Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival

(Author's note: Almost 300 people have given this story a shot. Just four more... Edit: It worked, horray!)

The demure yellow mare blinked a few times before opening her mouth to speak to Pinkie. “So...my condition.” One hoof pawed at the ground absently. She’d come in here full of piss and vinegar, ready to have it out with Pinkie...aaaaand that’s what she knew. She didn’t really have a plan other than to just talk to the mare when she wasn’t carrying a weapon that could disable lycans. Ironic that the very plant she had used against her enemies was now the thing she feared most. All of her emotion seemed far away now, burnt out on her revelation with Derpy. Inside she was just left hollow, letting the situation sink in.

She was almost relieved when Pinkie deftly dodged the situation with a smile. “Not now, silly. I’ve got maybe ten hours with my friends before we get dragged away in irons! I need to throw a going away party!” How did that girl manage to sound upbeat about being taken prisoner? Obviously she had some serious mental issues.

Rip her apart and devour the flesh from her bones!

Well, maybe Fluttershy could be a little forgiving on the mental issues thing. She let out a soft sigh as Pinkie bounced out of the room. The strain of all this was getting to the young druid. Maybe it was the sudden strange urges, or the time out at sea, but she felt drained. Yes, emotionally; but physically as well, or perhaps it was just her imagination.

With a silent agreement to herself she pushed her way out of the door to follow Pinkie. The group on deck stopped, all looking up at her as she emerged and after a mere moment they returned to the conversation. “How do we know they’re not going to just teleport over and take the ship!” Rainbow demanded. Apparently they hadn’t gotten the message they were going to surrender yet.

A small frown crossed Twilight’s lips as she looked over to Derpy. “I wanted to ask about that. Full plate is very hard to cast in, and teleportation is a very difficult spell to pull off. How is he so skilled in the arcane sciences-”

“Arts.” Pinkie corrected

The mage’s mouth opened as though she were set to argue, but she stopped. “How is he so skilled with magic and combat at the same time? He seems too young to have studied that much.”

Derpy looked like she might have answered, but Pinkie rushed the conversation. “He’s a knight, he probably got a magical artifact as a gift that lets him teleport. He won’t want to use up the charges, we should be fine.” The rest of them were quiet for a moment or two before Pinkie grinned. “Great! Conversation over, I’m going to go play the ukulele for my friends, bye!”

Rarity turned as the pink mare retreated “Where are you going to...get...or you could just keep walking.”

Slowly the group dispersed, insisting they’d find a plan later. Twilight approached Fluttershy as soon as the group started to splinter. “Hey Fluttershy. Why don’t we get some fruit and listen in on Pinkie’s performance? It’s been a lifetime since I’ve been to one of Pinkie’s parties.”

Or you could lure her away and...

Fluttershy’s stomach turned. The pangs of violent urges were happening more often now. Her friends had so much to worry about now. The last thing they needed was to deal with her little problems. “I’m sorry Twilight, I’m actually kind of tired...” She mumbled quietly “I’ve been staying up late with Pinkie the past few nights to fix her nose...I think maybe I just need some sleep.” She flashed her friend a small smile and turned away, heading below deck to find her room.

The room was filled with other ponies, and some of them shot her looks. Luckily they seemed to respect - or fear - Pinkie. The boys didn't hide their appreciative looks, but they kept their hooves to themselves. The tiny yellow mare curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, focusing on Druantia. It took some time, but eventually her light shone through and comforted Fluttershy. With a relaxing sigh she let the spirit’s light fill her and push away any violent thoughts.

“No.” The voice floated about in the ether. Was that Pinkie? Where....the world started to solidify around her as yellow eyelids fluttered open. “Trust me, you don’t want to wake up and surprise her. I’ll do it.” Her head tilted slightly, leaning around to look over at Pinkie. “Hey...” the pink pony began, her voice sounding slightly morose. “It’s time to go Fluttershy. We’ve got a plan, the less you know the better. You just need to hang in there for a few days.”

The yellow mare gave a weak nod and hooked a foreleg around Pinkie’s neck, letting the mare help her up. Her head spun slightly from the movement. With a frown she looked the Pink mare over, she must have been carrying the wolfsbane. Over the last while Fluttershy could feel her body getting weaker and slower. It was starting to get to the point where Druantia’s touch was the only thing that could make her feel whole. Now she knew why; wolfsbane. It must have been the effect of staying close to wolfsbane for so long.

With a smile Fluttershy put her hooves on the ground and nudged Pinkie. “Go on, I’ll follow you...” Innate distrust flared within her. She didn’t want this pony, or any pony for that matter, behind her. It was only through sheer force of will that she found the strength to trust her friends. They were going to willingly walk into the hooves of their enemies, but the druid’s mind screamed against that. Freedom was everything, death was preferable to capture. She wanted to jump off the boat and take her chances with a swim toward land.

Her head shook as she pushed the thought away, falling in line behind Pinkie. If she ran she’d become just another monster in the woods. This was where she belonged, in civilization with her friends. She lived in harmony with nature, she protected it. Her job was to guard and steward it, make it what it needed to be; but she was not an animal.

The light of the sun threw Fluttershy’s gaze downward in a squint. The light came from the horizon and cast every figure on the deck in dark shadows. The deck was full of shadowy silhouettes, it was easy to pick out the ones from the Wave Crester, those were the ones that refused to meet their gaze.

The seven ponies lined up dutifully, facing the contingent of well armored ponies that streamed from one ship to the other. With half the deck covered in uniformed ponies a familiar stallion stepped haughtily across the gangplank and onto the Wave Crester. He gave a slight smirk as he looked them over “Pity, I was hoping you’d be stupid and save me the trouble. Sinking this little barge would have been good cannon practice.” He moved to one side of the line and looked each mare over. His slow trot halted right in front of Fluttershy.

For a moment he leaned in and looked her over, causing the yellow mare to shrink away in fear. His face stopped an inch from her cowering form, his grin spreading. “Oh...it’s you.” His voice felt oily as each syllable slid over her. “It’s nice to meet you officially Fluttershy.” The yellow mare let out a pathetic whimper, folding beneath the presence of Calescent.

Derpy’s voice cut across the deck. “We surrender, but I want a promise.”

Fluttershy gratefully relaxed as the stallion turned his head away with a dry laugh. “You don’t exactly have any leverage to get anything. You will surrender unconditionally.”

Derpy calmly sat straight backed and eyes forward. “We surrender to the courts of Equestria, not your firepower. I want a promise that we’ll be entitled to the rights and treatments granted to all prisoners under the laws of the Equestrian government. That is, if we are being legally arrested.”

Commander Calescent stiffened as he moved away from the cowering mare and over to Derpy. “Of...of course. You have my word.” His voice had lost any hint of amusement.

“I want his word” Derpy stated, lifting one hoof to indicate a zephyr knight. Like all the knights he stood tall in black plate armour, a visored helmet obscuring his face from view.

The commander looked back in surprise at the knight, “Why him?”

“Because the honour of a real knight is beyond question, and I doubt your loyalties.”

Calescent looked furious, but merely turned to the knight and gave him a look. Based on this Fluttershy guessed it was against the rights of prisoners to belt them across the face for mouthing off. That was a good sign at least.

The knight drew his sword and placed the point on the deck, resting the hilt on his forehead “You will be treated with the protection of our laws, regardless if you deserve them. You have my word.” he said in a deep booming voice. With that he slid the sword back into his sheath.

“Good.” The commander muttered. “Chain them up.”

Ponies in uniforms came forward, iron shackles hanging from their flanks. Most of the ponies stood, offering up their hooves to be chained. A surge of panic flew through Fluttershy as she cried out. The mare leapt to her feet and turned to run, but was blocked by the wall of pony bodies. Hastily she turned back around and crouched, eying them threateningly. Seven or eight of the soldiers had readied weapons. Maybe she could knock one of the armored ones over the side of the boat? How well could ponies swim in plate?

“She’s a druid!” a voice screamed out over the chaos, it took Fluttershy a few minutes to recognize it as Pinkie’s voice. The deck quickly grew still as ponies halted and watched the scene. The voice came again, but quieter. “She’s a druid.”

Calescent sighed quietly before giving his order. “Check her.”

The pony closest to Fluttershy stopped, hesitated but then stepped closer. He drew a dagger and carefully made a cut across the front of his hoof, wincing only slightly. After sliding the knife back into its sheath he held up his hoof carefully. A line of blood laced it, some dripping to the deck, but the wound wasn’t serious. “Can you heal this?” he asked hesitantly.

Looking about at all the ponies Fluttershy noticed several uniformed ponies training crossbows on her. Quickly she raised a hoof and invoked Druantia, healing the wound in a searing blue flash. In stunned silence the soldier wiped the blood away and looked at his hoof, marveling at the power she possessed. “By...by Celestia’s sun it’s healed...” a look of awe floated over his face. The ability to heal wounds was virtually mundane to the druidic sects, but in the rest of Equestria it was an amazing feat apparently.

Calescent was less impressed. With an eye roll and a scoff he ordered them to bind her with rope and a muzzle that covered her eyes. Without the ability to see it would severely limit her ability to cast. Grateful that they took the irons away Fluttershy surrendered and was brought onto the ship.

Fluttershy felt around her little room carefully. It wasn’t a terrible prison. The wooden walls stayed fairly warm for the most part, and the fresh bedding of hay let her lie comfortably. That was where she spent most of her time, each day she felt weaker and slept more. Most days were spent channeling the touch of Druantia as she lay in her hay, only getting up to drink the water they dropped in occasionally. The only thing she hated was the isolationism, well that and the rocking. The ship rocked gently from side to side, and it never stopped. No one to talk to, no one to interrupt the thought that grew steadily darker. Ranging from running free in a field to the gruesome and horrifying fate she wished upon her captors. She didn’t know how many days she lay like this, resting, waiting, and hoping. Eventually she woke one time without a blindfold.

The world swirled and finally came into focus. Slowly Fluttershy’s eyes opened and as they did the world was finally still, the damned rocking had stopped. She let out a silent prayer of thanks to Druantia for that small blessing, but it didn’t make being stuck in prison any more appetizing. Her eyes closed anyway; she didn’t feel like looking around right now. The ground beneath her was built of cold stone brick, but someone had been nice enough to toss her onto a small pile of hay.

Her cell was empty, but all around her there were other cells, and her friends were in them. She could tell it was them, their voices were hushed, but that was to be expected. Curious if she needed to be involved in the conversation she tried to focus her mind.

“Well what are we supposed to do about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked quietly. Well that was odd. Locked in cells and they were talking about her? Fluttershy focused on staying still and not letting them know she’d woken. It wasn’t nice to eavesdrop on friends...but she was pretty sure it wasn’t nice to talk about them behind their backs either.

Pinkie’s voice came next, a tone of hope clinging to the words. “When we free Celestia and get out of the game matrix it’ll be better. After we’re back in our Equestria it’ll be easier to deal with.”

Rainbow Dash let out a snort “And if the game matrix doesn’t finish after that? She’s changing Pinkie, I barely recognize her anymore. If this keeps up for another week...” Fluttershy fought to keep herself down. It wasn’t just Pinkie that knew, it was everyone. How did Pinkie even find out? Did she tell the rest of them? When? She wasn’t growing fur or fangs or anything was she? Unconsciously Fluttershy’s tongue snaked across the underside of her mouth, toying with her teeth.

“Don’t worry...” Pinkie said solemnly “I won’t let it get another week. If we haven’t gotten back to the real world by then...I’ll deal with her..” The blood rushed out of the yellow mare’s face. Pinkie was going to ‘Deal with her?’

A shallow sigh was followed by Twilight’s voice “Pinkie, this isn’t exactly your forte. Are you sure you can handle it? Maybe we could hire someone to do it for us.”

There was a pause, but Pinkie held firm, “No Twilight. She’s my friend and I’m ready for this. I can do it. I’m sure.” Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could stand up now if she tried. Her legs felt numb and her stomach churned horribly. She was a threat, and Pinkie was going to put her down. That’s why she was carrying around wolfsbane, she was already preparing. No - no she couldn’t think like that. Her friends didn’t want to do it, they were being forced to. They had a plan, they were going to get her out before she turned, before she needed to...die.

Six uniformed guards entered the room and one of them, a stallion with chestnut fur, yelled out “Shut the hell up prisoners! Your lucky moment has arrived, one of you gets the pleasure of Viceroy Shadowflame’s company for the evening.” He looked back to another guard, a dirtied white mare. “Which one did he want?” Random ponies shouting at you was always a good time to pretend to wake up.

The yellow mare curled up into a ball and shook. She prayed to Druantia that they wouldn’t pick her, but could she wish that any of her friends get taken away instead. Finally she settled on her best hope, Derpy. If they took Derpy it would be because of her title, maybe so they could negotiate- “That one.” The mare replied “The one with the six coloured mane.” Fluttershy’s heart sank. Although she was instantly relieved she wasn’t getting taken away, in way she was also simultaneously shameful that she was relieved. In reality Fluttershy knew she had the best chance of making it out of here alive. The ability to heal broken bones in a few days was rare, almost unheard of outside the druidic circles. She’d likely be kept as a well treated slave to rest alongside the wounded and fix them.

The druid could only watch helplessly as three ponies sat at Rainbow’s cell door, loading their crossbows and watching carefully. The remaining three opened the door hesitantly. They outnumbered the mare three to one and were armed, but they still watched her warily. Maybe they knew she was dangerous, or maybe these ponies were the first real prisoners they had to deal with. The white guard mare stood at the door with her crossbow out, grumbling at them “Stop acting like such a bitch, they haven’t had any water for three days and they’re unarmed. Let’s move it.”

The guards nodded quickly and moved over, booting Rainbow in the side, Fluttershy winced. “Get up-” The rest happened very quickly. The white mare tossed her crossbow off to the side and turned to the guard next to her. The sickening sound of multiple muted pops sounded throughout the room as the mare reared up, grabbing her compatriots head in both her hooves and twisted. The body immediately went limp and fell to her feet, before his body hit the ground the murderous guard moved on the second guard pony.

She stabbed with a dagger and missed, but not by much. The startled pony pressed his crossbow right into the mare’s chest and pulled the lever. Unfortunately for him crossbow bolts needed to pick up a little speed before they could do damage. Pressed right up against the mare’s armour it was having trouble moving at all. With the flash of a knife the string snapped, with another flash and a spurt of crimson the stallion was gone.

Two guards stayed with Rainbow Dash while one moved out to meet the traitor, sword already prepared. As he moved through the doorway a crossbow bolt hit him square in the chest and he toppled over. It seemed the white guard had tossed her crossbow within reach of Applejack, lucky. At the sound one of the remaining guards turned his head. Before he turned it back Rainbow was on her feet and moving against the guard who had time to react. He reared up and pulled his sword, but one fluid motion Rainbow blocked the incoming blow and stole the sword from his hooves.

With an arrogant smile she followed it up by ducking low and sweeping the hind legs out from under him, causing him to collapse onto the ground. Fluttershy looked away as Rainbow’s weight came down, there was a crunch and a grunt, but she never heard from that guard again.

“I surrender!” The last guard cried, tossing his blade to the ground and backing into the corner of the cell.

With an angry snarl Rainbow charged him, skidding to a halt when she heard Rarity’s voice. “Stop!” On the other side of the cell the white guard...Fluttershy looked closer. That was Rarity! Her fur was a little dirtier and her mane was coloured differently. So who was in Rarity’s cell? Rarity leveled a crossbow at Rainbow Dash, “I don’t like to kill ponies Miss Dash. I killed these two because I didn’t have a choice, but we’re not going to kill ponies who surrender.” They paused for a few moments before Rainbow relented, fetching the keys to unlock the doors.

The pony in Rarity’s cell as it turned out was some pony named Windjammer. Now that Fluttershy got a look at her it was fairly obvious that it wasn’t Rarity. She was almost ten years younger and her mane had been dyed. It seemed that the rest of the group guessed that the descriptions Viceroy Shadowflame got weren’t particularly detailed, and it had paid off. Rarity had the stallion remove all of his armor and drink some sort of vial, insisting he’d wake up from it later, locked in a cell.

“Thanks Windjammer.” Pinkie said cheerily “You get out of the manor at the first moment you can.” Pinkie turned away from her to put on some guard’s armor...with a little modification from Rarity. It seemed, oddly enough, that the armor was too big for most of them.

“Pinkie...” Windjammer insisted defiantly. “I want to come and keep you safe. I mean Celestia hangs in the balance, I should go with you.”

Pinkie waved a dismissive hoof “No Windjammer, you’re like the little sister I never had. This is something for us to deal with, I need to make sure you’re safe.” Fluttershy could visibly see Windjammer deflate at hearing that. Wordlessly the mare turned about and left the prison. Hopefully she could find her own way because they didn’t have time to hold her hoof. Almost everypony had been suited with their armor but it seemed as if Fluttershy hadn’t been bothering.

Rarity looked shocked at Pinkie’s ignorance and most of the rest of the group mirrored her sentiment. “Pinkie...” Rarity attempted diplomatically. “That poor girl might have some sort of...feelings toward you. Feelings of a romantic nature. Perhaps you should-”

Pinkie cut the mare off mid sentence, an uncharacteristic touch of annoyance tingeing her voice. “I know. That filly has been ready to share my bed for two years now.” The room stilled as each pony sat in stunned silence. Pinkie pressed on as she dressed “None of you seemed to have a problem with me twisting the girl’s romantic feelings for me to make her take Rarity’s place. You all knew that was the only reason she agreed to it. So unless you want to explain why twisting her emotions is okay when we’re putting her in danger. Don’t pretend to spare the girls feelings when I do the same thing to get her out of my way.” Her voice wasn’t annoyed now...just cold. This world had changed her, it wasn’t for the better.

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably as she touched the studded leather. Her weariness weighed on her and she just wanted to return to the hay in the cell and pass out. No, no she could do this. It was almost over, she just needed to push on a little farther. “I...I...I can’t put this on...” Fluttershy muttered miserably, looking away in shame.

A snort came from the cyan mare’s lips as she tugged on the last of her armor. “Oh for...” Fluttershy winced, “Fluttershy, I know that ponies are dead, but being squeamish here will get us all killed. You need to suck it up-”

Rainbow’s words were cut off at Twilight’s interruption “Oh! Right...no Rainbow Dash, she means she really can’t wear it. Druids lose their magic if they wear metal, even if it’s those studs...” Twilight paused for a few moments before raising a questioning eyebrow “Although I can’t seem to recall why that is...”

It was because metal was a bastardization of the land. Nature was supposed to be allowed to exist as it was, metal was the process of everything unnatural. In essence it was just as bad as the undead. Ponies went into the earth and pillaged what they wanted from it, then used a process to force it to work to their own ends. Metal was the foundation of industry, and industry was just about the most unnatural perversion of the world imaginable.

Of course Fluttershy couldn’t say that. If she told them industry offended Druantia it would betray the existence of Druantia. More pressing though, how do you explain to your friends that the correct order of the world was for them to be at the mercy of the more powerful creatures of the world? Especially when the real Equestria had industry in spades.

“Time actually matters ponies.” Pinkie reminded them, clipping her new crossbow into place at her flank. “Do we have time to remove the studs? Because if we don’t we need to tie Fluttershy up and take her as a prisoner.” The fur on Fluttershy’s body raised and she suppressed a growl.

They want to take your freedom. Kill them, you’ll like the taste of blood and flesh.

Her thoughts were quickly checked and she forced herself to relax slightly. No, they weren’t trying to take her prisoner, they were helping her escape a prison. They were her friends and she needed to trust them, even if their decisions balked her emotions. Pinkie was right, it would be so much simpler if they had someone reliable to lead them. That way they wouldn’t have to waste time making decisions like this; they could always move as one harmonious unit.

The touch of a hoof brought Fluttershy out of her thoughts. Derpy’s sullen face looked upon her with the hint of a smile as the ropes extended, waiting for Fluttershy’s consent. With a smile the young druid realized she felt more relaxed and ready to do this. Was that her doing, or Derpy’s aura? Of course it was Derpy! When had Fluttershy ever calmed down on her own? “Thank you Derpy.” the mare’s whisper came, letting her hooves get tied up once more.

The guards they passed gave only a moment’s notice to the group as they walked by. It would be some time before the prison outbreak would be noticed, and the soldiers who passed them accepted the excuse “Viceroy Shadowflame wants to talk to this prisoner.” quite readily. It was Fluttershy’s job to act scared and meek, as it turns out that was a task she could succeed in.

Along the way they did make one stop, ducking quickly into the manor’s library. Twilight needed to pick up a spellbook to replace the one she lost, wizards weren’t much good without the ability to study their spells ahead of time. Pinkie got one too, informing the group that rule three was to never miss an opportunity to scavenge. No one questioned her on the imaginary rules, it was doubtful other rules even existed. Soon though they found their way to the throne room, up a flight of stairs and sequestered from the rest of the castle. This was a stallion that did not want ponies coming to see him all the time.

As they made it to the top of the stairs two stallions clad in studded leather looked over at them questioningly. “What business do you have with Viceroy Shadowflame?” The first demanded, eyes narrowing slightly. Of all the guards they had passed, very few had been mares. These two must have had their suspicions, with seven mares collectively gathered. With a smile Rarity stepped forward and gave a disarming smile. A weak smile passed Fluttershy’s lips, curious as to what excuse Rarity was going to give them.

Of course what happened was a fair amount simpler. The moment the guards took their eyes off the rest of the group to look at Rarity, a bolt of cyan fur was upon them. The ex-pegasus caught the stallion off guard and got both her hooves underneath the first one before he could react. Without warning the guard was flipped head over heels onto his back and Rainbow mounted him. His hooves lashed out violently, but Rainbow effortlessly pinned him down. Her forelegs pressed into his windpipe and for a moment she hesitated. It was subtle, and something Fluttershy wouldn’t have noticed a few weeks ago, but now her thoughts were similar. It would have been far easier just to stomp once on his throat.

The thought made Fluttershy wince, she didn’t like seeing the more brutal solution. Weeks ago she would have just thought Rainbow was a little slow on choking him into unconsciousness. That’s what this world did though, right? This wasn’t their ecosystem, and nature only let three things happen to creatures outside their ecosystem. They could go extinct, and that wasn’t an option. They could change the nature of the ecosystem, and hopefully that would happen soon. Or finally the animal could adapt to the new environment. That meant understanding the importance of viciously stomping onto throats sometimes.

The guard stopped moving and after a moment Rainbow let up. The other guard slowly stopped struggling as well. When Rainbow had moved Rarity had slipped behind him and wrapped a scarf around his throat, choking him out while Applejack held him still. The guards now quietly laying on the floor, the ponies prepared themselves. This was it, this was the end of the module. Beyond these iron doors say their doom or their salvation. Either way, Fluttershy was just happy behind the door was the end. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

The room was truly a thing of beauty. While lacking the wonderful flora and fauna of Fluttershy’s home this room still made her twitch with a strand of envy. On the other side of the massive iron doors was a landscape of polished silver, flanked by enormous stain glass mirrors. Each window was different, but each seemed to tell the story of a different knight playing out some sort of legend. The sun was high in the sky now and as it pressed through the colored glass it bathed the white and black polished marble with a haunting reddish glow.

The beautiful room was entirely bereft of guards, and besides the ponies themselves there seemed to be only two other beings present. One was Viceroy Shadowflame, majestically sitting upon his throne. He gazed at them with piercing red eyes from behind his black horn, then reared to his full height as two blackened wings burst to his sides. With a few pumps of his wings he was dramatically lifted off of the throne and flew to land imposingly in front of the mares.

The other creature in the room was Celestia. The sun goddess’s wings were tethered behind her back with bouts of silver chains. The chains didn’t stop there though, in the most complicated manner possible chains were distributed over the alicorn’s entire body. Around her neck sat a thick red collar, Fluttershy could feel its energies pulsating from here. Whatever it was, it was powerful. Celestia turned her head to look at the group hopefully, and to Fluttershy’s shock she saw that Celestia had been muzzled like a common animal. The light of such disrespect for their princess was enough to light a fire in Fluttershy’s stomach. Gritting her teeth she looked to the alicorn, it seemed he was about ready to speak.

“Well well, the Starsoul Knights make their way to save their precious princess.” Viceroy Shadowflame turned about, a smug look plastered on his face. His chest was covered by a very ornate black and red breastplate. When coupled with the expensive silk cloak draped across his body he truly did look the part of a noble. The obscenely smug look likely helped get the point across.

With a casual sneer he gave out a self satisfied laugh. “Unfortunately it seems you don’t have all the information. You see Starsoul Knights I-” A loud snap sounded from Fluttershy's left, followed by a hollow thunk as the alicorn's words ceased. His head jerked backwards once as the shaft of a crossbow bolt appeared just over his left eye, dribbling blood down his muzzle. The dumbfounded viceroy teetered in place with his mouth open, then as though someone had cut the strings on a marionette, he crumpled to the floor. He lay on the ground then, twitching once before becoming very still. The exception being the slowly expanding red pool on the ground around him.

In unison the ponies slowly turned their heads to look at Pinkie Pie. The pink mare stood on her hind legs still, the crossbow raised to eye level. As her gaze turned to meet her friends the crossbow lowered, her features curled into a look of shock.

“Great Celestia’s massive ancient wrinkly ballsack Pinkie...” Rainbow Dash mumbled in astonishment. “You just shot Viceroy Shadowflame in the fucking face...”