Shiny Brown
Rarity was almost in heaven. The decor and menu of La Licorne Affamée made her forget about her mundane worries. She liked the tasteful gold and green colors of the floors and tables. Even the wait staff was impeccable. Attentive but not too annoying. At your side in a flash, when needed. Well, there were just a few nitpicks, she couldn't go every day and the food, though very tasty, was also expensive. This place would be great for that special occasion or friend. At least it wasn't like that horrid Hayburger's.
She grimaced. Most of her friends agreed that place was just terrible. The stink of old oil and hay fries made her nose itch. There seemed to be a foal or foals crying somewhere even if she couldn't see any. She thanked her lucky stars only Twilight and Applejack liked the place. Well, Applejack tolerated it because the menu had mostly cheap items. Rainbow Dash just got things from the fly-through window. A few steps in was the closest she got to the place.
Princess Twilight Sparkle on the other hoof... She just loved the stuff. In fact, after a few bites of a hayburger or some fries, Fluttershy saw Twilight's pupils dilate. Then the worst thing happened. Food would just fly over the place. Poor Fluttershy, she ended up being showered by half chewed fries and other bits of food. Even thinking about Fluttershy's plight made a chill race down Rarity's back. Twilight was a darling friend, but Rarity was lucky she wasn't there. Even mentioning Hayburger's was enough to make Fluttershy's tail and ears droop.
"Um, Rarity?" Fluttershy said.
Rarity came out of her depressing thoughts. She thought that she shouldn't taint her almost perfect experience with thoughts about terrible places. "Sorry, I was thinking."
"That scruffy unicorn stallion is trying to get your attention," Fluttershy said looking sideways.
"Really? I thought he would've given up by now," Rarity said then sighed. For some reason, she looked down. Almost instantly, she regretted it. There next to their table was a large brown water bug with some sort of grayish-brown mottling on its back. Her eyes widened.
She had been taught from filly-hood to abhor and kill roaches. Both of her parents who were usually easy going folks would quickly terminate any roach that dared to enter their home. Rarity could hear her mother's voice...
They were sitting in the kitchen. It was a cloudy day and cool gray light came in through the windows.
"Rarity, don't forget. Roaches come from dirty ponies. You're not a dirty pony? Right?" Rarity's mother said.
Rarity nodded. "Yes, mother. I'm not a dirty pony."
Her mother smiled. "Good. Now I'm going to teach you a telekinetic spell that will kill those little horrors. You won't have to chase them around like other ponies. Why? Roaches are fast and they catch on almost instantly that you're trying to kill them. They can't outrun thought! Focus and make a telekinetic burst that will deal with those things."
For an hour, they practiced on a wet sponge since they didn't have live targets. It made the most disgusting squishy noise when Rarity hit it with her magic. After striking the sponge extra hard so it squirted some dirty soapy water on the floor, her mother stopped the training exercise.
She came back to reality to see a yellow hoof crush the waterbug. The creature died with an overloud Crack! Then a brownish stinking liquid oozed out of the carcass. At first, Rarity was surprised then sickened by the dank swampy stench.
"Ah, yes, that is an unfortunate aspect of the Everfreeus Waterbugious. It was a fine specimen. I had hoped to study it while it was alive. Did you know that the warm winter has allowed many of these creatures to survive in the Everfree forest? Also, they’ll eat almost anything. This poor town, what was its name again? Ah, Ponyville. I hear this town is inundated with many fine specimens," The scruffy beige unicorn said.
Rarity looked at Fluttershy and was surprised to see a look of cold hatred on her face while she looked at the dead insect. Then she looked at Rarity, her expression was one of chagrin. "Sorry."
Rarity made a note to ask Fluttershy about this. She could tell there was an interesting tale. A moment later, she turned to the scruffy unicorn, but he was gone. A waitress swept in, and the offending dead creature was cleaned up, and taken away in a flash. Some of the swampy smell remained.
"He's right. Those things are everywhere," Fluttershy said.
Rarity heard a cold edge of hatred seep into Fluttershy's voice. On one hoof, she was secretly glad that Fluttershy shared her disdain for the disgusting creatures, but on the other hoof, Fluttershy's hatred seemed too extreme. For a moment, Rarity's imagination conjured up a frightening image.
It was of Fluttershy impaling waterbugs on pins and laughing while the poor creatures struggled to escape. Rarity refused to believe such thoughts. She knew Fluttershy. No way was her friend capable of torture. A quick and painless death was all the creatures deserved.
Another thought snuck into Rarity's mind. What if the telekinetic bursts didn't kill the creatures instantly? She had seen a few that waved their obscenely long antennae around even though their bodies were a brown paste. Rarity pushed the thought away and resolved to crush the head after the body was smashed.
"Rarity? We have to go soon. I have to check on the animals and do some more cleaning," Fluttershy said.
Rarity nodded and pulled her calculator from her saddlebags.
In a few moments, the bill was divvied up, paid for and goodbyes were said.
Rarity walked down the street and thought about how much work was left until closing. One dress needed some touch ups, and if there were no walk-ins, she had the rest of the day to work on more designs. New fashion designs didn't just come out of nowhere! Well, she did have some good ideas out of the blue, but maybe that was from some playing around she did earlier.
She opened the door to her home and got a surprise. Two of the foul creatures were in the hallway. Of course, they did that whole, "Let's pretend we're spots and she won't see us" roach trick. Rarity's eyes narrowed. She wasn't buying any of it. A quick blue flash lit up her horn and the first waterbug was smashed. A large puddle of brown water oozed from the dead creature. It was larger and it stunk worse than the one in the restaurant. Rarity wondered what these foul things ate.
The other waterbug realized that its friend was dead, skittered down the hallway, and took a left turn to the kitchen before Rarity could cast another telekinetic burst.
She had to admit, it had been a long time since any foul roach had the nerve to show its face in her home. This other one is going to regret visiting, Rarity thought as she raced around the corner to the kitchen.
There it was, standing in the sunlight. Its wing covers opened and Rarity snarled. "You won't escape me now!" A moment later, there was a crunch and a small puddle formed on her kitchen floor. The stench was impressive, but her rage kept her going...
An hour later, Rarity was going over some designs. The foul invaders were just a fading memory. Then somepony knocked on her door. Each of her friends had a different way of knocking. These knocks were hesitant which meant that Fluttershy was on the other side of the door.
Rarity walked to her door and opened it. Fluttershy stood there patiently. "Um, Rarity, can we talk? I promise to make it short."
Rarity smiled. "For you, Fluttershy, I have the rest of the day and evening. We may have to break for dinner."
Fluttershy smiled and walked in.
Rarity led her to the living room and into a tasteful comfy chair. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"
Again Fluttershy smiled. "Can I have some water?"
"Sparkling or plain?"
Fluttershy laughed. "Plain please, I don't want to burp."
Rarity laughed and got the water. She placed the tall glass on a white plastic coaster in front of Fluttershy.
She took a sip. "I want to apologize for how I acted earlier today. There's been something that I've been struggling with for years." Fluttershy gazed at the floor like her next words were written there.
Rarity began to worry that there was something on the floor. Maybe it was another one of those foul water bug things?
Fluttershy started. At first, the words came in chunks before the flow smoothed out. "I told you and our friends that I lived in Cloudsdale when I was young. That wasn't totally true. I was actually born in Trottingham. I don't remember my parents. Guess that they lived long enough to give me and my brother our names."
Rarity's eyes widened.
"Yes, Rarity, I had another brother. Zephyr was my adoptive brother. My blood brother’s name was Bright Pinion. He had an orange coat and a red mane and tail. His personality, well, it was kinda brash like Rainbow Dash but with more tact. He liked other ponies, and they liked him like Pinkie Pie, but he was calmer and less manic. Bright was definitely less slouchy than Zephyr."
Rarity nodded. "Bright sounds like a fine gentlestallion."
Fluttershy looked at Rarity.
Rarity thought she saw the glitter of tears in her friend's eyes.
"Yes, he had a kind word for everypony. That's why they loved him at the orphanage. He was one of the reasons why my time there wasn't totally sad." Fluttershy took a large breath and continued.
"We were in the orphanage because our parents died, and we had no relatives that could take care of us.
Because our parents were poor, we were sent to an orphanage in a section called Totterdark. The buildings were old and didn't rise from the ground in a straight line. No, they were crooked and gnarled like starving ponies huddling together sharing body heat during a frigid winter. A lot of the alleys were either dark or very dim during the daytime and lit fitfully during the night.
Luckily for us, we never had to go outside at nighttime. Say what you will about Ponyville, at least the poorest parts got as much sun as the richest parts.
Our orphanage was called Minimare Refuge. It was run by an earth pony mare called Bare Minimum and her earth pony husband, Handy Hooves. Just like her name, most of the time, we got the bare minimum. Sometimes we got a bit more. Food and water we got a bit more than the minimum. Love, well, that sometimes varied from the minimum to a bit more.
Rarity, you would cry if you saw our rooms. Bare plaster walls and old wooden cots. They were old, but not so badly maintained they were splintery. Like I said, it was bad but they never let it get worse. We, the children, quickly learned how to take care of each other. My brother worked hard to keep morale up. We did go to school. I won't talk too much about that, it was just school."
Fluttershy stopped and sighed. "There were things that were good about my time at the orphanage. We had a library down the block. Bright found it first and then told me. It did take me several weeks before I finally checked it out. A good book can be a wonderful refuge during sad times.
Another thing was the park. I don't remember its name. Unlike the buildings, it was in an area that got some sunshine. We would play in the golden warmth until the sun got blocked by buildings and the area went back to being dim and cold. The park wasn't empty, a bunch of ponies who lived in the area sat there and then there were the poor fillies and foals who went to the other orphanage.
The other orphanage, I forgot its name was run by bit pinching ponies.Oh yeah, it was called 'Sheltering Hooves' They didn't have a lot of food or even water. Don't even ask about love. Some ponies from our orphanage saved their food to give to the ones from the Sheltering Hooves. I learned that no matter how you think things are bad, there are others who have it worse."
Rarity's eyes stung, she managed to blink back the tears. Her poor friend had such a terrible foal-hood.
Fluttershy gazed at Rarity. "Please, don't feel sorry for me. This was in the past and things are much better now. Anyway, I said that Bright had an, um, bright side. He also had a contemplative side too. We used to play a game called, 'The Hundred Silences,' it was his idea.
"Flutters, do you know that the world talks to us in many voices?" Bright said.
"No," I said.
"Let's play The Hundred Silences. Basically, you count what happens between periods of silence."
"Um, wait. How did you come up with this cool idea?" I said.
He just smiled.
We would go to one of the unused rooms and just listen. At first, I would hear what was in the room. Sounds of breathing and movement. Then as I listened, I would hear what was going on in the building. Then I would hear more from the buildings around our building. A feeling of expectation grew in my heart. Something wonderful was going to be revealed. I started to get scared. What if whatever I heard was something terrible? Fear would grow and grow until I gave up listening.
I didn't play for a while until a strange thing happened. And then more strange things happened," Fluttershy said then faced the floor again.
Rarity waited for a few moments. "Fluttershy, if this is too much, you can deal with this later."
Fluttershy looked back at Rarity. "I have to do it. You know what they say, a sorrow shared is a burden halved.”
"We were playing in the park and then Bright tapped me.”
"Do you see that unicorn stallion over there? Wait, don't look at him directly."
I took a quick peek at him and looked at something else. The strange pony was larger than normal ponies. His white coat was unkempt and his faded red mane and tail didn't look any better. Something about his red eyes gave me a chill. For some reason, he had a waterbug cutie mark. All of this was making me nervous. "Bright, let's go back to Minimare.”
Bright shook his head. "He makes me feel funny, but let's not be so obvious. Let's play and slowly head back to Handy. Then we’ll tell him and this will get sorted out."
The trip back to Handy felt like hours, but we made it. Handy wasn't the most affectionate pony, but he did care enough that we were somewhat comfortable.
"Mr. Handy, that white coated unicorn is looking at us funny," Bright whispered.
"Now you notice? I've got my eye on that colt cuddler for several weeks. His red peepers are on you, Bright. He ignores the other fillies and just watches you. Be ready to take the others back in case he has friends, although I doubt it. I'm gonna sort 'im out," Handy said then his eyes narrowed. We watched as the brown earth pony with the black mane and tail crossed the park.
I wondered if Handy would be able to deal with the larger unicorn. Well, Handy stuck his muzzle in the strange pony's face. Words were exchanged and the unicorn left. It would've been a sweet victory, but then he faced us. For a moment, his eyes blazed redly then he turned away."
Rarity faced Fluttershy. "I must say, I don't trust that unicorn."
Fluttershy just nodded and smiled sadly. "The next few weeks were normal. Then on Monday, I awoke from a nightmare about swarming water bugs biting me with a squeal. I looked across the dark bedroom filled with the fitful snores of the other children at my brother's bed. It was empty. No problem, maybe he went to the bathroom? An aching void in my heart felt otherwise. I didn't want to think that I would never see my brother again.
To get my mind off of my fears, I thought about the dream. Roaches were no big deal here. Bare did the minimum to keep them in check. We tried to keep things clean, but there was alway something crawling on the walls somewhere. Sometimes roaches got into our food too. Too often. We just got used to them and just ate."
Rarity's stomach churned at the idea of eating filthy disgusting roaches. Then she thought about how lucky she was.
Fluttershy continued. "I kept a vigil from my bed watching my brother's. He didn't come back. When it was time to get up, there were a lot of questions. None of them were good. We all knew he didn't get adopted. Visitors were rare and when they came by, it was like being visited by the Princesses. Lots of to do and bother. Of course, any visitor could see what type of place this was. No, he didn't get adopted.
Then they wondered if he ran away. Bright seemed happy. But he wouldn't just leave me here. I wondered what would happen to us without his kind and uplifting words.
When we trooped down to the dining room, there was more bad news. Handy had fallen during the night and broken both of his forelegs. That meant that nothing would get fixed and food and water was going to be reduced to pay hospital bills. I began to worry. The disappearance of my brother, Handy's accident, and the strange dream felt like they were related. How so? I didn't know.
Bare told me she was going to talk to the city guard. She did say that I shouldn't get my hopes up. Well, they were pretty low. Bright had told me stories about how bad the guard was. I tried hard to push my sadness down, but it just drained the light out of the day.
Somehow, Bare took us to the park, she wheezed until she got to sit down. Again, another worry hit me. Would she go to the park tomorrow? The other ponies tried to play, but it was halfheartedly. Bright would be everywhere, giving suggestions and making games big or small better. Then I saw him, the scruffy white unicorn with the red eyes.
I didn't know what to say or do, but I trotted toward him. He didn't even look at me. Then I heard the voice.
"So, he's here. On the world with the sentient mini horses. Come others, let's get him before he gets away again."
I looked around, there was no ponies or other creatures near me or the white coated unicorn. He was staring at some other colt. I lost my nerve. Maybe I didn't hear the voice. Maybe I'm going nuts. I went back to Bare. After a while, the unicorn left. The rest of the day and night was an unrelenting ache as I wished for my brother to return. The rest of the children missed him too, and they were quiet as they also dealt with his loss.
Morning came and I faced it with red eyes and tear stained fur. All that crying and I still hurt. After breakfast, I went upstairs to do something. While I sat there in the dusty room, my mind brought up the game. He had made it, maybe I should play one more time to celebrate his memory. I started to listen.
Again, I heard the voice from the park. Maybe I was listening to stuff there? This time, I could feel more.
"Others! We must work together and we can get this monster! How many children from other species must suffer and die before we stop him?" I felt that this one was used to command.
A tired voice answered. "I'm sorry that you died and failed. You have no right to drag us out of our rest to this world."
Several other voices said things, but I couldn't understand them.
The imperious voice replied. "I'm not capable of awakening the ones truly at peace. You're here because of anger. All of them that are here are angry and want revenge."
"Hmm. You have a good point. How are we going to do this when we are nothing but voices barely heard? We have no bodies," The tired voice said.
"We pool our powers and we can do miracles," The imperious voice said.
I didn't know why I decided to enter the conversation. "What are you talking about?"
Silence.
I listened and after a while, I stopped. After that, I never played the game again.
I don't know why, but I decided to go to the park with the other ponies and Bare. She wheezed less this time, or I didn't pay attention. I sat on the cold metal bench until I saw the unicorn again.
This time I wasn't going to stop, I was going to ask him what he did to my brother. How did I know he was responsible? I didn't. All I had was a nightmare about waterbugs. I got off my bench and made my way toward the unicorn.
"So you can hear me, us," The imperious voice said.
I nodded.
"You can call me Fx'a. That's not my full name, but you can't pronounce it anyway. I was an enforcer of laws on my world. This beast, this monster that you're approaching slowly was responsible for the disappearance of several children. I tried to destroy the dimensional gateway when the fiend tried to escape, but I was killed. The Beast escaped. I don't know why I'm here with others who have tried to stop this thing and failed."
I paused my slow trot. "How many are there?"
"Too many, at least by the ones that still want to stop the beast. Who knows how many gave up?" Fx'a said.
For a moment, I was overwhelmed. This white unicorn was some alien creature on a rampage through worlds. Why didn't anyone stop him before? "Fx'a, why didn't anyone stop him before?"
Fx'a sighed, or it was something that felt like a sigh.
How could something that was just a voice sigh? You need a body for that. Maybe?
"Many have tried, but they failed because Waterbug is lucky or has help. Please, little one, please help us," Fx'a said.
I shook my head. No way I could help them against a creature that has been traveling from world to world ruining children and their parent's lives. They needed a hero. I'm just a filly who lost her brother.
A sly self-confident voice spoke up. It was the type of voice a villain could have. "Tis not a job for a hero. Heros have tried and failed."
"So have thieves," Fx'a said.
The sly voice continued. "True but maybe the pole up the rear righteous ones needed some help. The one thing that we all agree on is our shared desire to see this Waterbug or whatever this thing is pay. There are others here that are darker than me. Anyway, little one, Waterbug has your brother. You can faff about or you can rescue him."
My heart leaped up in joy. I could see my brother again! A smile covered my face.
"Hyrixx is right, but time is short," Fx'a said.
I nodded. "I'll help you if you help me."
"Okay, now you should find a place to watch Waterbug until he leaves. We don't know where he lives exactly, but if you keep to the shadows you can follow him home without him knowing it," Hyrixx said.
I walked back to the bench and watched the other ponies play. For some reason, the adventure was making me feel excited. I should’ve been full of fear, but the prospect of seeing my brother again raised my spirits.
Finally, after a few hours, the sun left the park. By then, I was starting to get fearful again.
"Time to work my magic. Listen to me carefully, little one. If you box this up, you won't see your brother again," Hyrixx said.
Waterbug trotted off to the darker part of town, and I slunk in the shadows after him.
I didn't like it in the dark areas. Besides furtive ponies, there were other things. Cold and dark they were, but somehow the Dark Others that were with me kept us safe."
Rarity peered at Fluttershy. "Us?"
"Um, yeah, I was quite sure the voices were from real creatures. I sensed that the Dark Others hated me, but they hated Waterbug even more. So we slipped in and out of darkness to avoid Waterbug's red gaze. The sun had set for an hour before we finally were outside his home.
The crooked building was a looming dark shadow among other shadows. I began to worry that maybe I was too late, and Bright was no more but I pushed that thought back. We hid around the corner until Waterbug went inside. Then we waited some more until Hyrixx said it was safe.
I looked at the locked door. How was I supposed to open that?
"Don't worry, ain't no lock made that I can't open," Hyrixx said.
Then a sharp pain drove through my head.
"Wait! We need to bypass the security spells or we’ll be undone!" Fx'a said.
"Why the pain? Can't you say something?" I said. Then I saw the three floating red disks of magic above the lock. I didn't like what I saw, it seemed like there were wiggling letters in red. Like maggots in blood. After a few moments, the disks faded away.
"The wards have been bypassed. Now Hyrixx can pick the lock," Fx'a said.
A moment later, the lock clicked and I grabbed the door with my fore hooves and pulled. The door opened. I slipped in and closed it slowly and quietly.
Of course, if I had been smarter, I would've stopped. Should've stopped.
But I wanted to see my brother again.
It's amazing how one's wishes can be granted, but not in the way you expect."
Author's Note
Thanks to OConnerGT-R for help.
Ahead of me was a short hallway lit by a few faintly buzzing firefly lamps. I snuck down the hall.
"Look for a way downstairs. Lots of marks keep the good stuff downstairs," Hyrixx said.
"What if there's nothing there?" I had to ask.
"Well, little one, then we search upstairs," Hyrixx replied with a sneer.
I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it. Made me a bit angry. At the end of the hallway was an intersection, I chose the left one and was rewarded with a door that was slightly open.
Some pony was chanting downstairs. "Cruel and Merciless Shionar, grant me some of your powers."
I opened the door a bit more. There was a slight smell of rotten flesh wafting from below. Not for the first time, I would regret my decision to leave the park. Well, I just had to carefully go down the stairs. At every step, I expected the stairs to creak and expose me. Nothing happened, and I was at the bottom.
There was a door in front and one to the side. The rotting flesh smell came from the side door so that's the one I tried first."
Rarity grimaced. "I don't know if I could put up with such a stink."
Fluttershy nodded and continued. "Well, I just opened the door quickly and slipped in before anypony could see me. The smell was worse here. Not only was I smelling flesh, there were other things like a disgusting swampy smell and pony, um, droppings. I just stood for a second to let my eyes adjust. There was just one bright light ahead of me. I wished I just kept my eyes straight ahead, but I had to look to the side.
There were piles of bones to my left. The first pile was white and shiny. It didn't take me long to see what creature they belonged to. One look at the small colt skull and I knew. As I walked toward the greenish light, the piles of bone became more flesh and less bone. The last pile was just covered with water bugs. Across from them was a cage with a dead colt inside. Then it got up and looked at me.
"Wait! I know you! You're from Minimare! Please get me out of here! I don't want to end up like him." The colt looked at me then looked at the seething pile of insects."
Rarity looked at Fluttershy. "A dead colt talked to you?"
Fluttershy sighed. "I thought he was dead. I could see the poor thing's bones through its skin. It was just a poor starving colt from Sheltering Hooves. Even that terrible place was better than here. I looked at the cage, it didn't have a lock. I was about to say I couldn't open the door when it just opened. Hyrixx must have done something. For some reason, I was beginning to feel tired.
The colt looked at me. "How? How did you do that?"
I just shrugged. "Get out of here. Go up the stairs and head out. No delaying."
The colt ran past me with a clatter of hooves.
Only one more thing to do. For a moment, I thought about just getting out of here, but I had to know. I took a few unsteady steps to the pile of water bugs. Their bodies were brownish green under the lamp. I could just barely hear chewing noises. At first, I tried to brush them off so I could see the pony beneath.
The horrid creatures teased me with glimpses of orange fur in some places while others were just bone. I kept trying to push the things away so I could see more, but they began to crawl back like it was some sort of game. NO! It wasn't! SHOW ME MY BROTHER!
Foul things! I began to brush them off roughly then I moved to knocking them off and crushing the little horrors underhoof. The stink of fetid swamps arose as more and more of my brother was revealed. Well, I could see that these things had devoured most of my brother, and a great rage filled me.
I was going to make them pay! They must have known that playtime was over, and they began to bite. Then they swarmed me! The bites burned like they were putting some sort of venom in the wounds. More of the creatures covered me, and I started to worry for my life. I rolled around on the floor crushing hundreds, but more just flew on top of me with a whirr of brown wings. Just when I thought maybe it was over, they flew away from me.
"Well, it's the filly from the orphanage. How did you get in here?"
I looked up at Waterbug, it had a sour smell about him.
He stared down at me with his red eyes. "Well?"
I couldn't answer him.
He picked me up in a red telekinetic field and carried me into the other room. Then he tossed me on the floor like a bag of trash.
I tried to get up, but it seemed like my body was glued to the floor.
"Well, my little filly, tell me how you got here," Waterbug said.
No way was I going to talk about the voices. Then again, maybe if he thinks I'm crazy, he might give me a break. It was kinda weird that I haven't heard them in a while. I was truly alone. Well, I wanted to live so I begged for my life. "Please don't let those nasty bugs kill me. I-I won't say anything if you let me go."
The water bug chuckled. It was a mirthless sound. "Hmm, I could let you go. I have no interest in fillies, but you got through my magical wards. No normal pony could do that." He trotted up to me and did a deep sniff.
A chill raced down my back. Also, it was kinda gross. No pony does a deep sniff of strangers.
He stepped back, and his horn glowed like a small ember then it changed to a color like spilled blood. "I sense the influence of others on you. No matter. My master needs a sacrifice." Waterbug began to chant.
A cool breeze playfully touched the back of my neck. I really didn't want to turn around, but I had to. On my left and right were tables with things on them going back to a shadowy darkness. I guessed there was a wall, I didn't see it. The room seemed much larger than I expected.
Finally, I looked behind me. There were three ebony braziers where red flames grew and shrank almost randomly. I figured there would be some heat, but the flames were cold. Beyond them was a statue of a black male alicorn. Let's just say it was easy to see he was excited though his red eyes were colder than winter.
"Soon, soon, we shall have a playmate for you! Great and merciless Shionar, grant me the power of the dark alicorns of misery!" Waterbug cackled.
I wish that I could’ve taken a raincheck on this playdate. A blackness began to form in front of the braziers. It turned into a giant black shelled waterbug. Red flames danced around it. The foul creature was larger than Waterbug. How was I going to crush that with a forehoof?
I cringed and cursed myself for leaving the park again. I almost wanted to call some of the names of the voices to help me, but I managed to keep my mouth shut.
The bug whipped me with one of its antennae. There was a burning pain and oh Celestia! Was that burning fur and flesh I smell? My burning fur and flesh! I just ran to the right. The bug chased me. For some reason, it didn't climb on the tables and knock stuff off. It had to find the spaces between the tables just like I did. Some of the spaces were too small. I just galloped around and between tables.
After several minutes of galloping, I had to catch my breath. There was no sign of the bug or Waterbug. How big was this place? Was I in some sort of nightmare world? I just walked between some tables. My curiosity had been dampened a long time ago. The items on the tables ranged from things I didn't want to see to things I had no clue what I was looking at.
While I was walking down the aisles of the impossibly sized room, my nose caught the smell of pony mess. For some reason, I was compelled to find the source. “Gross."
Rarity picked up the empty water glass. "Do you want more water? I have to say, when I smell excrement, it's not going to end well."
Fluttershy nodded. "Um, yes, I want more water."
After a few moments, Rarity returned with the refilled glass.
Fluttershy took a few sips then she continued. "Well, I don't know what came over me. I just had to find out the source of the smell. I found it, somepony, probably Waterbug placed a golden statue of some pony that had ribbons for wings and a cloak for a face. I found that out after I pulled it out of the pit of crap."
Rarity exclaimed. "Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy smiled. "I don't know why I took some cloth off a table and tried to clean off the statue as best as I could. Then I left it on a table and trotted further down the aisle. So far, I saw no water bugs of any type. I was starting to think that maybe I could escape. Yeah, right.
The aisle ended at a strange machine that made my guts vibrate. You know like the bass speakers at one of Vinyl's parties?"
Rarity shook her head. "Not my type of music. I prefer something a bit more lyrical and less thumpy. Octavia's music is quite good."
Fluttershy nodded. "Well, this machine looked very strange. It had a flat area in the middle made of some sort of shiny reddish-brown metal. Around the edges were eight whitish columns.
Those grabbed my attention. You should've seen them Rarity. I said that they were whitish, but that wasn't the whole truth. I could see other colors mixed in with the white. Other colors I've never seen before. Colors I had no name for. Then I heard a whip crack and my plot burned!
The water bug had found me! I went inside the machine and hid behind the columns. The foul creature tried to whip me again, but it shattered one of the columns. Oh, the sound! It was so pretty, and somehow it was also sad like the death cry of some rare and beautiful animal.
Waterbug screamed. "What are you doing you stupid creature? It took me a lot of work to make those! Stop that at once!"
I smiled. Why? Well, even if Waterbug was going to do horrible unspeakable things to me, I had a way to hurt him. I took a breath to steady myself and then I turned and kicked one of the columns to pieces. Again, the pure sound happened. Also, the vibration in my stomach went to a lower key.
Waterbug screamed at me. "Stop that, filly, or you will regret it!"
I smashed another pillar. "You're going to feed me to your giant water bug, what do I care?" The next few minutes were a rage-filled blur as I smashed more of the strange pillars. The last one was the hardest because the vibration in my stomach was soooo painful. It was worse than any cramp I've ever had. Somehow, I managed to destroy the last one.
The pain was so bad I just lay on the floor of the machine. I looked up to see the demon water bug was also on the floor too. Its master also lay on the floor panting.
Strange colored sparks started flying from the top of the machine. One large one that smelled like cinnamon hit the water bug and the creature was gone. More sparks started spewing from the top of the machine.
I realized that I couldn't outrun them. Well, I couldn't even get up. The vibration was so bad I felt like somepony had driven a nail through my stomach into the bottom of the machine. I was going to die here. There was some comfort in that thought. I could be with my brother. Then again, I wanted to see the places that my books had shown me. Maybe there was a chance for me to get out of this alive?
Several sparks struck Waterbug and he screamed. For a moment, I felt sorry for him then I saw something strange. He changed from a pony to a strange creature with a pale skin and no hooves. I recognized what creature he was now. Human, he was a human. I found out about humans by reading Bulfinch's Mythology. To my surprise, he changed to another creature. I had no name for that one. More sparks hit him and he changed to other creatures. His last form was of some sort of creature with a lot of tentacles. Then he was gone.
The machine continued to spit out more sparks. I could see small multi-colored fires all over the place. If my life wasn't in danger, I would've called them pretty. It wouldn't take long for them to combine. For some reason, I hoped that the sparks would get me before I roasted or choked to death on smoke.
Well, I got my morbid wish. A greenish-red spark hit me and …."
Fluttershy stopped and looked at Rarity.
Rarity frowned. "So you're one of the trotting dead?"
Fluttershy smiled again. "Um, brains?"
Rarity looked at the clock.
Fluttershy nodded. "Sweetie Belle is going to be home soon. I better wrap this up." She looked around then continued. "I woke up in a white place. It wasn't like being in clouds, it was just a pure white. Maybe these are the Elysium Fields? Then I saw a bunch of silvery-white beings. The tallest one was some sort of creature with a lot of tentacles. It nodded at me and I just knew; that was Fx'a. A raccoon looking creature was next to Fx'a, that was Hyrixx. Behind them were more. These beings didn't say anything, but somehow, I knew they were grateful for my help. There was just one thing I needed to know.
"Um, Fx'a, why did you guys abandon me? I had to handle Waterbug all by myself."
Fx'a actually seemed to bow, I don't know how I knew. It faced me. "I am sorry but we couldn't help you, the magic from the dark horse statue with the wings and horn prevented us from helping you."
Hyrixx grimaced. "We thought that git has got you for sure, but then you found his machine and sorted it out. Without that machine, he can't escape."
Fx'a nodded. "When I finally stood face to face with Water Bug, he had a different name back then. Anyway, he summoned demons and commanded them to ignore me and ravage the surrounding city. I had to choose between my duty to the city and the children. I had to chase down all of the foul ones and when I was weak from exertion and blood loss, Waterbug slew me. Then he laughed and left my world."
Hyrixx grimaced. "I had snuck into his kip, um, home to free a friend's son. I was too late and wanted to sort im out. Well, he made me cut me own throat." He smiled. "Now, he's going to get his! Little one, I can tell you're not for the thieving life. No big deal. I can say you're the proper sort that many would be honored to call friend. I'd stay and jaw with you some more, but I want to move on."
I nodded. "Thanks, all of you."
Then they faded away.
After that, I heard the joyous voices of colts and children at play. Silvery children and colts ran past me. As they passed, I had a feeling who they were. One hung back and looked at me. At that moment, I knew who that was. My brother smiled and I felt his love and reassurance that everything would be alright then he faded away. I called out to him, but there was no reply.
Something tugged me gently into darkness. No, Rarity, it wasn't a fear-filled dark. It was what you see behind your eyes before you go to sleep after a day well done.
Then I woke up in a bed with a too soft mattress in a hospital in Coltentry. A nurse told me about what happened. Totterdark was consumed in a huge fire. Surprisingly, there were no casualties. I asked if there were any burn marks on me. The pain from the demon water bug's attacks was still very fresh. The nurse said she didn't see any burns. Of course, I asked about how I got to the hospital. She replied that a pensioner found me.
He had left a strange message for me. "The path of Kindness can be hard, but there are rewards for those that trot upon it."
Rarity peered at Fluttershy. "The path of Kindness? Well, I do have to say sometimes being an element of harmony is not all blue skies and sunshine."
Fluttershy nodded. "Yes. When I was older, I did a search for the pensioner. You know, that's what they call a retired pony in Great Braytain. He said that a strange pony with a cowl over its face and wings like glowing ribbons gave my unconscious body to him. The pony also passed on the saying about kindness."
Rarity looked at the clock and then back at Fluttershy. "Who was that pony or pony being?"
"I don't know. I planned to research it later, but I never got around to doing it. They moved me to another orphanage, but this was a good one and I was adopted within a few days. My new parents moved to Cloudsdale. You know the rest. Again, thank you Rarity for listening to my sad tale," Fluttershy said.
Rarity gazed at Fluttershy. "Do you miss your brother now?"
Fluttershy sighed. "Sometimes, but I know someday I’ll be with him."
"So are you planning to exterminate more of the foul creatures?" Rarity said.
Fluttershy shook her head. "After telling you this story, I realized where my hatred came from. No, I plan to turn them into bits."
Rarity peered at Fluttershy. "Foul roaches turned into bits? That would be an interesting spell to learn. I could go by that horrid Hayburger's and be the richest pony in town!"
Fluttershy and Rarity laughed.
Fluttershy giggled for a few more moments. "Um, no, it won't involve magic. That scruffy unicorn that was at the restaurant today has been saying he would pay bits for healthy water bugs. Also, the Boarkin company might want a few to study too."
Rarity waved her right forehoof around. "Waterbuggious Bittos." A golden glow covered her hoof.
That caused another round of laughs and giggles. "Well, Fluttershy darling, I wish you well."
Rarity smiled then the door banged open.
Sweetie Belle burst in with a hundred watt smile and a gallon jug filled with water bugs and some leaves. "Rarity and Fluttershy, look, we found these big bugs on the way home! Can I keep them?"
Rarity looked inside the bottle and saw water bugs crawling around in it.
Her eyes narrowed.
