The Visitor

Twilight could feel her thoughts drifting away from her.

Something had gone wrong. Something... something... the tea... her confused gaze drifted over the cup in her grasp back to the face of the pony in front of her.

Anxious... but anticipating... Fluttershy... must have...

Thinking clearly became harder and harder. Gradually, every worry, every bad thought, and every sense of discomfort was being sucked out of her mind like air out of a cracked balloon. Twilight was drifting, floating in a sea of nothing, free from any and all distractions.

Then, a voice entered her world. Soft, beautiful...

...irresistible.

“Twilight? Are you hungry? You look hungry. Would you like a cookie?”

Her mind seemed to bend around this voice, taking it in, relishing in its every syllable. Hungry. She was hungry. She would like to eat something. A cookie sounded delicious.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Uhm. I don’t think you’re hungry, are you?”

Hungry? She was not hungry. “No, not at all.”

“But you want to finish your tea.”

“Of course.” She picked up her cup, emptying it.

“Good.” Fluttershy stood up. Twilight didn’t move, still sitting on the couch, a vague smile on her face.

Peace...

“You’ll do whatever I say.”

“I’ll do whatever you say.”

“You can’t leave the cottage.”

“I can’t leave the cottage.”

“If you see or hear somepony else, you’ll teleport away, hide, and come back two minutes later.”

Twilight nodded.

“That’s a good girl.” Fluttershy walked up to her, gently stroking her chin with a front limb. “So. You, uhm, you really want to cuddle with me right now.”

She really wanted to cuddle with Fluttershy right now.

Twilight’s smile vanished. Her peace was broken. She really wanted to cuddle with Fluttershy, and it made her sad not to... should she ask her?

“So much that you can’t help asking me for it.”

Twilight swallowed. She needed to cuddle... reach... her mouth went dry. She began to sweat. She had to...

“Fluttershy? Can you... can you please c-cuddle with-”

“Beg me.”

Twilight shivered. She found herself sliding off the couch, reaching the floor on shaky hooves. Fluttershy did a step back to give her space. Her life solely revolved around a single goal, and she had to reach it, she had to reach it, she had to reach...

“Fluttershy? P-please come closer so we can c-cuddle? Please! I’ll do anything! Please...”

Fluttershy nodded. With a tilt of her head, she gestured for Twilight to sit onto the couch, then she leaned her upper body into Twilight’s waiting arms. Tightly entwined, Twilight could feel the other pony’s breath on her skin, and could hear the steady beating of her heart. Fluttershy extended a wing around her, and Twilight’s life was complete. She could have spent hours, days, years in this position. It didn’t matter. And her ears were being filled with the pegasus’ content humming...

The body in her grasp shifted. Worriedly, Twilight gave it a glance. She didn’t want her to let go.

“Uhm. Let me go, please?”

In an instant, Twilight opened her arms, allowing Fluttershy to slip out of her embrace, resting with wobbly legs on the wooden floor. Twilight watched her, her lips quivering. She needed to hold her. She had to. But she couldn’t.

“Follow me.”

Twilight slid off the couch, following Fluttershy. She led them upstairs. Twilight’s body began to shiver. She needed to hold the pegasus. The urge was overwhelming. She didn’t know how long she would endure.

When Fluttershy threw a gaze over her shoulder, she halted in her walk.

“Oh. Uhm, you don’t want to snuggle with me that much anymore. You still want me, though. But not so much that it causes you discomfort. And, uhm, I’m sorry if I made you feel bad.”

“It’s no problem.” Twilight smiled, feeling perfectly content once again. But she still wanted Fluttershy. She wanted to hold her, kiss her... and have her...

Fluttershy entered her room, closing the door behind them.

“Lay on my bed and spread your legs.”

Twilight nodded, doing as she was told. Fluttershy watched her, but then she looked away. Twilight said nothing, hoping only that she would come closer. She wanted her.

Seconds crept by.

“Im... i... im... imagine...”

But the words didn’t seem to come. For a few moments, she just stood there, facing away from Twilight, until Twilight could hear her breathing quickening. It went faster, and even faster, and then she began to reel, aiming for balance by bringing a front limb to the door. Slowly, she collapsed against it, hyperventilating. Twilight watched her, but didn’t move an inch. No thought, no worry entered her mind, just a vague desire and a distant hope. Fluttershy could have turned into an alicorn at the spot and it wouldn’t have made a difference to her.

Time passed, and it was meaningless. Gradually, Fluttershy’s breathing calmed down, her gaze set onto the ground.

“Imagine...” she began once more, but she couldn’t get passed the word. “You...”

There was a sigh, there was a sob, and there were tears. Then, there was a single, long breath.

Fluttershy faced away from her, her body a heap on the floor.

“Get up from the bed,” she said. “You don’t feel anything out of the ordinary anymore. Go to Zecora in the Everfree Forest, and ask her for a cure to a potion called ‘The Parasite.’ If you are attacked on the way, don’t continue, just get away, teleport someplace safe. Go. G-go...” Another sob. “Close... close the door behind you.”

Half an hour later, Fluttershy still lay at the same spot on the floor, as if time had been frozen in this room. Twilight looked down at her, not having the slightest idea of how she was supposed to feel.

“You wanted to rape me.”

The sentence hung in the air, but there was no response.

“You did, didn’t you?”

A movement went through the pegasus body, and slowly, Fluttershy’s head emerged, facing Twilight. Her face was mangled, her eyes swollen, and only now did Twilight see the wetness around the spot where her head had rested on the floor.

“Yes.”

Twilight bit on her lip beyond the point of bleeding. She felt the urge to gnash her teeth, to smash something, and to inflict pain onto the body in front of her. She resisted it all, taking two, three deep breaths, then turned away.

“Come down with me. I’ll make us something to drink. But not tea, I’ve had enough of that. Or you know what? No. I’ll make tea. Strong, black tea. So come down. But first wash your face.”

Without awaiting an answer, Twilight descended the stairs, heading for the kitchen. The time she needed was used to get a hold of her overboiling emotions, and she spent half a minute scouring through Fluttershy’s stock of tea before realizing that she had already grabbed the tin in question right at the start. Among her anger, her enormous disappointment, sadness, and fear, there was also another emotion that grew stronger the longer she thought about it. It was relief. Overwhelming, mind-numbing relief that she had so narrowly escaped what had been about to happen. But it was drowned by the desire to preserve her anger.

When she entered the living room, Fluttershy sat there, at the same stool she had used when it had all happened. Twilight looked at it for a moment, then she shook her head.

“Move. I’ll take the stool. You sit on the couch.”

Fluttershy did as she was told, without a sound of protest. Twilight put the kettle and two cups onto the table, the articles jittering a bit in her grasp. If only it was done brewing already. A lot of sleepless nights and a several year long reliance on the substance had developed in her something that came close to a mild addiction. Never had she felt like she needed it as much as she did now.

“What am I supposed to do now, Fluttershy?” she blurted out, her thoughts unconnected. “Should I contact Canterlot? The princess? Should I tell everypony in town, or should I keep it a secret? Should I tell the girls?” But before Fluttershy had a chance to answer, another question suddenly entered her mind. “What was your plan there? What did you think was going to happen after you went through with it? What would happen after you were done?”

At the lack of a response, Twilight felt her anger hit a sudden peak. Fluttershy had no right to be absorbed in sadness, self-hatred, or whatever it was.

“Answer me, Fluttershy!”

“I... I was going to erase your memory...”

At that, there was a coldness reaching out to her heart, taking it in its grasp, squeezing it. To delay the question, she summoned her magic, pouring herself a cup, spilling enough to form a small puddle on the table. Then...

“Have you done it to me before?”

“No.”

The coldness lessened, but she was not convinced.

“Tell me the truth.”

“I haven’t! I swear it. I couldn’t. You saw that I couldn’t.”

Twilight let out a breath, relief washing over her once more. She felt as though she had narrowly escaped... again.

She took a gulp, closing her eyes at the taste, even though the water was still too hot to drink and burned her mouth from the inside.

The anger seemed to leave her, and she didn’t have the willpower to stay strong anymore. Her upper body dropped onto the table, her head buried between her hooves, and for the moment, she allowed herself to give into sadness.

“Oh Fluttershy... why, just why? Do you have any idea what you have done? You should know that, but are you anything like I thought you were? Do I know you at all?”

There was no response. Twilight pulled herself together, raising her head.

“Do you have an excuse? Anything that messed with your head? Some kind of drug?”

Fluttershy sobbed, her eyes still swollen. She shook her head.

“Then it’s really you.” Twilight drank the rest of her cup, not hesitating to refill it. “Do you know what this would mean if it were made public? The element of kindness, doing... this?”

Fluttershy murmured something, too muffled, and too quiet for Twilight to understand.

“What was that?”

“I said I didn’t ask for the element.”

“You...” It was not the response she had expected. She blinked.

“I guess you didn’t.” For what little it was worth. “Okay. We both know I won’t make it public. That wouldn’t help anyone. Forget the element. You still did it. To a friend.” Her voice got cold. “To me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Twilight’s first instinct was to scold the apology, but she thought different of it. No matter what Fluttershy had done, she still had to give her a chance. If not, then there was no point in talking to her in the first place.

“Well,” she said in a quiet voice. “I guess that’s something.” She stared into her cup, only to find it empty. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends again. And I can’t talk about it right now. I just need to know what...”

“To do with me?”

“Yes.” The insides of her mouth still burned from the heat, and her lip still hurt from her own bite. She drove over it with her tongue, smelling blood.

“Not that I trust your word anymore, but do you think I can leave you without supervision?”

“I... I won’t run away... or do anything... l-like that...”

“Alright then.”

“Will you... t-tell the other girls?”

Twilight looked at her, at the face of the mare that had disappointed her more than anypony before. For whatever it was worth, she had never seen her as unhappy as she was now.

“Yes.”

Fluttershy gulped, but didn’t protest.

“I trust you not to do it again, at least for now, but I can’t have them contact you without knowing.” She stood up. She didn’t want to look at Fluttershy anymore. She needed time to think. Alone.

She was about to teleport, but then paused. The anger had come back; the urge she had felt earlier, further fueled by the pain she had inflicted upon herself, it demanded release. Twilight’s eyes flickered around the place. The birdhouse was no good. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt an animal. Then her gaze fell onto the table.

Pressing her lips together, she began to channel her magic. It felt good, really good, to put all of her effort into this simple task, summing as much strength as she could, her horn glowing in a dark, purple hue.

Fluttershy shrieked as the table was smashed into pieces, the articles on it shattering as they fell onto the floor. The exception was the second cup, which had disappeared in a flash along with Twilight.