The Heart's Shell

“Now. If we are going to learn this song before the three days are up, we need to be punctual and organised. I think its best we stay at my place until we learn the piece off by heart” Fluttershy said.

Fluttershy was the fortunate one to find out what the song was. It was obvious the whole time. The lullaby that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came up with was perfect.

“Um, Fluttershy” Applejack interrupted, putting her hoof up in the air.

“Yes Applejack” Fluttershy responded.

“I don’t exactly know how to read music”

“Ooh, mine is different from yours!” Pinkie Pie replied, comparing her sheet music to Applejack’s.

“I thought it would be nice if I added extra harmonies for every pony to sing to” Fluttershy replied back.

“Do you really think it’s necessary for us to stay at your cottage for three days learning this song?” Rarity asked.

“I’ve been on a choir camp before when I was a filly. I guess it’s similar to this. Besides, Little Dashie/Tanky is a short lullaby even with the extra verses included” Fluttershy replied.

“Ok, well why don’t you sing us the lullaby for us?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy perked up when she heard that.

“Why of course!” Fluttershy responded.

After  she sang it, the ponies applauded happily.

“Now that’s just my part, you guys have your own parts to learn too. I’d think it would be pretty special if we did that” she said. The mares looked at their music for a while. But they only started rehearsing when it became dark. Fluttershy had fun trying to teach them the music, including Applejack who had no idea how to read sheet music. They started rehearsing at 7:30 PM, it was late even for them, but they knew that they had to learn the music, for Tank’s sake.

When it was 10:00PM, the rest of the mares started getting tired. Fluttershy had laid sleeping bags in the living room and one on her couch for her. She made it like a sleepover at her cottage, which she hadn’t had since the day Rainbow Dash visited Ponyville before she moved there.

“You know, Fluttershy, you really don’t have to do this” Twilight said getting into her sleeping bag. Fluttershy flinched after she zoned out for a second.

“But it was the least I could do. We’re all doing this for Rainbow Dash’s sake after all. I sure hope she’s ok in there, she hasn’t come out yet” Fluttershy suddenly replied.

“We all want her to be ok, sugarcube” Applejack responded “She is the bravest pony I know. She tries to be anyway. She’s probably fine”

“But why did this have to be a mission she does herself? Why couldn’t we have come with her? To support her?” Twilight asked. That question made the ponies depressed again.

“Well, I need to get my beauty sleep. Thanks for letting us sleep over, darling” Rarity yawned putting on her sleeping mask.

“Me too. I’m exhausted from all of the singing” Twilight replied. The rest of the mares climbed into bed as Fluttershy shut off the light.

“Good night girls” she said.

“Good night, Fluttershy” was her response.

Fluttershy was running around the meadow when she spotted Rainbow Dash in her vision. She was so happy she ran towards her friend, only to run through her. As she did that, she fell through the ground and was surrounded by pictures of Tank. She was basically floating.

“You did this” a voice echoed from above the hole. Fluttershy looked up to see who it was, she had no idea.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Fluttershy, you did this to me” the voice repeated. Fluttershy then recognised the voice. It was Rainbow Dash.

“What are you talking about?” Fluttershy asked.

“You know. If only you hadn’t told me that Tank was going to hibernate, then none of this would’ve happened. You have destroyed Equestria!” Rainbow replied as she suddenly appeared in front of Fluttershy. Her eyes were closed in anger.

“But it’s not my fault. Even if I didn’t tell you, some pony else would have!” the yellow mare replied.

“Not only that, but you have killed your friend. You have killed me!” Rainbow responded, her eyes were different. The whites of her eyes were red, her magenta eyes were white and there was no reflection in the pupils.

“No, I didn’t. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Not to you! You’re my best friend. I only did what needed to be done!”

“When can you stop lying to me?” Rainbow angrily shouted as she attacked Fluttershy.

“NO!” Fluttershy woke up from her nightmare heavily panting. She looked around, everything was still the same. She took a deep breath and went towards the window. She couldn’t get back to sleep. She needed somepony to talk to. But she didn’t want to wake up any of her friends. Then she knew exactly who to go to.

Rainbow Dash had finished getting all of the gems. These were the gems that would help her defeat her demon foal once and for all. But there was still one problem; the caves were huge, there were tunnels everywhere. Before it was just one straight tunnel, but now there were tunnels even on the ceiling.

She took a deep breath and looked at Tank. He had calmed down a little. He still had a fever, but all of the realms were cold as ice so he could cool down a bit even though he was cold blooded. She wondered why her friends had their own realms. Maybe because they were the elements of harmony. She then worried what hers would look like and how powerful she would be.

“Where would I even start?” she asked herself before taking Tank out of her bag. “Don’t worry Tank; I will solve this problem once and for all. It’s a promise”

“Hi there! You look lost!” a mare replied right in front of Rainbow Dash. She jumped and moved back a bit, accidentally dropping Tank on the ground. The mare in question was flying upside down but turned the right way around as she landed back on the ground. She was blue Pegasus with a light purple mane and a blue lightning bolt on top of a purple lightning bolt as her cutiemark. She was laughing hysterically.

“Oh man, you should’ve seen the look on your face!” she giggled.

“What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?” Rainbow yelled. She picked up Tank and hoped he wasn’t injured. But luckily, he still had enough strength to hide in his shell quickly.

“Whoa, chill man. I just wanted to greet you that’s all. I don’t see other actual ponies come through here often. In fact, you’re the first one I’ve seen come through here!” the mare replied.

“So what are you doing in this dark cave anyway?” Rainbow asked, putting Tank back in her bag.

“My name is Blue Streak” the mare replied. She held up her hoof for a shake. “I’ve been living in these caves for as long as I can remember. And you?”

‘Blue Streak, where have I heard that name before?’ Rainbow thought to herself.

“I’m Rainbow Dash. I’m in here…to kill my demon foal” Blue Streak stood there in silence.

“Why are you doing that? I’m practically friends with all of the demon foals here”

“Why are you friends with figments of young fillies’ saddest memories?”

“They talk a lot, so I know a lot about them”

“Only of their saddest moment and before then. They don’t even have the power to let go of the past, let alone remembering the present”

“Oh well, it’s a good conversation starter” Rainbow Dash looked confused and annoyed at the same time.

‘This mare is weird’ she thought.

“And because I know all of the demon foals, I’ll be able to help you find yours. Do you know why your demon foal was created?” Rainbow then reacted quickly to the topic.

“Oh, it actually happened last month. I tried to stop my tortoise Tank from hibernating and then it appeared because of my grief for Tank” she presented Tank to Blue Streak.

“Aww. You have a pet tortoise! He’s so cute!” she replied, squeezing his sickly cheeks.

“I wouldn’t touch him if I were you. He’s sick”

“Oh, that’s a shame”

“Actually, that’s partially why I’m here. My demon foal was powerful enough to curse Tank with an illness”

“Why? And how?” Blue Streak was now intrigued.

“My demon foal is very powerful. The princesses told me because it was created last month and was a mare, it had enough power to interact with the present time and her creator via a watch. She said through the watch that I could bring Tank back from hibernation. But it came with a price, the watch said that Tank only had 3 days left to live unless I kill my demon foal first”

“That’s terrible! There is only one demon foal in these entire caves that is a full grown mare”

“My demon foal?”

“Iris is your demon foal?”

“Iris?”

“She’s the queen of the demon foals”

“Queen?”

“Yes. She was only created a month ago I hear, but she has enough power to rule over this cave. It actually makes more sense because all of the demon foals have Latin names to the English. So English for Iris is Rainbow. I have no idea what she is planning, but I suspect it can’t be good”

“You still didn’t tell me how you got here” Rainbow interrupted. Blue Streak thought about it for a while but nothing came to mind.

“I actually can’t remember” was her answer. “I guess I just appeared in these caves with no reason at all”

“So you don’t know where you lived?”

“I have heard from the demon foals that there is a place called Equestria. Maybe I’m from there”

“Where in Equestria?”

“I don’t know that much I’m afraid. All I know is that I live here now” Rainbow Dash was thinking about something, then she had an idea.

“I’ve got it! How about after I’ve defeated my demon foal, you can come live in Ponyville with me”

“Ponyville?”

“Yes. I have six awesome friends to introduce you to. One of them is a dragon”

“A dragon?”

“You do know what a dragon is right?”

“Yes actually, one of the demon foals told me about one with lots of description. Apparently they’re creatures that breathe fire. You’re friends with one of them?”

“It’s ok though, he’s only a baby dragon. He’s smaller than me. His name is Spike”

“That’s so cool! And who are your other friends?” Rainbow Dash was taken back to yesterday when she sadly had to say goodbye to her friends. She started to tear up again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset. If it bothers you, I won’t ask”

“No, of course not. I’ll tell you all about my friends. First there’s Fluttershy. I’ve been friends with her since flight school. Her cutiemark is 3 butterflies and her talent is communicating to animals. She’s a really nice pony though she can be shy to new ponies, she used to anyway.

‘Then there is Twilight Sparkle, she is an egghead. She’s actually an Alicorn princess. She is crazy good at magic, that’s what her special talent is, included with a star as her cutiemark. She knows almost anything about magic, it’s insane.

‘Then there is Rarity. She’s a unicorn who is a fashion designer. She designed our dresses for the grand galloping gala one year. Her cutiemark is three blue gems.

‘Applejack is awesome. She’s a farm pony who looks out for her family. And now I realise the secret she had kept from me. She’s good at bucking apples from trees. She obviously has three apples as her cutiemark.

‘Lastly there’s Pinkie Pie. You’re actually a bit like her. She’s really hyperactive and random. Her talent is making other ponies smile and planning parties; hence the three balloons on her flank. And don’t get me started on how many times she breaks the laws of physics! But you should not get on her dark side, that happened to me once and it did not end well”

“Wow, that’s a lot to take in. but your friends sound really cool. How do you stay best friends even though you’re interested in different things?”

“You see; we were bearers of the elements of harmony. They were really powerful objects that could defeat any villain we came across. But about six months ago, we had to give them up to save the tree of harmony. Then we all found our special keys and unlocked a rainbow power. Then the castle and Twilight’s new home was born. Though we don’t hold the physical elements of harmony anymore, we’re called upon this map in the castle to solve friendship problems. The first one we all had was intense! Our cutie marks were taken away by a crazy pony and replaced with equal signs and so was everypony elses!”

“You fight monsters and help spread friendship together? That is so cool! Now I really can’t wait to meet your friends. Maybe I can become an element of harmony”

“It doesn’t really work that way, but if it helps, I’m the element of loyalty”

“I can tell, you worry about your friends, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash just sighed. “I’m sorry”

“That’s ok. As soon as I defeat Iris, the quicker we can get out of here”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. She’s pretty powerful, even more powerful than an alicorn”

“I’m not too worried about that, I have these gems to stop her” Rainbow showed her the gem bracelet on her hoof.

“Oh, I see you captured Scintillat, Pupillam, Lapis, Parte and Papilio”

“Who?”

“Sparkle, Apple, Gem, Party and Butterfly”

“Oh, you mean Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy’s demon foals”

“Yes. That’s what I meant”