Kindness Sunderedby HeartfireFirebrandChaptersPrologueChapter 1: SurvivalChapter 2: AftermathChapter 3: DiscussionsInterlude 1Chapter 4: PastUpdatePrologueHundreds of ponies were sitting in front of desk monitoring readings of the Thaumic core, an elderly yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane tied into a bun wearing a lab coat and glasses was reading over some papers. Her ears flicked as she her heard the sound of galloping, she frowned as she looked up to see a young white mare with a blue mane, she frowned “Blue Belle, why are you in such a hurry?” Blue Belle took a deep breath “Professor Fluttershy, Princess Twilight has come to see you.” Fluttershy’s eyes shot up, she took the air excitedly flying through the large white corridors of the facility at speed that many thought would be impossible for a mare of her age. A large purple Alicorn was wrapped in a fierce hug “Twilight!” Twilight gasped out “Please, too tight.” Fluttershy let go her cheeks glowing red “I’m sorry, I was just so glad to see you again. It’s been a decade.” Twilight having recovered her breath smiled “I understand that but you are still really strong even after all these years, it is quite impressive.” Fluttershy smiled “Well I try to keep in shape, besides I don’t feel a year over five hundred.” Twilight shook her head “Remember when things were simpler, when it just the six of us. I was a mere librarian and you were Ponyville’s animal caretaker. Things were so much easier back then, Rainbow crashing into the Library.” Fluttershy giggled “It was a better time, I still can’t believe it’s been nearly three thousand years now. We were heroes but now we have been at peace for so long, the changelings are our allies, we overcame the Storm King together.” Twilight nodded “Starlight has been doing a good job of running the school, the fact she developed an immortality spell is quite impressive. Although she has kept it secret on how to cast it.” Fluttershy smiled “Anyway do you want to go over some plans I’ve made to improve the facility? I have figured out a way in which we can get a twenty percent increase in efficiency while still being well within safety parameters.” Twilight shook her head “I’m not here for that, Rainbow’s birthday is coming up soon.” Twilight begged “You have been working in Canterlot for centuries, it’s time for you to come home please Fluttershy.” Fluttershy grimaced “Ponyville is not my home anymore, I may come back for the party but I left part of me behind. It’s very reason I came to Canterlot, all my animal friends are long gone and my cottage is used to house those who care for the animal sanctuary. I am a scientist Twilight, it’s really all I have left.” Twilight nodded “Then lead the way, I would like to have a look at the machine after I read your plans.” Fluttershy smiled as she lead Twilight back to the room where she left her notes. She passed the notes to Twilight, Twilight frowned “Are you sure this is stable, if we make a single mistake it could overload the core?” Fluttershy frowned “I noticed that too, I mean once it would be set up it would within parameters but the set up is risky. I have been trying to solve that myself but I haven’t had much luck.” Twilight smiled “I’ll happily have a look at the core, and maybe we can come up with a solution together.” The pair slowly trotted through the large white corridors, large cables carrying incredible amounts of magical energy led into a massive golden room with steel reinforced walls. A huge circular steel orb floated at the end of the room, it was lightly humming with power. Twilight and Fluttershy approached the console in front of it. Just as they approached, Fluttershy shouted “Twilight stop!” Twilight flinched putting hooves up, she screamed in agony as two razor sharp blades cut her front legs clean off. The stallion clad in pitch black armour was too busy laughing that he didn’t see the yellow blur slam the front of her hoof tearing through the the stallion helmet and through his head. Five other stallions jumped down all in black armour, Fluttershy rolled her withers as she used her wings to stabilise her self on her back legs “I’m a little rusty, it’s been a while since I’ve used my training.” Twilight looked up “How did do you do that?!” Fluttershy frowned “It was a law Celestia made, it dictated that all personnel on site should have advanced combat training. That includes me.” She leapt at one dodging his sword before knocking him out, before firing a lightning bolt out of her wings at another two. One of the remaining two Assassins fled, the other threw his sword at the core. He laughed “Now you will die.” Fluttershy growled “You idiot!” she ran over to the console “There is enough power in the Canterlot Core alone to level Equestria.” The stallion’s eyes widened as Fluttershy began frantically messing with the console trying to stabilise the core. Blue Belle burst in frantically “What’s wrong?!” Fluttershy shouted “I need you to get Twilight out of here, now!” Twilight was about to protest when Fluttershy turned to her “The only way to save Equestria is to patch the core directly, I can limit the damage to Canterlot" she smiled weakly “tell everyone I can’t make it to Rainbow’s birthday and that I will miss them.” Blue Belle grabbed Twilight and dragged her away, Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she flew towards the core and pulled the sword out before squeezing her way inside. Her body was assaulted with thaumic energy as she stayed in the core, pain wracked her body as she pulled in the containment rods. Meanwhile outside Twilight was in one of the twenty airships leaving Canterlot when the core exploded sending out a massive explosion consuming all of Canterlot in the Core’s thaumic energies. Twilight was sobbing about the friend that gave their life for Equestria. Meanwhile as pink and yellow puddle laid in the ruins of the core facility, a skeletal frame far different from a pony’s began to form. It was larger, it had eight legs ending in claws with a study stocky rib cage with two massive wing frames extended from the back. Soon the creature was fully formed, it had ten small eyes and a long muzzle full of razor sharp teeth, it’s long thick tail providing balance. It looked over itself “How am I still alive” it around to see Canterlot ruined as ferocious twisted remnants of ponies, their bodies contorted part of their bodies turned inside out. It’s mouth watered and before it even knew what it had done, it had consumed the whole group. It’s eyes widened as it realised what it had done “I’m a carnivore!” It then heard the sound of magic and took to the skies, it saw Princess Celestia and Luna facing off against more twisted ponies. Luna growled “What are these foul apparitions?!” It dove downward crushing one under it’s claws before letting out a bestial roar that sent the twisted remnants packing, Luna was about to attack but Celestia noticed the three pink butterflies on her flank “Fluttershy!” Fluttershy nodded “Yes it is me. As for why I’m like this it’s because the core was damaged by someone who tried to assassinate Twilight, I had to go into the core to limit the damage to just Canterlot but it exploded when I was inside it.” Luna growled “Why should we believe that?!” Celestia frowned “Sister, that is Fluttershy’s cutie mark so it makes sense it is when combine it with the fact that no shapeshifter would do such a poor impersonation of what the original looked like. Plus even if she is an impostor, she is the only living thing that has not tried to kill us on sight.” Luna sighed “Fair enough.” Fluttershy frowned “I assume you have a bunker of some kind to hide in, otherwise you would have been twisted as well.” Celestia nodded “We’ll show you, maybe with your help we can come up with a plan of action.” Fluttershy followed as they would come with a plan so that all three of them could come up with a survival plan in the ruined capital. Author's Note I wrote this chapter a while ago, I hope you enjoy it. Chapter 1: SurvivalFluttershy frowned as she followed Celestia and Luna to a large metal bunker covered in arcane runes, Celestia’s horn glowed and the door opened revealing a set of stairs. They went down to see a what appeared to be reinforced rooms, one had a kitchen, another was a pair of small bedrooms. She frowned “This place seems cosy but doesn’t seem to have much in the way of resources.” Celestia sighed “It was supposed to protect us from an attack like this, but not to sustain us for long afterwards.” Luna grimaced “So how are we going to survive here? There isn’t exactly a lot of food.” Fluttershy shrugged “I’m a carnivore now so I can find plenty of food out there but you two are not I assume.” Celestia nodded, Fluttershy frowned “Well then we will need to take enough space to cultivate land and keep it clear.” Luna frowned “But how do we do that? All those creatures want to kill us.” Fluttershy frowned “Do you have a table, I could come with some ideas for a blueprint of a defensive wall that will keep them out while allowing light in to grow plants.” Luna blinked “Fluttershy, when did you learn that? Last time I checked you were animal caretaker in Ponyville.” Celestia raised an eyebrow “Luna, she has been head of the Canterlot Science Division for over four hundred years. Have you not paid any attention?” Luna slumped “I don’t like science, it was always somepony trying to explain something in a really complicated way and I thought Starswirl’s lectures were boring. He has nothing on those droll old professors.” Fluttershy shrugged “Fair enough, if you really want to learn anything read the books on science it is quite intriguing once you move past the droll lectures” she grinned “when we see Twilight don’t tell her this but I slept through all the lectures. I passed using the books.” Luna laughed “Seriously, take that boring lecturers!” Celestia sighed “Fluttershy, please don’t encourage her. If she had her way she would fire every last one of them for being boring, they are good at what they do.” Fluttershy frowned “It’s not good for the stagnant, boring professors to be trying to inspire new thoughts. I saw where Twilight got her long winded lecturing habits from, science requires fresh thought. Do you how many said my thesis was insane? Only Twilight believed in me and that theory after years of work and dedication lead to the first core, some old coots almost stopped one of the greatest developments in Equestrian History!” Celestia frowned “That’s true but would have us do with them." Fluttershy scowled darkly, her eyes fading into darkness “None of them are left so it is not an immediate concern, for now I must come up with a plan to help you two survive this mess.” They watched in shock as the former pegasus sent several scrolls hovering around her in a glow of dark green magic while several quills were forming blueprints on each scroll. Luna cautiously inquired “How are you doing that?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow before looking at the glowing quills in realisation “Ah yes, I studied everything involving thaumic energy including magical spells. It was very important for me to understand thaumic energy thoroughly in order to design the cores which were designed to spread thaumic energy through entire cities.” Celestia frowned “And whatever caused you to become like this gave you access to magic. Hmm when we find a way out of the city, we should do some tests on your new body.” Fluttershy grimaced “Maybe, I’m not keen on being experimented on by anyone pony or otherwise. Now I have to finish these…” She growled as she saw a strange glowing orb pulsating with dark magic “What is that?!” Luna frowned “Oh that’s Sweetie Belle’s Phylactery, still can’t believe those three fillies stumbled upon a dark mage’s cave.” Fluttershy shook her head “Scootaloo became a Ghoul and Apple Bloom became Wendigo. To this day I wonder how they found that cave.” Celestia frowned “So do I but they have been very quiet about how they found it. Still I decided to trust them, they are good ponies.” Fluttershy giggled “Yes but they cause a lot of trouble. Now I need you two to help me with these plans.” Celestia looked at the plans, her eyes widened “These require Thaumic Glass to build, we have no way of acquiring that!” Fluttershy shook her head “Wrong, there should be some around. Much of the glass in Canterlot would have survived, the Thaumic energy of the core would have turned much of the city’s glass into Thaumic Glass which is nearly indestructible. I’ll simply collect some and begin construction.” Luna grimaced “And what will we do then. We don’t want to be useless, speaking of which why haven’t we tried to telport to Ponyville. It should be easy.” Fluttershy shook her head “The best case scenario is the ambient magic will mess with your teleport and you will lose a limb. It also could just explode killing you instantly. We will need to wait for a rescue team but the chance of them making it this far are incredibly low. Meanwhile as Fluttershy exited the Bunker, Twilight had just awoken. She was struggling to come to terms with everything but Equestria needed a leader and she was the only Princess left in the nation. Twilight exited her room, lines glowing with light flowed from the smaller Ponyville Core guards and scientists roamed the halls. She looked out to the small town, which hadn’t changed to drastically other than every building powered by the core. Being so close to the Everfree Forest had meant that expansion was ill advised, not to mention the random disaster of the week that caused massive structural damage to the town. Twilight saw that everypony in the town was looking at her, several nobles form who somehow had managed to escape Canterlot were also there. Twilight wore a clam emotionless mask as she spoke “Canterlot is gone, everypony in the city is gone!” Twilight boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice before the town could panic “I WILL ARRANGE A RESCUE TEAM TO FIND ANY SURVIVORS! IN THE MEANTIME AS THE SOLE REMAINING PRINCESS YOU CAN BRING ANY AFFAIRS TO ME! THAT IS ALL!” She trotted to the map room and laid down on the desk hoping to get a little rest while awaiting for the horde of ponies she would have to reassure. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 2: AftermathTwilight awoke as the doors opened but revealing eight mares three of which were affected by dark magic. Sweetie Belle was helping her sister along while Scootaloo was pushing Rainbow Dash along in her wheelchair in. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were trotting in slowly, all four were showing clear signs of age. Their coats being less vibrant than when they were in their prime and their muscles largely faded. Rainbow shotued “What happened in Canterlot and where’s Fluttershy!” Twilight slumped “There is not Canterlot, it’s all gone. Somepony wanted to assassinate me and when that failed they ruptured the core, Fluttershy gave her life to limit the damage to just Canterlot.” Sweetie Belle had panicked look on her pale bony muzzle “My Phylactery is up there. I have to check if it’s safe!” Rainbow growled “Why didn’t you stop her!” Twilight growled “Blue Belle dragged me away, she used her magic to seal mine temporarily until we left Canterlot! Don’t act like I didn’t care about her Rainbow!” Just at that moment a flash of light filled the room as Discord appeared in all his chaotic glory. He looked at everypony in the room, Sweetie Belle was panicking while everyone else was looking morosely at Twilight who was calming herself down “Did something bad happen?” Twilight looked up to him with tears in her eyes “Fluttershy’s gone.” Discord’s face paled as he froze before shattering into a million pieces. Twilight sighed “As much as I’d love to stay and discuss this with you further I have to speak to the guard. I do believe that Celestia and Luna would have survived the explosion So I need to send in a small rescue team in of skilled individuals.” Applejack slumped “Ah can’t believe this happened. To think that’s she’s gone, she was the best of us.” Scootaloo looked down “She was so kind, always offering to speak to me when I was bullied about my wings.” Rarity was sobbing as Sweetie Belle held her, drops of dark magic dripping from the eyes of the younger sisters Apple Bloom was crying as she whispered softly “She was so very kind, Ah still remember the first sleepover we had at her cottage. She did her best to entertain us while we caused her a lot of trouble.” Rainbow was deathly silent as tears streamed down her face, her best friend was gone forever and she never got to say goodbye. Pinkie Pie was laying flat on the floor, her mane laying flat on her back.The whole room was deathly silent as they contemplated the loss of the kindest pony they knew. Meanwhile in Canterlot, Fluttershy was busy constructing the glass walls around the bunker. They were now high enough that Celestia and Luna could start farming using some seeds that were in the bunker, Luna smiled as she was pulling one of the ploughs that was also in the bunker along the ground “I must admit I missed this kind of work.” Celestia groaned as she pulled the other plough “Really because I am finding this very difficult.” Luna giggled “Because unlike you I actually keep fit. Seriously you need to cut back on the cake and started doing some actual exercise for once.” Fluttershy finished the current part of the wall and flew outside chasing one of the twisted ponies outside before leaping on it tearing into with her claws until it stopped moving. She then tore into it with her mighty jaws, she thought as she swallowed the flesh (I never thought I’d enjoy the taste of flesh but then again several of my animals used to do it all the time. I’m just another predator I guess.) Fluttershy returned after she finished her meal, she yawned as landed on the ground “Do you mind I get some sleep? I just ate and after all that work it makes me feel sleepy.” Luna smiled “Sure, just don’t fall asleep where we are pulling ploughs.” Meanwhile the two Alicorns continued their work. Celestia frowned “Do you have any idea why somepony would wish to assassinate Twilight? Luna snorted “It was likely one of the nobles, form what you told me they were deeply offended when Cadence ascended and then Twilight did really insulted their pride. It all take is one bad noble who wants power and would do anything to get it, even if it means killing the two of us.” Celestia blinked in shock as she stopped “You can’t be serious! The nobles would never be that foalish, even Blueblood back in the day would never have pulled such a stunt!” Luna frowned “It has been thousands of years since then, many have forgotten what we are capable of. Back then they grew up on the stories of us defeating evil but now they grow up on the stories of how we failed to stop Tirek, Chrysalis, Sombra and Discord. They thought if they took out Twilight they could take over the whole nation.” Celestia slumped “What happened to the both of us? We once were capable of repelling any threat but now we are just a pair of fools. Maybe it’s high time Twilight is given the reigns of our nation.” Luna frowned “We should have done that ages ago, we already have Twilight doing most of our paperwork.” Meanwhile as they were having that conversation Twilight was sitting in a large room on a throne designed for her to hold court in case of an emergency. A noble exclaimed “I need to build myself an estate in Ponyville. My former one as in Canterlot, I was hoping I could get a permit to demolish some buildings in the town.” Twilight looked over the plans and scowled “Several of these building are already occupied by ponies. I will not have you force ponies out of their homes for your own gain!” She glared at them daring them to give her a similar request, most of the Nobles evacuated the premises immediately unwilling to upset the current only Princess available. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me what you think in the comments. Chapter 3: DiscussionsRainbow was sobbing on her cloud bed, Scootaloo was busy cooking some food for her aging mentor. Rainbow thoughts were flying at million miles an hours (She’s gone, why her. She was the best of us, never letting her age get her down always pushing forward and now she’s gone!) Rainbow looked around as she heard a voice “You miss her don’t you?” Rainbow growled “Who’s there!” Discord materialised and laid himself on the bed a morose expression on his face “I’m sorry. I just figured that you would understand better than anypony else, Fluttershy was my first friend accepting me for who I was but she was never keen on talking about her past.” Rainbow Dash sighed “We met when she was getting bullied by some of the other foals. I stood up for her and the began targeting us both, it didn’t help that my griffon friend Gilda had returned to Griffonstone. Eventually a pony offered a small cottage near the Everfree Forest to Fluttershy for a low price, I decided to go with her to Ponyville I stayed in her cottage until I could afford a cloud house.” Discord smiled “This is nice quiet place, I was quite stunned the first time I saw ponies moving clouds. I had very little knowledge of my own powers at the time.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow “What life for you like when you younger? I must admit even after all these years I don’t know much about you or your past.” Discord sighed “I have no interest in discussing my past, I was little more than a savage monster overwhelmed by the chaos within.” Rainbow Dash grinned “I’m curious about why kind of pranks you have performed over the centuries.” Discord grinned as he began reciting his long list of maddening pranks that had annoyed ponies all across Equestria all while Rainbow Dash laughed heartily. Meanwhile Twilight had a squadron of guards standing at attention “You are the best of the best! Those who have passed the rigorous training tests my brother put for the elite guards, you are to find the Princesses and bring them back here!” A blue scaled dragoness nodded in her glowing purple armour “I, Commander Starstorm vow on my life that we will being them back safe and sound!” Twilight nodded “I am putting my full faith in you, all of you.” The Squadron moved out onto a crystal balcony, grim determination fueling them as they boarded a powerful airship. The airship powered by a miniature core was made of solid steel, the steel deck was covered in powerful cannons designed for combat. Starstorm commanded the multiple ponies, griffons and dragons running the ship “We head for Canterlot immediately! Our mission has been assigned!” The crew eagerly got ready, the ships engines fired up with power from the core before shooting off towards Canterlot at a rapid pace. It was soon hovering over the ruin of the once mighty Equestrian Capital, the ferocious twisted abominations of ponies roaming through the ruined city. Starstorm growled “Give us covering fire while we descend!” The small group of guards descended from ropes as the cannon fired upon the twisted abominations. The bodies were disintegrated by the mighty cannon fire, Starstorm drew her sword only for the air to shake as all the magical energy flew towards a single point, a huge mangled pony the size of several Ursa Majors formed and struck the airship with a piece of bone sending it down the mountain side before turning to the small squad stranded in the city. Starstorm was trembling, she knew this beast would be her death. She closed her eyes only to hear a loud crunch, her squad was watching in shock as a massive butterscotch spider consumed the monster before shrinking down to a much smaller size. She glared at them “So you’re the so called rescue squad. Idiots, those things feast on magic and you just gave them a whole bunch of it!” Starstorm frowned “So what do we do now?” The creature glared at them “You follow me if you wish to survive, we have much to discuss.” Starstorm were stunned as the twisted ponies kept their distance. Whenever one of twisted ponies got too bold, the butterscotch creature hissed at them forcing them to back away. They soon arrived at the glass shielded base, Starstorm and her guards saluted as she saw the two Alicorns “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Luna frowned “Fluttershy, why did you bring them here?! We have scare enough resources as is!” Fluttershy frowned “They were sent as an evacuation squad but their escape vehicle is currently missing. It tumbled down the mountain when they used magical weapons on the Twisted, unaware that the Twisted eat magic.” Celestia frowned “But what do we about our guests, we can’t keep them here.” Fluttershy looked at the ponies, griffons and dragons numbered one hundred. She smiled “I’d say we have enough of them to make a small town, we might as well start rebuilding the fallen city considering we have no idea when help will come for us!” Starstorm interrupted “I have one important question to ask, how did she survive?! Twilight believes she died!” Luna frowned “Our best guess is her body was changed by the sheer amount of magic she was exposed to. All that excess magic had to go somewhere, Fluttershy’s new body is a powerful mana battery.” Fluttershy smiled as she headed into the bunker, she drew up sketches for massive towers and mighty wall that could keep the attackers at bay. She was ready to begin the rebuilding of the city one hoof at a time. Meanwhile in a dark cave several ponies wearing dark cowls were looking at each other “It seems our initial plan has failed. We need a new plan of action.” Another nodded “When we are done Equestria will be under the rule of the Queen of Nightmares and the King of Shadows. A new nation ruled by darkness itself, we just need to be patient and cautious.” Equestria was going to be drawn into one of the most devastating conflicts in it’s history, one that will change the world. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Interlude 1Three thousand years prior to the destruction of Canterlot, Fluttershy was sitting in her empty cottage. All of the animals she knew were long gone, time had taken them all from her and she felt hollow from their absence. She looked at the sanctuary with countless ponies caring for it as she sat alone the stubborn caretakers refusing her access saying, it was in their hooves now and that they didn't need her help. Her negative thoughts were interrupted by knocking “Fluttershy, it’s our Spa Day. I know it’s be rough lately but I’m sure a nice relaxing day at the Spa will help you.” Fluttershy sighed as she slowly trotted towards the door, Rarity was shocked at the downtrodden look on her friend’s face “What’s wrong dear?” Fluttershy shook her head “Let’s just go to the spa, I don’t want to talk about it.” Rarity gave Fluttershy a worried look but said nothing. She knew it would be easier to get answers at the Spa with the help of Aloe and Lotus, they trotted through the town when a dark coated unicorn stallion grinned at them “What are two lovely mare like yourselves doing wandering through town?” Ponies began murmuring “This isn’t going to end well.” Fluttershy took a deep breath “We do not wish to be bothers so can you please move? We have an appointment at the spa.” The Unicorn smiled “I can escort you there, maybe I cane even join you. I can show a good time.” Fluttershy was shaking with fury, she had been pushed around her whole life and she had let it go, smiling demurely as she had been pushed around. Recently her tolerance for that had dropped more and more, and thus she became increasingly aggressive. Her voice boomed at the stallion fire in her eyes “Get out of the way!” The stallion whimpered form the fury of the mare, Rarity grew even more concerned. Fluttershy didn’t act like this unless something was really bothering her. The fact this had been going for weeks and Fluttershy had refused to open up to her alone meant she needed back up. The pair soon arrived at the Spa, Aloe smiled “I assume you’d want the usual treatment.” Lotus nodded at Rarity who nodded back, Lotus then smiled “Come on in.” Rarity and Fluttershy laid down on the massage tables, Rarity moaned as she felt Aloe’s skilled hooves. Fluttershy on the other hoof was silent, not even reacting to Lotus’s hooves even as they slowly relaxed her tensed muscles. Lotus frowned “Is everything alright, Miss Fluttershy?” Fluttershy frowned “Nothing you can fix, so don’t worry about it.” Aloe raised an eyebrow “We do when we have heard several ponies mention that you have been increasingly aggressive of late. We need to know why you’re acting like this.” Fluttershy relented under the gaze of both spa ponies and Rarity “Fine. The truth is I feel like I have no purpose in Ponyville anymore, all my animals are gone and the ponies who run the Animal sanctuary refuse to let me help as they believe that if I do it’s because I don’t trust them to do their jobs.” She began to cry “I don’t know what to do anymore?!” Rarity smiled “How about we pay a visit to Canterlot, maybe some time away from Ponyville will do you some good?” Fluttershy began to dry her tears “I should speak to Luna, she may have some advice for me.” The rest of spa treatment went on calmly as Fluttershy simply listened to Rarity talk about her day, she then returned home and began thinking about the next day. The next morning Fluttershy and Rarity carrying their saddlebags had boarded a train to Canterlot, Rarity smiled “So what do you want to do when we get to Canterlot?” Fluttershy frowned “I wish to speak to Luna first. She may be able to give me some advice.” Rarity gave Fluttershy a sympathetic smile “I’m sure she will help you. I have to check on my Canterlot Boutique but I will join you shortly afterwards, I promise.” Fluttershy nodded with a weak smile “I understand, you have your own business to attend to.” It was not long before the train arrived in Canterlot, Fluttershy smiled as they disembarked “Good luck Rarity.” Rarity smiled back “I hope you can get some help from Luna.” The two hugged before going their separate ways. Fluttershy headed towards the castle, the guards stopped for a moment their horns glowing before nodding to each other “She’s clear.” Fluttershy frowned before she entered the castle as the guards parted, she trotted towards the throne room only to Princess Celestia heading to the throne room. Fluttershy trotted up to the Princess “Celestia, may inquire where you sister is?” Celestia raised an eyebrow “My sister is currently sleeping, she sleeps during the day. We don’t get to see each other very often sadly.” Fluttershy sighed “I was hoping for advice from Luna, all my animals have passed and the ponies at the sanctuary refuse to let me help. I was hoping for some advice on what to do but it looks like I’ll have to wait.” Celestia shook her head “Special talents rarely are enough to last an eternity, most ponies talents give them enough for a lifetime of work before passing on the torch. My advice would be to take up a new skill, how good at you at mathematics?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow “Quite good, I was always a pretty bad flier but I manged to stay in flight school based on the theory portion. I was able to ace pretty much all the mathematical formula, some even said I was looking at a future in factory work.” Celestia smiled “I wish for you to attend a lecture by Storm Wing, one of the few remaining Pegasi Researchers in Canterlot. I’ll provide with a book or two as well as some quills, I have feeling you will enjoy his lecture.” Celestia levitated several books and quills into her saddlebags, Fluttershy smiled “Thank you, Celestia. I’m grateful for you help.” Fluttershy galloped out of the castle heading for the lecture halls near the castle, she saw a small room with several Pegasi standing outside, she followed them in to see an elderly dark black Pegasi with a storm bolt on his flank who looked tiredly at the crowd as they entered. He took a deep breath as he started the lecture “According to Starswirl’s Tenth Law of Magical Resonance and Clover’s Fifth Law of Thaumoregulation, you can combine spells to create powerful and damaging effects in combat. The formula is like this.” He wrote on the board F(Force) = Th(Thaums) x T(Time) x C(Casters) ÷ MRC(Magical Resonance Coefficient). He then added MRC = 2.435934… Fluttershy was writing out every she said as fast as she could, she could understand the yawns. He wasn’t exactly engaging but what he was talking about interested her, after the lecture ended she trotted over to him “Storm Wing.” Storm Wing bowed “Miss Fluttershy, it is a pleasure that you have attended my class. I’m glad that the Element of Kindness has taken interest in my work.” Fluttershy smiled “I found it quite interesting” she then frowned “but you sound bored, why is that?” Storm Wing slumped “None of them are interested in my lectures, the Unicorns are taught by other Unicorns and the Pegasi show no interest in my teachings.” Fluttershy smiled “Well I would like to know more?” Storm Wing eyes widened “Really?” Fluttershy’s nod got him ecstatically talking about his work, Fluttershy spent the rest of the days learning about magical theories from Storm Wing. Author's Note I give thank to Admiral Q Ponyform from his comment. I made this chapter to address his issues with the story, thank you Admiral. Chapter 4: PastRainbow Dash and Discord were talking in the center of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash frowned “What was it like for Fluttershy in Canterlot? You visited her often right?” Discord put his claw to his mismatched face “Well it began like this…” Canterlot three thousand years prior Discord popped in with a smile “Fluttershy I haven’t seen you in…” Fluttershy was sitting at a desk with several papers covered in complicated formula that most ponies would be incapable of comprehending. Discord frowned “Fluttershy, what are these papers for?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow “They are my study materials, I have taken an interest in this subject. Still most of the lecturers are boring, I learn more from the books.” Discord sighed “Twilight is worried about you, she wants to see you. She simply wanted me to pass you the message.” Fluttershy sighed “Tell her I’m fine and that if she wants to visit me she can come to Canterlot. I will gladly discuss science with her.” Discord let out a chuckle “She’ll love that, I’ll be back tonight after telling Twilight, might even bring her along if she’s up for it.” Present Day Rainbow frowned “I’m surprised you didn’t mess up her notes, Twilight has complained about you doing that a lot.” Discord rolled his eyes “I like to keep little miss organised on her hooves, she needs to deal with something going wrong every now and then. I would never do that to Fluttershy.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow “How did Twilight react to that?” Discord grimaced “She panicked for ten minutes straight about how bad it was for the Harmony Bearers weren’t in the same place. I managed to snap her out of it by telling her I could bring her here any time. That’s why I have been bunking in Twilight’s castle for the last three millennia.” Rainbow frowned “Does she still have panic attacks?” Discord nodded “I am there to limit the damage, none of you are young enough to deal with a powerful Alicorn losing it.” Rainbow sighed “I hate being old, I can’t even get off the ground anymore! It hurts to see the sky calling out to me and that I am too frail to answer that call.” Discord bit his lip as he looked down deep in thought. Rainbow looked at the chaotic entity with concern “Is something wrong?” Discord shook his head “No but I have to show your something. It’s something I have been working on for a while but I was unsure if it would work.” Before Rainbow could respond he clicked his claws and they ended up in his strange room, the floor was covered in lava. Rainbow blinked as she was siting on the wall staring at the floor. Rainbow shook her head “Why are we here?” Discord levitated over several papers “I have been trying to find a way to reverse aging and add immortality on top of it. It was designed so that all five of you would still be here for Twilight but now it will only be four.” Rainbow growled “What has taken you so long?!” Discord grimaced “Do you know how difficult it is to work Chaos magic around Harmony magic. One wrong step and the spell could back fire or worse, knowing this are you willing to go through with this?” Rainbow grinned “Are you kidding me, do you not who I am?! I’m Rainbow Danger Dash, a little risk doesn’t scare me!” Discord burst into laughter “Well if you’re ego’s still in check after this I’ll know you’re fine.” He then frowned as he conjured up a powerful field “You must stay perfectly still and silent or else this will fail.” Rainbow froze eyes looked onto him as his body as his chaotic magic began to wrap around him, sweat dripped down his muzzle as power coursed through his veins. Rainbow closed her eyes as a huge flash of light erupted around her, Rainbow opened a few moments later only to see an exhausted Discord sitting there. Discord smiled weakly “I’m glad it worked.” Rainbow looked over herself in awe, she flapped her wings as she felt her old strength. Rainbow let out a mighty shout “Woohoo!” She flew out of the window taking off into the sky at rapid speed as mach cone began to form around her, everypony in the town gasped as a huge boom echoed alongside a giant rainbow wave flying outward. Meanwhile in Canterlot Fluttershy was busy drafting out plans for rebuilding when she felt the magic surge and looked to see the rainbow wave from the cloud she was resting on. She grinned “It seems Discord’s little experiment has worked.” She then looked towards the city with several papers in her magic “Now then if I do this, then we could build that there.” She then glared at the the Twisted “We clear out those and we can start construction! They know better than to enter the territory of the predator.” She flew down into the base turned outpost, Starstorm raised an eyebrow “So what is the plan?” Fluttershy frowned as she showed them her plans “We need to begin construction of the new town quickly. Our resources are limited so this must happen fast, they wouldn’t dare enter my territory.” Luna frowned “Well it seems like we have a plan. I suggest we get started before things get any worse.” Celestia trotted out “Can I take a look at those plans?” She frowned as Fluttershy levitated them over, Celestia grimaced “This seems very risky, we should try something else?” Fluttershy frowned “We don’t have a lot of time, we can’t house this many for more than a few days. It’s soar or crash for us now and I have no intention of crashing.” Celestia sighed “Fine but you are responsible for what happens next.” With that the group was ready to take back Canterlot. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. UpdateAuthor's Note Not this is not an acutal chapter. Update I'm goin to be honest with all of you, I'm noy exactly sure where I'm goiung with this story so I'll put on Hiatus for a while. That being said if anyone bevlies they have idea of how to continue leave a comment or if they wish adopt the story.
PrologueHundreds of ponies were sitting in front of desk monitoring readings of the Thaumic core, an elderly yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane tied into a bun wearing a lab coat and glasses was reading over some papers. Her ears flicked as she her heard the sound of galloping, she frowned as she looked up to see a young white mare with a blue mane, she frowned “Blue Belle, why are you in such a hurry?” Blue Belle took a deep breath “Professor Fluttershy, Princess Twilight has come to see you.” Fluttershy’s eyes shot up, she took the air excitedly flying through the large white corridors of the facility at speed that many thought would be impossible for a mare of her age. A large purple Alicorn was wrapped in a fierce hug “Twilight!” Twilight gasped out “Please, too tight.” Fluttershy let go her cheeks glowing red “I’m sorry, I was just so glad to see you again. It’s been a decade.” Twilight having recovered her breath smiled “I understand that but you are still really strong even after all these years, it is quite impressive.” Fluttershy smiled “Well I try to keep in shape, besides I don’t feel a year over five hundred.” Twilight shook her head “Remember when things were simpler, when it just the six of us. I was a mere librarian and you were Ponyville’s animal caretaker. Things were so much easier back then, Rainbow crashing into the Library.” Fluttershy giggled “It was a better time, I still can’t believe it’s been nearly three thousand years now. We were heroes but now we have been at peace for so long, the changelings are our allies, we overcame the Storm King together.” Twilight nodded “Starlight has been doing a good job of running the school, the fact she developed an immortality spell is quite impressive. Although she has kept it secret on how to cast it.” Fluttershy smiled “Anyway do you want to go over some plans I’ve made to improve the facility? I have figured out a way in which we can get a twenty percent increase in efficiency while still being well within safety parameters.” Twilight shook her head “I’m not here for that, Rainbow’s birthday is coming up soon.” Twilight begged “You have been working in Canterlot for centuries, it’s time for you to come home please Fluttershy.” Fluttershy grimaced “Ponyville is not my home anymore, I may come back for the party but I left part of me behind. It’s very reason I came to Canterlot, all my animal friends are long gone and my cottage is used to house those who care for the animal sanctuary. I am a scientist Twilight, it’s really all I have left.” Twilight nodded “Then lead the way, I would like to have a look at the machine after I read your plans.” Fluttershy smiled as she lead Twilight back to the room where she left her notes. She passed the notes to Twilight, Twilight frowned “Are you sure this is stable, if we make a single mistake it could overload the core?” Fluttershy frowned “I noticed that too, I mean once it would be set up it would within parameters but the set up is risky. I have been trying to solve that myself but I haven’t had much luck.” Twilight smiled “I’ll happily have a look at the core, and maybe we can come up with a solution together.” The pair slowly trotted through the large white corridors, large cables carrying incredible amounts of magical energy led into a massive golden room with steel reinforced walls. A huge circular steel orb floated at the end of the room, it was lightly humming with power. Twilight and Fluttershy approached the console in front of it. Just as they approached, Fluttershy shouted “Twilight stop!” Twilight flinched putting hooves up, she screamed in agony as two razor sharp blades cut her front legs clean off. The stallion clad in pitch black armour was too busy laughing that he didn’t see the yellow blur slam the front of her hoof tearing through the the stallion helmet and through his head. Five other stallions jumped down all in black armour, Fluttershy rolled her withers as she used her wings to stabilise her self on her back legs “I’m a little rusty, it’s been a while since I’ve used my training.” Twilight looked up “How did do you do that?!” Fluttershy frowned “It was a law Celestia made, it dictated that all personnel on site should have advanced combat training. That includes me.” She leapt at one dodging his sword before knocking him out, before firing a lightning bolt out of her wings at another two. One of the remaining two Assassins fled, the other threw his sword at the core. He laughed “Now you will die.” Fluttershy growled “You idiot!” she ran over to the console “There is enough power in the Canterlot Core alone to level Equestria.” The stallion’s eyes widened as Fluttershy began frantically messing with the console trying to stabilise the core. Blue Belle burst in frantically “What’s wrong?!” Fluttershy shouted “I need you to get Twilight out of here, now!” Twilight was about to protest when Fluttershy turned to her “The only way to save Equestria is to patch the core directly, I can limit the damage to Canterlot" she smiled weakly “tell everyone I can’t make it to Rainbow’s birthday and that I will miss them.” Blue Belle grabbed Twilight and dragged her away, Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she flew towards the core and pulled the sword out before squeezing her way inside. Her body was assaulted with thaumic energy as she stayed in the core, pain wracked her body as she pulled in the containment rods. Meanwhile outside Twilight was in one of the twenty airships leaving Canterlot when the core exploded sending out a massive explosion consuming all of Canterlot in the Core’s thaumic energies. Twilight was sobbing about the friend that gave their life for Equestria. Meanwhile as pink and yellow puddle laid in the ruins of the core facility, a skeletal frame far different from a pony’s began to form. It was larger, it had eight legs ending in claws with a study stocky rib cage with two massive wing frames extended from the back. Soon the creature was fully formed, it had ten small eyes and a long muzzle full of razor sharp teeth, it’s long thick tail providing balance. It looked over itself “How am I still alive” it around to see Canterlot ruined as ferocious twisted remnants of ponies, their bodies contorted part of their bodies turned inside out. It’s mouth watered and before it even knew what it had done, it had consumed the whole group. It’s eyes widened as it realised what it had done “I’m a carnivore!” It then heard the sound of magic and took to the skies, it saw Princess Celestia and Luna facing off against more twisted ponies. Luna growled “What are these foul apparitions?!” It dove downward crushing one under it’s claws before letting out a bestial roar that sent the twisted remnants packing, Luna was about to attack but Celestia noticed the three pink butterflies on her flank “Fluttershy!” Fluttershy nodded “Yes it is me. As for why I’m like this it’s because the core was damaged by someone who tried to assassinate Twilight, I had to go into the core to limit the damage to just Canterlot but it exploded when I was inside it.” Luna growled “Why should we believe that?!” Celestia frowned “Sister, that is Fluttershy’s cutie mark so it makes sense it is when combine it with the fact that no shapeshifter would do such a poor impersonation of what the original looked like. Plus even if she is an impostor, she is the only living thing that has not tried to kill us on sight.” Luna sighed “Fair enough.” Fluttershy frowned “I assume you have a bunker of some kind to hide in, otherwise you would have been twisted as well.” Celestia nodded “We’ll show you, maybe with your help we can come up with a plan of action.” Fluttershy followed as they would come with a plan so that all three of them could come up with a survival plan in the ruined capital. Author's Note I wrote this chapter a while ago, I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 1: SurvivalFluttershy frowned as she followed Celestia and Luna to a large metal bunker covered in arcane runes, Celestia’s horn glowed and the door opened revealing a set of stairs. They went down to see a what appeared to be reinforced rooms, one had a kitchen, another was a pair of small bedrooms. She frowned “This place seems cosy but doesn’t seem to have much in the way of resources.” Celestia sighed “It was supposed to protect us from an attack like this, but not to sustain us for long afterwards.” Luna grimaced “So how are we going to survive here? There isn’t exactly a lot of food.” Fluttershy shrugged “I’m a carnivore now so I can find plenty of food out there but you two are not I assume.” Celestia nodded, Fluttershy frowned “Well then we will need to take enough space to cultivate land and keep it clear.” Luna frowned “But how do we do that? All those creatures want to kill us.” Fluttershy frowned “Do you have a table, I could come with some ideas for a blueprint of a defensive wall that will keep them out while allowing light in to grow plants.” Luna blinked “Fluttershy, when did you learn that? Last time I checked you were animal caretaker in Ponyville.” Celestia raised an eyebrow “Luna, she has been head of the Canterlot Science Division for over four hundred years. Have you not paid any attention?” Luna slumped “I don’t like science, it was always somepony trying to explain something in a really complicated way and I thought Starswirl’s lectures were boring. He has nothing on those droll old professors.” Fluttershy shrugged “Fair enough, if you really want to learn anything read the books on science it is quite intriguing once you move past the droll lectures” she grinned “when we see Twilight don’t tell her this but I slept through all the lectures. I passed using the books.” Luna laughed “Seriously, take that boring lecturers!” Celestia sighed “Fluttershy, please don’t encourage her. If she had her way she would fire every last one of them for being boring, they are good at what they do.” Fluttershy frowned “It’s not good for the stagnant, boring professors to be trying to inspire new thoughts. I saw where Twilight got her long winded lecturing habits from, science requires fresh thought. Do you how many said my thesis was insane? Only Twilight believed in me and that theory after years of work and dedication lead to the first core, some old coots almost stopped one of the greatest developments in Equestrian History!” Celestia frowned “That’s true but would have us do with them." Fluttershy scowled darkly, her eyes fading into darkness “None of them are left so it is not an immediate concern, for now I must come up with a plan to help you two survive this mess.” They watched in shock as the former pegasus sent several scrolls hovering around her in a glow of dark green magic while several quills were forming blueprints on each scroll. Luna cautiously inquired “How are you doing that?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow before looking at the glowing quills in realisation “Ah yes, I studied everything involving thaumic energy including magical spells. It was very important for me to understand thaumic energy thoroughly in order to design the cores which were designed to spread thaumic energy through entire cities.” Celestia frowned “And whatever caused you to become like this gave you access to magic. Hmm when we find a way out of the city, we should do some tests on your new body.” Fluttershy grimaced “Maybe, I’m not keen on being experimented on by anyone pony or otherwise. Now I have to finish these…” She growled as she saw a strange glowing orb pulsating with dark magic “What is that?!” Luna frowned “Oh that’s Sweetie Belle’s Phylactery, still can’t believe those three fillies stumbled upon a dark mage’s cave.” Fluttershy shook her head “Scootaloo became a Ghoul and Apple Bloom became Wendigo. To this day I wonder how they found that cave.” Celestia frowned “So do I but they have been very quiet about how they found it. Still I decided to trust them, they are good ponies.” Fluttershy giggled “Yes but they cause a lot of trouble. Now I need you two to help me with these plans.” Celestia looked at the plans, her eyes widened “These require Thaumic Glass to build, we have no way of acquiring that!” Fluttershy shook her head “Wrong, there should be some around. Much of the glass in Canterlot would have survived, the Thaumic energy of the core would have turned much of the city’s glass into Thaumic Glass which is nearly indestructible. I’ll simply collect some and begin construction.” Luna grimaced “And what will we do then. We don’t want to be useless, speaking of which why haven’t we tried to telport to Ponyville. It should be easy.” Fluttershy shook her head “The best case scenario is the ambient magic will mess with your teleport and you will lose a limb. It also could just explode killing you instantly. We will need to wait for a rescue team but the chance of them making it this far are incredibly low. Meanwhile as Fluttershy exited the Bunker, Twilight had just awoken. She was struggling to come to terms with everything but Equestria needed a leader and she was the only Princess left in the nation. Twilight exited her room, lines glowing with light flowed from the smaller Ponyville Core guards and scientists roamed the halls. She looked out to the small town, which hadn’t changed to drastically other than every building powered by the core. Being so close to the Everfree Forest had meant that expansion was ill advised, not to mention the random disaster of the week that caused massive structural damage to the town. Twilight saw that everypony in the town was looking at her, several nobles form who somehow had managed to escape Canterlot were also there. Twilight wore a clam emotionless mask as she spoke “Canterlot is gone, everypony in the city is gone!” Twilight boomed in her Royal Canterlot Voice before the town could panic “I WILL ARRANGE A RESCUE TEAM TO FIND ANY SURVIVORS! IN THE MEANTIME AS THE SOLE REMAINING PRINCESS YOU CAN BRING ANY AFFAIRS TO ME! THAT IS ALL!” She trotted to the map room and laid down on the desk hoping to get a little rest while awaiting for the horde of ponies she would have to reassure. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 2: AftermathTwilight awoke as the doors opened but revealing eight mares three of which were affected by dark magic. Sweetie Belle was helping her sister along while Scootaloo was pushing Rainbow Dash along in her wheelchair in. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were trotting in slowly, all four were showing clear signs of age. Their coats being less vibrant than when they were in their prime and their muscles largely faded. Rainbow shotued “What happened in Canterlot and where’s Fluttershy!” Twilight slumped “There is not Canterlot, it’s all gone. Somepony wanted to assassinate me and when that failed they ruptured the core, Fluttershy gave her life to limit the damage to just Canterlot.” Sweetie Belle had panicked look on her pale bony muzzle “My Phylactery is up there. I have to check if it’s safe!” Rainbow growled “Why didn’t you stop her!” Twilight growled “Blue Belle dragged me away, she used her magic to seal mine temporarily until we left Canterlot! Don’t act like I didn’t care about her Rainbow!” Just at that moment a flash of light filled the room as Discord appeared in all his chaotic glory. He looked at everypony in the room, Sweetie Belle was panicking while everyone else was looking morosely at Twilight who was calming herself down “Did something bad happen?” Twilight looked up to him with tears in her eyes “Fluttershy’s gone.” Discord’s face paled as he froze before shattering into a million pieces. Twilight sighed “As much as I’d love to stay and discuss this with you further I have to speak to the guard. I do believe that Celestia and Luna would have survived the explosion So I need to send in a small rescue team in of skilled individuals.” Applejack slumped “Ah can’t believe this happened. To think that’s she’s gone, she was the best of us.” Scootaloo looked down “She was so kind, always offering to speak to me when I was bullied about my wings.” Rarity was sobbing as Sweetie Belle held her, drops of dark magic dripping from the eyes of the younger sisters Apple Bloom was crying as she whispered softly “She was so very kind, Ah still remember the first sleepover we had at her cottage. She did her best to entertain us while we caused her a lot of trouble.” Rainbow was deathly silent as tears streamed down her face, her best friend was gone forever and she never got to say goodbye. Pinkie Pie was laying flat on the floor, her mane laying flat on her back.The whole room was deathly silent as they contemplated the loss of the kindest pony they knew. Meanwhile in Canterlot, Fluttershy was busy constructing the glass walls around the bunker. They were now high enough that Celestia and Luna could start farming using some seeds that were in the bunker, Luna smiled as she was pulling one of the ploughs that was also in the bunker along the ground “I must admit I missed this kind of work.” Celestia groaned as she pulled the other plough “Really because I am finding this very difficult.” Luna giggled “Because unlike you I actually keep fit. Seriously you need to cut back on the cake and started doing some actual exercise for once.” Fluttershy finished the current part of the wall and flew outside chasing one of the twisted ponies outside before leaping on it tearing into with her claws until it stopped moving. She then tore into it with her mighty jaws, she thought as she swallowed the flesh (I never thought I’d enjoy the taste of flesh but then again several of my animals used to do it all the time. I’m just another predator I guess.) Fluttershy returned after she finished her meal, she yawned as landed on the ground “Do you mind I get some sleep? I just ate and after all that work it makes me feel sleepy.” Luna smiled “Sure, just don’t fall asleep where we are pulling ploughs.” Meanwhile the two Alicorns continued their work. Celestia frowned “Do you have any idea why somepony would wish to assassinate Twilight? Luna snorted “It was likely one of the nobles, form what you told me they were deeply offended when Cadence ascended and then Twilight did really insulted their pride. It all take is one bad noble who wants power and would do anything to get it, even if it means killing the two of us.” Celestia blinked in shock as she stopped “You can’t be serious! The nobles would never be that foalish, even Blueblood back in the day would never have pulled such a stunt!” Luna frowned “It has been thousands of years since then, many have forgotten what we are capable of. Back then they grew up on the stories of us defeating evil but now they grow up on the stories of how we failed to stop Tirek, Chrysalis, Sombra and Discord. They thought if they took out Twilight they could take over the whole nation.” Celestia slumped “What happened to the both of us? We once were capable of repelling any threat but now we are just a pair of fools. Maybe it’s high time Twilight is given the reigns of our nation.” Luna frowned “We should have done that ages ago, we already have Twilight doing most of our paperwork.” Meanwhile as they were having that conversation Twilight was sitting in a large room on a throne designed for her to hold court in case of an emergency. A noble exclaimed “I need to build myself an estate in Ponyville. My former one as in Canterlot, I was hoping I could get a permit to demolish some buildings in the town.” Twilight looked over the plans and scowled “Several of these building are already occupied by ponies. I will not have you force ponies out of their homes for your own gain!” She glared at them daring them to give her a similar request, most of the Nobles evacuated the premises immediately unwilling to upset the current only Princess available. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me what you think in the comments.
Chapter 3: DiscussionsRainbow was sobbing on her cloud bed, Scootaloo was busy cooking some food for her aging mentor. Rainbow thoughts were flying at million miles an hours (She’s gone, why her. She was the best of us, never letting her age get her down always pushing forward and now she’s gone!) Rainbow looked around as she heard a voice “You miss her don’t you?” Rainbow growled “Who’s there!” Discord materialised and laid himself on the bed a morose expression on his face “I’m sorry. I just figured that you would understand better than anypony else, Fluttershy was my first friend accepting me for who I was but she was never keen on talking about her past.” Rainbow Dash sighed “We met when she was getting bullied by some of the other foals. I stood up for her and the began targeting us both, it didn’t help that my griffon friend Gilda had returned to Griffonstone. Eventually a pony offered a small cottage near the Everfree Forest to Fluttershy for a low price, I decided to go with her to Ponyville I stayed in her cottage until I could afford a cloud house.” Discord smiled “This is nice quiet place, I was quite stunned the first time I saw ponies moving clouds. I had very little knowledge of my own powers at the time.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow “What life for you like when you younger? I must admit even after all these years I don’t know much about you or your past.” Discord sighed “I have no interest in discussing my past, I was little more than a savage monster overwhelmed by the chaos within.” Rainbow Dash grinned “I’m curious about why kind of pranks you have performed over the centuries.” Discord grinned as he began reciting his long list of maddening pranks that had annoyed ponies all across Equestria all while Rainbow Dash laughed heartily. Meanwhile Twilight had a squadron of guards standing at attention “You are the best of the best! Those who have passed the rigorous training tests my brother put for the elite guards, you are to find the Princesses and bring them back here!” A blue scaled dragoness nodded in her glowing purple armour “I, Commander Starstorm vow on my life that we will being them back safe and sound!” Twilight nodded “I am putting my full faith in you, all of you.” The Squadron moved out onto a crystal balcony, grim determination fueling them as they boarded a powerful airship. The airship powered by a miniature core was made of solid steel, the steel deck was covered in powerful cannons designed for combat. Starstorm commanded the multiple ponies, griffons and dragons running the ship “We head for Canterlot immediately! Our mission has been assigned!” The crew eagerly got ready, the ships engines fired up with power from the core before shooting off towards Canterlot at a rapid pace. It was soon hovering over the ruin of the once mighty Equestrian Capital, the ferocious twisted abominations of ponies roaming through the ruined city. Starstorm growled “Give us covering fire while we descend!” The small group of guards descended from ropes as the cannon fired upon the twisted abominations. The bodies were disintegrated by the mighty cannon fire, Starstorm drew her sword only for the air to shake as all the magical energy flew towards a single point, a huge mangled pony the size of several Ursa Majors formed and struck the airship with a piece of bone sending it down the mountain side before turning to the small squad stranded in the city. Starstorm was trembling, she knew this beast would be her death. She closed her eyes only to hear a loud crunch, her squad was watching in shock as a massive butterscotch spider consumed the monster before shrinking down to a much smaller size. She glared at them “So you’re the so called rescue squad. Idiots, those things feast on magic and you just gave them a whole bunch of it!” Starstorm frowned “So what do we do now?” The creature glared at them “You follow me if you wish to survive, we have much to discuss.” Starstorm were stunned as the twisted ponies kept their distance. Whenever one of twisted ponies got too bold, the butterscotch creature hissed at them forcing them to back away. They soon arrived at the glass shielded base, Starstorm and her guards saluted as she saw the two Alicorns “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Luna frowned “Fluttershy, why did you bring them here?! We have scare enough resources as is!” Fluttershy frowned “They were sent as an evacuation squad but their escape vehicle is currently missing. It tumbled down the mountain when they used magical weapons on the Twisted, unaware that the Twisted eat magic.” Celestia frowned “But what do we about our guests, we can’t keep them here.” Fluttershy looked at the ponies, griffons and dragons numbered one hundred. She smiled “I’d say we have enough of them to make a small town, we might as well start rebuilding the fallen city considering we have no idea when help will come for us!” Starstorm interrupted “I have one important question to ask, how did she survive?! Twilight believes she died!” Luna frowned “Our best guess is her body was changed by the sheer amount of magic she was exposed to. All that excess magic had to go somewhere, Fluttershy’s new body is a powerful mana battery.” Fluttershy smiled as she headed into the bunker, she drew up sketches for massive towers and mighty wall that could keep the attackers at bay. She was ready to begin the rebuilding of the city one hoof at a time. Meanwhile in a dark cave several ponies wearing dark cowls were looking at each other “It seems our initial plan has failed. We need a new plan of action.” Another nodded “When we are done Equestria will be under the rule of the Queen of Nightmares and the King of Shadows. A new nation ruled by darkness itself, we just need to be patient and cautious.” Equestria was going to be drawn into one of the most devastating conflicts in it’s history, one that will change the world. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Interlude 1Three thousand years prior to the destruction of Canterlot, Fluttershy was sitting in her empty cottage. All of the animals she knew were long gone, time had taken them all from her and she felt hollow from their absence. She looked at the sanctuary with countless ponies caring for it as she sat alone the stubborn caretakers refusing her access saying, it was in their hooves now and that they didn't need her help. Her negative thoughts were interrupted by knocking “Fluttershy, it’s our Spa Day. I know it’s be rough lately but I’m sure a nice relaxing day at the Spa will help you.” Fluttershy sighed as she slowly trotted towards the door, Rarity was shocked at the downtrodden look on her friend’s face “What’s wrong dear?” Fluttershy shook her head “Let’s just go to the spa, I don’t want to talk about it.” Rarity gave Fluttershy a worried look but said nothing. She knew it would be easier to get answers at the Spa with the help of Aloe and Lotus, they trotted through the town when a dark coated unicorn stallion grinned at them “What are two lovely mare like yourselves doing wandering through town?” Ponies began murmuring “This isn’t going to end well.” Fluttershy took a deep breath “We do not wish to be bothers so can you please move? We have an appointment at the spa.” The Unicorn smiled “I can escort you there, maybe I cane even join you. I can show a good time.” Fluttershy was shaking with fury, she had been pushed around her whole life and she had let it go, smiling demurely as she had been pushed around. Recently her tolerance for that had dropped more and more, and thus she became increasingly aggressive. Her voice boomed at the stallion fire in her eyes “Get out of the way!” The stallion whimpered form the fury of the mare, Rarity grew even more concerned. Fluttershy didn’t act like this unless something was really bothering her. The fact this had been going for weeks and Fluttershy had refused to open up to her alone meant she needed back up. The pair soon arrived at the Spa, Aloe smiled “I assume you’d want the usual treatment.” Lotus nodded at Rarity who nodded back, Lotus then smiled “Come on in.” Rarity and Fluttershy laid down on the massage tables, Rarity moaned as she felt Aloe’s skilled hooves. Fluttershy on the other hoof was silent, not even reacting to Lotus’s hooves even as they slowly relaxed her tensed muscles. Lotus frowned “Is everything alright, Miss Fluttershy?” Fluttershy frowned “Nothing you can fix, so don’t worry about it.” Aloe raised an eyebrow “We do when we have heard several ponies mention that you have been increasingly aggressive of late. We need to know why you’re acting like this.” Fluttershy relented under the gaze of both spa ponies and Rarity “Fine. The truth is I feel like I have no purpose in Ponyville anymore, all my animals are gone and the ponies who run the Animal sanctuary refuse to let me help as they believe that if I do it’s because I don’t trust them to do their jobs.” She began to cry “I don’t know what to do anymore?!” Rarity smiled “How about we pay a visit to Canterlot, maybe some time away from Ponyville will do you some good?” Fluttershy began to dry her tears “I should speak to Luna, she may have some advice for me.” The rest of spa treatment went on calmly as Fluttershy simply listened to Rarity talk about her day, she then returned home and began thinking about the next day. The next morning Fluttershy and Rarity carrying their saddlebags had boarded a train to Canterlot, Rarity smiled “So what do you want to do when we get to Canterlot?” Fluttershy frowned “I wish to speak to Luna first. She may be able to give me some advice.” Rarity gave Fluttershy a sympathetic smile “I’m sure she will help you. I have to check on my Canterlot Boutique but I will join you shortly afterwards, I promise.” Fluttershy nodded with a weak smile “I understand, you have your own business to attend to.” It was not long before the train arrived in Canterlot, Fluttershy smiled as they disembarked “Good luck Rarity.” Rarity smiled back “I hope you can get some help from Luna.” The two hugged before going their separate ways. Fluttershy headed towards the castle, the guards stopped for a moment their horns glowing before nodding to each other “She’s clear.” Fluttershy frowned before she entered the castle as the guards parted, she trotted towards the throne room only to Princess Celestia heading to the throne room. Fluttershy trotted up to the Princess “Celestia, may inquire where you sister is?” Celestia raised an eyebrow “My sister is currently sleeping, she sleeps during the day. We don’t get to see each other very often sadly.” Fluttershy sighed “I was hoping for advice from Luna, all my animals have passed and the ponies at the sanctuary refuse to let me help. I was hoping for some advice on what to do but it looks like I’ll have to wait.” Celestia shook her head “Special talents rarely are enough to last an eternity, most ponies talents give them enough for a lifetime of work before passing on the torch. My advice would be to take up a new skill, how good at you at mathematics?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow “Quite good, I was always a pretty bad flier but I manged to stay in flight school based on the theory portion. I was able to ace pretty much all the mathematical formula, some even said I was looking at a future in factory work.” Celestia smiled “I wish for you to attend a lecture by Storm Wing, one of the few remaining Pegasi Researchers in Canterlot. I’ll provide with a book or two as well as some quills, I have feeling you will enjoy his lecture.” Celestia levitated several books and quills into her saddlebags, Fluttershy smiled “Thank you, Celestia. I’m grateful for you help.” Fluttershy galloped out of the castle heading for the lecture halls near the castle, she saw a small room with several Pegasi standing outside, she followed them in to see an elderly dark black Pegasi with a storm bolt on his flank who looked tiredly at the crowd as they entered. He took a deep breath as he started the lecture “According to Starswirl’s Tenth Law of Magical Resonance and Clover’s Fifth Law of Thaumoregulation, you can combine spells to create powerful and damaging effects in combat. The formula is like this.” He wrote on the board F(Force) = Th(Thaums) x T(Time) x C(Casters) ÷ MRC(Magical Resonance Coefficient). He then added MRC = 2.435934… Fluttershy was writing out every she said as fast as she could, she could understand the yawns. He wasn’t exactly engaging but what he was talking about interested her, after the lecture ended she trotted over to him “Storm Wing.” Storm Wing bowed “Miss Fluttershy, it is a pleasure that you have attended my class. I’m glad that the Element of Kindness has taken interest in my work.” Fluttershy smiled “I found it quite interesting” she then frowned “but you sound bored, why is that?” Storm Wing slumped “None of them are interested in my lectures, the Unicorns are taught by other Unicorns and the Pegasi show no interest in my teachings.” Fluttershy smiled “Well I would like to know more?” Storm Wing eyes widened “Really?” Fluttershy’s nod got him ecstatically talking about his work, Fluttershy spent the rest of the days learning about magical theories from Storm Wing. Author's Note I give thank to Admiral Q Ponyform from his comment. I made this chapter to address his issues with the story, thank you Admiral.
Chapter 4: PastRainbow Dash and Discord were talking in the center of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash frowned “What was it like for Fluttershy in Canterlot? You visited her often right?” Discord put his claw to his mismatched face “Well it began like this…” Canterlot three thousand years prior Discord popped in with a smile “Fluttershy I haven’t seen you in…” Fluttershy was sitting at a desk with several papers covered in complicated formula that most ponies would be incapable of comprehending. Discord frowned “Fluttershy, what are these papers for?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow “They are my study materials, I have taken an interest in this subject. Still most of the lecturers are boring, I learn more from the books.” Discord sighed “Twilight is worried about you, she wants to see you. She simply wanted me to pass you the message.” Fluttershy sighed “Tell her I’m fine and that if she wants to visit me she can come to Canterlot. I will gladly discuss science with her.” Discord let out a chuckle “She’ll love that, I’ll be back tonight after telling Twilight, might even bring her along if she’s up for it.” Present Day Rainbow frowned “I’m surprised you didn’t mess up her notes, Twilight has complained about you doing that a lot.” Discord rolled his eyes “I like to keep little miss organised on her hooves, she needs to deal with something going wrong every now and then. I would never do that to Fluttershy.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow “How did Twilight react to that?” Discord grimaced “She panicked for ten minutes straight about how bad it was for the Harmony Bearers weren’t in the same place. I managed to snap her out of it by telling her I could bring her here any time. That’s why I have been bunking in Twilight’s castle for the last three millennia.” Rainbow frowned “Does she still have panic attacks?” Discord nodded “I am there to limit the damage, none of you are young enough to deal with a powerful Alicorn losing it.” Rainbow sighed “I hate being old, I can’t even get off the ground anymore! It hurts to see the sky calling out to me and that I am too frail to answer that call.” Discord bit his lip as he looked down deep in thought. Rainbow looked at the chaotic entity with concern “Is something wrong?” Discord shook his head “No but I have to show your something. It’s something I have been working on for a while but I was unsure if it would work.” Before Rainbow could respond he clicked his claws and they ended up in his strange room, the floor was covered in lava. Rainbow blinked as she was siting on the wall staring at the floor. Rainbow shook her head “Why are we here?” Discord levitated over several papers “I have been trying to find a way to reverse aging and add immortality on top of it. It was designed so that all five of you would still be here for Twilight but now it will only be four.” Rainbow growled “What has taken you so long?!” Discord grimaced “Do you know how difficult it is to work Chaos magic around Harmony magic. One wrong step and the spell could back fire or worse, knowing this are you willing to go through with this?” Rainbow grinned “Are you kidding me, do you not who I am?! I’m Rainbow Danger Dash, a little risk doesn’t scare me!” Discord burst into laughter “Well if you’re ego’s still in check after this I’ll know you’re fine.” He then frowned as he conjured up a powerful field “You must stay perfectly still and silent or else this will fail.” Rainbow froze eyes looked onto him as his body as his chaotic magic began to wrap around him, sweat dripped down his muzzle as power coursed through his veins. Rainbow closed her eyes as a huge flash of light erupted around her, Rainbow opened a few moments later only to see an exhausted Discord sitting there. Discord smiled weakly “I’m glad it worked.” Rainbow looked over herself in awe, she flapped her wings as she felt her old strength. Rainbow let out a mighty shout “Woohoo!” She flew out of the window taking off into the sky at rapid speed as mach cone began to form around her, everypony in the town gasped as a huge boom echoed alongside a giant rainbow wave flying outward. Meanwhile in Canterlot Fluttershy was busy drafting out plans for rebuilding when she felt the magic surge and looked to see the rainbow wave from the cloud she was resting on. She grinned “It seems Discord’s little experiment has worked.” She then looked towards the city with several papers in her magic “Now then if I do this, then we could build that there.” She then glared at the the Twisted “We clear out those and we can start construction! They know better than to enter the territory of the predator.” She flew down into the base turned outpost, Starstorm raised an eyebrow “So what is the plan?” Fluttershy frowned as she showed them her plans “We need to begin construction of the new town quickly. Our resources are limited so this must happen fast, they wouldn’t dare enter my territory.” Luna frowned “Well it seems like we have a plan. I suggest we get started before things get any worse.” Celestia trotted out “Can I take a look at those plans?” She frowned as Fluttershy levitated them over, Celestia grimaced “This seems very risky, we should try something else?” Fluttershy frowned “We don’t have a lot of time, we can’t house this many for more than a few days. It’s soar or crash for us now and I have no intention of crashing.” Celestia sighed “Fine but you are responsible for what happens next.” With that the group was ready to take back Canterlot. Author's Note I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
UpdateAuthor's Note Not this is not an acutal chapter. Update I'm goin to be honest with all of you, I'm noy exactly sure where I'm goiung with this story so I'll put on Hiatus for a while. That being said if anyone bevlies they have idea of how to continue leave a comment or if they wish adopt the story.
