Equestria's Doom

The pony that sat in front of Rainbow Dash was oddly familiar, yet miles off from how she remembered her.

Rain fell around the two as they sat upon the deck of the ship. Green coils of energy and light from the magical mast snaked around them in the darkness of the storm and dark streaks of gore colored the deck. Several soldiers lay dead and were covered in their uniforms, their eyelids closed shut by the hooves of those who laid them out. Their rifles were tucked by their sides and their comrades solemnly sat beside them with bowed heads and manes matted by rain and wind.

The fight had been long and gruesome, but finally it had come to an end. Several soldiers had given their lives to protect the Elements and Dash was thankful that none of her friends had been hurt further. Still, there was a twinge of regret in her heart that more ponies had to give up their lives for the sake of the Elements. The regret felt like a cast-iron chain bounding her heart and she wanted to faint at the pressure she felt to enact Twilight's plan, if only so that the dead soldiers hadn't been taken from their own friends and family for nothing.

Through all of her adventures across Equestria, Dash struggled to remember when somepony had died for her. There was the changeling invasion, but even then most of the guards had survived, even with a few casualties. Though there were doubtless other times as well, the feeling of discomfort and a sense that the stakes were far higher than they had ever been before failed to go away from her. Dash felt vaguely nauseous and deeply unsettled at the scope of the violence that had been undertaken so far and hoped in her heart that there would be no more.

A whistle rang out over the deck of the Majesty and it began to descend through the banks of clouds as it made its landing.

Dash took a moment to turn to the pony by her side and contemplate what she saw. A small frown crept over her face as Dash analyzed Flutterguy’s angles and contours. The silky, pink mane was unmistakably Fluttershy’s, thought Dash to herself. There was no change in the yellowness of her fur, or the butterflies that sat upon her hip. It was her friend in everything except for the minor differences and because of those, the bonfire of her passion was dulled.

Still, her eyes burned with a fire and passion that Fluttershy herself had never shown through the shyness that her name embodied and that is how Dash knew the difference between this stranger and her friend.

Flutterguy stared back at Dash through a mask of stone-faced contemplation. Dash braced for the beast to talk, but the same as ever, she remained quiet and still.

“Thanks for helping us out,” spoke Dash sheepishly.

Flutterguy didn’t respond, but turned and walked away from Dash across the deck. She stopped by the railing and stared into the icy depths of the raging storm.

Dash trotted up quickly to her side. She thought of about a thousand things to say, only for those fantasies to fall still on her tongue. In silence, she joined Flutterguy’s contemplation and stared into the abyss of greyness as well.

Flutterguy turned towards Dash with a note of concern on her face. She opened her mouth as if to speak and Dash eagerly braced for her words.

“Are you two doing okay?”

Dash and Flutterguy turned around to see Twilight striding across the deck towards them. Her armor still adorned her body and sparkled under the rain upon the deck.

Dash nodded. “Yeah, we’re doing good. Are we almost there?”

“We’re about to touch down.” said Twilight.

Dash paused for a moment. Something about her voice was flat and unusually resigned for Twilight’s personality.

“Hard fight, huh?” she mentioned to Twilight.

Twilight shook her head. “Not as bad as I was expecting. I’m surprised they didn’t send more demons.”

Dash paused. She felt a bizarre vibe from Flutterguy and turned towards the beast in her friend’s body.

Twilight and Dash both took a step back. Flutterguy was glaring at the two with a small frown etched on her face. Her eyes were lowered and her head was tilted down, the focus of her gaze overtly directed towards Twilight.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” asked Dash.

Flutterguy snorted and turned away from the two to stride across the deck and behind a wall.

Dash turned towards Twilight to see she had a frown of her own on her face.

“What was that all about?” she asked with a chuckle.

Twilight suddenly turned from Dash. “We’re about to land. Get ready to head to the lake where the World Nymph resides. We’ll need you to pull it out, since I’ll need to focus on keeping demons off of us at the landing site.”

“Okay sounds good, just let me know what to do when we get there.” said Dash flatly.

Twilight looked at Dash with a vacant expression.

There was a moment of silence between the two and then a brief buzz of energy as they locked eyes.

“Twi, what’s going on?” said Dash softly.

“I’ll explain later.” said Twilight gruffly.

“I don’t like later,” said Dash. “Just open up to me. You’re not Flutterguy, right?”

Light suddenly blinded her and she blinked furiously.

She looked around in confusion, only to gasp as a landscape of forests and mountains greeted her from over the ship’s railing. Mists twirled over the treetops and a strong wind rustled her mane as the Majesty rapidly descended through the clouds. The soldiers on deck began to gather their dead and injured, transporting them below deck during the descension. Dash finally noticed that Flutterguy was sitting down on the deck in silence with her head bowed low.

The ship shook and shuddered as it rocketed towards its destination. The landscape below began to grow larger as the ship lowered further and further, until the mast of the ship itself was tearing apart branches and scraping the tops of trees. The furious wind from the initial descent had calmed into a gentle lull and Rainbow Dash stood confidently on the deck as it came to rest.

Dash took a moment to observe the landing site. They had touched down on the banks of a large lake, its waters sparkling in the light of the setting sun. The sky itself was touched with the fiery crimson of the sunset and distant clouds hung as pink puffs stretching into the horizon. There were no pegasi or signs of other ponies, but only an expanse of nature that started from the treelines circling the beach and extended to the peaks of distant mountains shrouded in mist.

“Where are we?” said Dash with baited breath to nopony in particular.

“This is the domain of the World Nymph,” explained Twilight. “Hundreds of years ago, the hero known as the Slayer helped the Equestrian legend Swordsmane to bind it at the bottom of this lake by sticking a legendary blade through its chest.”

“Okay, cool story.” remarked Dash.

Dash turned towards Twilight. “Twi, where is everypony?”

“They’re below deck,” responded Twilight. “Many of them had a hard fight in getting here and-”

“Twi, be honest with me.” said Dash flatly.

“Don’t you trust me?” responded Twilight.

Dash thought for a moment and nodded. “Of course I do, Twi. But this is just a little-”

Flutterguy shot past the two like a bolt of lightning with the sound of a crack of thunder.

“Where are you-” sputtered Twilight.

She paused for a moment and then words tumbled out of her mouth in a panic. “Dash, you have to get the Nymph before she does.”

“Flutterguy, wait-” yelled Dash, but she vanished beneath the waters of the lake before Dash could speak.

“Dash, GO!” roared Twilight.

With no further words, Dash crouched low and then shot herself into the lake with a burst of speed.

Her hooves rapidly shoved aside vast oceans of water, but there was always more before her. The only light that guided her way came in the form of what little rays of sunlight penetrated through the distant surface to the depths which she had swam to. Her only guide through the deep depths of the lake was the distant bob of Flutterguy’s pink mane that moved to and fro in the distance.

She struggled to hold her breath and fantasized about returning to the surface as her lungs burned. Right before she gave into the physical needs of her body, her eyes widened and she almost gasped. A vast column of swirling water that formed a cyclone within the depths of the lake became visible before her.

Flutterguy shot into it and disappeared behind the walls of the cyclone.

A twinge of terror shot through Dash’s heart. The choices in front of her were both grim and dark in their own right. To return to the surface of the water would be to abandon the mission as well as her friends, but to proceed could mean her death, or a fate even worse.

She hung still under the water for a moment and her eyes shut.

Lips touched against lips and a gasp rang out. She squinted in the sunlight and smiled from ear to ear as she held her between her hooves, their legs tangled together.

“I never knew you-” started Dash.

She went in for another kiss and Dash could taste the apple pie on her lips and smell it on her breath.

“Of course I do,” she said to Dash. “I’ve always felt this way, but I was always too-”

Dash silenced her words with another kiss as the sun shone on them to warm the entangled lovers.

Dash shook her head and shot into the depths of the cyclone, chasing after Flutterguy.

The waters of the cyclone rushed around her and Dash shrieked as water filled her mouth. Her nostrils burned with a flare of pain and she screamed as the cyclone battered her body. Powerful currents of water twisted her legs to and fro, forced her wings into painful positions and water invaded every inch of her body. Fingers of pain gripped her nerves with an iron grip and her vision began to fade into blackness.

“But are we just friends?” asked Dash.

She paused and locked eyes with Dash. Some of the warmth gave way to a sudden, icy confusion.

“Well, it’s a little complicated.” she sheepishly said with a shrug.

“What do you mean? I’m sure the others wouldn’t-” started Dash.

“Well, I don’t know how I feel.” said the pony across from Dash.

A great sensation of force overcame Dash and she felt the barrage of water cease to pound her form with a sudden start. She gasped and then vomited as she realized she was on dry land at last. Tears fell from her eyes and she briefly sobbed from the pain with her eyes squeezed shut.

“Ouch,” she muttered under her breath. She kept her eyes shut for a few more moments and then opened them to see Flutterguy looming over her.

“What-” began Dash, but she stopped talking as her words fell away from her.

She had come to rest on the floor of a dry lakebed. Great sheets of water formed the walls of the strange room she found herself in, the outside world vanishing into an inky, black mirage beyond their borders. The room was illuminated by magical energies coming from a strange figure within its center. Dash recognized it with a start and her mouth hung open.

The World Nymph was different from what she had expected. Rather than some draconic monster or mysterious beast, it almost looked like a moth. Its body was angular and had a remarkably silken appearance about it. A red blade hummed within its chest that glowed with arcane energies.

Before Dash could react, Flutterguy strided up to the beast and whispered to it.

The Nymph began to rise upwards over the dry lakebed. A burst of pink energy shot out from its body and surrounded it.

Words spoken in a voice that seemed to come from nowhere rang in Dash’s ears.

“A soul restored and two bodies reunited.

The vessels of two lover’s souls, each destined for the other, will be entwined forevermore.

Her pain will become her pain and her hardship will be that of the other.

Then, one who cannot see nor feel shall be freed from deepest slumber.

But then I will be free and shall do as I please.

Is this acceptable?”

Flutterguy turned towards Dash and for the first time that Dash remembered, spoke directly to her. “It’s your choice. Do you accept?”

“I do not know what any of that means.” said Dash in a state of confusion.

Flutterguy frowned before speaking. “You’ll get what you want, in a way. And so will I. But he won’t.”

Dash groaned and clutched her side, which still ached from the force of the cyclone. “More weird crap from you, man. And yeah, sure, I guess I accept. What’s the worst that could ha-”

“Then it is done.” cooed the World Nymph.

“What’s done-” sputtered Dash.

Before she could speak, a pulse of energy shot out and blinded her for a moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a scream. Pain gripped her body and then melted away like ice under the heat of a summer’s sun. Whirlwinds coming from nowhere enshrouded her body and her vision gave way to a series of lights, each one brighter than the last.

Finally, the onslaught of sensation stopped.

When it was over, Flutterguy’s body lay slumped motionless in front of Dash and the World Nymph was nowhere to be seen.

Dash cautiously approached the still body.

She let herself smile as she noticed that its muscles had gone away, leaving the body as slim and slender as Dash had remembered it. Much of the hardness had left her face as well and a glowing tenderness was what remained. Her mane seemed to lay more peacefully upon her head and her chest moved up and down slowly with gentle breaths.

“Fluttershy.” said Dash with a note of caution.

Her eyes slowly opened. “Rainbow Dash?”

Dash noted that the voice in which she spoke was as soft and tender as Fluttershy’s had been.

“Are you back?” said Dash with an awkward speed.

“Yes.” said Fluttershy. “It was so dark I couldn’t-”

Before she finished speaking, Dash took her in a hug and nestled her face in her mane.

“Where’s everypony else?” asked Fluttershy.

“Um well, I don’t know actually.” said Dash timidly. “Twilight said they were tired, I think.”

“Dash, I know you’re excited to see me, but you shouldn’t have just left everypony.” said Fluttershy plainly.

Her eyes opened and her jaw dropped. “Dash, where are we?”

“Underwater.” said Dash as if it was a suitable explanation in the slightest. “I had to come here to heal you basically, so yeah. Also your body had been occupied for the last few weeks by an ancient hero from hundreds of years ago who, like, killed a bunch of demons and stuff. But you’re back now.”

“Huh.” said Fluttershy plainly.

The two silently held one another as the waters of the cyclone raged around them. They still remained alone in the sediment of the lakebed, afraid to let the other go from their hooves.

“I remember, I went into the woods to pick you flowers. And then…” explained Fluttershy.

“That’s when you got hurt.” said Dash in a moment of realization.

“Yes,” said Fluttershy.

“But why pick me flowers? It’s not my birthday or anything.” said Dash in an excited, quiet tone of voice.

“Ever since our picnic, on that day beneath the trees in the Everfree, when we did those things we promised to never tell anypony else about…” explained Fluttershy with her eyes half shut.

“Yes?” replied Dash as a blush crept into her cheeks.

“I had been trying to find, well, the courage to tell you…” explained Fluttershy further.

“Go on.” said Dash as she grinned from ear to ear. “You can say it.”

“That I love you.” said Fluttershy in an avalanche of words.

She leapt from the ground and knocked Dash on her back, planting a sloppy kiss on her lips. Dash’s eyes widened and then shut as she accepted her embrace, her hooves caressing her back as Fluttershy pressed her into the silt.

“Ow!” exclaimed Fluttershy sharply.

“What’s wrong?” said Dash with closed eyes.

“It feels like something cut my back.” said Fluttershy in confusion.

Dash groaned. “Well turn around and let me see.”

Fluttershy presented her back to Dash and she took a moment to scan every other inch of her body. Then Dash ran her hoof along Fluttershy’s back, to find a small cut.

“Yeah you do have a cut there, maybe something fell out of the cyclone.” said Dash perplexedly.

Dash looked down to see a sharp rock jutting from the sands.

Out of curiosity, she kicked the stone and Fluttershy yelped.

“Wait, Fluttershy, kick this rock really quick.” said Dash with a note of triumph as she put the pieces together.

Fluttershy kicked the rock and a twinge of pain ran across Dash’s hoof.

“We feel one another’s pain?” said Dash slowly. “Well, that’s a garbage superpower-”

Dash yelped as she felt a slap sting her cheek.

Fluttershy looked at Dash with wide eyes and an innocent smile. She slapped her own face again and Dash felt the same stinging sensation.

“Oh yeah? Two can play at that game.” said Dash mischievously.

She drew her hoof back and comically wound it up several times, causing Fluttershy to step back in caution.

With a sudden motion, Dash leapt backwards and slapped her own ass halfway through a backflip.

Fluttershy yelped and fell to the ground, clutching her flank.

She giggled and clambered to her hooves while Dash tried her best to not wet herself laughing.

“Okay, that’s enough playing around, we need to get back to the others.” stated Dash.

Fluttershy nodded.

“It’s going to be a straight shot out of here through that cyclone.” explained Dash. You’re gonna grab my back and I’m gonna shoot straight up and do a sonic rainboom right to the surface, got it?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded in understanding. She eagerly clambered on Dash’s back and wrapped her hooves around her torso.

Dash shot from the depths of the cyclone back to the surface where Twilight awaited them.