The Rise and Fall of Chaos

Chapter 6 – Honesty, The Best Policy?

“My child, why did we send the little whelp away? We could have used him.” “I... he seemed rather insignificant to me.” “Is there something wrong?” “No. Not at all.”

“Applejack, you alright? Sis?”

Applejack slowly stood up, her head feeling cloudy. “Apple Bloom? What... ugh, what happened?”

“You hit your head pretty hard on that there tree” she said, pointing to the tree behind Applejack “I told ya to watch where you were goin'!”

Applejack shook her head, trying to shake the cobwebs out. “Yeah, guess I need to be more careful...”

“Uhh, sis, you sure you're okay?”

“I'm fine... now uhh, what was I doin'?”

“We're getting' ready for the big storm the pegasus ponies are cookin' up fer later, remember?”

Applejack tried to recall what her sister was talking about, but just couldn't seem to. “Wow, guess I hit my head harder than I thought! Oh well, best get back to it then...” She had gone through the same routine hundreds, if not thousands of times before, so even if she had a hard time remembering that a storm was scheduled for later on in the day, she could easily resume preparing for it.

“Angel! Wait!” came a voice seemingly out of nowhere. Applejack turned her head to see where it was coming from, but was suddenly knocked over by Fluttershy.

“Oh! I'm so sorry Applejack, I didn't even see you there!”

Applejack wasn't too happy about having to pick herself up from the ground for the second time within a few minutes, but she tried to hide it from Fluttershy, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “Shoot, don't worry about it, mistakes happen.”

“It's just that, Angel keeps running away and I need to get him inside before the storm comes. I think he thinks I'm playing a game with him...”

“I said don't worry about it, sugarcube.” Applejack said, showing a hint of frustration in her voice.

“Oh, okay...” Fluttershy said, looking nervous about something.

Applejack caught the nervous look and wondered what was bothering her friend. “Somethin' the matter?”

“Well... it's nothing. You seem really busy and I don't want to bother you...”

Applejack sighed, “Come on, I can tell ya got somethin' on yer mind, what is it?”

“It's just... well I know it's a strange time to ask but you're always so honest about everything and I know you'd tell me the truth and... well... I've been thinking lately about how ponies are always saying I'm too much of a pushover and... am I really?”

“Oh, is that all?” Applejack couldn't help but laugh a little, amused that something so small would be bothering somepony so much.

“Then again, it is Fluttershy...” she thought to herself.

“Well sugarcube... how do I put this... you do sometimes let other ponies walk all over ya, and you could stand to stick up fer yerself a bit more... and you could stand to be a little more brave at times... but, shoot, I've seen you do some very brave things before! Why, you dealt with a huge beastly manticore as if he were a small kitty, and remember that dragon?”

“Yes, but... do you really think I'm a coward?”

“Whoa whoa there, I said you could stand to be a little bit more brave, I didn't say you was a... well, I... maybe, a little.” Applejack silently cursed at herself for once again letting her honesty get the better of her.

“Me an' mah big mouth...”

“Oh, I see... well, thanks, Applejack... I need to go find Angel now...” Fluttershy said dejectedly.

“Fluttershy I didn't mean...” Applejack began as Fluttershy walked away with her head hanging down. “Aww, ponyfeathers.”

Apple Bloom walked up to her sister and asked “What was that about?”

Applejack sighed, “Nothin', let's just get back to work.”

***

The Apple family managed to finish preparing for the big storm just in time, as they always did. Just as they were about to head inside, Pinkie Pie casually strolled up and called out to Applejack.

“Hey, wait! Before you go in, have some pre-storm cupcakes!”

“What in the... Pinkie? Can't you see the storm's about to start? Get back to Sugarcube Corner!” Applejack yelled back.

“Aww don't worry, it'll be fine!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright. I'll have some of those cupcakes as long as it'll get you back inside quicker.”

Applejack ran out to meet her friend, Apple Bloom following behind her quietly.

“Here ya go, one cupcake for you, and one for you!” Pinkie said, holding two cupcakes out to the sisters.

“Huh?” Applejack turned and saw Apple Bloom standing behind her. “Apple Bloom! Get back inside, now!”

The wind started to pick up.

“Aww, sis, let me just have one little bite and I'll run right back inside, promise!”

“Fine, but hurry it up!”

Apple Bloom happily took the cupcake from Pinkie, eating it in one bite. “It's good! Hey!” Suddenly, a big gust of wind sent Apple Bloom's saddlebag flying into a nearby tree, and she immediately climbed up to grab it.

“Apple Bloom you get down here right this instant!”

By now the wind had started to gust at incredible speeds, sending all sorts of random junk flying through the air. As Apple Bloom struggled to grab her bag from the tree, other smaller trees had begun to be uprooted and launched through the air.

“Wow, this is fixin' to be one heck of a storm... Apple Bloom, get down here now!” Applejack said, her worried state making her voice sound shrill. “That's it, I'm comin' up after ya! Pinkie, help me out here will ya?”

“Okey dokey lo...” Pinkie was cut off by the sight of a tree hurtling directly at her. She quickly dodged out of the way and ran into a nearby bush.

“Fine, I'll do it alone! Hang on Apple Bloom, I'm comin'!”

Applejack began to climb the tree, but was knocked off by a piece of flying debris. She tried again, but the same thing happened. “What in tarnation... come on...” No matter how many times Applejack tried to get up the tree, she kept getting known down either by falling branches or hit by something the wind had picked up and thrown at her, causing her to slip and fall.

“Sis, help!” Apple Bloom cried.

Just then, Fluttershy appeared, trying her best to push against the wind. “Don't worry, I'll help you!”

“Fluttershy? What are you doin' out here?” Applejack yelled.

“I was outside making sure my animals were safe and sound when I noticed Apple Bloom stuck in the tree!”

“Fluttershy, you're gonna get yerself hurt, go back home!”

“No! I need to be more brave, like you said!” As Fluttershy said this, she had reached the tree and grabbed Apple Bloom, who was clutching her bag tightly in her forehooves. Fluttershy gently brought Apple Bloom down and set her down on the ground.

“See? I can be brave when I need to-” Fluttershy's sentence was cut short when a small tree hit her square in the gut and sent her flying.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack cried. “Apple Bloom, get inside, Pinkie, you too! I'm goin' after her!”

“No you're not!” came a voice from inside the house.

“Don't try to stop me Big Mac, she could be hurt! I need to go find her!”

Before she could say another word, Big Macintosh threw her on top of his back and ran inside, with Pinkie and Apple Bloom following closely behind.

When they were safely inside, Big Mac slammed the door shut and locked it. “It's too dangerous out there, for anypony. I know she's your friend, and she might be hurt, but goin' out there and lookin' for her is suicide!”

Applejack sighed with reluctance “You're right...”

“Don't worry Applejack, she'll be okay... I think.” Pinkie said, not sounding too reassuring.

“I hope you're right...”

***

After the storm had passed, Applejack and Pinkie Pie quickly set out to find Fluttershy. As soon as they got outside, they were surprised to see Twilight and Rarity running up to the house.

“Oh there you are Pinkie!” Twilight said. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake said they hadn't seen you since before the storm started and we were worried!”

“Nahh I'm okay, but we need to look for-” Pinkie stopped when she saw Rainbow Dash flying in fast from the direction of Fluttershy's house.

“Have any of you guys seen Fluttershy? She's not at her house!”

“We were just about to go lookin' for her, she was hit pretty hard by a small tree and sent off in that direction” Applejack pointed with her hoof.

Rainbow quickly took off in the direction Applejack pointed to “I'm on it!”

“Come on, we can ask in town if anypony's seen her!” Twilight said.

***

The girls looked all over, but no one had seen Fluttershy. Just when they were about to give up and wait for Rainbow to get back, hoping she'd had better luck, somepony shouted.

“Look! It's Rainbow Dash!”

Applejack noticed she was flying very slowly, her head hanging low. She was holding something with her forelegs. “Hey, she's got something!” Applejack squinted and was able to make out a bit of pink and yellow, mixed in with a bunch of brown. “I think it's Fluttershy!”

Everypony quickly stopped what they were doing and rushed over to Rainbow excitedly, feeling relieved that she had found Fluttershy. It didn't take long for Applejack to notice that something was wrong. There were fresh tears falling down Rainbow's face, and Fluttershy wasn't moving.

Applejack was the first to reach Rainbow, having used every last ounce of her strength to run as fast as she could, having feared the worst. She looked over Fluttershy's body, and was taken aback by how dirty she appeared. Her mane was tangled and matted, her coat was almost completely covered by dirt, and for a brief second Applejack thought she could see just the tiniest hint of red on the top of her head.

“Fluttershy!” She looked up at Rainbow, asking the question she already knew the answer to. “Is she okay?”

“She's...” Rainbow choked back a sob “she's dead.”

There were mixed reactions from the crowd behind Applejack, some cries of shock, some gasps. All Applejack could do was stare at Fluttershy's broken body, not wanting to believe that her friend was gone. The rest of her friends rushed through the crowd, stopping in front of Rainbow.

“Fluttershy! No!” Twilight managed to choke out between sobs.

“I... I found her like this. There was nothing I could do.” Rainbow said, beginning to shudder, tears streaming down her face. She set Fluttershy's body down on the ground gently. “I should've been here to catch her before she...” Her face contorted into a look of pure rage. “Damn it!”

“No,” Rarity said, putting a hoof on Rainbow's back “don't blame yourself, dear. You can't be there all the time.”

Rainbow sniffed and looked up at Rarity. “You're right...”

“Come on, we need to get her cleaned up...” Twilight said.

***

Later that day, as Fluttershy's body was being prepared for her funeral, the girls met at Twilight's house to talk about what had happened.

“I can't believe she's gone...” Applejack said.

“How did it even happen?” asked Twilight. “You only told us bits and pieces of the story.”

“Well, the storm was pickin' up mighty bad, debris was flyin' everywhere. Apple Bloom had climbed up a tree to get her saddlebag, on account of the wind puttin' it there. I told the silly filly not to, but she insisted... and by the time she grabbed it, the storm had gotten so bad that trees were startin' to fall over. I tried to climb up to get her, but every time I'd hop on the darn thing I'd get knocked off by a piece of flyin' debris.”

“And then Fluttershy appeared,” she continued, “yellin' somethin' about bein' brave, and she charged in to save Apple Bloom. Once she was safe on the ground, Fluttershy tried to land herself, but was hit hard by a tree, directly in the gut... and that's when it carried her away...”

“It should have been me rushing to save Apple Bloom, not Fluttershy!” Rainbow said. Realizing how her words sounded she quickly spoke up again. “What I mean is, Fluttershy doesn't know how to handle herself in a dangerous storm, but I do. If I hadn't been busy elsewhere...”

“No, Rainbow, don't talk like that. If anything it was mah fault for tellin' her she could stand to be a little more brave... why, if I hadn't done that, she wouldn't have...” Applejack trailed off, looking down at the ground.

“What do you mean? What did you say to her?” Twilight asked.

“Well it was nothin', I mean... she insisted to know what I thought of her bein' all scared all the time, so I told her she could stand to be more brave...”

“So, let me get this straight” Twilight began, “you told her to be more brave, and then she goes and pulls off a crazy stunt to save your sister, which you should have done in the first place?”

Twilight's words hit Applejack hard. “What?! I tried! Pinkie, you were there, you saw how hard I was tryin' to get in that tree!”

“I saw you acting like a scared little filly, making poor Fluttershy sacrifice herself for no reason!” Pinkie said, her blue eyes filled with hatred.

“Well what about you, then? What do ya call what you were doin'?”

Pinkie scoffed “Hello! I was trying to get myself untangled from the bush I was stuck in!”

“Didn't look like it to me...”

“Girls, please! Really... there's no need to argue like this.” Rarity said. “Now, Applejack, apologize to Pinkie.”

“You can't be serious.”

Rainbow flew up to Applejack's face and glared at her angrily. “You heard her, apologize!”

“You said it yourself, Applejack” Twilight said, a hint of anger in her voice, “it's your fault.”

“Well yeah, but, I didn't mean... I mean...”

“Oh, so now you're LYING?!” Pinkie shouted.

“No! I...” Applejack's face turned red. “Forget the whole lot o' ya!” She turned and stomped out the door, back to her farm.

***

“It was awful, Big Mac.” Applejack said, tears falling from her eyes. “They sat there and blamed me for Fluttershy's death. I mean, sure, I said it was my fault, but I didn't mean it like that! And Pinkie, Pinkie wasn't stuck in that darn bush, she was hidin' in it like a coward! You believe me, don't ya Big Mac?”

“Eeyup.”

Applejack sighed. “I just don't know what to do. I've always prided myself on bein' honest, and stickin' up fer my beliefs, but this time my honesty got one of my friends killed, and now the rest of 'em have turned on me.”

Applejack stared off into the distance as she made a startling realization. “Maybe... maybe it's just not worth it bein' honest all the time.”

“Nnnope.”

“Maybe it is my fault... if I hadn't been so damned honest to Fluttershy, she'd still be here, and I'd still have my friends. And who knows? I might've even been able to save Apple Bloom myself, without her help.”

“Eeyup.”

“From now on, forget tellin' the truth. All it does is cause hurt feelings and pain. And forget those damn backstabbers. I don't need them. I don't need any of 'em.”

***

Goatroth chuckled to himself “Honesty, who needs it? Applejack's got the right idea. Shame about the yellow one, though.”

He stood up and stretched, looking around at the darkened throne room.

“On second thought, she had it coming. Best leave the heroics to the ponies that are actually heroic.”

With that he let out a loud roar of laughter and sat back down.

“Only one left now... and then the party can begin.”

Despite the prospect of his approaching success, Goatroth couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. The fact that he was losing power was disconcerting, and those twinges of remorse didn't make things any better. There seemed to be a part of him that wanted him to fail, and that was the most worrying thing of all.

“Snap out of it, my child. We have work to do.” “Yes, of course...”

“This would all be a lot easier without having to constantly maintain my hold on all six of these insufferable do-gooders.”

Goatroth stood up and made his way to the front of the palace. When he got outside, he looked up and was satisfied to see that the sky was still dark red, and that the streets were still deserted. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, enjoying the scent of fear that seemed to surround him on all sides.

“What a lovely aroma... positively intoxicating!” he said with a grin. “Hmm...”

His horn began to glow a bright green, a wicked grin on his face. Two straight beams quickly shot out of his horns and pierced the clouds, causing a huge thunderclap which caused the very ground he was standing on to shake in protest. The sudden boom shocked nearly everypony in Canterlot, sending waves of fresh fear toward Goatroth.

“Excellent... ah yes, so refreshing...” he said, his eyes closed. “Ah well, that's enough for now. Time to head back inside.” He turned and walked back inside, feeling rejuvenated.

“Next up, the pink one. This should be good...”