prelude

It’s early spring, the sun hangs in the mid noon sky and the animals frolic in the pleasant weather. There is a mild chill to the wind as it blows.

Warm, comfortable light trickled through the window landing on Fluttershy, prompting her to wake. She rose from bed with a stretch and a faint yawn. Her vision was blurred slightly do to her restful sleep.

After rubbing the blurriness out of her eyes and getting her hooves on the ground, she headed towards the kitchen of her small cottage.

She produced a kettle from one of the cabinets that adorned her kitchen walls and put on some tea.

When the yellow pegasus looked over from the stove, she saw a disgruntled Angel starring her down and pointing to the clock.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy exclaimed, “ I’m so sorry Angel bunny I must have overslept. I’ll get your breakfast ready right away.” The mare spoke in a nervous tone and began to pull out a variety of fruits and vegetables. Soon she had two servings of salad laid out on the table.

She and Angel enjoyed their meal, then Fluttershy moved on to feeding her other animals.

Between her late awakening and feeding her animals, Fluttershy had completely forgotten that she was supposed to meet up with her friends today, until she found a reminder she had wrote herself yesterday.

“I’m late,” she gasped as she remembered her plan to spend the day with her friends.

“I hope they don’t hate me,” she thought aloud as she dashed out of her cottage. This was the first time in three weeks that all six of them had had the chance to be together and she was already ruining it. She continued mentally beating herself up all the way to Ponyville.

When Fluttershy arrived in Ponyville, the roads were empty, the windows were shut, the curtains were pulled, and the doors were closed. It was just like when Zecora first started visiting, but a far greater sense of fear filled the air. She wanted to know what was going on but there was nopony around to ask.

“I … I guess I should go to Sugarcube Corner,” she the thought aloud, not knowing where else her friends would be if they were all together. Shaking with slight unease Fluttershy made her way down the familiar path to Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity were all huddled around a table in Sugarcube Corner.

“I can’t believe there are gangsters in town,” Rainbow said with a shutter.

“Dashie, I didn’t think you were afraid of anypony,” Pinkie asked.

“Common street thugs are one thing, but these guys are genuine “kill you if you look at them wrong” gangsters,” Rainbow answered. The thought sent a chill down her spine and she shuddered again.

“Ah here their leader is one of Equestria’s most wanted,” Applejack added in, speaking through chattering teeth.

Fluttershy rounded a corner and almost ran into a tall, tough looking stallion.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy squeaked. The stallion didn’t pay any mind to what Fluttershy said; he instead vulgarly yelled, “ Get outta da way!” The way he slurred his words made Fluttershy uneasy. She tried to move, but she was trembling so hard that she couldn’t budge.

Everypony in Sugarcube Corner had been drawn to the windows by the commotion outside.

“Is … is that Fluttershy,” Rainbow’s voice cracking as she gasped the words.

“If it is then what are ya’ll just standin around for,” Applejack’s tone implied she was a little upset, both at her friends and the situation outside.

“A.J. is right, we need to go help Fluttershy,” Twilight said in a rational tone.
Fluttershy could do nothing but be terrified as the mean looking stallion’s friends drew near her. Their approach was slow and menacing; Fluttershy wanted to run away but she was paralyzed with fear.

“All of you, leave Fluttershy alone,” Rainbow yelled as she soared in front of her friend. The other four mares arrived shortly after and formed a protective circle around their friend.

The stallion’s crew continued to close in, except for one in the back, who now wore a face filled with horror. He looked as if somepony was holding a knife to his throat.

“Lets get outta here,” the now trembling stallion in the back of the group spoke as calmly as he could.

“Why boss,” the stallion in the front responded, “she disrespected you, we gotta show her what happens wh-” he was cut off.

“I don’t care if she threw mud on me and owed me a million bits! It’s not worth the price of messin with her.”

The boss, as the other stallion called him, seemed frightened by something about her, but Fluttershy couldn’t quite put her hoof on it. His face changed when Rainbow Dash appeared; while she sometimes found Rainbow intimidating she didn’t think that was what was scaring him.

“What, are you scared of five little mares,” the stallion in front teased his boss.

“No, but if I heard her name right then all we get outta this is an unmarked grave, or whatever is left of us will anyway”

Fluttershy couldn’t tell why her name was so intimidating to him.

“What, is she some kinda badass or something? She sure doesn’t look it,” the stallion in the front seemed amused by the concept.

“It’s not her I’m afraid of,” his trembling had died down, but fear still drenched his voice. “But the thought of fighting Battlecry has me scarred.”
“Then you mean she’s -” the drudge in front was interrupted again.

“Unless you know any other Fluttershys, then yeah she is”

“What’s it matter anyway? Last I heard, Battlecry was in the Everfree forest, and that was three weeks ago. He’s probably dead,” the drudge said, trying to reassure his boss.

“Anypony else probably would be, but I wouldn’t be surprised if all the creatures are too afraid to come outta their caves while he’s still in there,” the boss seemed pretty sure of himself. “I wonder how many of the poor creatures were misfortunate enough to run into him,” he added with a nervous laugh.

“One hydra, two dragons, and an ursa major,” a grim sounding male voice chimed out.

Everypony looked over to where the voice was coming from. Perched on a tree was a pony wearing a crimson fighting hoodie, covered in black tribals, a necklace comprised of three large fangs hanging from a metal cord, and a tooth the size of a door strapped to his back. Upon closer inspection, one could see that his coat was gold and his cutie mark was a black hoof covered in flame.