Fight or Flee? (Fluttershy's Final Dilemma)

***Fight or Flee? (Fluttershy’s Final Dilemma)

By: Clue Tzes

Chapter 6:

Rarity***

“Sp-spike?!?! You're still alive!” Fluttershy excitedly whispered, hugging him.

“Y-yeah. After everypony began turning, Twilight turned and she trapped me in there. I didn't even know this library had things like that!” Spike explained.

“It isn't Twilight anymore... She's been taken by somepony named S-Slakt,” Fluttershy shivered at the name, “There's a lot w-we'll fill you in on, but for now we've got to get you somewhere safe.”

Spike clutched tighter, “Not in the middle of the night. That's when the majority of them are outside. It's crazy, but Twilight and I held out for a few hours and watched, but then she began freaking out. She screamed at me, calling me so many names... I know it wasn't Twilight doing it, but it still hurt quite a bit... She's like family to me and I couldn't help her; I just stood there, shivering and useless.”

“We've all had some rough patches these past few days Spike... Don't worry, w-we can fix it...” Fluttershy lied, hoping Spike would buy it.

“Alright... if you say so.”

“What time does Twili-Slakt I-I mean, get back normally?”

“Not til a few hours after dawn,” Spike told her, his head lowered in thought.

How could he even know? He was trapped behind that bookcase... Fluttershy thought, fear coursing through her.

“Spike... How long were you trapped in there exactly?”

“Well, when she originally turned she tied me to the table and I fought, but obviously that didn't work. Then Rarity, or whoever sh-she is n-now,” Spike paused, holding back tears from the thought of his lost love, “She came in and th-they went behind the bookcase you came out of for a f-few hours. Then they made the prison for me and I've been there since.”

“Alright, s-sorry,” Fluttershy sighed in relief, now looking at Spike's pure eyes.

“So where do we go from here? I mean, you did keep saying we so there has to be somewhere you and other ones meet... Right?”

“Not exactly... Spike, I-I can't tell you this right now but if anything goes wrong, go to the tree we hid in when Pinkie cloned herself. That should be safe. If anypony other than Luna, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, or Applebloom comes in, check their eyes. If you see d-darkness, you need to run and don't stop until you know you're safe,” Fluttershy warned him.

“Understood. Is that really all that are left? Maybe if I send Celestia a letter, she'll respond back with good news. I mean, they didn't get Luna and Celestia has got to be tons more powerful. She is older after a-“ Spike stopped, seeing Fluttershy lower her head, “If Celestia's lost... F-Fluttershy please tell me she isn't... Oh sweet Luna she is...” Spike screamed and began running in circles, his mind racing as much as his little feet.

“Spike, it'll be ok in the end. If we have time, I think we should tr-try to sleep. We're going to need our energy for tomorrow especially.”

“What happens tomorrow?”

“You'll see if I don't get the chance to tell you sooner.”

Fluttershy took Spike up, pulling the curtains on Twilight's window shut and holding him closely, both of them soon falling asleep, safe for the first time in a long while.

Luna descended through the night, her coat hiding her from the sight of the ponies below. She gasped, her mouth remaining slightly open in surprise at how many ponies were outside at once, especially this late at night. It had to be the whole town if not more. She was frightened, knowing down there were 3, maybe 4, good ones not wanting her dead.

She landed behind the Carousel Boutique, easing her way to the front where ponies were trotting about rampantly, as if looking for something or someone... The discovery of the Cutie Mark Crusaders had probably alerted them to more resistance within, or maybe Fluttershy had escaped after all. The very thought caused her heart to leap in hope as she nudged the door open, slipping inside unnoticed.

The door quickly shut behind her and locked, trapping her inside. Luna spun and tried the knob quickly, then tried her magic but it held tight by a spell she'd never seen before. They know magic I do not?! How can this be possible?! The simple thought sent her deeper into fear as she turned back around, facing the dark interior of Rarity's home.

“Is the Princess of the Night terrified of a little bit of darkness? Weren't you so embracing of it almost 3 years ago? Come now; show a little bravery in the face of your death...” Luna heard Rarity's words echo throughout the room

“That darkness was as easily destroyed as you shall be! Now release the girls, for they have nothing to do with this!” Luna shouted, lighting her horn to use as a flashlight.

The room was normal aside from the dark, a couch and a chair along with a half-finished dress nearby. The kitchen was in the back with a meal sitting there, days old and still waiting to be feasted on. The staircase leading up to the next floor was only a few feet away from it all. Whenever they turned, it had to be sudden, when they least expected it. She shined her light to the left, eyeing a unicorn mannequin with a bulky dress. How odd... I didn't think they made anything but basic mannequins anymore, she thought. With the fear and nervousness creeping into her slowly, Luna turned and immediately snapped the light back to where the mannequin was, but it was gone.

She didn't know what to expect with this one, she barely remembered his name. Rhode was the one who was good with secrecy and concealment. Looks as if he's using the newfound magic to his advantage, but that dress... What lies beneath may be the end to me if I'm not careful, Luna warned herself silently.

She walked back to the kitchen, the girls obviously not on the first floor and began walking up the stairs to the next floor. She heard the patter of hooves behind her and spun, watching the end of the dress Rhode had been adorned with disappearing into the wall. Luna looked up the stairs and then back to the wall, thinking about which path to take. Rhode was based on trickery and deceit, practically raised on it, but what if he had made a mistake in letting Luna see him?

She trotted to the spot where she last saw the dress and burned a crescent moon into the wallpaper with her magic, marking where she would go if things didn't prove worthwhile upstairs. Quickly making her way back to the staircase, she began her ascent, taking each step slowly out of fear. Luna walked up and stopped at the 7th step, hearing a click as her hoof put pressure down. She dropped to her stomach just in time as a large knife shot out of the wall, right where her head had been.

“This won't be easy, but if this is the only way to get things back to normal, it's all I can do,” she reminded herself, raising up and grabbing the surprisingly heavy knife with her teeth.

She used the weapon, testing each step by throwing it and stepping back quickly. After avoiding having her head crushed by the wall three times and decapitation once, she had finally made it to the top. The hallway ahead presented a few doors to her, all of which were slightly ajar. She started making her way down, levitating the large blade with her magic.

“This thing won't do well if I need to fight... I don't even see any of the Royal Guard able, if willing, to lift this thing...” Luna grumbled to herself, her magic straining slightly from the weight.

The first door only proved to be a bathroom while the next one looked to be the master bedroom which needed more investigation, so Luna put a crescent moon on the door and continued. The third room looked to be a child's bedroom, but with a darker tone. The bed had been flipped and it looked as if an attempt to barricade the door had been made. It seemed Sweetie had wanted to make sure she had time to flee, Luna hoped, if Rarity had found out. Not much else was there so Luna shut it and moved on.

The fourth room, near the end of the hall, was filled with busted furniture. Luna looked in a little farther, seeing various tools and mannequins scattered around. Rhode must have been working here, designing tools and gear for their squad. She went ahead and put a moon on this door as well, then nudged it further open.

She made her way into the fourth room, treading carefully. She stepped around the disastrous mess, heading towards the scattered papers and mannequins in the back. Using her magic, she looked through them, seeing numerous hastily drawn designs consisting of concealed armor and weaponry, mainly knives. She kept looking through them, trying to find weaknesses just in case fighting came into play.  Deciding she couldn't see much of anything, she organized the papers and went to slide them under her crown. Her heart sunk when she remembered she had destroyed it out of rage and bound the papers into her mane, hoping they'd stay. She quickly crossed back out and put an “x” over the moon before moving back down the hall.

Reaching the Master Bedroom, she nudged the door open slowly, cautious of any traps that may lie ahead. She saw a string tied to the door and backed up, sending it open the rest of the way with her magic. A few more knives shot out into the wall, these less bulky than her current one. She decided to keep what she had and moved into the room slowly, still fearful of more tricks. Aside from the first encounter, the room was clean, and from what she could tell offered no further clues.

As Luna turned to leave, a small, raggedy journal caught her eye. She stood back and opened it with her magic before bringing it closer to herself. Dust puffed out of it, forcing her to cough as she realized how aged the book was. There wasn't much within, but what she did find was enough to send her spirits plummeting farther than hell. She quickly took the papers from her mane and slipped them into the journal before putting the whole mass back in. She trotted briskly out and put another “x” on this door too.

She had one area left to check, one that wasn't set up by normal ponies. She slowly flew down the stairs, avoiding stepping on the steps with the larger knife still in tote. Landing in the kitchen and moving to the moon she had created on the wall, she raised the knife and stabbed it into the wall a few feet above it. She slowly drew the blade down the height, opening a large hole in the wall before trying to pull it out. The knife was stuck into it deep, so she stepped over it and aimed her horn into the dark hole, shining the light inside of it. She followed the light she was producing, carefully making her way through the passage. The second she stepped in, the wall sealed shut behind her, trapping her in. She kept walking, accepting the occurrence this time without any rebellion to it.

The Princess of the Night closed her eyes, focusing her magic and sending a large orb of light ahead of her, illuminating the room a bit. Stone walls surrounded her on either side as the hallway continued forward. Now unarmed and more on edge, Luna continued further and further, walking for about half a mile before she was confronted by a dead end.

“What sort of trickery is this?” She asked the wall, irritation setting in.

Assuming another fake wall rested in front of her, she put her hooves against it and knocked on it softly. A hollow echo reverberated from it, confirming her suspicions. Taking a few steps back she stopped the light spell, leaving herself in the dark and began focusing once more. Sending a blast of magic at the wall, she busted the grey stone leaving a massive hole for her to walk through. Stepping through the glowing, smoking rubble she found herself in a much larger chamber.

This one had the same walls, but was lit by torches all around it. A chandelier lit with candles sporting rainbow flames hung in the middle, illuminating what the torches didn't. Hundreds of pony statues stood in front of her, organized into three sets of rows. The statues had a perfect resemblance to the mannequins normally used by the boutique, save for changes on two of the sets. Each lacked any recognizable features, but one set had wings on each statue, one set had a horn on each while the last set lacked either.

Luna looked among them, her height causing her to tower over each of them. She bit her lip, shivering in fear as things set into place. She began to turn to run but heard the frightened cries of the Cutie Mark Crusaders come from the opposite end of the room. She immediately took off in the direction, soaring over the gallery below. A doorway stood in her way but was no match for a blast of her magic.

On the other side of the new, much smaller room sat the CMC bound together by a tightly wound rope. She ran to them and quickly heaved them onto her back.

“Luna! Y-you made it!” Scootaloo said happily.

“Yes. We couldn't afford to leave you behind,” she whispered back, “But we need to be quick as Rhode can be anywhere in here. Hold on to me the best you can.”

The second she felt the hooves holding her the best they could while bound, she began making her way out of there. The second she stepped out of the room she had to dive to the side, narrowly avoiding a knife being shot at her. It clipped her mane and embedded itself into the wall.

“You won't be escaping us twice Princess!” She heard Rhode shout from in front of her.

She shone her light ahead and illuminated Rarity who was adorning an oversized, elegant dress. “You can't stop me! I'M ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL PONIES IN EQUESTRIA!” Luna screamed with the Royal Canterlot Voice as she focused her magic and took on the form of Nightmare Moon.

“L-Luna!? Wh-what are ya d-doin? Have ya gone e-evil too!?” Applebloom frantically asked.

“Neigh young fillies, I'm merely embracing my dark form like I did on Nightmare Night so you need no fears,” she assured them, shifting her body to fix the armor that came with the form.

Rhode took a step back, fear engulfing his mind as he tried to stay brave, “S-so was your sister, wasn't she? You can fall just as easily and you shall!”

“If you desire somepony to fall, than why don't you be the one who's next?” Luna shouted, sending a blast of magic at Rhode.

He leapt out of the way and stood there in mid-air, “You think your traditional tactics can work against a mind like mine?! I would've overpowered you as an Earth Pony, but look at me now... With this magic I am unstoppable!”

Luna looked up, seeing part of the dress moving, “T'is but a trick girls,” she whispered back, feeling the CMC shaking in fear, “All you see is a contraption he made with Rarity's magic.”

“Luna, y-you can't fight him right now... What if something happens to us during it? We need to be up there by tomorrow!” Sweetie Belle whispered, reminding Luna.

“I-I'm aware,” she responded with the prior sadness returning to her, “I only need to incapacitate him or evade him long enough for us to escape.”

“Alright. We trust in you,” Scootaloo whispered.

Luna nodded and immediately sprinted under Rhode, dodging aside as another knife shot at her. She kept running, turning and dodging through the statues as she kept switching her gaze between her attacker, her path and her exit. Rhode used his magic on the dress, beginning to fly towards the exit as he stayed focused on preventing the escape. He glanced towards the door for a split second and Luna saw her chance.

Stopping for a moment, she quickly heaved one of the nearby unicorn statues directly at the rear of Rhode's bulky dress. The horn of the statue made contact with the dress, causing the mechanical inner-workings to start sparking. Rhode cried out as he fell to the ground quickly, struggling to work the dress off as it began to ignite. Pure terror could be seen in his eyes as Luna and the others watched him barely escape before the fabric ignited.

He glared directly at Luna and the CMC, “You're lucky I cherish my life more than some simple commoners we will squash,” he angrily growled before disappearing in a burst of magic.

Luna began walking back to the doorway she had originally entered from and stopped to gather the remnants of Rhode's dress. With that floating next to her, she walked herself and the fillies back through the hallway. When she reached the resealed wall, she blasted it open and walked back into the boutique. She unbound and began letting the fillies down when the loud wail of a siren interrupted her.

“What's that?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked in fear as her and her friends finished climbing off.

“Whatever it is, it sure isn't good...” Scootaloo told her.

“That's an emergency siren... Granny Smith said those loudspeakers ain't been used in decades though,” Applebloom recollected.

“No, they haven't, but I fear they're being used to alert the others to our escape. The whole town's going to be o-out looking...” Luna trailed off, lowering her head.

“Luna!” Scootaloo and the others rushed to the alicorn's side, helping her stay up, “A-are you alright?!”

“Yes, I am... I'm feeling weak after that ordeal. Becoming Nightmare Moon since my redemption has does this to me before, but I shall be fine soon enough” Luna explained, standing again.

“Maybe ya should change back,” Applebloom suggested.

“Neigh child, they fear this form and its power so if they are on high alert as we assume, this will be necessary to escape with our souls and lives intact. Now let's go,” Luna whispered before opening the boutique's front door and rushing out into the chaos.

Spike and Fluttershy had woken up in the library only an hour prior to the alarm. Making sure the library was still secure, they returned to the bedroom loft to wait for day to arrive. Spike sat there, twiddling his claws in a bored fashion while Fluttershy stood there, staring off into space.

She began recollecting on everything again. Two days ago, life was flipped around as was she... She wasn't shy and fearful as much now and she was capable of murder... The mere word brought tears to her eyes when she thought about Nopony and Zecora... Now she had to kill her friends too and may not even be able to save them, but could she?

She lied down on the ground, putting her head in her hooves and began quietly crying. Spike looked down, empathetic to the sadness Fluttershy was feeling, and gave her a soft hug. She hugged him back and held him for a few minutes.

“It'll be ok Fluttershy... I-I mean, it has to be... It always is...” Spike assured her, doubt in his voice.

“We have to leave town before tomorrow Spike... If we don't we'll be killed... Th-things will n-never be the same again,” Fluttershy whispered, beginning to choke up.

“Fluttershy, what do you m-mean?”

“Grab whatever y-you treasure most and sit down, I'll begin telling you everything.”

Spike ran off, coming back with two things: the box containing the Elements of Harmony and Twilight's doll Smarty Pants which they barely managed to get back from Big Mac. Fluttershy looked at him confused and he clutched it closely, looking downward.

“I think Twilight would like it when things go back... I mean, sure, I could grab her one of her thousands of books, but those are replaceable, whereas the memories aren't...” Spike told her, looking down at the raggedy doll.

Fluttershy held back tears and sat next to Spike, beginning to tell him all that had happened so far. He listened the whole time, staying silent through it all. After she was done, he looked up at Fluttershy, locking eyes with her.

“Well, then I guess I really am glad I grabbed the doll because now it's my hope that things will be right again... I can't believe the Crusaders are doing that though.”

“Neither could Luna or I, b-but they have a good point.”

“They want things to get better, but they know even if they do they can never forget. I see where they're coming from, I guess... Since Twilight has been basically my only family s-since I was born...” Spike sniffed lightly, letting a single tear fall as he looked off, deep in thought.

Fluttershy began to speak when she was suddenly cut off by a loud blast, a siren following only moments later. She rushed to the window, looking out and seeing ponies running about.

“What do you think they're doing?” Spike asked her.

“I-I'm not sure, but grab the Elements and Smarty Pants b-because I think they've found us,” Fluttershy answered him, seeing the determined looks in the ponies eyes.

Spike set the doll in the box with the Elements and locked it before picking it up and rushing to Fluttershy's side. She bent down, letting him climb onto her back. She nudged the window open and leapt to begin flying off, but the combined weight on her, mixed with her lack of strength, caused her to plummet to the ground. She flapped her wings rapidly in fear, managing to slow her decent as she immediately took off running. She hadn't ran but for a few seconds before she saw Nightmare Moon rushing out of the Carousel Boutique with the Cutie Mark Crusaders on her back.

Luna bounded out the door, her form scaring off a few ponies waiting to make the capture. She smirked to herself and began to break left, nearly colliding into Fluttershy and Spike.

“N-N-Nightmare?!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“I'm still Luna my shy friend. T'is the most glorious of feelings to see you're still alive. We had heard the worst of your fate. T'is also grand you saved Spike for we'll need as many as we can. Now we must go quickly,” Luna explained to her.

“I kn-know, but I can't fly... I'm not strong enough to with Spike and the Ele-“ Fluttershy was cut off by Spike covering her mouth.

Luna nodded in understanding, “Nor can I; combat and this form have drained me of what strength I had... I've been weaker since encountering you in the other realm, plus looking in on you and the others has helped pile on to my burden... But the place of the Elements of Harmony's origin is where we must go.”

Fluttershy nodded quickly, understanding where Luna referred to, “Th-then let's go,” she told her before bounding off towards the Everfree Forest.

Luna quickly followed as they did their best to avoid the other ponies. The more they passed, the more that began chasing after them. Fluttershy looked back, seeing none of her corrupted friends and kept running.

“Fluttershy, take the girls and go on without me. You know your true intent on where to hide, so you shall be fine,” Luna told her, slowing down some. “If I keep going on like this, I'll be nothing more than just a burden to you and inevitably your downfall. I'll hold them back for as long as I can.”

“Luna, it'll be fine as long as you just power in there... Do it for Celestia!” Scootaloo told her.

Luna cringed from the pain of pushing herself and kept struggling along. As they reached the outskirts of the city and approached the forest, she tripped and collapsed, her Nightmare Moon form shrinking back down to her normal one. She looked at Fluttershy, tears in her eyes as she motioned for her to run. Fluttershy shook her head and motioned for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help her help Luna up and along. Everypony  began slowly carrying her towards the forest, Spike doing his best to help despite his claws already being full, as the crowd began getting closer. Fluttershy looked back, realizing certain doom was close upon them.

“Keep going, I'll hold them back,” Fluttershy heard a familiar voice say from behind her.

She turned, seeing the purple pony with a grey mane from before, now looking normal instead of malnourished and diseased, “N-nopony?! B-but I killed you...” Fluttershy recollected while the others gazed at her confused.

“You freed me from Warp's hellish prison... I owe you my life for that. Dying once saved me from that hell just like it did you, dying again can save me from this one. Finish things here then go take care of Rizalder, I believe in you...” Nopony told her, looking at the others. “You all have an equally important stake and part in this, so don't give up now.”

With that he charged at the nearly-arrived crowd, shouting as loud as he could at them, “Remember me you demons?! Remember how much chaos I caused you all!? Wasn't it enough for you sick ponies to have me captured and tortured for countless millennia? Come and get me; I'm all yours!” He charged directly at the crowd, leaping into the midst of them.

Fluttershy, Luna and the Cutie Mark Crusaders struggled into the forest, hearing the angry yells and screams as the crowd tore the hero pony into shreds, ending his life once and for all. After struggling farther into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy, with tears in her eyes, managed to find the hidden entrance to the tree they once hid in weeks prior.

“Was that a friend of y-yours?” Luna asked, wincing softly from the pain she was in.

“Yes...” Fluttershy replied, offering no more on the matter. “How long until you think you'll b-be ready to go?”

“I just need some rest is all. I should be fine by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Just in time to help us put the finishing touches on our show!” Scootaloo cheered.

Spike lowered his head, remembering what Fluttershy told him about the show, “W-we still need to put the gasoline around town, don't we?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “But how can we when all those ponies are about town?”

“In the day, that's when they sleep inside,” Spike told her.

“So like vampire ponies right?” Applebloom asked.

“I suppose if that's how you want to look at them. That's like the only thing they have in common though.”

“Ok, so Fluttershy, Spike, the girls and I will go pour the gas from the train station the second morning hits. Luna, you stay here and sleep, but the second you wake up, if it's nighttime go to the train station to meet Fluttershy. If not, help us finish pouring the rest quickly. If any of them wakes up, we'll have to be careful. Remember to line the streets and get every building at least a little bit so they'll all burn. Everypony understand the plan?”

Each nodded but Luna raised her hoof a bit, “I suggest we make a small stockpile of explosives at Carousel Boutique; for that place must be leveled.”

Applebloom immediately asked, “What do ya mean leveled? What's so bad about that place compared to the rest?”

Luna pulled the papers and diary from her mane and spread them out in front of everyone. The papers showed numerous designs of clothing, capable of preparing an army of fashionable soldiers for certain domination. The book, Luna explained, talked about the statues in the secret room of the building along with plans to infuse the statues with the life each one of the ponies stole from the residents of Ponyville.

“To be short about this, th-they have an army and it will be armed to the hoof. That army will be composed of the souls of all the ponies we know and loved except they’ll have made them into their slaves... Either that b-boutique is destroyed, or our chances of reclaiming anypony are gone!” Luna told them, desperation and weakness filling her voice before she began swaying, falling to the floor unconscious.

End Chapter 6