Chapters Animals can be scary. But sometimes even the biggest, scariest, could-eat-a-pony-in-a-single-bite animals just need to be shown a little love. Most ponies just don't realize how far a genuine, heartfelt smile can go.
I hummed as I approached the edge of the Everfree Forest, carrying a bucket in my teeth. The twisted branches and strange magical nature of the forest used to frighten me, but living next to it has given me an understanding of it; I've found that the best way to conquer a fear of something is to understand it. And while the Everfree may be something I couldn't ever completely understand, I did know that the animals that inhabited it were just like any others.
I stopped short of the thickly-wooded border, a seemingly impenetrable wall of dark green and brown. The underbrush rustled as something large moved within, a hulking mass that anypony else would shy away from, just hearing it. And the brave few who might let their curiosity outweigh their sense of self-preservation would certainly have their minds changed by the sudden roar that followed, a guttural, angry sound that spoke directly to my instincts, a universal "Get away because I will hurt you" that any creature would understand. I understood quite well.
I didn't run.
Instead, I calmly set the bucket down and whistled. More sounds came, of bushes and vines snapping and being crushed, of branches cracking violently, of leaves shuddering. The creature burst out from the thick wall and onto the sunlit grass in front of me.
Its head, itself larger than a pony, was like that of a lion's, dusty yellow-orange and with a mouth full of teeth sharp enough to easily pierce bone. It had two white horns that curved up from between its ears. The mane surrounding its face was reddish-brown like loamy clay, and the hair was nearly as tangled and wild as the brush the creature had just come from. Its forelegs were as thick as tree trunks, somewhat stubby and ending in wide feline paws. Two dragonlike wings sprouted from its back. Its body was small, and its hind legs almost comically thin. Rising up from behind it was its segmented scorpion tail, making the back of the creature seem almost as dangerous as the front.
"Manny!" I said, beaming.
The manticore leaped over to me in one long bound and licked my face. I giggled and hugged him, my legs unable to fully encompass his neck. One tight squeeze later, I let go and pressed a gentle hoof on his chest, and he politely stepped back and sat down.
"Okay, Manny, I brought you lots of yummy fish and some nice healthy milk. Here you go."
I indicated the bucket with a hoof, and after a quick sniff, he stuffed his head into it, lapping up the fish and milk with his tongue. It was one of his favorite things to eat, and I always did my best to try to bring it to him every month.
I smiled as I watched him, keeping a polite distance. It was only a month after pulling the thorn from his paw that I had seen him again, in this very spot. He'd seemed extremely excited to see me, and when he ran out of the forest suddenly, I'd frozen in terror. There had been no malice in his body language, however, and I quickly recognized him. We played briefly before he returned to the forest, then a month later, I saw him again. Meeting him here became regular, then later, feeding him too.
Lost in the happy memory, my mind took several seconds to process what happened next. There was a sudden pop from my left. Manny tilted his head, confused, then he fell over sideways. I blinked as if that would clear up the confusing scene, but nothing changed or made sense. Time slowed. My breath felt heavy. Reality pulled away from me, and then I was watching through somepony else's eyes. The pony whose body I inhabited was Fluttershy in name and appearance, but for a confusing moment, I was so distant that we seemed to be two separate entities. She... no, I looked left. There were ponies there. One held a small hoofheld cannon with a long, smoking barrel.
My mind jarringly snapped back into my body, and I was bombarded with several emotions at once. Grief, rage, sorrow, regret, disbelief, confusion. They all fought to be expressed, and when I spoke, it was only a single word, awkward and useless.
"What..."
Time returned to its normal steady march, and a dirt-brown stallion with a black mane spoke from behind the gun-wielder. He looked oddly familiar...
"That's her! That's Fluttershy! Get her!" he yelled, pointing a hoof at me.
I wish I could say I fought. I want to say that I ran for help, or resisted, or even said something. But I didn't. I froze. My body just didn't respond, and they were on me. A blur of commotion, unheard commands, and being handled like a sack of apples. Then I was tied up, all four legs bound with rope. And the closest I came to fighting was squeaking out a single pathetic word.
"Manny...?"
The four stallions who had tied me moved on to Manny and began to bind him with rope, too.
"Whaddaya think we'll get fer this thing, boss?" one asked. His coat was a creamy off-white, and his mane short and green, like mown grass.
The brown stallion who had spoken before answered him. "Nothing, you imbecile. We don't have room for it. Let's just get what we came for and get out of here before we're seen." I noticed he had a somewhat heavy accent, possibly from Mexicolt.
I finally found my voice, but it came out in a quaking whimper. "What... what did you do to him?"
"Killed 'im good an' dead, we did," grass-mane said with a snicker.
"Oh, be quiet, Machete. He's just asleep. He'll wake up in a few hours," the one who had used the gun said. He was a small stallion, about my size, with a pale red coat and a mop of a brown mane, hanging down in strands. He indicated the gun with a hoof, which was presently sitting in the grass. "Tranquilizer gun. That dart was supposed to be for you. We need you alive, after all."
"Aw, yer no fun," Machete said as he tightened a knot on the ropes holding Manny.
I breathed a relieved sigh, and the pained tears that had been threatening to come retreated instead. My relief was strong enough that I didn't even care when Machete picked me up and began carrying me away. They left Manny tied up, but I knew he would easily chew and break his way through the ropes when he woke up. He'd be fine.
When my worry for my manticore friend faded, I finally began to fear for myself. These stallions seemed to have come for me, but I had no idea why. I didn't want to speak up and anger them, however, so I kept quiet.
After a short walk along the edge of the forest, we reached their odd transport machine. It was like a big carriage, except its wheels were on treads, a rare sight, but I knew they were sometimes used for managing rough terrain. It had a covered compartment in the front with a seat and levers. The back had a flat bed with a cage just big enough for a pony to fit in. I gulped as dread fell over me. The reality of the situation began to sink in.
Machete dumped me unceremoniously onto the flat metal bed and pushed me inside the cage, which seemed to be built right into the metal bed. I yelped in surprise as he loudly slammed the door. He locked it with a key that he immediately gave to the strangely familiar brown stallion.
"Good to go, Caballeron, sir," Machete said.
Caballeron! I knew I recognized him!
"Right. Courser! Start it up and let's get out of here."
"Aye-aye, boss," came a voice from inside the front compartment.
There was a sudden loud rumble as the machine came to life and vibrated beneath me. With a lurch that nearly caused me to hit my head on the metal bars, we were moving. Slowly at first, but then the stallions all hopped on and we quickly picked up speed, going faster than a full gallop. As we skirted the Everfree forest, I wondered and feared just what was in store for me.
In the hours that followed, I learned a lot about my captors. The five earth ponies were taking me to Ahuizotl's hideout.
The small, pale red stallion who had shot Manny was named Vanguard. As we'd turned to cut through part of the Everfree, he had run ahead to scout while we slowed to a careful crawl. He also had a pet lizard named Mona that he took with him when he went ahead.
The driver of the vehicle, Courser, had a Manehattan accent, and he had apparently been a taxipony for many years. He was lanky and old, and I got the impression that what had stopped him from running taxi carriages was his age.
Machete was a crude pony, but he was very loyal to Caballeron. As his name implied, he did indeed have a machete, and a cutie mark that matched it. The blade wasn't needed so far, but he did like to sharpen it and swing it around a lot. He seemed the merciless type to me.
The only one who hadn't yet spoken was named Oil Slick, and I hadn't been able to figure out just what his role was. He never replied when spoken to, but I assumed he would if Caballeron were to speak to him. He was a light gray stallion with a black mane that seemed to shimmer with subtle rainbow colors in the sunlight.
Then there was Caballeron himself, who I had heard plenty about from Rainbow Dash. He was confident and decisive, but historically unwise and prone to making mistakes. No such errors had been made that I could capitalize on yet, but I did have that little tidbit of information tucked away in the back of my mind. As scared as I was, I promised, for the sake of my friends and animals, that I would do my best to escape if I found a way.
The journey ahead, I also learned, would be a long one. Two days or more, even in the vehicle (called the Landstalker). While I would normally be afraid for my animals, Rainbow Dash was supposed to visit me the next morning, so I was sure that she would notice I was missing and make arrangements for somepony to care for them while my friends all searched for me.
Vanguard had just returned from scouting, so we had an all clear to speed up for a bit. He sat with his back leaning against my cage. I had been cut free from my ropes for a couple hours, so I scooted closer to meet Mona who was nestled in his mane.
She was a big lizard, nearly the length of the stallion's neck in head and body, with her tail almost just as long. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth as she tasted the air. I smiled warmly at her, and her only response was a blink and another tongue flick. With how Vanguard was resting, she was close enough that I could touch her, but I certainly didn't want to anger my captors, so I kept my hooves to myself. This went on for some time, with me flashing her my most disarming smile, and her simply watching me curiously.
Eventually, Vanguard reached a hoof back and grabbed her to hold her in his lap. As she was being removed from his brown mane, I noticed her toenails were far too long, and that she had a rash on the underside of her neck.
"Um, Mister Vanguard?" I said quietly.
"Quiet, prisoner!" he snapped.
"Okay," I squeaked weakly.
We traveled in relative silence except for the rumble of the vehicle as we covered ground quickly.
Eventually, Vanguard told Courser to slow down, and then the stallion was once again galloping ahead with his lizard companion.
The rest of the day continued in much the same manner, but we didn't make it out of the Everfree. Nopony wanted to stay a night there, but when the sky darkened, there was no choice. Machete built a fire that was too far away for me to feel any warmth. The night wasn't very cold anyway, so I didn't mind so much. They gave me a piece of stale bread, and then sat around the fire while they cooked delicious-smelling stew.
I ate the bread and cried quietly, missing my home.
Just as I finished eating, I was surprised to see Mona climb up onto the flatbed and crawl into my cage with me. Vanguard, eating soup as he was, didn't seem to notice she was missing. I reached a hoof out slowly and non-threateningly, and the lizard flicked out her tongue. She apparently decided that I was trustworthy, and she climbed up my foreleg and into my mane just as she had with Vanguard. I giggled softly, feeling happiness for the first time since being captured.
"Hi, Mona," I said softly.
Her claws hurt where she'd stepped, leaving a trail of little pinpricks of pain up along my leg and shoulder. Those nails really needed to be clipped. I had taken care of plenty of lizards, and knew that long claws easily snagged and could make it hard for them to walk. Unfortunately, I didn't have any way to clip her nails. Not unless...
I ran my tongue over my front teeth.
Most ponies would find it disgusting, but I had done far worse for the sake of my animals. My only concern was whether I could get clean enough cuts just from bites. The poor girl looked like she needed it badly, so I decided to give it a try.
"Come here, Mona," I said gently, reaching a hoof back to collect her. She recognized the familiar gesture, and latched onto my hoof with her front claws. I slowly pulled her out and cradled her in my forelegs. "There's a good girl."
Since water was not in short supply, I had a bucket of it inside my cage, and used some of it to rinse out my mouth. Then I held her up and used the light of the fire to guide a claw in. Feeling with my tongue, I found about the length it should be (from memory of caring for other such lizards), and very carefully positioned my teeth to bite off the excess. Then, with swiftly-applied pressure, I took off the sharp end.
"Pleh!" I said as I spit it out. She didn't even move, not seeming to care much about what I had just done. That was a good sign, as it meant she hadn't felt any pain. "Good girl. Now, just sit still, and let me do the others."
I repeated the process as I moved on to other claws, rinsing my mouth out with water every so often. It wasn't the best way to do it, but I knew Mona would be happier and safer when it was done.
Just as I was finishing the last claw, I heard a sharp yell. I spit out the sharp piece, seeing Vanguard's head swivel in my direction.
"Mona?!" he shouted. "Hey! Put her down! Now!"
I yelped and set Mona down gently despite my suddenly shaky hooves. I cowered, instinctively trying to make myself as small as possible. Mona sat still in front of me, and her owner stalked over to the edge of the flatbed, a silhouette against the fire. I couldn't see his face, but I could feel his accusing glare burning into me.
"What were you doing with her? Tell me!" he demanded.
"N-nothing! I mean... I was just clipping her claws! Th-they were too long," I said.
He growled. "Mona, come here," he said. The lizard obediently scampered over to her master, and he inspected her, clearly dubious of my claim. "Did she hurt you? Let me see your claws..."
I waited for a few tense moments, worried he would simply decide I had harmed her. Still unable to see his face, I couldn't tell whether he was getting angry or not. I jumped slightly when he spoke.
"Fine," he said, "I guess she looks okay. But don't touch her again."
Vanguard walked back to sit at the fire where the other four sfallions had been watching from. Caballeron was smirking as if he had enjoyed the show. Machete had a hoof on his weapon, prepared to jump into a fight. The other two were tense, but otherwise passive.
"Well?" Vanguard said. "What are you all staring at?"
The mood had been dampened, but they quickly returned to eating and chatting.
As expected, I got no stew.
My eventual sleep was dreamless.
My growling stomach woke me up. The morning sun gave the sky above a dim glow, and it seemed as though I had woken up before anypony else. Their tents were quiet, huddled together in a small cluster next to the cold fire pit. I sighed, then took a long drink from my water bucket. If I was not going to eat, then I could at least fill my belly with water. I needed to stay strong in case Caballeron made a mistake.
I nearly choked on a gulp of water when a voice came from behind me.
"Morning."
I coughed and sputtered as I turned to see Vanguard standing on the other side of the vehicle, smirking at me. Mona was on top of his head. Apparently I had not been the first to wake up.
"So," he continued, "I just got back from scouting, and Mona here did better than usual. She seemed... I don't know... happier? Anyway, maybe you were right about her claws." He reached up and set his pet on the flatbed, then began petting her affectionately. His expression was soft, surprisingly vulnerable for what I had thought was a hardened criminal.
"Um... well, I had to bite them, so it's not as good as it would be with proper clippers, but if you cut them once a month to about that length, it makes it easier for her to run around without getting her feet caught," I said.
"Don't think this means I trust you. You're still just a prisoner."
I lowered my head. "Okay," I said meekly. "I just love animals. I would never hurt her."
He sighed. "Fine, but I still don't want you touching her."
"Okay... but can I suggest something for the rash on her neck?" I asked.
I pressed my lips tightly closed and waited, fearing the worst. His eyes narrowed, and for a second, I was sure he was going to yell at me, accuse me of lying, make some kind of fuss. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips as he parted them. He said nothing, and then his expression softened a bit. There was a pause of consideration.
"Fine. But if it hurts her, I swear I'll make this trip the worst two days of your life," he said.
"O-of course it won't hurt her," I said in an attempt to reassure him. It didn't do much, as he simply kept staring impatiently. "Um, I mean... you just need to find a red flower with long, thin petals. They're pretty small, but they should be all over the forest. You just take that and crush the petals with a few drops of water, and rub it on her rash. It should go away in a few hours."
Vanguard seemed skeptical, and I could tell he was carefully watching for any tells that I was lying. I was glad I wasn't, because I have always been a terrible liar.
"Okay," he said. "Yeah, I've seen that flower around. In fact, I'll go get one right now."
I simply nodded and broke eye contact. He trotted away, and I was left alone with my thoughts. I thought over the conversation. The stallion hadn't seemed so bad. He really cared about Mona, I could tell. And she loved him as well. It was beyond a professional relationship of hunter and trained animal; there was certainly something genuine about it.
As my thoughts wandered, I missed my friends more and more. Accompanied by nothing but the silent morning air, my loneliness grew, weighing on my heart. The hardest sting came when I thought of Rainbow Dash. We were supposed to spend the morning flying together. We were going to have a picnic on a cloud. Lunch with a view. I wouldn't have been looking at the landscape below, however. I still found myself lost in her eyes when we were alone together. Those deep red confident eyes. I closed my own eyes and imagined hers, saw them in my mind, convinced myself that they were right there in front of me. They flicked away from me above a phantom smile, rolled back and to the right like they always did when I flustered her by just staring. I could almost hear her saying "Aw, Fluttershy, you're so mushy."
Almost...
But not quite.
Tears leaked from between my eyelids and rolled down my face, and some of the salty fluid ran into my mouth. Tasting it brought me back to the present moment. I missed her, but I still had to stay strong for her. I swallowed my sadness and took a calming breath before rinsing my face. She wouldn't want me to be sad. She would want me to stay hopeful and trust her.
A smile found its way onto my face.
It wasn't long after that Vanguard returned with the flower. He asked me if he had the right one, and he did, so he crushed it there on the flatbed, using his hoof. Once it was ground into a pulp, he rubbed it onto Mona's neck. I could hear her purring as the flower soothed her, and then we talked while we waited for the other stallions to wake up.
The conversation eventually turned to Manny.
"You pulled a thorn from his paw? And that was enough to... befriend him?" he asked.
I nodded. "Mm-hmm! He's really sweet once you get to know him."
"Well, that's the closest I've ever been to a manticore, and I'm not exactly itching to be again."
"I know they can be scary, but deep down he's a real softie."
"I'll just take your word for it."
"Thank you, by the way. For, you know, telling me he wasn't... dead," I said, frowning at the very implication.
"We were just hired to capture you, not torment you. Machete is... well, I'll just say he has his quirks."
"Well, I know you didn't have to tell me, but you did even though he's your friend, and–"
"Whoa, stop right there. I just work with him. We are not friends," he said.
"Oh... okay."
He shook his head. "Anyway, they're about to wake up, and I don't want them seeing me being friendly with the prisoner, so I'm gonna head back out."
"Good luck with Mona," I said with a small smile and wave.
He turned away and mumbled something under his breath before walking off.
As predicted, the other stallions were soon awake, and I could hear them moving around in their tents. The first to emerge was Caballeron himself, his muzzle darkened by black stubble.
"Machete!" he yelled.
"Sir!" Machete shouted from inside his tent.
"The prisoner's awake! Get her her breakfast!"
"Sir!"
Machete burst from his tent, short green mane mildly unkempt, and he hurried over to a storage compartment on the side of the vehicle to retrieve more stale bread for me. My stomach felt so empty that when he hastily pushed the bread through the bars, I was actually grateful. It wasn't moldy, but it was hard and unpleasant. I didn't care much, however, as it was edible, and I needed to eat. I washed it down with plenty of water.
The group hastily ate cold beans directly from cans, and Vanguard soon showed up with more scouting information. The path ahead was clear. Courser hopped into the cab to start the Landstalker, but it was soon apparent that there was a problem.
"Not workin', boss," he said.
Caballeron growled. "Every morning! Stupid piece of junk! Oil Slick!" he yelled.
"Already on it," Oil Slick said. It was the first time I had heard him speak, but there was nothing particularly striking about his voice. He was probably just the silent type.
He grabbed a bag of tools from the storage compartment, then walked around the machine, checking it for problems. Opening hatches, crawling under it, and giving it some testing smacks with a wrench, he worked while we all waited. Caballeron seemed impatient, but restrained himself. It seemed Oil Slick's job was one only he could do, and Caballeron just had to deal with the wait. It wasn't long, however, before Oil Slick fixed the problem.
After the machine was working again, the day began to go just as the previous one had, with speedy bursts through areas Vanguard scouted, followed by careful and slow crawls while he searched ahead.
One particularly swampy bit was giving us some trouble, however. As the Landstalker drove through shallow water, smoke billowed up from under it, and it shut down. I was terrified, but nopony else seemed worried, merely annoyed, so I quickly calmed down. Oil Slick reached a hammer blindly under the water, and, with a metallic thud , the vehicle started right back up.
It only took a couple hours to get out of the Everfree, and then we could finally afford to travel fast. The wind whipped through my mane, and the cool air in the warm sun made for a fairly comfortable combination. Several hours of fast travel over flat plains and gentle grassy hills brought us to another forested area, but this one had much different trees than I was used to seeing. It didn't take long for me to realize we were nearing the Amarezon Rainforest. I had heard plenty about it, and had wanted to visit it some day, but hadn't ever had a chance to.
We skirted the edges for a bit before finding an entry road that was apparently familiar to them. They didn't even bother sending Vanguard ahead to scout, so they clearly felt confident travelling here. When I looked over at him, I noticed that Mona's rash had healed.
Listening to all the unfamiliar birds and seeing all the new life made me almost forget about my situation. I wanted to stop and explore, but we just kept rolling deeper into the lush forest. It was so fascinating, being surrounded by exotic creatures, but also disappointing that I couldn't meet them. I made a game of listening to birdcalls and trying to see how many different ones I could pick out, and got lost in their song. There were so many, I couldn't even keep track of them all, which I couldn't recall ever happening with bird songs before.
The sky eventually darkened, and below the canopy of leaves as we were, light was already quite dim. Caballeron decided to make camp early, since we still needed about a half a day to make it to Ahuizotl's hideout. Vanguard left to scout the immediate area, and the others built a fire and prepared to make dinner.
Not long after, there was a sudden cry off in the brush. I immediately knew it was Vanguard, and everypony immediately stood up, attentive. Distant and quiet at first, there was the swishing and cracking of bushes being charged through and branches breaking underhoof. The noise grew louder, and the tension thickened by the second. Machete had his blade in his mouth.
Vanguard stumbled into the clearing, and my first thought was relief that Mona was still clinging to his neck. There was still something large crashing through the bushes, and for a half of a second that felt far longer, he inhaled before speaking.
"Mapinguari!" he yelled.
Everypony immediately burst into action, and the fear on their faces was infectious. The name Vanguard had said sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't remember what it was or where I'd heard it.
The crashing of bushes grew louder, and I knew that, whatever it was, it was big. Very big.
"Courser! Get us out of here!" Caballeron yelled.
Courser leaped into the cab and the Landstalker rumbled to life. Some gear was left abandoned as everypony climbed onto the flatbed and held on.
"Go! Now!" Caballeron called, and with a violent jerk, we were off just as an enormous creature heaved its mass into the campsite behind us.
It was a huge slothlike animal, with thick reddish brown fur covering its large, muscular body. It sat back on its haunches, a short and thick furred tail trailing behind it, helping to prop it up as it sat back. Its forelegs each ended in three long, sharp claws. Its head, somewhat similar to a beaver's, bobbed up and down as it sniffed the air. Then it saw us. It growled, and the growl became a deep roar.
The mapinguari loped after us, reminding me of how Harry the bear runs. It was surprisingly fast, and kept up with us as we sped over bumpy terrain, the tracks doing their job quite well. It wasn't quite catching up, but it seemed our best hope was to wear it out.
"River!" Courser called from the front.
"Go through it!" Caballeron ordered.
I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted the big, scary, could-eat-a-pony-in-a-single-bite creature to disappear. I couldn't, though. Besides being frozen in fear, I also found myself fascinated by it. I wanted to understand it, show it love. But the thing about animals is, some of them just don't care about love, and no matter how much I wanted to hug a hydra or a bugbear or an ursa major, I knew it would be foolish and suicidal. I had no idea if this creature had a similar mindset.
The tracks splashed into the river, and we slowed down a bit, but had enough distance that we would be fine as long as–
The rumble of the engine became a sputter, and then went silent, and we stopped. White smoke rose up from underneath us. My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as I watched what I was sure would be the end of all of us approach at a steady loping jog.
"Oil Slick!" Caballeron shouted shrilly.
Oil Slick, who had been frozen, suddenly sprang into action, hopping off and fumbling with the storage compartment door.
He was too slow. The mapinguari was splashing through the river, and already nearly upon us. Machete stood at the back, weapon ready. He had no chance of beating it in a fight, I knew. The creature growl-roared once more as it came closer. It stopped short and again sat up, likely as a threatening display, as its roar stretched on, clawed forelegs held out to make it appear bigger. Then it charged forward.
The mapinguari rammed the vehicle just as Machete swung his blade. He was knocked off balance, and struck the beast with a glancing blow, only shaving off a bit of its fur. Then he screamed as he tumbled forward, right toward its gaping maw. Large yellow rodent-like teeth threatened to bite deep into whatever part of the stallion fell between them. There was a blur of red as Vanguard charged into Machete from his side, knocking him instead into the river at the creature's feet. Vanguard himself fell into the knee-deep water too, and I couldn't see either of them as the mapinguari paused to look down. It reached its clawed arms down and picked up Vanguard. He struggled in its tight grip, but it was useless. It opened its mouth.
Time seemed to freeze, then, for me. This pony was about to die in front of me. A caring and loving owner of a sweet lizard who would surely miss him. Fear melted away as something snapped inside me, an automatic response to the horrible scene in front of me. My heart hammered, but it was ignored as this instinct to protect bubbled up inside me and came out as a single word.
"Hey!" I yelled.
The mapinguari, with a bestial smirk as it prepared to bite Vanguard, suddenly stopped. It blinked. It slowly turned its head to me, as if it couldn't believe it had just heard what I'd said.
"Yes, you!" I continued. "Put him down. Right. Now!"
The creature defied me by remaining still, which only fueled my burning rage.
"I said... put him down," I said, quiet but with a razor-sharp edge to my tone.
It continued staring at me, and I decided that enough was enough. I twisted my face into one of pure disapproval, as if beaming shame directly into the mapinguari. It was a technique my friends simply called The Stare. I had no way of knowing whether it would work, but I had to try.
The mapinguari met my stare with its own.
I leaned forward.
Small droplets of sweat formed on its forehead. Its grip on Vanguard loosened, and the pony fell into the water with a small splash. Its expression broke into a frown, and it turned to flee, unable to face me.
"And don't you dare come back!" I called after it.
Then my glare ceased. I was shaking. Panting. On the verge of crying. But then I saw Mona was there, in my cage with me, pressed up against me, and I immediately began to feel better.
Vanguard pulled a sputtering Machete up from the water, who had apparently been knocked unconscious and had nearly drowned. Caballeron and Oil Slick stood with their jaws slack at what they had just seen. The latter, standing in the water with a wrench in hoof, found the presence of mind to give the underside of the machine a smack, and it started back up.
"Let's get some more distance before it decides to come back," Caballeron said, eyes still wide. He shook his head. "Courser! Get us out of here!"
We crossed the river without incident, then spent an hour moving slowly through dark jungle while Vanguard led the way with a lantern. Luckily, not all of the supplies had been lost. Some food and a cooking pot were gone, as well as one tent. Nothing else had been unpacked, and careful preparation had left plenty to get by with. Vanguard scouted around the site as he had before, and the others quickly built a fire for warmth and light. I noticed they even built it a little closer to me, and I could feel some of its warmth if the breeze blew just right.
Nopony had really talked to me about what happened. Most of them seemed conflicted, and avoided eye contact with me. Machete gave me my dinner bread wordlessly, and when Vanguard returned, they all ate cooked carrots and turnips.
Because of the missing tent, Courser and Oil Slick slept together. I curled up into a ball and tried to ignore my hunger, eventually falling into a miserable sleep.
Again, I didn't dream.
Clink. Clink. Creeeaaak.
My eyes opened, mind still foggy. As I readjusted to reality, the sight before me challenged the notion that I was actually experiencing it. My cage door stood wide open, lit by very dim lamplight coming from a lantern held by... Vanguard.
"Wha...?" I asked blearily. I blinked. Blinked again. What I was seeing remained the same.
"Go," he said simply.
I didn't move.
"Go," he repeated, slightly more urgent. "Go, before somepony wakes up."
"Go?" I asked. The concept itself made sense, but I was really asking why . He didn't seem to catch onto that.
"Yes, hurry."
Slightly more present, I rephrased my question. "Why?"
"Do you really need to know why? Just get going! Fly up above the trees and go northwest."
Finally, my concerns took form, and I was able to say what I really meant. "Won't you get in trouble?"
He shook his head, not in answer, but in disbelief. "What? Why would you care if... look, just go, damn it! Don't be stupid."
I shifted and stood up quietly, then stepped forward to the cage door. Vanguard stepped aside to let me walk out. Instead, I grabbed the door and shut it, still inside.
"What are you doing?" he whispered frantically. He started to put the key in the lock again.
"No. They'd know that it was you, and they wouldn't go easy on you. I miss my friends and my marefriend, but I won't leave if it means hurting somepony else." I set my face into a determined scowl to show him that I was serious.
"I'll be fine. I'll be long gone by the time they wake up. Just get outta here."
"And what if you run into the mapinguari again? No. Why are you so set on freeing me, anyways?" I asked.
He stopped fiddling with the cage door and sighed. "You saved my life, and I owe it to you to save yours. It's just... how I was raised." There seemed to be more to the story, but I didn't want to press him.
"But losing your life in the process would kind of defeat the whole purpose, wouldn't it?" I asked rhetorically. He hung his head. "If you want to help me, find a way to get a message out to my friends. If they know where I am, then nothing will stop them from saving me."
"We can't exactly mail letters," he said.
"No, but... I think I have an idea. I noticed I haven't been dreaming while sleeping here, but I usually dream almost every night. If this cage is what's causing it..." I said. He nodded, expression brightening up.
"It is! It's so that you can't contact Princess Luna. I could tell her myself!" he said excitedly.
"You're sure you're okay with doing that? I mean, your friends–"
"I told you before," he said, cutting me off, "they are not my friends. My loyalty to Caballeron extends as far as he can pay me. You just paid me more than he ever could. Anyway, I'm tired of working for him. And Ahuizotl makes me... uneasy."
I nodded. "Thank you, Vanguard. Careful that you don't get caught."
He nodded in reply and smirked. "I think I'll get some more sleep now."
I smiled warmly then watched him as he crept back to his tent, visible as a floating dot of dim light that disappeared as he climbed inside.
Now, my friends would surely be on their way.
The rest of the drive passed by without incident. Vanguard thought of me and Princess Luna as he went to sleep, resulting in a dream that got her attention. He told me that my friends had been searching for me, and that Luna immediately relayed the location of Ahuizotl's lair to them.
The "secret lair" was visible from nearly a mile away as we crested a hill. Through the trees, in the valley below, we could see an enormous stone carving of Ahuizotl's long head, scowling eyes on the end of it just above its open sharp-toothed maw that appeared to serve as an entrance. Upon seeing it, I felt a cold dread creep over me, and part of me wished I had fled when given the chance.
Vanguard had begun freely letting me play with Mona, who loved crawling around on me, and her presence in my mane helped comfort me. I idly ran a hoof softly over her head as we neared the lair, and switched to holding her in my forelegs when we were entering the mouth, driving into a wide tunnel surrounded by sharp stone teeth. The tunnel sloped down, and we rolled into a cavernous room decorated with fancy red carpets and tall candelabras next to large, fat pillars.
Machete opened my cage and tied my wings up. He and Vanguard escorted me out and into the center of the spacious chamber. Vanguard stood in front of me, and I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling when Mona flicked her tongue out at me from his brown mane. I couldn't let my captors know I was anything but terrified. A few seconds later, I didn't have to pretend anymore.
From the other end of the room, where large double doors stood closed, there was a loud sound of metal clanking against metal as a lock opened, then the doors slowly swung inward. For such a grand entrance, I expected something as big as a house. Instead, what was slowly revealed was a creature only a few times bigger than a pony, even smaller than Manny my manticore friend was. I recognized his face as that of Ahuizotl, having the same head as the entrance to the lair had depicted. He was an odd mix of monkey and dog, his front legs ending in hands while the rear ones had canine paws. His tail rose up behind him, ending in a third hand. He was mostly two shades of blue, dark and light, with some gold where he wore arm bands, a stud in his ear, and a golden gorget.
"Fluttershy!" he called. His accent was similar to that of Caballeron. "So good of you to... join me." He broke out into an evil laugh that even I found cliché. It still left me unsettled, however, as I was not sure what to expect next. "Come! Let us begin immediately!"
Machete shoved me from behind, and I nearly fell over as we began walking again, following Ahuizotl at a distance. We wound our way through several hallways and eventually came to a room full of odd beeping machines with lights and buttons and levers all over them. In the center of the room, there was another cage that had wires coiled around its bars in copper spirals. As expected, I was placed inside it, and Vanguard closed the door behind me. His expression was emotionless, and I wondered if he was struggling inside.
"So, Fluttershy," Ahuizotl said, circling my new cage, "I bet you're wondering why I had you brought to me."
He wasn't wrong, but I remained silent.
"Well," he continued, "it all started when I heard you had a certain unique... ability. I have eyes and ears all over Equestria, you see, and when I found out about your little... bat incident, I took an interest in learning more. And once I heard that your mind was completely lost and that you only cared for apples, I saw an opportunity! If the same transformation can happen to anypony, then perhaps I can induce it in Daring Do! Then defeating her will be as easy as pie... apple pie!"
He shook as he let out another decidedly evil laugh.
"You'll never get away with this!" I said. I facehoofed internally at my own response, but managed to keep a straight face.
"Oh, but I already have!" he replied, as if straight out of a Daring Do novel. Which, as I thought about it, made a lot of sense.
I kept my mouth tightly shut and scowled disapprovingly.
"Caballeron!" Ahuizotl called. "Bring me the apples!"
Caballeron nodded to Machete and Vanguard, and the two quickly trotted out of the room.
"Poindexter!" Ahuizotl continued. We waited in awkward silence for a moment before a short orange pony in a lab coat shuffled in from another room. He had a short, curly black mane and freckles dotting his face.
"Yes, boss?" he asked in a nasally voice.
"Prepare the machine. We have Fluttershy here."
Poindexter nodded and went to work, flipping switches and pressing buttons, and the odd machine soon hummed to life. The coils around my cage bars seemed to emit a quiet hum, and I wasn't sure if the uneasy feeling in my stomach was from that or just fear.
"Ready to go, boss," Poindexter said.
"Good. Now... throw the switch!" Ahuizotl ordered.
The pony, seeming like he wanted to say something, pressed a button.
Immediately, the hum grew to a buzz, and I felt some deep part of me being poked and prodded by an odd invisible force. The air in my lungs left in a gasp as I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me minus any kind of physical hit. I struggled to breathe, and quickly began to panic. My body seemed to adapt quickly, however, and my breath returned, ragged and... snarling? Sharp pains suddenly ran through my teeth, wings, and ears, and I wanted to scream and cry, but all that came was more snarling and bestial growls. Pain receded, replaced by soreness. I felt like I'd just flown several miles and crash-landed at the end.
My eyes darted around, causing a horribly odd feeling, because I was not moving them. It was somepony else.
I knew who it was.
It was... Flutterbat.
The last time I had transformed into Flutterbat, I had forgotten everything that happened after it was over. Had I been aware, but simply unable to control myself then, too? Was I going to forget all of this? These thoughts raced through my conscious mind as Flutterbat walked me back and forth along the cage, pacing and seeking an exit.
My nose twitched. Or her nose twitched? Our nose twitched. We smelled apples, and our sensitive ears picked up the faint squeak of wheels and soft hooffalls on rug. Our pupils widened and we turned our head toward the sounds and scents, watching intently. A cart full of apples rolled into view, in through a door, and two ponies that she didn't care about followed. I recognized Vanguard in our peripheral vision, but Flutterbat kept our eyes fixed solidly on the apples. Our mouth watered. Our tongue flicked out. We could taste them on the air. Big, red, juicy apples.
"Ahahaha, yes, throw an apple in the cage," Ahuizotl said. Flutterbat and I both heard it, but only I understood it, and I could tell she didn't because I felt no anticipation, no widening of eyes nor catching of breath.
Vanguard took an apple in hoof, and we watched it. He tossed it with a gentle underhoof throw, perfectly lined up between two bars. Our eyes grew to the size of the apple, and our pupils nearly as large. Just as it sailed inside, our mouth snapped open and caught it, impaled on our sharp upper fangs, and we drained it of its delicious juice. I thought I saw Vanguard wince, and he seemed uneasy, but our eyes pointed downward as we fed, and I couldn't see him anymore.
"Machete!" Ahuizotl called. "You see that box there? Set it near the cage, and open it."
The apple's desiccated core fell to the cage floor, and our eyes turned back to the cart. I noticed the box that had been mentioned, and when the lid lifted, I could see precious phoenix eggs resting inside.
"Now," Ahuizotl continued, "give her another apple, and if she eats it, smash one of the eggs."
I wanted to protest, and I tried. Sweet Celestia, I tried. Phoenixes cared for their eggs like parents cared for their foals. Smashing them was needlessly cruel. I struggled within my own mind, desperately trying to move our mouth, but Flutterbat had complete control. And she only cared about one thing.
Another apple sailed into the cage. I felt our mouth close on it, along with a disgusting mix of satisfaction and self-hatred. Machete was smirking as his steel blade came down onto an egg, breaking it open. I wanted to scream and cry and tell them to stop, but no matter how hard I internally struggled and begged and wept, Flutterbat acted as if I wasn't even there. It seemed as though she couldn't even hear me.
"Yes, good. Very good! Again!" Ahuizotl shouted.
The drained apple fell away. Another came. Another egg was smashed.
Stop... please... I thought.
They didn't stop. Seven eggs were in the box, and by the end of it, all of them had been destroyed. I had never felt so utterly helpless. And at the end, Ahuizotl laughed. It was long and loud, and it echoed endlessly through my thoughts.
"It seems the real Fluttershy is indeed lost. Poindexter! Drain the magic from her now!" he said.
There was a loud buzz that hurt our ears, and we hissed, as Flutterbat did not like it. Our entire body suddenly felt assaulted by pinpricks, and small bright flashes filled our vision. We quickly began to feel tired, and soon we lost consciousness.
We... no, I woke up. I had control of myself again, and the first thing I did was involuntarily whimper at the memory of the poor unhatched phoenixes.
The room was much the same, with Ahuizotl standing nearby, and Caballeron next to the apple cart with his crew. It felt like I had just slept for a full night, but it looked as though less than a minute had passed. The box of ruined eggs was still nearby, and I had to avert my eyes before sadness overwhelmed me.
I focused on the new pony, Poindexter, and he was busy fiddling with some dials. He opened a tall and thin compartment that rotated out, revealing a straight wooden staff that curved into a tight coil at the top, holding a glowing yellow gem, that looked to me like a smooth oval of amber, fitting perfectly in the wooden spiral. The pony examined it closely before taking it in his hooves.
"Mister Ahuizotl, sir, the staff is ready," he said, offering it to his boss.
"Ah, yes, very good," Ahuizotl said as he took it in one hand, examining it closely.
"It's storing the transformation magic, and you should be able to transform any pegasus into a bat form by touching them with the end of it. Then, if you touch them again, it'll take the magic back in, and they should return to their normal form. The staff only has one transformation stored, however, so you can only have one at a time– aaah!" he shrieked, cut off as Ahuizotl lowered the end of the staff down onto Poindexter's back.
"It didn't work," Ahuizotl said flatly.
The orange pony huffed. "Because I'm an earth pony. It only works on pegasi, as I said."
Ahuizotl looked at me. Then the staff. Then at me again. I gulped. He grinned. The staff arced down until it pointed at me, and he took a menacing step forward. I took a step back, and yelped quietly as I bumped into the cage bars. I cowered, and my automatic response was to simply cover my head with my forelegs. I couldn't see him anymore, with my eyes tightly held shut, and I waited for the staff to contact me.
I waited...
I whimpered out a small squeak of terror.
In my mind's eye, the staff was a hair's width from my face.
A voice called out from somewhere behind me, making me jump, thinking for a split second that the staff had touched me.
"Hold it right there, Ahuizotl!" the voice said, familiar and feminine, slightly raspy, like sandpaper on wood.
I perked my head up and turned to see Daring Do herself standing on the cart of apples!
"Daring Do!" Ahuizotl cried. He looked at the staff, which was halfway inside my cage, and his face twisted into a devilish smile. "Ah... I mean... oh no! It's Daring Do, here to defeat me again! I must protect this precious staff. I sure hope she doesn't take it from me!"
"Give the staff back to the ponies of Colthuacan!" Daring Do shouted before leaping up and flying directly at Ahuizotl.
My eyes widened. I knew I had to warn her, but with how suddenly it all happened, the words caught in my throat, and all I managed was a useless "Wait!" before she was already in range of the staff. Ahuizotl simply held the front out to her, and her unfortunate instinct to take the valuable object from his greedy hands was her undoing.
As soon as Daring Do made contact with the magical staff, she shrieked and fell to the floor like a stone, her explorer's hat landing on the floor next to her. She writhed, grunting and straining, and Ahuizotl stood over her helpless form, laughing. I watched in horror as her wings stretched out and thinned, the feathers melting together to form a fleshy membrane. Her ears became more pointed and grew little tufts of fuzz on them. Two of her top teeth elongated into sharp fangs. Panting and on the floor, she opened her eyes, pupils tall slits, and missing that confident adventurer's gleam that they normally had. She was lost. Her nose twitched, and she sniffed about, long tongue flicking out. I saw her pupils grow to big black pools of excitement as they locked on to the apple cart.
She screeched, and Caballeron and his crew cleared away from the cart as she launched herself at it. Her face was buried in the pile of apples, and the wet sucking sounds of her feeding filled the room. I felt equal parts horrified and sad for her, because I knew she was still in there, just as I had been.
Ahuizotl was laughing maniacally. "Yes, yes! Finally, Daring Do has been defeated! Now, we will move on to the next phase of my plan," he said before laughing again.
Capturing Daring Do was as simple as moving the cart of apples into a cage and locking it.
I silently hoped my friends would arrive before it was too late.
Several hours passed, waiting in silence. After being placed into a different, wheeled cage, I was brought to a spacious room that encircled a wide, seemingly bottomless pit. Daring Do was in a separate cage next to me, no longer a bat, as Ahuizotl had apparently taken the magic back into the staff. I didn't see him around yet.
"You look familiar," she said when she saw me. She seemed surprisingly calm given the circumstances, but I supposed that was just her nature.
"Um," I began ever so eloquently, "I have met you before. With Rainbow Dash."
"Oh! You're friends with Dash? Yeah, okay, I remember now."
"W-well... not 'friends' so much as, um... mare... friends? We're... you know..."
Her eyes widened in recognition. "Ohhh, that's... wow. Alright, cool. Hey, she's a keeper," she said with a wink.
I blushed, rubbing the back of my head with a hoof. "Heheh, yeah..."
"So, why are you here?"
"Oh. Well, that bat transformation spell they used on you? It kinda... came from me."
"You made a spell?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"No, no, I transformed into a bat before. It's a whole other story, but um, apparently Ahuizotl found a way to take that out of me to transform other pegasi."
"Ah ha! And he stored it in the Staff of King Manetezuma! That's why when I touched it..."
I nodded as she trailed off in thought. "Yeah. Is that the staff you said was stolen from... um... Colt-something?"
"Colthuacan, and yeah, that's the one. I came here to get it back for them. But it looks like I can't touch it without turning into a bat again." She shuddered.
"Yeah..." I paused. I wanted to tell her about Vanguard, and how he had gotten a message out to my friends, but I couldn't be sure Ahuizotl wasn't listening. Her confidence radiated from her despite the seemingly hopeless situation, however, so I figured she had some kind of plan. Perhaps we'd be free before help arrived. I decided to skip to another topic. "So, do you know what Ahuizotl's plan is?"
"Yeah. He wants to free the giant double-headed serpent from its prison deep underground. Legends say it's been sealed away, sleeping for thousands of years, but it can be awoken and freed by the Jade Quetzal, a small statue of a quetzal bird made of gold and jade, representing freedom. That one went missing from the Manehattan Historical Museum weeks ago, and I have reason to think Ahuizotl has it. If the legends are true, then the serpent could destroy all of Equestria!"
I stared, jaw slightly open. The crazy mare was smiling. Smiling! Like it was just another fun day at the office. She clearly loved what she did, but I found little joy in the possibility of Equestria's demise.
I decided to risk a question I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to.
"So, you've got a plan, right?" I asked.
"Not yet," she said through a grin.
I knew I shouldn't have asked.
Ahuizotl strode into the cavernous room with a confident smile that oddly reminded me of Rainbow Dash. My heart ached at that memory. In his tail hand, I could see what looked like the statuette that Daring Do had mentioned, just a flash of gold and pale green.
"There it is!" Daring Do whispered excitedly.
"Now, Daring Do," Ahuizotl announced dramatically, "when I throw this statue into the bottomless pit, the mighty two-headed serpent will arise and conquer these lands! And there is no creature who can stop me!" He laughed a long, deep laugh.
"Hold it right there, Ahuizotl!" came a very familiar voice. Could it be...? I looked to the entrance and, sure enough, it was her! Rainbow Dash! "Put the statue down and gimme back my marefriend!"
If the situation were less terrifying, I might have rolled my eyes. Cheesy as she was, however, I still loved every bit of her, and my heart soared upon seeing her.
"Rainbow Dash!" I called.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy, I'll get you out of there. Right after I deal with this bonehead!"
Rainbow smirked confidently as she suddenly took off toward Ahuizotl with blinding speed. He didn't react in time, and her forehoof caught him square in the chin, knocking him back and dazing him. He shook his head and fled toward the apple cart, sitting in a dark corner. The staff was on top of it! He picked it up before Rainbow could come in for another hit. Daring Do and I both screamed out attempts to warn her, but it was too late.
Ahuizotl swung the staff down, and the tip of it found its mark, hitting Rainbow on her back between her wings just before she crashed into him. He fell over backward, but looked no worse for wear as he got up. My beloved marefriend was on the floor, writhing and groaning in pain as she slowly transformed. Ahuizotl sighed in relief, and a toothy smile split his face.
"Now, to see just how much you love apples!" he cried. He placed himself behind the cart and pushed it toward the pit. Rainbow Dash was still squirming when he reached the edge. He placed the statuette on top of the apples and simply waited, holding the staff in one hand.
Rainbow stopped moving.
She sniffed the air.
I could see her leathery wings and tufted ears, but the most striking difference was in her eyes. They were... different. Not only in that she had the slitted pupils, but they lacked... her. She was no longer there, and it was like she had just died. My heart felt like it was being pulled two ways at once, and my cry of despair came out as a weak whisper of a gasp.
She saw the cart.
Ahuizotl smiled, placing one hand on the cart.
The next moments seemed to happen slowly. Rainbow Dash took off toward the apples. Ahuizotl tipped the cart forward, and it teetered unsteadily before falling into the pit. Rainbow Dash was soon right behind them, and Ahuizotl turned to watch them all fall.
"Rainbow Dash!" I finally shouted, my aching heart poured into those two words. She was surely gone.
So focused on that scene I was, that I hadn't noticed another pony in the room, who had been charging toward the unaware Ahuizotl. Just as my desperate cry exited my mouth, Vanguard dove toward Ahuizotl! He didn't hit Ahuizotl from behind as expected, however. Instead, he sailed past, grabbing the staff as he did, and flew headlong into the pit.
"What?!" Ahuizotl shouted, confused and enraged.
I was just as confused, unsure whether I had just seen what I had.
There was commotion from the entrance, but I only turned to look when I heard my name called.
"Fluttershy!"
It was Twilight! And behind her, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie!
"Give it up, Ahuizotl!" Twilight called. "There's no escape!"
Ahuizotl turned and glared at them. Then he smiled. "You're right. No escape... for you! Soon, the serpent will awaken, and destroy you all!"
He reached up and under his necklace, pulling down sharply. In his hand, there was a small red gem.
"No! The Ruby of Nehnemiliztli!" Daring Do shouted.
Ahuizotl threw his head back and swallowed the gem. I saw his throat convulse slightly as he had some difficulty, but then he sighed. Then he laughed once again. Twilight and my friends advanced on him, but he simply kept laughing.
"Hey, Ahuizotl, you're gonna have to do better than that to stop me!"
That sounded like...
She rose up behind him from the pit, flapping blue feathered pegasus wings, carrying Vanguard in her forelegs. Clutched between his teeth was the small statuette.
Rainbow Dash! Relief washed over me like splashes of cool water.
"What? No!" Ahuizotl cried. He swiped his tail at them, catching them off guard, and... it passed through them. "No! It's too late! Noooo!" He flung his arms up in defeat. "Curse you, Rainbow Daaaash!"
I realized, then, that I could see through him.
Twilight approached him, and her horn glowed with some kind of spell. Then she looked confused.
"Huh? What's going on?" she asked.
Ahuizotl, still shouting and lamenting his defeat, slowly continued to fade away, his voice getting quieter as he did.
Daring Do answered Twilight. "That was the Ruby of Nehnemiliztli. The moment he swallowed it, he started teleporting somewhere else. Somewhere far away from here, no doubt. It looks like he got away, but at least the statue is safe."
Rainbow Dash carefully set Vanguard on the floor, and he spit the small statuette out.
"Thank you," he said, facing Rainbow.
"Ha. I should be thanking you ! You totally saved my butt down there. I was about to follow those apples all the way to the bottom if you didn't change me back," Rainbow said. Then she saw me, and her smile fell away, replaced by concern. "Fluttershy!"
She flew to my cage, and I stepped forward to the bars, and we shared an awkward hug through them, our eyes both wet with tears of relief and joy.
"Rainbow... I knew you'd come for me," I said.
"'Course I came for you," she replied, trying to nuzzle me through the metal separating us.
"Ahem... not to break this up, but..." Vanguard said. He was standing next to the open cage door, which he had apparently unlocked while we were distracted.
"Oh," Rainbow said simply, then flew inside the cage before I could even react, and we hugged in earnest while Daring Do was released as well.
Feeling her close to me again, after spending so long apart, after days of fear and forced courage, after certainty that I had lost her, I broke. I sobbed against her, and muttered an incoherent string of I-missed-yous and I-love-yous and other words that even I didn't understand, as emotion itself poured from me. And the whole time, she was there, stroking me comfortingly, and reminding me in many ways that she cared, that she was there for me.
When I finally calmed down enough to form coherent thoughts again, and my deep sobs became exhausted panting, I took a deep breath. I pulled my head back away from hers, and I pressed in for a kiss. She melted into it, and I held it for much longer than I ever had before. All of my relief, my love, my happiness, went into it. Then, I finally broke it and pulled back to smile at her. Realizing what I had just done in front of my friends, I blushed brightly.
"Um... what I mean is... it's good to see you again," I said.
"You're so mushy," she said.
Her smile widened. Then she started laughing. Then Pinkie laughed. Then Daring Do. Then everypony else.
I wanted to hide under a blanket or something, but despite the overwhelming embarrassment, I couldn't erase the enormous smile from my face.
All of us stood outside the lair entrance. Caballeron and the others had taken the Landstalker and escaped. Twilight's balloon was parked in a tree, where they had apparently had a little trouble landing. We talked while Twilight struggled to free the thing from the branches.
"Are you saying you dropped the Staff of King Manetezuma into the bottomless pit?" Daring Do asked, somewhat displeased.
"Well, yeah... Rainbow Dash kind of kicked me when I hit her with it," Vanguard said.
Rainbow looked pleased. "Yeah, well, I do have some pretty awesome reflexes. Like how I grabbed that statue and saved you at the same time!"
Daring Do sighed. "Well, the ponies of Colthuacan will be okay without the staff, but they won't be too happy. With the power it had stored in it, it might be for the best that it's gone for good."
I nodded. "Yeah, nopony should have that power. Being completely powerless is the worst feeling."
Daring Do nodded in agreement.
"Well," said Rainbow, "not completely powerless."
"What?" I asked.
"Yeah, when I heard you yell my name when I went after the apples, I kinda had control of myself for a second. I knew I couldn't let that statue fall down there, so I grabbed it right before this guy smacked me with that staff. And I kicked him. Uh, sorry about that by the way."
"You actually... you controlled it?" I asked, stunned.
"Well, yeah, when I heard the mare I love call my name, I just couldn't let you down."
I shook my head. "And you call me mushy."
Twilight called over to us. The balloon was ready to go again.
"Well, I'd love to go with you and chat and all, but I gotta go deliver the bad news to Colthuacan, then get this bad boy back to the museum," Daring Do said, holding up the Jade Quetzal statue before slipping it into a pouch. "This time, I'll be sure they have extra security."
We nodded, and she took off into the clear sky.
Vanguard looked uneasy.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Are you sure you're okay bringing me with? After what I did to you? After shooting your manticore friend?"
I stepped forward and hugged him. "Yes," I said. "You saved us. You might have saved all of Equestria. You've earned it."
His eyes looked a little misty, but he held it in. "Thank you, Fluttershy. No more working for Caballeron and his kind. Mona and I will find honest work."
All the others had already gone over to the big purple and pink balloon.
"Sounds good," I said. "Now, how about we get out of here before Ahuizotl shows up or something?"
He smiled and nodded, and we joined the others.
Some animals can seem scary at first. And sometimes they really are. But sometimes, they just need to be shown a little love, and you find out that inside they are really sweethearts.
I guess, sometimes that's all ponies need, too.
Author's Note
This was written as part of a writing contest, with each entrant having a different prompt. To avoid spoilers, I didn't say what it was, but here is the prompt I was given.
Hope I used the concepts well enough!
And as always, I hope you enjoyed this story!
