Unbound

With a rush of wind, the ponies were flung through the air before abruptly falling to the ground. A series of yips and grunts rang out, until the last of them settled into a crumpled heap.

Twilight groaned and lifted her head off of the crystal floor. She was met by the scampering of tiny claws rushing along the ground to get to her as her young assistant ran over and jumped into her neck.

“Twilight, you’re back!” Spike exclaimed. He buried himself in her fur and squeezed like he was afraid she would disappear again.

“Spike…?” Twilight muttered, still at a loss that she was safe and sound in her study. “It’s… it’s over? We’re out?”

“Yeah. I was getting worried about you guys. It’s almost been an hour since you went in,” Spike explained before suddenly skewing his brows. He looked around the group, seemingly searching for something that wasn't there. “Wait… where’s Fluttershy?”

The instant the words left his mouth, a pit of dread formed in their guts as they remembered their yellow companion.

“Flutters?!” Rainbow Dash shot off the floor, her wide eyes darting around the whole room. “Fluttershy?!”

“Where is she?!” Pinkie desperately peered around the chest, even looking behind it and lifting it up to check underneath. “We need to get her to a hospital!”

Meanwhile, Applejack hung her head and stared at the floor, unable to bring herself to meet the eyes of her friends still feverishly searching. Her jaw wavered as she thought back to the last few moments before they were kicked out of the chest, back to the sight of the pegasus peacefully closing her eyes. “Girls… I-I don’t think—”

“What?” Rainbow Dash turned her head. She couldn’t see Applejack’s face under the farmer’s obscuring hat, but she could see her lips struggling not to quiver. “You don’t think what, AJ?”

“What Applejack means to say is…” Celestia took a steady breath, her own eyes threatening to waver at the grim reality. “The wound that Fluttershy suffered… I’m afraid that she must have…” She trailed off, unable to bring herself to finish. Looking over at a hoof placed on her shoulder, she found Luna struggling to keep her composure as well.

“Wound…?” Spike darted his eyes between Celestia and Twilight. The former unicorn was barely holding it together. “Twilight… what happened in there?”

Twilight couldn’t speak without losing what fragile hold she had on her emotions. She merely held the dragon close as he stared up at her in stunned shock and mounting despair.

While the horrible truth began to sink in for her friends, Rainbow Dash stared back at Celestia in disbelief. Her jaw hung slack, and her eyes trembled. “No… I… I-I don’t believe it. It’s not true!” Water formed at the corners of her vision, betraying her refusal. “She wouldn’t… s-she’s not—”

*Creak*

A sudden, soft squeak of wood silenced the cyan mare and everyone else. They all looked over in unison to the source of the noise. The chest. It was open.

The lid of the ancient box was ajar. Strangely, for the first time any of them had seen, light pierced into the crack, allowing them to see a sliver of the interior.

Twilight lit her horn and examined the chest. Her eyes heavy with exhaustion, pain and emotion, stared into the middle distance as she found nothing of note. The magical presence she felt the first time they found the box of horrors was gone.

After sharing a look of confusion and confirmation with Celestia and Luna, Twilight slowly reached her hoof forward and, hesitating briefly, opened the lid.

Instead of the void of all-consuming darkness that they were expecting, the inside of the chest was laid bare for the first time in perhaps countless ages. No force pulling them inside, no hidden terrors lurking within waiting to be freed. Simply a puff of stale air and some flexing cobwebs greeted them as the lid flipped all the way open.

Twilight looked around as everyone gathered by her side. They all joined her in peering within. What they found cemented the somber hush over the group.

At the bottom of the chest, lying where it had always been from the very start, was the decrepit skeleton of a child.

And lying there beside the skeleton, was a single yellow feather.

A myriad of emotions swept over the ponies. Tears formed in even the steeliest eyes, and a few quiet sobs began to bubble to the surface as it sank in.

Pinkie buried her face into Rarity’s side and began wailing. Rarity herself tried to turn away and hide her outpour of sadness. However, as she looked down and found Spike crying his eyes out into her flank, the dam broke and she hugged them both as they all sobbed openly.

Luna bowed her head and struggled to keep from crying, though even with her years of discipline she couldn’t control her shaky breath. A wing softly draped over her, causing her to look up and find her sister. Though she maintained a modicum of composure, Celestia had tears flooding over as well, prompting Luna to give in and nestle her head in her sister’s side.

Applejack managed to rest a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s back amidst her own sorrow. The pegasus had collapsed to the floor, sobbing and crying harder than she ever had in her life.

Twilight clutched the edge of the chest with her hoof. The sounds of her friends and even her fellow princesses tearing up or outright breaking down made the lump in her throat worsen. Droplets fell from her cheeks, landing on both the dusty bones of one lost friend, and the lone feather of another. Finally, she clenched her eyes shut and whimpered.

“Fluttershy… No…”
.
..
…

Isaac ascended towards the crack in the sky, and as he flew he could see echoes of his past before him:

He saw his mother mourning the loss of her son.

He saw his father leaving them without turning to say goodbye.

He saw his mother sleeping, and his father taking money from her purse.

He heard the late-night fights they had that kept him up at night, and the guilt he felt for what he believed he was causing.

He felt the pain in his stomach during those sleepless nights, and saw his shadow in the closet, waiting for him.

As he rose, he felt his fears drop from his body. His shame, his worry, pulled from his being. As he became lighter, his ascent became faster.

He saw his one true companion, his pet cat, alive and well.

He saw his mother and father together again, holding each other.

He felt his mother kissing him on the head after he had said his prayers, and the comfort in knowing someone was watching over him.

He saw his own birth, and the faces of his parents filled with joy and optimism.

And then... he saw nothing.

“Are you sure this is how you want this story to end, Isaac? You're the one writing it, it doesn't have to end this way,” a masculine voice explained softly. “Here, how about we tell it a different way - maybe a happy ending?”

“Okay, Daddy,” a little boy replied, voice diminished and eyes dull with sleep after a long, long day spent playing.

Lying in his bed, tucked snugly under the blankets, he looked up to his father: a mustached gentleman with short hair parted down the middle sporting a simple white shirt and green pants. A hastily cobbled together album of drawings forming the previously told story, with room for plenty of blank pages, sat nearby.

“Good. Are you getting sleepy yet?” his father asked, though by his smirk, he already knew the answer.

Isaac yawned. “Yeah.”

“Okay, so…” His father trailed off abruptly, placing a hand to his chin in thought. “Actually, why don’t we let your new friend take over for tonight?” He suggested, turning to the door behind him.

Following his father’s gaze, Isaac looked to the door. It opened slowly, and a familiar yellow pegasus sidled in. Fluttershy smiled warmly at the sight of the boy happily waiting in bed for his parent to finish telling him a bedtime story.

Seeing the pony he had grown to know as a friend in such a short time, Isaac’s expression warmed as well. He shifted under the covers, turning over to better see her as she walked up to the side of the bed and sat down.

“Fluttershy…” Isaac chirped, though his voice was still tired.

Fluttershy chortled, her smile growing wider. “Hello again. It’s so nice to finally hear you. It’s nice to finally meet your father as well.” She turned to the older figure, who returned her cheery expression with a pleasant nod. “I heard him reading to you before. I can see where you get your creativity from.”

Isaac looked up to his father and beamed. “Me and Daddy always used to play pretend,” he explained. However, despite his fond recollections, a frown formed and his eyes trailed downwards.

Seeing this, Fluttershy’s expression drained as well. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry…” Isaac drew his blanket closer to his head and shrank down in the bed.

Fluttershy leaned closer. “Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

Isaac eyed near her, his tired eyes starting to take on a familiar sparkle of tears. “I… I-I’m sorry I got you k—”

Before he could finish, a gentle hoof landed on his cheek and made him face her. The pegasus held no regret or anger in her eyes, only kindness. Just as she did when they first met.

“Isaac, you have nothing to apologize for, you silly filly,” Fluttershy said. “I’m just glad you’re free from that awful place now.”

“But, what about your friends? Won’t you miss them?” Isaac asked quietly.

Fluttershy trailed her eyes away. She looked to the door, thinking back to where she just came from, and those she left behind. While her eyes shimmered briefly with emotion, she took a breath and managed a smile again as she faced the boy. “Of course I’ll miss them… and I’m sure they miss me too. But, it’s okay. Somehow, I know I’ll see them again someday. Then we can all read stories to you and play together.”

Seeing how lighthearted she was despite everything, Isaac’s expression eased back into a slight smile. “That sounds nice…”

Fluttershy nodded. Then, after a few moments of silent thought, the boy spoke again.

“Hey, Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

Isaac paused briefly, glancing around at his cozy and safe room, all his toys and happy drawings, and the smiling face of his father. He then turned back to the pony, sitting up and reaching his arms around her before burying his head into her neck.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Bringing a hoof up to rest on the boy’s back, Fluttershy’s cheeks warmed and her smile returned bigger than ever as she nuzzled him back. “You are oh-so-welcome,” she said before pulling back and glancing to the side.

She picked up the album of drawings, only to find blank pages and crayons instead of a new story. She would have to make one up, it seemed. Not that she minded. Happy endings were her favorite, and she knew the boy had earned a happy ending.

“Now then… Isaac and his parents lived in a small house, on the top of a hill…”