What Lies Beneath

Fluttershy awoke to the sound of rain pelting the window of her cottage. It’s a mellow evening, she has been sleeping in lately due to the serious of cold rainy weather. Plus, she has been working hard all month with her writing that she felt she deserved a break.

Yawning tiredly Fluttershy slowly sat up on her bed, placing her front hooves between her thighs, blankly staring at the hardwood floor of her bedroom. She thought of nothing in particular, wielding only an empty gaze while her mind slowly rebooted from a long evening of rest.

She flexes her wings and legs, groaning softly while her muscles adjust to her movements. After a good stretch, she wiped the crust of sleep from her eyes and rolled off the bed onto her hooves, trotting slowly out of her bedroom and into the hallway leading to the living room.

It's been a few years since the last time the elements of harmony fought to defeat a great evil, the latest enemy being a radical group of humans driven by some crazed religion. She had attempted to be kind to them and make peace, but in the end, things ended badly for her, and she suffered for it.

After Fluttershy was assaulted, the elements of harmony had all the reason they needed to use their powers to punish those humans.

She never talks about what they did to her, and nopony would ask..

She isn't a complete shut in, she still occasionally visits town often enough to purchase supplies: groceries, writing materials, etc., and visit her friends during her outings. After the incident, Fluttershy was burdened with far too many emotions that she couldn't handle. Despite her attempts to hold a collected facade, her suppressed emotions would eventually boil to the surface. That's why she's taken a liking to writing, where she could write out her experiences and how they made her feel.

She's not the only one in the family who took to writing during a stressful and sensitive time in their lives. Fluttershy's great grandmother Willow Whisper for example; Willow lived in a small village, where she grew up in an orphanage. Willow would write in a journal about her troubles, and soon enough her every day struggles turned into a full fledged novel.

The tradition of writing did not start with Willow however, this tradition went back several generations, for Fluttershy had inherited several old journals from her parents before they died. Fluttershy enjoyed reading them, it made her feel as if she still had a family, telling her about all their experiences when they were young.

Although Fluttershy endured a traumatic experience with humans, she still holds faith for them, for in the journal of her ancestor Aloe Breeze, she learned of the true compassion that lies under the complex hearts of humans.

Aloe Breeze was a field medic for the Great War three-hundred years ago. Aloe was severely wounded on the battlefield, and would've died if it wasn't for a single human man who brought Aloe away from the battlefield and nursed her back to health. A human holding such compassion for a pony is surprising enough, however, it was a certain human who rescued Aloe from death that made the surprise even more unfathomable...

Captain Elliot Agros, one of the most feared human soldiers in history.

Agros was well known for his brutal methods of torture and execution. He lead hundreds of human soldiers throughout his thirty-years in the human army; his strategic military organization, his strong sense of leadership, his record of fearless charges into impossible battles, has earned him the title 'Crimson King', for he, more than any other human soldier, bathed in the most blood spilled by his sword.

Agros was recorded to stand over six feet tall, with hair as black as Discord's heart and eyes of polished bronze. His skin reflected the moonlight like a porcelain doll basking in pale illumination, and his voice was deep with a masculine purr that could charm the sour out of a lemon. At least that's how Aloe described him.

For a week, Agros cared for Aloe's health, and in that week, she began to slowly develop feelings for the Crimson King, the most wanted human warrior in Equestria's list of bounties. For the longest time Aloe refused her feelings for Agros, trying desperately to remind herself that because of humans her husband was dead. But she could not detain her feelings any further after getting to know the Crimson King little by little.

Aloe's journal is Fluttershy's most favorite journal, for it details the story of heartache, compassion, and an impossible romance between two rivaling sentient species. It was the truest example of love knowing no bounds, the story would go on about Aloe documenting each moment she had with Agros, each day spent together with him becoming more and more passionate and tender before suddenly... It all came to an abrupt end.

On the empty slate of paper near the end of her journal, written in an elegant cursive font, was a forlorn valediction, a final goodbye written by, presumably, the Crimson King himself.

For it was fate that brought you too me, for it was my pride that made you fall. With deepest love and sorrow, I see you ascend towards the stars... Goodbye, my darling...

This handwritten lament was possibly the only documented proof of Agros' compassion, which made it all the more precious to Fluttershy. It reminded her that deep down inside the hearts of humans, there is a kindness within them, there is compassion as strong as an army, yet as to why it is so hard for them to express it is beyond anypony.

Thunder clashed in the distant sky as Fluttershy trotted her way to the living room of her cottage, smiling softly at the sight of Angel and many of her other animal friends sleeping peacefully throughout the home. Most gloomy days she would like to spend in company, other times she would like to sit down and read from Aloe's journal to help comfort her, for it was gloomy days like these that reminded her of past memories she’d rather forget.

Fluttershy made her way to the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of sweet iced tea. Carefully setting her cup on the coffee table in her living room, Fluttershy started up the fire pit to warm up the chilled room. She would then approach the bookshelf with locked doors on them. She used a key that was hidden behind a nearby photo of her and her friends to unlock the shelf and open it up, revealing several old looking journals stacked neatly in rows throughout the shelves.

She browsed through the rows of journals before selecting Aloe's journal and pulling it out carefully. She then closed the shelf doors and walked to the couch, where she began to read where she last left off in the journal while drinking her sweet iced tea. Fluttershy had read the journal many times before, but she still enjoyed reading it again nonetheless.

It was dawn when I awoke, the bed soaked in my cold sweat and stained with my blood that seeped into my bandages. It was morning, I could tell that much. The sun’s illumination was tinted a dull grey by the ash fogged atmosphere so I knew I was not far off from the battle I was torn away from. I was not in an Equestrian base camp, which could only mean I've been captured by human forces, and judging by the decor of the vast tent I was in I was right to believe so.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a human shadow moving about in the next room across from me. It was not a pony, but a human shadow, a big one at that. The human stood well over six feet tall, the human could dwarf Celestia in height. He was moving about calmly, a hum emanating from his throat.

I could smell the delightful scent of breakfast filling the air, strangely enough, it was mostly cooked vegetation that I could smell. Wheat grass, steamed carrots, and what smells like a muffin. My mouth began to water, it had been months since I've had a decent meal. All I've had to eat ever since I joined the royal army was just mushy grub. The smell of a home cooked breakfast was more than enough to cause my stomach to growl.

My heart froze, it seemed this human had heard my stomach's cry for delicious sustenance, for he ceased his humming and turned my direction. The rooms of the tent were separated by cloth, the only reason I could see him through the moss-green material of the tent was because of a lamp light in the far corner of the room this human was in.

The human would then walk my direction, causing panic to rise in my chest. What was going to happen to me? I thought of all the horrible things I've heard and seen humans do to captured ponies. Was he going to torture me? Was he going to rape me? Was he going to kill me? I laid motionless, my body numb from lying prone for so long.  I could not do anything, I couldn't even defend myself.

All I could do, was just wait.

And I saw, I saw him...

Captain Elliot Agros, the most feared decorated soldier of the human army who has brought death and suffering to more ponies than Discord ever could. His eyes are like polished bronze, glistening in the dim light of the room's lamp. His hair is black as Luna's night sky, long and wavy, stretching down past his shoulders, reaching his mid back area. His skin is smooth, pale, and his complexion mature and masculine. He wears a thick beard that was unkempt but matched his wavy black mane rather well.

Agros is dressed in a pristine white blouse embedded with golden fringes and designs woven along the white fabric like a painter's canvas. He wears black cotton trousers and chestnut-brown dress shoes. His long wavy black hair is tied back, giving me perfect view of his pale visage as well as the few scars that decorated his left cheek.

"Bonjour, you are finally awake" Elliot spoke, his voice thick with a Prench accent.

I couldn't really process his greeting, all that raced through my head at the moment was I was within close proximity of the most dangerous, and most cruel humans of all time. Instead of responding to his greeting, I let out a silent scream, my eyes wide like dinner plates and my pupils shrunk like pinpricks. My jaw hung ajar as nothing but a terrified rasp left my throat, my face contorting with fear.

I--

Before Fluttershy could begin the next paragraph, she is met with a loud clash of thunder that sounded far closer to her home. She yelped loudly, her front legs jerking, sending the journal flying into the air and falling onto the couch beside her. She slouched down, looking around her home in a disconcerted fashion.

"I-It's just thunder, relax Fluttershy..." the cream pegasus reminded herself, letting out a sigh, followed by a giggle at her own reaction.

Fluttershy took a sip of her iced tea to calm her startled nerves before returning to the journal. However, as she motioned her eyes to the written text on the journal her ears would be met with another startling noise. Instead of a clash of thunder, a series of knocks emanated from the front door of her home.

Fluttershy froze slightly, who would be out here at this time in the evening? Could it be one of the girls? She wasn't entirely sure, and it made her rather nervous. She paused, the air of her cottage falling silent as the rapping on her front door continued. The knocking was weak, but frantic. Whoever it was, they seemed to be in trouble. Fluttershy summoned up the courage and responded to the knocking.

"W-Who is it?" she spoke up, approaching the front door cautiously.

"Aidez-moi..." responded a deep and smoky voice from the other end.

Fluttershy recoiled a bit, what is somepony from Prance doing here? It wasn't odd to see strange ponies come to and from Ponyville here and there, but not too often has she seen or heard a Prench pony. Fluttershy licked her dry lips, swallowing nervously before speaking up again.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't speak Prench" Fluttershy responded.

The pony, presumably a stallion, clicked his tongue as if he was scolding himself, mentally face palming. He suppressed a cough as he cleared his throat, speaking up once again, speaking in a mild Prench accent.

"I need... I need help" the stallion choked out before he started coughing up a storm.

"O-Oh... My" Fluttershy muttered, biting her lip and hesitantly reaching for the door knob.

She hesitated for a few moments at first, but eventually swung the door open to provide aid to the stallion, or who she thought was a stallion. Instead of an injured pony, Fluttershy's gaze would be met with a towering human figure, a man, dressed in ragged clothes that look more like a bunch of potato sacks sewn together.

The man was over six feet tall, which was quite intimidating for the four foot tall pegasus that was now quivering below him. Fluttershy closed her eyes, anticipating the human to attack her, however, she was met with the tall man collapsing forward. Fluttershy squeaked, scooting back quickly and falling onto her haunches. The human collapsed onto the floor in front of her, his head landing between her legs, causing her to blush slightly since his silky, and surprisingly soft black hair tickled her fur.

"Ow..." the human man groaned, his body lying limp, ironically enough like a sack of potatoes.

Fluttershy is at a loss of words, it has been years since she's seen a human, let alone made contact with one. And her last interaction with one didn't really go so well. She scooted away further, quivering slightly from both shock and fear. This human was big, most humans his size are extremely dangerous, then again, all humans are extremely dangerous.

"I don't mean to interrupt your panic attack, but I'm bleeding all over your hardwood floor..." the human man muttered, his voice muffled by the carpet his face was smushed against.

"A-Ah!" Fluttershy gasped, quickly dragging the bleeding man through her house and into her bathroom.

"Oh yes, thank you, a refreshing bath is all I need" the man sarcastically remarked.

"Hush, you!" Fluttershy retorted, quickly digging through the first aid kit that was inside a cabinet beside her bathroom mirror.

The human grumbled silently, his eyes were closed and most of his face was caked with blood so obviously he didn't really feel like opening his eyes, neither did he seem to have the strength for it. Fluttershy quickly used a knife to cut off the human's clothes in order to find his injury, however she was taken back by the horrible condition this human's body was in.

He was extremely malnourished, not an ounce of body fat on him and barely any muscle for that matter. Although his starved physique was alarming, the more startling feature of his body was the amount of gruesome scars covering the man's body. This human has obviously endured horrible experiences, however what startled her the most is that most of the scars looked as if they were self inflicted.

"Prenez une photo, il durera plus longtemps..." the human muttered in Prench, judging by his tone it was another sarcastic remark.

Fluttershy huffed, furrowing her brows and shaking her head, getting back to the main objective.

Fluttershy searched over the human man's body before eventually finding the culprit to his ailment. He had several large lacerations along his lower abdomen, the suspect of these wounds was most likely an animal judging by the distinctive claw fashion of the wounds. Fluttershy was low on medical supplies since last week she used most of it on Rainbow Dash after she hurt herself training. All she could do was provide the human with some antibiotics, pain medication, and bandages to help stop the bleeding.

"That will hold you for a bit, but it won't help you completely. You need professional help, I need to get help" Fluttershy said as she quickly rose to her hooves, preparing to take off before she was suddenly stopped by the human's hand gripping her by the back leg.

Fluttershy paused in her tracks, glancing back at the human in confusion. She recoiled mentally at the pained look on the human's face. Although his eyes were closed, she could read his expression loud and clear. It was fear, it was subtle but it was there. The human was most likely taking a big enough risk as it is approaching Fluttershy for help. Fluttershy pulled her leg free and offered a small comforting smile to the human.

"I won't let anypony hurt you. Trust me" Fluttershy said in a soft tone.

The human fell silent for a long few seconds before nodding and letting out a sigh.

"Thank you..." he weakly rasped as Fluttershy then took off, galloping out of her cottage, taking flight once she was out the door.

Fluttershy didn't waste any time, she quickly flew as fast as she could to Ponyville. It was a rainy day so she knew that Twilight would most likely be staying indoors. Since Twilight was closest, she aimed for her unicorn friend's tree house library.

As she flew, Fluttershy thought back on this human's appearance. He was tall, over six feet. Shoulder length wavy black hair that felt as soft and smooth as silk, somewhat pale skin, and an unkempt stubble. He was handsome, that’s for sure, looking to be in his early forties at best.

Who this human was is a complete mystery, she had forgotten to ask his name before she left, but then again it’s an emergency so introductions could wait until after he’s safely in the hospital.

Fluttershy quickly lands at the front door of Twilight's library, panting heavily, her chest rising and falling violently. Her lungs are on fire, it felt like her chest was about to burst at any given second. As the pegasus was trying to catch her breath, she knocked rapidly on the twin doors of the library.

"I got it!" Rainbow Dash's voice could be heard calling out from behind the door.

The doors suddenly swung open, revealing the colorful cyan pegasus who was happy to see her cream colored friend, but the excitement quickly shifted to concern.

"Fluttershy? What's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked, moving aside to allow Fluttershy entrance to the library.

Fluttershy continued to gasp for breath as she trotted in, Rainbow Dash brought Fluttershy to the couch where they both took a seat as Twilight prepared a cup of tea for her distressed friend. Once Fluttershy managed to calm down, she began to try and explain her dilemma.

"Hu... Hu... Human" Fluttershy panted, her rain soaked mane hanging down past her shoulders.

"Human?! What about a human?" Rainbow Dash asked as Twilight set a cup of tea down on the coffee table in the living room.

"M-My cottage... He's in my cottage" Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow Dash quickly made a B-line for the front door. She was enraged that a human dared to come anywhere near Fluttershy after the horrible things that happened to her. She was prepared to beat this human to a bloody pulp but she was stopped at the door by a cry from Fluttershy.

"Don't hurt him!" she cried out, causing Rainbow Dash to freeze, glancing over at Fluttershy in confusion.

"Why not!?" Rainbow Dash replied, frustration in her voice.

"H-He didn't do anything to me, he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to. He's wounded, and I cannot help him at my house. I need help, he needs help, he'll die if we don't do something!" Fluttershy pleaded.

"Good riddance! Equestria sure as buck wouldn't care if another human bit the dust!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"He didn't do anything wrong!" Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow Dash growled angrily, gritting her teeth in rage and confusion. Before Rainbow Dash could make another exclamation of aggression, Twilight spoke up.

"Dash, if the human is injured and in a weakened state then there's no true reason to take offensive action. We will restrain him, yes, but only after he's taken to the hospital and treated for properly. As much as it pains me to help a human, it will disgust me more if we were to lower ourselves to their level" Twilight spoke

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth in anger before letting out a disgruntled sigh.

"Fine! I won't hurt the stupid human!" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Let's move quickly, we cannot waste much time" Twilight said as she glanced over at Fluttershy.

"You stay here and rest, I'll send Rainbow Dash to come get you once he's safe in the hospital" Twilight said to Fluttershy.

"A-Alright... Please be gentle with him... He's really weak" Fluttershy said as she shakily lifted up the cup of tea Twilight made for her, sipping from it.

"We promise" Twilight replied, nodding as she then enveloped herself in a violet aura, teleporting to Fluttershy's cottage.

By the time Twilight arrived, Rainbow Dash had just showed up, not surprising for one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria. She had traveled so quickly that she wasn't even that wet from the rain. The two mares approached the cottage door, but froze in shock at the trail of blood that lead from the front porch all the way inside. They carefully trotted around the blood and began to search the house for this injured human.

It didn't take too long, considering he was lying unconscious on the living room floor, clutching a journal with the name 'Aloe Breeze' written in ink on the cover of it. He held it closely to his chest, tears streaming down his blood-caked face. Rainbow Dash stared in awe and horror, Fluttershy was right to say that this human was far too weak to be that much of a threat. She almost felt sorry for the human.

Almost.

"H-Here, help me lift him up" Twilight shakily spoke as she approached one side of the human.

"R-Right" Rainbow Dash replied, kneeling down and wrapping her front leg around the human's right arm while Twilight grabbed the left arm.

The two were surprised to find that the human was rather light for a man his size, most likely due to the lack of nutrition.

"He's so light... We need to hurry, who knows how long he has before he goes into shock!" Twilight exclaimed as she then quickly teleported her, the human, and Rainbow Dash to Ponyville's hospital.