a hoof up to his face to readjust his glasses.
“I’m Maris, thanks for that, a couple more seconds and I don’t know what would of happened, they were getting me angry.”
“Meh, don’t blame ya, say why don’t you come over and sit with us.” Cover said motioning behind him where five more foals were, four fillies and one colt. Maris recognized Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom from Fluttershy’s description of them, and she knew Scootaloo from sitting next to her in class, but the others were strangers to her.
“Um… hi, sure I’ll come eat with you guys.” Maris said hesitantly as she picked up her stuff. She walked along side Cover as they made their way over to the others. When they got over they sat down and started eating.
“Wow! Two new ponies in town in one month and they’re both blank flanks! How awesome is that?” The orange pegasus filly said.
“Scootaloo, do you have to put it like that? It sounds like we’re making fun of them too.” Sweetie scolded.
“Na, you guys are good, At least I know the difference between making fun of and just stating a fact.” Cover replied for Scootaloo. Maris nodded in agreement.
“You know it’s important to know the difference, somepony not knowing the difference started the First Griffon War. Also I believe it was a plot to a video game. I don’t remember the game but I remember it had amazing cover art.” Cover continued drawing stares from the rest of the group who had no idea where the tangent came from. Maris on the other hand simply asked him, “So is that where your name comes from?”
“Well… yea, and I assume that’s the field my special talent will be in, video games at least.” Cover answered.
“So does that me yer folks are…” Apple Bloom trailed off expecting the answer to be artists.
“Yep… surveying engineers,” Came the reply from Cover with a smile on his face. Again, there were faces staring at him quizzically. “Don’t ask me they just named me that. Makes about as much sense as mo- I doubt you guys will know what I’m saying so I just wont say it.” Cover reached into his saddlebags and his eyes went wide. “Oh dang it… I left my bits at home… guess I can’t go out with you guys after school.”
“Arty! You forgot your bits at home!” Came a voice from the fence at the edge of the schoolyard. Cover groaned. They all looked over to see a light blue unicorn mare. Cover walked over, said something to the mare then came back with a small bag of bits.
“That was my sister… calling me a nickname that WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE SAID IN PUBLIC!” He raised his voice for the last part making sure his sister heard. This caused the rest of the group to giggle. “Yea, yea, laugh it up…”
“Thanks again Rainbow, I don’t think I could have gotten Maris’ room finished in time for her to come home without you.” Fluttershy said with a smile.
“No problem ‘Shy, anything for a friend, now I’d love to help more but I need to get back to work.” The air quotes around the word ‘work’ were almost manifested as she said them but Fluttershy paid it no mind. She waved as Rainbow Dash took off.
“You sure you can’t come with? You can always just tell Miss Fluttershy you were running late.” Cover pleaded with Maris as they walked out of the schoolyard with the others.
“Sorry Cover, I told her that I would go home as soon as school ended, I don’t want to worry her. Maybe tomorrow though.” Maris suggested.
“Suit yourself, we’ll try to not have too much fun.” Cover said with a small laugh, which Maris and the others joined in on.
“See you guys tomorrow,” Maris said as she took off to fly home, close to the ground of course. It took her no more then ten minutes to get home and she landed right outside. She walked into the cottage and called out, ”I’m home!”
She was immediately bum rushed by her mother who scooped her up in a hug, “Oh! I was so worried about you, nothing happened right, no dragon ate you?!”
“You have to tell me everything that happened. How was it?” Fluttershy asked her charge.
“It was… something.” Maris said. She then went on to recount the entire day, including the parts with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Fluttershy seemed concerned with the bullies but when Maris explained how Cover Art helped her, her face went to a wide smile.
“Oh Maris you made a friend! I’m so proud of you!” Fluttershy softly exclaimed.
“Uh that reminds me mom, he wants me to hang out with them tomorrow after school. Can I? Please!” Maris pleaded. Fluttershy could only giggle at the filly.
“Of course you can go Maris, I’ll give you some bits for it before school. Now why don’t you go do your homework in your room while I finish the chores, then I’ll make us dinner.”
“My room? But I don’t have one.” Maris said confused.
“Why don’t you open the door next to mine and see for yourself.” Fluttershy said motioning towards the door that was next to hers on the second floor. Maris smiles and ran upstairs. Fluttershy followed, although at an admittedly slower pace. She had just reached the top of the stairs when the filly hugged her foreleg.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you mommy!” Maris exclaimed. Fluttershy giggled and nuzzled her.
“Your welcome Maris, now go do your homework and in a bit I will get dinner ready” With that Maris headed into her room.
Dinner was quiet, with them talking quietly about their days. Fluttershy didn’t tell her about Dancing Blade but that was, as she thought, for the best. For dinner they had one of Maris’ favorites, salmon. It was rare to find but when it was found it was a delicacy among the pegasi populace The following evening was quiet, Fluttershy and Maris drank some tea, or in Maris’ case apple juice, as they read some books they got from the Library/Palace. Soon enough though it was time to go to bed and after cleaning themselves they walked into their respective rooms with ‘good night’s. However while it might not have been clear to them at that moment, somepony was adamant on making it impossible to sleep that night.
Author's Note
So yea I added my OC as a character. No I'm not making them some important character, well in one sense they are but that would be spoiling. Anyway Cover Art is just a normal blank flank colt. So no yelling at me or I'll send you to Maris' Pinkie
Queen Fluttershy glanced out the window towards the edge of Canterlot. The wall was filled with her soldiers, fighting the invading rebel forces. Her forces were winning… for now. They wouldn’t hold out forever though. ‘Three, maybe four days before they get over the walls,’ she thought to herself. She watched as a fireball landed on one of the battlements, killing dozens of her guards. ‘Maybe one or two days,’ she corrected herself. She heard hoof steps behind her and she turned her head to see General Dash approaching.
“What news do you have Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked, obviously not in a good mood.
“Celestia and half their forces are coming from the southern approach, the ones over here are led by-“ General Dash started to explain.
“Luna?” Queen Fluttershy asked, interrupting General Dash.
“No, Cadence actually. We have no idea where Luna or her ‘elite’ are.”
“What?! Where could they b- search the palace NOW! Get two of our best to guard Maris; I’ll meet them there. MOVE!” Queen Fluttershy exclaimed galloping towards Maris’ room. On her way she passed several nobles, many of them looked worried and begged her for one thing or another. She paid attention to none of them; she was too worried about her daughter to care about some rich snob’s house or whatever they were complaining about.
Queen Fluttershy spotted her daughter’s bedroom ahead… open. She rushed ahead and was ready with one of her hidden wing knives for whatever was in her daughter’s room. She galloped in ready fight only to find that there were no ponies there. She immediately began panicking; they stole her daughter.
The tap of small hooves on tiled floor interrupted the queen’s panicking. She spun around to see Maris balancing a plate of cookies and a glass of milk on her back. Maris looked at her mother and tilted her head, “Mommy? Did you come to play with me?” She asked with a hopeful smile.
“Maris, where were you? I was so worried!” the queen exclaimed.
“I just went to the kitchen to get milk and cookies, do you want one?”
“I’m sorry Maris, I have to go back to work, but we’ll have dinner together. Oh and I’m assigning a couple of guards to protect you. If you have to go anywhere have them go with you, ok?”
“Ok mommy! I love you.” The filly said as she went over to a small table to start eating. Queen Fluttershy trotted out of the room to go back to strategize the siege going on outside her doorstep. A guard trotted up to her and saluted.
“Ma’ Lady, I’m here to report that Luna’s elite just burned down a number of noble residence, casualties are still being counted but we think it is less then ten.”
“So that’s what they were complaining about. No matter, it makes no difference, send word to Mage Twilight, have her meet me in the throne room.” She ordered. The guard saluted again and trotted off. She turned and headed for the throne room.
As soon as she sat down in the throne, the door opened to reveal the unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. She trotted up and bowed, having her horn touch the ground, as is how unicorns show that they are less powerful then another.
“Twilight, how has the project been coming? I’ll need it in a few days if this continues.”
“It should be ready by then, however I must warn you that at the moment I can’t have it show up where you want it.”
“That’s ok Twilight, I know you’re dealing with alicorn magic. I think that’s why they seem so desperate.” Twilight seemed scared at the statement. “Don’t worry Twilight, if we have our way we’ll be long gone before they get to the throne room.”
“Y-yea, your majesty I will go work on it more, see if I can’t work out the kinks.”
“As you wish Twilight, just make sure I can use it when I need to.”
Fluttershy woke up to the sound of knocking at her door. She looked out her window to see a black sky dotted with stars. It was the middle of the night. ‘Now who would be knocking at my door this late? Oh I hope there isn’t a problem the girls need my help with’ She thought. She walked down the stairs and to the door, opening it. “Hello?” She asked.
In front of her stood a pegasus stallion wearing what seemed like Night Guard armor. His coat was dark grey also which drove home the thought of him being with Luna’s guard. He however didn’t have bat wings as was common in the Night Guard. His eyes were closed so Fluttershy couldn’t tell if he had the same eyes as a Night Guard.
“Hello? How can I help you sir?” Fluttershy asked weakly, the stallions presence intimidating her. In a gruff voice, the stallion spoke.
“Sorry to bother you ma’am but ha-“ he said opening his eyes. As soon as he laid eyes on Fluttershy his eyes shot open and he had to do a double take. After the initial shock, the stallion reached behind him and pulled out a short sword.
“EEP!” Fluttershy screamed and instinctively brought up her wing to block the strike. A moment later she felt a searing pain go across her wing and she yelled. Fluttershy didn’t have time to recover before the stallion raised his sword for another strike.
Fluttershy screamed in terror and closed her eyes. The sword, however, never reached her. She opened her eyes and saw that two other ponies tackled the stallion. There was a struggle before the two new ponies finally secured and cuffed the assaulting stallion. One of the ponies, which Fluttershy could now see was a stallion walked over to her and stomped his hoof on the ground three times. Suddenly three ponies in an addition to the two already there appeared from seemingly the shadows.
“You two, “ The stallion, which seemed to be the leader, said pointing to two of the others, “take the prisoner to the guard building in town. Doc come check her out, and the rest of you alert Princess Twilight.” They all went to their tasks, without questioning or even speaking. The doctor walked up to Fluttershy and looked at her wing.
“You’re lucky Miss Fluttershy, all things considered. He took out most of the feathers on this wing but there’s no damage to your actual wing. You won’t be able to fly for some time until your new feathers grow back however.”
“That’s ok. I don’t usually fly too much anyway.” Flutershy replied to him. She then looked to the commander of the group, “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you ponies?”
“That’s classified Miss Fluttershy, only Princess Celestia can give us authorization to tell you what and who we are, I can however, say that we were sent here to guard you and your charge.” The commander said.
“MARIS!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she ran back inside to check on Maris. The commander sighed. How someone would want harm to befall such a caring pony was beyond him. He couldn’t dwell on the big picture however, he had a job to do and by Celestia he was going to do it. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the soldiers he sent to get Princess Twilight land with the alicorn in question between them. She naturally had a worried expression on her face as she trotted over.
“Is she ok? Where is she?” Twilight asked franticly.
“She’s fine princess, she wont be able to fly for a while but that’s the extent of her injuries. She’s inside checking on Maris.” The commander explained. This seemed to make the alicorn relax, “Well I should still check on her, but before I do, this came through Spike from Princess Celestia. It was labeled for you so I didn’t open it,” With that Twilight handed him the letter and walked into the house.
The commander read the letter once, he sighed. He hated being ordered to do it because of all the questions that would sure follow. However he was given the order so he had to follow it even if he didn’t like it. He should have felt at ease, Twilight Sparkle was a princess obviously, so she could be trusted, and her friends had saved the world four times! Surely he could trust them, but reading about them on his way here had put doubts into his mind. Fluttershy he could trust, she is too shy to even talk to anypony let alone brag about her protectors. Applejack wouldn’t care this way or that so he could trust her too. Between Rarity and Rainbow Dash is where most of the problem came. Rainbow Dash in short was a bragger. If he recalled from the reports correctly there was a whole ruse her friends played on her to get her to stop bragging, it didn’t work. Rarity on the other hand just loves to gossip, there was no other way to put it. If Rarity knew something you could guarantee that in a matter of hours half of Ponyville would know. The final problem came from Pinkie Pie. The commander had no clue what to think of her. Most of the reports that involve usually ended with the conclusion “Its Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.” And to his credit he never did question it, hopefully he’ll never have to. From what he’s heard and read Pinkie Pie could pretty scary.
“Oh well, orders are orders.” He sighed and had his men get the other four. He was sure to get Tartarus from Rarity but how scary could she be.
How scary could Rarity be? The answer: Very, Very scary. While not in the traditional sense of the word, Rarity was absolutely terrifying when it came to being woken up from her beauty sleep. Rarity’s whining, no not whining, she certainly gave the commander a good example of what her whining was, complaining would have gotten to the commander if he hadn’t told her that her friend was attacked. She overcame her own distress and focused on her friend. The commander watched her walk into the cottage to check on Fluttershy. Good he thought Four here, just three more to go. Even as he thought this he could see Applejack and Pinkie Pie walk up the road, or in Pinkie’s case bounce, along with the men he sent to get them. Above them he could see the pegasi he sent carrying the sleeping Rainbow Dash between them. As they approached the ground the commander nodded and the pegasi dropped Rainbow and she fell to the ground, jolting awake.
“Hey! What’s the big idea buster? I was sleeping!” Rainbow complained, getting in the face of the commander. The commander looked at her with a neutral face and calmly told her, “Your friend, Miss Fluttershy was attacked a little while ago, we have the attacker in custody but we needed to gather her friends to discuss important matters.”
“What?! Where is this bucker, I’ll teach him what happens when he messes with my friends.” Rainbow said obviously angry.
“Miss Dash, he is in custody and I suggest you don’t do anything you will regret, we have orders to protect Miss Fluttershy from anything that could be a threat, and a rage filled friend who could potentially lead to more enemies, we consider a threat,” Rainbow was taken back by the viciousness of the statement the commander made, the commander continued, this time back to his neutral voice, “I understand you’re trying to protect your friend but leave that to us, the professionals, now if you all will please head inside we can get the briefing started,” he motioned for the three of them to follow him inside. Applejack and Pinkie were both shocked at the way he told off Rainbow Dash but Applejack decided not to question it at least until she heard the whole story, and Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie.
The eight of them gathered in the living room. Maris was under Fluttershy, Fluttershy cuddling the little filly as if she was a teddy bear. The filly seemed to be enjoying being hugged however, next to her was Twilight and Rarity, and the three newcomers joined them. They told their concerns to their hurt friend for a few minutes while the commander went outside to order his men. A few minutes later the commander came back in to address the group.
“Alright, so now that we’re all here I guess introductions are in order. My name is Razor Spear of her royal majesties elite guard, The Centurions. A-“ The commander was interrupted by Twilight speaking up. “Wait the Centurions actually exist? How come I haven’t heard of them since I am a princess, I’ve only read about them in books, I always thought they were an old mares tale.”
“With good reason, the Centurions are highly classified, only Princess Celestia herself and a few select others know of our existence. Not even Princess Luna knows. We were first introduced to fight Nightmare Moon. However as per code 8498275 Alpha Tango, I am authorized to tell you seven about our existence. You may not talk to anypony outside this room, other than my men about us. As far as anypony is concerned outside this area we don’t exist. Is that clear?” He asked. He received nods from everypony in the room.
“Good, now we are currently interrogating the criminal down at the guard HQ. He was wearing royal guard armor so he could either be from this alternate world we were briefed about or it could be somepony Mr. Dancing Blades hired.”
“Oh no,” Fluttershy said, “Dancing Blades would never hire anypony to hurt me. H- he might threaten me but he wouldn’t go through with it… right?”
“Don’t defend him Fluttershy, how do you know he wouldn’t just hire someone to rough you up to tell you he means business. I say it was him and you should arrest him right now,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“I couldn’t do that! Like it or not Dancing Blades is right in the fact that I need to pay him, he did pay for my house… But I know him well enough to know that he can be rough but he does things himself, he doesn’t hire people or get favors.”
“Miss Shy,” Razor Spear asked, “ was there anything you noticed about the stallion who attacked you? Like did you recognize him or did he do anything odd that you noticed?” Fluttershy thought for a moment. She shuddered slightly as she relived the experience, but before she could go any farther then that, Maris snuggled up to her, calming her slightly.
“W-well, when I opened the door his eyes were closed, but when he opened them he seemed surprised to see me, like he didn’t expect me to be here,” Fluttershy explained, “ Do you think that is important?”
“It certainly blew the idea of Dancing Blades hiring somepony out of the water,” Razor said.
“How’s that dear?” Rarity piped up.
“Simple, if the stallion was coming to threaten Fluttershy, why wouldn’t he expect her to be here,” Twilight chimed in,” But even if the stallion came here from the other universe it doesn’t make sense. Why would the rebels from the other universe not expect to see Fluttershy?” Her answer came from Maris.
“Um… be-because as far as I know… She’s dead…”