It had been some time since she’d witnessed the deaths of her friends, long enough that Fluttershy finally had no more tears to cry.

Eyes stained red with tears looked blearily around the room that she was still stuck in, yet found no way of getting out.

“H-hello?” she called out uselessly, voice faded and weak.

There was no reply.

Fluttershy got slowly to her hooves, legs trembling from the trauma-induced shock she was still experiencing. She needed to get out of here, escape and tell the princesses that her friends...

Scenes of her friends being murdered and mauled flashed across her mind’s eye, forcing her back to the ground with another round of grieving. Newly discovered tears dripped from her eyes as sobs wracked her body again.

She couldn’t go on like this, maybe a braver pony like Rainbow Dash or Applejack could, but they were...were...

Fluttershy couldn't bring herself to continue on that train of thought.

Through her sobbing, Fluttershy could have sworn that she heard something muffled come from in front of her, to the back of the room. Her ears perked up, zeroing in on the noise, and although her sobs came to a halt, her eyes maintained the visage of twin waterfalls.

Without her sobbing adding to the noise, she was certain that she could hear something coming from the other side of the wall in front of her. Getting up, she moved cautiously forwards again, placing an ear up against the wall when she was close enough.

Was that...hoofsteps and muffled voices that she...

The wall dropped down, showing itself to be a door, revealing two Equestrian Royal Guardsponies, both unicorns.

“Freeze! Equestrian Royal Guard!” the one to Fluttershy’s right yelled, his horn alight with a spell and his face a vicious snarl.

Fluttershy leapt back with a scream, startled and scared witless, a yellow puddle growing between her hind hooves.

“Wait!” the unicorn to Fluttershy’s left exclaimed before his partner could fry Fluttershy, “That’s Fluttershy, she’s one of the elements,” turning back down a hallway, the unicorn called out, “Sir! We’ve found one, she’s alive!”

Upon realizing who they had found, the first guard relaxed, spell and snarl fading.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, calming his voice and approaching the startled mare, “What happened here? Do you know where any of the other elements are?”

“I...they’re...” Fluttershy struggled with her words as she tried to slow her racing heart, embarrassed at her lack of bladder control, “...they’re a-all d-d...” she couldn’t bring herself to spit out the word, her body quaking with held back sobs which she finally released again, “They’re all dead!” she cried, collapsing against the guard and crying into his shoulder.

Not sure entirely what to do when a pony started crying into your shoulder, something guard training had neglected to teach him, the guard awkwardly put a hoof against Fluttershy’s back. He glanced back to see Captain Shining Armor standing down the hallway, frozen.

‘Dead?’ Armor mouthed silently, looking as if he was no longer certain what to do.

Giving the crying Fluttershy a few comforting pats on the back, the guard turned to his partner, mouthing, ‘Sleeping spell,’ and jerking his head towards Fluttershy.

His partner nodded, coming in close and charging up a spell. When charged, he tapped his horn against Fluttershy’s head, sending her into an instant, dreamless slumber.
______________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy’s eyes flapped open as awareness came back to her, a gentle beeping of a heart monitor in her ear.

“Ah, there she is,” said the kind voice of a doctor as he drew the smelling salts away from his patient, “How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy,” Fluttershy replied truthfully, putting a hoof to her head, “Wha...what happened? Where am I?” Fluttershy asked, mind confuzzled as she looked around. It was a hospital, no doubt.

The walls, tiles, ceiling, and almost everything else was a pristine and clean white, while the privacy curtains and gown she wore were a lightish green. The doctor, a unicorn, was a similar green color with a mane the color of the walls and flooring.

“Canterlot, at one of our primary care facilities,” the doctor replied, still keeping up a suspiciously facade feeling cheeriness, “Now, there are some questions that I have to ask you. I need you to remain calm and try to answer these questions with clarity, it’s very important that we find out what happened, okay?”

“O-okay, I guess,” Fluttershy said, looking around as she sat up, “But where are my friends...” she trailed off as memories began to flood her mind with images and feelings.

“Well, actually, that’s what we were going to ask you about,” the doctor said, frowning a bit at Fluttershy’s suddenly glazed-over expression, “Do you know what happened to them?”

“No...”

“No?” the doctor inquired, “Do you not remember...”

“No, they...they can’t be dead!” Fluttershy said, the doctor’s words having fallen on deaf ears, “They can’t be! N-not my friends...they can’t be dead. They were j-just hurt...real bad, R-Rainbow Dash a-and Rarity...” Fluttershy trailed off, quivering like a leaf. The constant bleeps of the heart monitor began to speed up.

“Fluttershy,” the doctor tried again with a firmer voice, the cheeriness fading a tad, “Who...attacked you and your friends? Who did this to you? Do you know any possible reason why? A motive, perhaps?”

“Wh-what?” Fluttershy asked, turning to the doctor, “N-no, I don’t know! B-but my friends...they...you can fix them up, can’t you? Can’t you?!” Fluttershy pleaded, eyes now shedding a payload of fresh tears.

“I...” the doctor began, choosing his next words carefully.

The unicorn had read the report of what had been discovered. A large, underground maze filled with a series of ‘tests’ for each of the elements, besides Fluttershy so it seemed. The bodies of two of the elements have been found, one cut in half and the other an unrecognizable mess of acid burns. The other three had not been found, though a massive explosion in a final chamber, along with the trail of notes, led the group to believe that those three had been in the epicenter of the explosion. The quick once-over done by the team had turned up nothing in terms of evidence as to who...or what...had done this.

“...I’ll see what I can...” the doctor began.

The door to the room burst open with the suddenness of an atomic bomb, ending the doctor’s speech. Three Royal Guards, two unicorns and one a pegasus all in full armor, rushed through the door looking ready to fight, and win, a war.

“Hey, what!?” the doctor exclaimed, turning rapidly, “What’s going on here?”

“Outta the way!” one of the unicorns growled, sending the doctor skidding across the room with a quick telekinetic shove.

“Fluttershy!” the second unicorn said, ready to zap her with a combat spell, “You’re under arrest for the murder of your fellow elements of harmony! Come quietly or we’ll be forced to restrain you with force!”

Having been startled by their entrance, Fluttershy now stood stock-still in fright on her hospital bed. Fear and confusion competed for dominance over her face, she felt her bladder release again.

“What!? M-murder of...my...my,” Fluttershy began, eyes wide and voice shrill with terror, “B-but they’re gonna be okay, they’re gonna make it!”

“Lie down on you belly and place your forehooves over your head, spread your wings to your sides! Now!” the unicorn retorted with a yell.

“But I didn’t hurt my friends!” Fluttershy replied, panicking, “They’re...they’re gonna all be o-okay...”

Seeing as she wasn’t complying, the unicorn doing the yelling released the spell he had charged. A bolt of electricity, meant to temporarily stun enemies, zapped forth.

Unluckily for the caster, Fluttershy yelped with fright, leaping into the air and shooting off towards and off to the side of unicorn, intent on escaping through a window to his side of the room. The bolt passed, mere centimeters, harmlessly below her, hitting the wall and leaving a slight burn where it struck.

Unluckily for Fluttershy, the pegasus guard had expected this move and intercepted her en route.

The guard collided in midair with Fluttershy, sending both of them to the ground and leaving Fluttershy with the breath knocked out of her. Gasping for much needed air, she got to her hooves only to be pinned to the ground by the pegasus guard.

“No!” Fluttershy cried, tasting a few salty tears as they ran down her face and into her mouth, “I...I didn't do anything! I...” her cries were vanquished as the guard pinning her down put her into an iron chokehold, cutting off any further cries.

“Hit her with a knockout spell!” the pegasus yelled as Fluttershy began to flail around in his grip, frantically trying to escape.

The guard who had tried to zap her seconds earlier was up in her face in a split second, his horn aglow with arcane light. He tapped his horn to Fluttershy’s head and for the second time, she fell into an instant, dreamless slumber.
______________________________________________________________________________

‘We are being far too risky being so close to the princesses!’ Stirrups hissed to his partner in crime, the two sitting as a shadow overlooking the hospital.

‘Hush, we haven’t been seen in five millennia, even if the princesses do detect us, they shan’t remember our feel,’ Malum replied, ‘Besides, we are using deception essence to throw off our source. They will think that it is a mere spike coming from one of the statues in the statue garden.’

Malum shuddered at the thought of being displayed as some trophy of the princesses.

The duet of evil watched as well as felt as the guards came in to seize Fluttershy, the scene of chaos ensuing from this fueling a bit of their essence reserves.

‘Hm, I would have expected more hatred from the guards,’ Stirrups commented as the unconscious Fluttershy was restrained with a magic dampening yoke, her hooves being bound with hoofcuffs.

‘They are weak, like the gods they pray to,’ Malum sneered, ‘the pathetic creatures are uncertain if Fluttershy is truly to blame, they are just doing their job.’

The two watched as Fluttershy was carted off into a covered sky carriage waiting outside the hospital, drawing a small group of onlookers who pointed and muttered in confusion.

‘So may we go now?’ Stirrups asked as the carriage was flown away, off to a destination unknown.

‘Yes,’ Malum replied with a sick glee, ‘we must prepare for our takeover of this land. We have plenty of power now, enough to revert back to how we were before our imprisonment in that accursed sphere!’

‘And enough power to...’ Stirrups began, uncertain if he should continue.

‘We shall see if another essence is shown to us as it was before, but come. First we must find a place of relative seclusion to begin our transformation!’

Author's Note

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It's back and better than ever! (even though I more or less just pulled this outta my ass). We finally begin to near the conclusion of this grand story. How will Fluttershy prove her innocence and stop Spiritus Malum?

...or will she? Will Equestria fall and shall a new age of evil come hither upon the land?

Just know...that not all stories have to have happy endings!