Sargent Fluttershy, reporting for duty. Alls clear on the eastern front. Western? Check. The sky starts to glow red like blood soaked rubies, meaning their strike will happen at any moment. I check behind me and count off my numbers. I count off a striking 1,004 ponies when I first start to feel the rumbling that is off in the far distance. Leading the astounding pack, is none other than Princess Celestia herself. At the beginning Princess Luna left her sisters side, risking herself to help the Elements. So now Celestia is forced to lead every attack.
I look over at the silver clad cyan pony who started this war. Her rainbow hair was grown out, swirling gracefully at her leg joints, and her bangs plunged down over her eyes. She is directing a young grey pegasus mare, who has the job of sporting the freedom flag. The new flag has 3 standing white ponies, each of a different race. They have no faces, and no cutie marks. The background is black with sparkling silver stars, and silver stitched moon rising above the three united ponies.
I now see the Equestrian flag rising above the horizon. Dashie calls out to Luna, who commands the pegasi to lead on the attack. We all make quick eye contact before the pegasi army charges forward. Next is the unicorns, who can help the more defenseless earth ponies. I don't want to be here of course. The bloody battle that is about to ensue. Seeing all the helpless ponies who are fighting for me and for Rainbow Dash. Oh, I can't bear to see it. But I have to help lead the army. And now I am standing up for myself and the rest of Equestria. It's what my friends would have wanted.
Its been almost four years since this bloody war has started for Equestrian freedom. The war broke out on March 14th. The Clash of the Pegasi happened in Cloudsdale. Celestia sent bombers to destroy the city, and to kill innocent ponies. She knew neither I nor Dash would be there, due to her wing removal plan she conducted only months before. Many died in the battle, including several alicorns. One of which was the generous Princess Cadence. Nopony truly knows what became of her. They saw her one second, and the next she was gone.
I then start hearing the first battle cries. They are coming from both sides of the field. I resist the urge to flap my wings by remembering that they are gone, and head out into the battle alongside the army. All of these mares and colts are my age and older. They have families at home, little foals and husbands and wives that are anxious to see their loved one again. Most of them won't be heading home this time around.
Cries of agony start to surround me. Decapitated ponies lay strewn about the half frozen ground. Their warm blood already finding its way into the already moist ground. I am merely there for support. I could never kill anypony, even if they hate me so much, that they try to kill me first. I dive under a beam of light that shoots my way. I notice a pony that is still alive. She has had her front hoof badly damaged, and a gash has brought her eye out of the socket. It is still hanging by a strong nerve. Blood oozes down her face, and over the first layer of blood lays a thick coating of dirt. Her pale purple fur is soaked through with blood and sweat. I place the broken pony on my back and run through the crowd. She needs help. She can survive this if she gets help now.
“Nurse Red-Heart! Q-quick! This pony needs urgent care!” I cry out as soon as I reach the already bursting tent. She looks at me quickly and points to the old water spout. Right, I have to clean her off. She is in shock the whole time I am cleaning her, not one word is uttered. The blood stopped running from her eye, but the damage on the hoof may not stop anytime soon. I clean off the hanging eye carefully, as to not scratch it at all. I push her back onto my back, and rush back into the room. Nurse Red-Heart takes the broken mare into the tent. I walk quickly to the water spout and steal a drink before going back into the ravenous battle.
I’m running towards a colt who has just fallen. His horn has been broken by a club, and it rendered him unconscious. I place the frail thing on my back hoping to get him to the tent lest a spell hits him too. I grabbed the bleeding horn fragment for extra measures, sometimes it can be placed back onto the body. But not always. I get halfway to the tent when something hits me and the colt.
“Where do you think you are going Fluttershy? We have some unfinished business to attend to from our last meeting,” The voice froze me in place. I quickly turn and duck, as she shoots a spell at me. Her horn was saved somehow from the time I kicked it off of her. Princess Celestia took a half step towards me, I glare at her threateningly. This causes her to burst into laughter.
“You think I am joking Celestia?” I snap at her, “Because I am not. This colt needs help, and nopony, I mean NOPONY is going to stop me!” I place him back on my shoulders and sprint across the battlefield, attempting to escape the furor that was the Princess of Equestria. I frantically look back every now and then only to see her slashing away at helpless ponies on the battlefield. This colt is not going to even survive the rest of this day because of my doing.
I get to the tent without the Princess directly behind me and place the poor thing on a cot before Red-Heart snaps at me for taking care of a pony without her knowing. I run out of the tent and back into the battle to find more injured ponies.
“Fluttershy! Stop helping the injured! You need to fight this time!” Yelled out Dashies voice behind me. She had gotten into the habit of covering her abdomin, lest somepony see her wingless sides. “This can’t.. go.. ON!!” she yelled out as she fought off a rather large brown coated colt.
“Oh but Rainbow...” I start saying
“NO!” she spits out, “I don’t want to hear it! Go.. Fight!” and she beat down the large pony. She wipes the sweat off her brow and glares at me, “Now Fluttershy,” and runs back off into the battle.
The battle only lasted 3 days. Well, not only 3. Three is a ton for a battle and it felt like an eternity of days. We lost about half of our troops, and we only started out with around 1,500 ponies. I look west, near where the battle was taken place. The ruby red glow still lingered menacingly over the distance. Behind me lies the ruin lands of where ponies lived in pre-equestrian eras. I know we have to go that way soon. Rainbow Dash wants to speak with Princess Chrysalis about her joining our side.
Our packs are settled in the rusty wagon. We say our farewells to the few ponies we know. I go up to the last of the Apple Family, Big Macintosh. I know we won’t be knowing each other for much longer, so I confess my obvious feelings for him while Dash is speaking with Luna about the next raid.
“Uhm.. Big Mac?” I shyly mutter, “May I have a quick word with you?” He nods and walks to the nearest empty spot with me. I breakdown crying, and hug him with all the might I have left, “Macintosh, I want you to know that I...” He places his large hoof over my mouth.
“Fluttershy, you do not need to speak. I know what you are about to say,” and he leans in and kisses me. Tears stream down both of our faces as we are dragged apart by our crew. I was leaving for another country while he stayed and fought for our rights as ponies, “Fluttershy! Be careful! I will make sure nothing happens to me on the field! I promise!” I am now in the wagon, it is starting to slowly move, “I will wait Fluttershy!” and then we started off. I couldn’t even say anything back to the gentle giant.
The road is so rough. Rocks are falling around us. Not badly, but enough to break one of the windows on the already rickety cart. The night sky is glittering with millions of mispositioned stars. The moon is rising slowly and is utterly full, shining light around us. Rainbow Dash is sleeping on the opposite side of me, the guards are resting on the top of the cart, keeping eye, and letting us have our privacy. I lay down on the floor where there is less of a chance of me falling. I grasp a picture of me and my friends in my hooves. I let the tears stream silently down my face as flashbacks haunt my mind.
Flashbacks of the most amazing times, like meeting Twilght Sparkle, and learning that Dashie was the reason for all of my best friends cutie marks. And flashbacks of ghostly dreams. Celestia forcing her guards upon me. Raping me. Tearing my feathers out of my wings. Ripping my wings out of my body slowly. The ropes and the knives that were frequent in my days. Poisoning me, and giving me antidote later. And starving me. I shudder from the most vivid of those memories and start to let hoarse cries out. To make sure I don’t wake my only living friend from the old days.
I deserved it all I suppose. I sneaked out of my secure home to help a criminal in the eyes of Equestrian law. I supplied her with food. Water. And would have given her a place to stay in my cottage, if Celestia hadn’t sent her guard dogs to sniff out the homes of Ponyvillians and residents of Cloudsdale. But there was nothing else I could have done. I am, or was, the Element of Kindness. It is in my nature to do so. I help anypony in times of need, regardless of who they are. I do it on the battlefield too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wake up on the floor being shaken by a very confused pony.
“Fluttershy! Why are you on the floor? Did you fall or something? And your face is covered in dry tears! Are you OK?!” panicked Dashie. I wipe my eyes out sleepily, and stand up. But as soon as I do, my knees weaken and I fall.
“I-I’m fine Dashie,” I say as I pick myself back up, “Just a bad dream I suppose,”
“Well not any dream makes you cry the way you did Fluttershy, there is a stain on the floor for Luna’s sake!” she points to the spot where my head rested all night. I get handed a brush and a handkerchief. I start brushing my mane out and I explain what I was thinking about. But I leave out the days I spent in the towers of Canterlot. She gets up and sits on the other side of the cart, looking out the window at the now barren landscape. The flush green fields turned into boulders and dark red dust. And now it turned into something scary. Instead of mountians, there were black and red spires crawling out of the otherwise flat landscape. A thick, slightly glowing fog rested only miles ahead of us. Broken chains are on some of the rocks with signs in the language of the changlings resting atop of them. Ahead lies a half broken gate, one that looks as if nopony has travelled to this land in many years.
“Well looks like we are here...” Dash swings her long rainbow mane into a side pony-tail. She doesnt bother put anything else besides a necklace. The one with her Element in it.
