Last of the Dragonlords: A Good Mare Goes To War Part 1: The Passing of Harmony

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6 (part 2)
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10 (part 1)
Chapter 10 (part 2)
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13 (part 1)
Chapter 13 (part 2)
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
Chapter 6 (part 1)

Chapter 2

An hour later, Fluttershy found herself writing out a five-day plan that would avoid any contact with those she once called her family. Living in a small town where most ponies knew each other, it was hard for a pony to avoid contact with another. Most would consider it impossible. Nevertheless, Fluttershy was steadfast in her belief that she could avoid them; she knew what they did most of the week, anyway, so she thought she could easily avoid them. ‘At least, I think so,’ she thought gloomily.

Although a part of her wanted to march into Ponyville, find each of them in turn and ask, no, demand the reason why they want nothing to do with her anymore. But deep down, she knew the answer already. ‘They think I’m worthless,’ she thought despairingly. She sighed sadly, tears forming in her eyes, as she looked at the five-day plan she had made in her shaking hooves. ‘What if I am worthless?’

She was literally shaken out of her despair by Rosemary, reminding her that she was not worthless after all. She had raised this small rabbit after her father died and her mother had left, and was the closest thing to a parent Rosemary had. Fluttershy gave her a small, brave smile, and hugged the rabbit tight, even as tears like rain droplets dripped down her face. “I shouldn’t despair,” she said to the rabbit. “I mean, I’ve got my health, and I’ve got all of you. So what if they don’t like me anymore?” She put the little bunny down, and then patted Rosemary on the head. “I think I can live without them.” She stood up on all fours and went about her chores.

“No more tears,” she told herself sternly.

Yet, when she went to bed, she could be heard by the critters that lived in her house crying heavily into sleep, prompting Rosemary to go upstairs and have Fluttershy hug her like a teddy bear. When Fluttershy’s crying didn’t reside, other animals that lived with her flocked into her bedroom, hoping that would ease the pain she was in. Yet despite the attention from her animals, it was clear to most of them what happened to Fluttershy.

She was broken. Her pony friends had been everything to her. Her life, her very reason of living and that she was still alive, was because of them. Yet, they had discarded her like a piece of unwanted food. So for most of the night, Fluttershy kept her animals awake with her sobs, spilling out her sorrow in great waterfalls of tears. Eventually, Fluttershy finally drifted off to sleep, haunted by bad dreams.

The next morning, Fluttershy awakened to the sight of all the animals that were in her care on and around her bed, with Rosemary tucked under her forelegs. She gently detached herself from Rosemary, and then headed to the bathroom to look in the mirror. As she walked, her head was low, her ears were flat across her head, and her tail dragged along behind her as if a weight was attached to it.

Once she made it to the bathroom, Fluttershy looked into the mirror, and sighed at what she saw. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying and fatigue, her mane was sticking up in various places, and she wore a large frown that she figured would never lift off. ‘Better suck it up, Fluttershy,’ she thought, taking a deep breath and wiping her face with her hooves. ‘The animals aren’t going to feed themselves.’

After a thorough cleanup of herself, and a toilet break, she made her way downstairs and checked her list of what she had to do. “Okay: Monday I need to get carrots for all the bunnies. Tuesday I need to go and get some other vegetables – except apples because Applejack is in charge of the stall on that day. Wednesday I will get some apples from the stall, since Applebloom is in charge. Thursday I’ll have to get some seeds so I could grow my own vegetables. And Friday I have to get some chicken feed.” She nodded sharply at it, proud of herself that she could come up with such a plan.

It should be easy enough to avoid her other former friends as well, especially on this day. On Monday she knew Rainbow would be cleaning up clouds away from Ponyville, so it would be easy avoiding her. Twilight would be indoors studying. Pinkie would be in charge of Sugarcube Corner, but that didn’t matter for she didn’t need any sweets. And Applejack was down at the farm. The only pony she had to worry about running into was Rarity, for she liked going out and getting some fresh air between her work on that day. The rest of the week was completely random, so they could appear anywhere. But that was a problem for another day. With her plan together, she set off to her tasks.

Monday passed by without a hitch: she went into town, got the carrots she desired, and headed back to her cottage, not stopping to pay attention to the large number of arguments and fights erupting between ponies across town.

Tuesday had only one problem. Fluttershy flew into town and towards the market stores for her vegetables. She arrived there to find it nearly devoid of life, which was strange, but Fluttershy shrugged it off as a fleeting concern. In a way, it made things easier, for she got what she wanted quickly. When she made her way to trot back home, however, she found her path going towards the library, and saw at its front the five ponies that never wanted to see her again, for apparently no reason.

She looked at them for a second, all sitting at the front of the library laughing and smiling at each other about something. It gave her an unwanted urge to walk up to one of them, and punch her right under the jaw. She felt an anger building up inside of her that she hadn’t felt since her father died two years ago. She felt betrayed. She felt like they had all been smiling at her lovingly for the past four years, and then that Sunday each one of them ripped a piece of her heart out of her chest, laughing manically as they did so. She wanted to scream at them, hit one or all of them for lying to her.

She suddenly remembered her vows as a Dragonlord, and the rules the order stood by, especially the one about striking an innocent. So, instead of hitting one of them, she galloped down the street back into town and took the long way round, trying desperately to hold back tears.

Wednesday was much worse, for she nearly ran into Rainbow and Rarity. Fluttershy was walking down the street, having bought her apples from Applebloom and had a friendly conversation with the young mare, when she squeaked in alarm upon seeing Rainbow and Rarity trotting down the street towards her. Luckily, they were looking at each other and not in front of them, giving time for Fluttershy to hide. In haste, she grabbed a large hat from a stand, paid the shopkeeper, placed it on her head, then sat on a nearby bench and set her head low so the wide brim of the hat covered her body and her cutie mark. Her heart raced the closer their voices got, to the point when they were right next to her, making her think that her heart was going to explode. But they soon were trotting down the street, completely oblivious to the yellow mare hiding from them.

‘Since when did it come to this?’ she thought, lifting her head and watching them with teary eyes as they walked away. She got off the bench and made her way back home, her head low and her eyes filled with sorrow. She never noticed another fight break out down the street.

Thursday was slightly better. A small, grey squirrel came to her cottage in the early hours of the morning that needed help with a problem in its stomach. Fluttershy tried everything she knew, but nothing worked. When she realised she had to go to the library to find out what was the problem, she groaned at the chances of it happening. ‘Almost as if someone is doing all this on purpose, laughing while he or she does it.’ Nevertheless, the poor little thing needed help, and Fluttershy wouldn’t ever let her problems overshadow that of another’s. She left the squirrel with some painkillers, and then galloped into town as fast as she could.

She soon arrived at the library to find, to her surprise, it deserted. “Spike?” she called, hoping he would answer and not her. She waited for a few minutes to see if there was a reply, but none came. Satisfied that she was alone, she began rummaging through the books for ones on illnesses. Eventually she came to a book that had the problem and the cure. She tucked the book under her left wring, wrote on a parchment saying what book has been leant out, but not saying who had burrowed it; she didn’t want Twilight turning up at her door demanding to return the book. She took out the bits that were needed and flung them on the table next to the parchment, then quickly left.

After heading home and checking on the squirrel, she went back into town to buy large bags of seeds to grow her own vegetables and such. ‘This way, I will never have to go into town again,’ she thought to herself as she bought them.

Friday was definitely the best day. She left the house early, went into town just as the sun was rising, and got a sack full of chicken feed that would last a week. With that done, she went home, fed her chickens, got out their eggs and finished whatever jobs she needed to do around her home. With her animals tended to, she began to dig a patch of her garden to create her own vegetable patch, big enough to give her food to last for herself and her animal friends, and large enough to grow enough food for weeks on end.

Once the patch had been made, and the first seeds had been planted and watered, she stepped back from the patch and looked at her new area with pride – although she didn’t smile. The rest of the day was spent trying to relax outside and enjoy the day in the company of her animal friends.

However, despite the tranquillity of her surroundings, she couldn’t bring herself to relax. Her mind and life was now in complete turmoil. Everything was supposed to be going right; Rarity was going to get married, Fluttershy would eventually become a godmother, and all of them would become an even closer family. But suddenly everything came crashing down like a sudden thunderstorm. She briefly wondered if her friends had always hated her. That they just had her around to give them something to laugh about when her back was turned. Laugh at weak, easy to push around Fluttershy, for she wouldn’t complain and stand up for herself, she would just back into a corner and cry.

They seemed to forget who she now was. What she was capable of; what she can do. She wasn’t a pushover anymore; she was a Dragonlord, a warrior pony with dragon blood running through her veins. A pony that has fought in several battles and has the scars on her face and back to prove it. She was far stronger than she was when she had first met them.

Yet why did she feel so weak?

It was only when the sun started to go down did Fluttershy decide to retire back to her bed for the night, surrounded by her animal friends to give her comfort. The week had been hell, and she knew it wasn’t going to get any easier.

The next morning, Fluttershy was awoken by the sounds of birds singing from the Everfree Forest, and the sound of heavy rain from outside. It had rained like this every day since last Sunday, on and off; it was as if the world shared Fluttershy’s sorrow. Fluttershy groggily got out of bed, stretched her legs out, stifling a groan as she did so, and then went downstairs to get some of her favourite tea, hoping that would put her in a better mood.

Surprisingly, it did. Despite the fact she couldn’t feel the warming feel the tea once gave her, the taste was enough to turn her sad mood on it’s head. She drunk down the whole cup in a few gulps, then sank into her couch and watched the little birds that lived in her indoor birdhouses flutter around their homes, cleaning them out and feeding the little ones inside.

She watched this with a small amount of happiness, as was evident by the smile growing on her face. It felt good to smile again after a long week, and she hoped she could keep it up for a long time. She looked from the birds to a couple of squirrels chasing one another across her floor, and giggled as the one up front outsmarted the other with ease. “Careful, you two,” she warned them, watching them as they began to play tug of war with a nut. The two looked at her for a moment, then set the nut down and chased each other outside. Fluttershy giggled once more, with the small smile crawling wider on her face. ‘It feels good to be smiling again,’ she thought.

After a moment, more animals appeared: badgers, foxes, weasels, owls, falcons, eagles and other animals soon brought life into her little home, lightening her mood greatly. An owl fluttered down onto the chair next to the couch, and hooted some well wishes. “Thank you, Misses Owl,” she said. “But I should be all right from now on.” She sipped some more of her tea, sighing once more as she curled herself up into the comfortable couch. “No time for rest, Fluttershy,” she muttered to herself a few minutes later, when she saw the animals were getting restless for their food. “These animals need you.”

She finished the last of her tea, and jumped off the couch. “How about I put on some music?” she asked the animals. Tweets, squeaks and other sounds of acceptance welcomed the idea. Grinning, Fluttershy pranced up to her music collection and began looking through the various music she had. She wanted something that would lift her spirits, something to give her a reason to dance to. She couldn’t help but grin when she found the right one.

“‘I will survive’,” she read the title aloud. She gave the record a quick hug. “I could really use you at the moment,” she said to it. She fluttered over to her gramophone, put it in place, set the needle down, and turned up the volume.

As the music began, she felt a large grin form on her face as the music and the singing kicked in. “At first I was afraid, I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side,” she sang. “But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong. And I grew strong! And I learned how to get along.” With the song playing, and her hips swaying from side to side to the beat, she set about doing what she did best – helping her animal friends.

She flew outside to feed her birds and weasels, the music blaring from her home, singing, “Go on now, go, just walk out the door. Just turn around now. ’Cause you’re not welcome anymore. Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die?”

She shouted out the chorus, spinning in the air, “Oh, no, not I! I will survive! Oh, as long as I know how to love, I’ll know I’ll stay alive! I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give! And I will survive! I will survive! Hey, hey!”

She flew over the house, doing a barrel roll as she did so, and landed in the garden to feed her chickens and collect their eggs, as well as tending to all the other animals’ needs. All this she did while singing her heart out and dancing without a care in the world of who was watching – only her animal friends would see this, and they wouldn’t be able to tell anypony she didn’t want to know.

A few minutes later, she pranced back inside the cottage just as the song was coming to the end. Several of the animals clapped their paws or claws together, praising Fluttershy’s dancing. Fluttershy gave a modest little bow, and then began dishing out the remaining meals. “Don’t worry, little friends, I’ll put another song on in a moment,” she assured them, noticing the pleading looks she was getting.

She set their bowls and plates down in separate areas, then stood back and watched with pride as her animals dug in to their meals. She had organised them this way herself, she recalled. There wouldn’t be any of this order if it weren’t for her. Not Twilight, not Applejack, not anypony; just her. ‘The song is right. I will manage without them.’

She turned around to get another record out, only to come face to face with a picture with her and the rest of her former friends. Fluttershy’s grin faded instantly upon laying eyes on it. She was in the middle, lying on the ground with Twilight above her, Rarity was at her right, and Applejack was on her left. Behind Applejack was Rainbow Dash, and behind Rarity was Pinkie. All of them were facing the camera and smiling, laughing, enjoying the day they had together that day. A day before she became a Dragonlord – a day before everything changed for the worse.

Fluttershy’s lips trembled as she looked at the picture, tears welling up in her eyes. But that sorrow quickly faded away, to be replaced with hatred. She yanked the picture off the shelf, stormed over to the window, opened it, and then with a scream of anger flung it outside. She watched it soar across the sky for quite a distance, before watching it crash down just outside the confines of her home. “I don’t need any of you!” she yelled as she watched it land with a sound of cracking glass. “I don’t need anypony!” She slammed the window shut and turned around, fuming. The animals in the home flinched when she slammed the window, and then hastily scurried back to their homes, intending to get away from the angry mare.

Fluttershy’s anger evaporated instantly as she watched them go. “No, wait, please, don’t go,” she pleaded, raising a hoof at them to stop them. But it did no good. She found herself to be alone once more, and hated it, more than ever. She burst into tears once more. She threw a leg over her eyes in a bid to stop the tears, but it did no good. She just kept on crying.

She cried for ten minutes or so, until there were no more tears to spill. She sniffed and wiped her eyes, then got up from the floor and flopped onto her couch, miserable once again. ‘How could they say they hate me? After everything we have done together?’ she thought. In fact, the more she thought about it, the less it made any sense.

They all knew she was shy, and sometimes would jump at the slightest thing; it was something that was less frequent thanks to her Dragonlord hearing but it still happened. She didn’t like large crowds, which they knew, and she would sometimes take extreme lengths to avoid conversation with any stallion or mare that took an romantic interest in her – something that she knew annoyed Rarity, who had set her up on several dates to which Fluttershy turned up to none.

Nevertheless, every time she’d messed up, or had done something wrong or whatever, they would pat her on the back, give her commiserations or forgive her, and carry on. They went to each other’s birthdays, gave each other presents, and so on. So why this sudden hatred and dislike towards her? She hadn’t done anything wrong the day before, did she? ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Fluttershy,’ she said to herself. ‘You did nothing wrong at all that Saturday. You couldn’t see the meteor shower that night because you were ill. They understood that, and accepted it. So why all of a sudden they don’t want to be my friends anymore?’

There was only one way she knew she would find out, and hated the thought of it. She would have to confront one of them, and demand answers.

But who should she see, and more importantly, who could she defeat in-case it turned ugly? Twilight was powerful at magic, and could easily stun her and knock her out without even looking. Rarity was surprisingly a no as well; she had become more powerful in magic with Twilight teaching her some spells, and would know a few tricks. Pinkie would know she was coming for her before she even left the house. Rainbow was much quicker than her, and could easily out fly and outwit her. So that left Applejack.

The earth pony might be strong, but thanks to her Dragonlord blood, Fluttershy was stronger. She could catch Applejack alone in the orchards, then, if necessary, pin her down and get answers from the mare. ‘Plus she’s the bearer to the element of honesty, so she can’t lie,’ she thought, grinning at herself.

With that plan in mind, she plucked up all the courage in her she needed for this. She jumped off the couch and walked into the bathroom, determination written in the Pegasus's eyes. Once in front of the mirror, she wiped her eyes and cleaned her face, wiping her cheeks of the tears that stained them, and quickly gave herself a look over.

‘I look fine,’ she thought. ‘I look like I’m managing without them.’ But the truth was she wasn’t managing without them. She wanted them back in her life; she wanted all of them to be her friends again, and carry on like it was just a bad dream. ‘I wouldn’t be doing this if I was okay.’

She took a deep breath, and then sauntered to the door. “Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this,” she goaded herself. “You faced a burning dragon in battle deep below a great ocean, and defeated him. Surely you can face one mare.” With another deep breath, she lifted her head up, boosting herself with confidence, and opened the front door…

Only to find Spike about to knock on the door with a sombre expression on his face and tears in his eyes, while behind him was his little bed and a bag full of his possessions.

Fluttershy flinched back in surprise. “Spike? What are you doing here?” She leaned her head through the door and glanced around, expecting to see Twilight not too far behind. She pricked her ears up as high as they could go, hoping she would hear faint whispers of some certain ponies being mean to her and him. But she could not see nor hear any. She looked down again at Spike, who was now looking at the ground tearfully, and it made Fluttershy’s already broken heart fracture. “What happened?”

At that, Spike threw himself into her embrace, spilling out tears of sorrow. “She kicked me out!” he cried, trying to keep his voice under control. “She said I wasn’t needed anymore, and told me to leave! I asked why but she just… just…” He couldn’t say anymore, but his tears said the rest.

Fluttershy gaped in shock. She quickly returned the hug, trying hard not to spill any tears she felt were coming. “There, there,” she cooed softly, running a hoof up and down his rough back. “It’ll be okay. You’re safe now.”

Once they pulled away, Fluttershy led Spike to the couch, set him down on it, then got out one of her blankets she kept in the cupboard under the stairs and threw it around him. With Spike comfortable for the moment, Fluttershy got hold of his belongings and brought them inside. She situated them just by the hearth. With his things taken care of, she went back to the couch and hugged him tight once again. Spike quickly returned the hug, spilling out more tears silently.

While Fluttershy felt a pang of sadness towards Spike, she could also feel a great heat of hatred arise in her for Twilight Sparkle. “I am so sorry, Spike,” Fluttershy whispered, resting her chin on Spike’s head.

“Don’t be,” Spike sniffed, looking up at her. “It isn’t your fault she threw me out with nowhere to go.”

“But you do have somewhere to go.” She gestured with a fore-hoof at her home. “Here. With me. If I’m honest, I could use the company, and so could you.”

“You mean after what happened after last Sunday?”

Fluttershy grimaced as she remembered the words she had heard coming from their mouths stinging like a swarm of bees. “Did Twilight tell you about it?” The way she said Twilight’s name was laced with venom.

Spike nodded abruptly. “She seemed quite pleased with herself about it, from the way she came in afterwards. She told me about it just before she kicked me out.”

Fluttershy looked at him incredulously. “You mean, she kicked you out a week ago?” Spike nodded sadly. Fluttershy could feel her hatred for the lavender unicorn rise steadily. “Then, where have you been all this time?”

“I went first to Rarity’s, but she kicked me out after one day for no reason. I then went to Sugarcube Corner, but again, after a day they threw me out. I couldn’t go to Rainbow’s since she lives in the sky, but she said she didn’t want me there anyway. So then I went to Applejack’s. The Apples allowed me to stay there for a while, despite Applejack’s harsh objections. It was after a while they caved in and sent me away, but not before Applebloom mentioned you, and the fact you haven’t been acting as strangely as everypony else.”

A great silence filled the room. Fluttershy took a deep breath to control the burning rage she felt inside her; it was all she could do to stop herself from going into town and slapping them all hard in the face. ‘How can they do this to him? He’s just a baby dragon!’ She gave the little dragon a pat on the back. “Well you are safe now, Spike. Do you need anything, like a drink or some food?”

“No thanks. I’m not hungry, nor thirsty at the moment. And thanks, Fluttershy, for letting me stay here. I won’t be in your way, will I?” he asked, his tone giving away his fear of being sent away again.

“Oh, of course not,” Fluttershy said, waving the thought away with a hoof. “Make yourself comfortable around here, but just don’t expect me to do everything for you, okay?”

“Of course I won’t. I’ll even help you with tending to your animal friends, if you like.”

Fluttershy looked into his eyes, seeing the sincerity of what he just said, and smiled. “I would like that. Thank you, Spike.” The two held each other close once more as they listened to the birds returning with joyous songs as the day brightened once again, and the small cries of animals outside greeting each other. As they sat there, Fluttershy’s mind raced with heavy thought. How could Twilight have kicked him out? How could the others be so cruel to him as well? How could all of this have happened?

“I just don’t understand how all this happened,” Spike worded out her thoughts. “I mean one day we were all laughing together and celebrating Rarity’s engagement. The next, her fiancé leaves town for good, all our friends turn against us, and nearly everypony goes bonkers at each other!” He sniffed back tears, clinging to her tighter. “Are we dreaming?”

Fluttershy hugged him just as tight. “I wish we were, Spike. I wish we were.” The two fell silent once more as they huddled together on the couch, their minds wild with thought. Fluttershy was trying desperately hard to not give in to the urge of marching into Ponyville and raging at all of them, but she was losing that battle, most especially with Twilight.

‘How can she do this to him?’ Fluttershy thought. ‘He was more to her as a friend, but a little brother! She should be protecting him, but instead she discarded him as quickly as she did me! She betrayed him! Twilight said once she would never give him up for everything! She said she would never do this to him! And I know for certain she wouldn’t unless… unless she… oh my…’

Her thoughts trailed off as her mind raced back to a memory about a year ago, having not long returned from the Crystal Empire.

The rain battered against the window of the library, creating a sound that seemed to Fluttershy like tiny knocks on the window. “Some storm, huh?” Twilight shouted from the upper floor.

Fluttershy looked from the blood red book in front of her to the silhouette of Twilight on her bedroom floor, searching for pieces of parchment and spare quills. “Oh, yes,” she agreed. “When Rainbow Dash told me it was planned to be the storm of the century, I didn’t quite believe her.” Her ears flattened across her head, and she rubbed her left foreleg with her other hoof. “I do feel awful for not really believing her.”

“Well, to be fair, neither did I,” Twilight admitted. “She does tend to exaggerate somewhat sometimes. But I don’t think she did for this one.”

Suddenly, two flashes of lightning lit up outside, followed shortly by two claps of thunder. Both ponies shrieked in surprise, leaped into the air and landed on their rumps. “Ow,” Fluttershy muttered to herself upon feeling her backside hit the ground. She looked up to the bedroom floor. “You okay, Twilight?” Fluttershy called, rubbing her rear.

“I’m fine!” Twilight replied. “Right, now where did I put those quills?” The unicorn began searching frantically for them once again, getting increasingly frustrated by their continued absence. “Urgh! Spike!” she called out, only to quickly remember that Spike wasn’t here.

Fluttershy looked around for the little dragon, and then looked to the stairs leading down to the ground floor, expecting him to turn up out of breath from running up the stairs. At that moment, she too remembered he wasn’t here. “Hey, Twilight, where is Spike? I thought he would be helping us with the book.”

“Wait a minute… is that them there? Yes!” Twilight squeaked. A shuffle of things was heard for a moment, before there was the sound of hooves running down the stairs to the middle level. Fluttershy turned her head to the upper staircase and smiled as Twilight appeared with her mouth full of quills. “Sorry about that,” she said quickly once she set them down in front of her.

“Don’t be sorry, Twilight. It wouldn’t do if we didn’t have any quills to write out this book. Where did you find all of them anyway?”

Twilight moved to sit on a cushion waiting for her next to the pegasus. “Oh, I just remembered that I keep a whole group of spare ones behind one of the bookshelves.” Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow, to which Twilight shrugged in response. “Keep yourself organised, that’s what my mother said to me.” She moved on to answer Fluttershy’s earlier question. “And Spike is in Canterlot at the moment, helping out Princess Celestia with something and boasting about his prowess when we were in the Crystal Empire.” She sighed sadly, then picked up a quill and started scribbling the introduction to the chapter they had already planned.

“You must be really proud of him,” Fluttershy said, smiling. “How he managed to save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, and give the crystal heart back to the crystal ponies.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Oh yes, I am proud of him. Really, really proud.”

Fluttershy tilted her head a little, confused by the sad tone Twilight had in her voice. “Um, I don’t mean to sound rude, but you don’t sound like it though.” Twilight let out a long sigh and dipped her head. Fluttershy slung a leg over Twilight’s shoulder and nuzzled her comfortingly. “Come on, Twilight, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything.”

Twilight nodded, and looked up at her. “It’s just that he’s not the little dragon that he was when I hatched him from an egg. Don’t ever tell him this, please, but… he is like a son to me, or a younger brother. He’s growing up so fast. He’ll soon be running about getting the girls and doing his own thing.”

Fluttershy giggled while removing her leg from Twilight’s shoulders. “To be fair, isn’t that what he is doing already? We all know how much he loves Rarity, so one day he’ll be trying to court her.”

“He’s tried that already. Several times, to be exact,” Twilight giggled. Her smile withered. “I just hope one day he won’t go and live in his own place. I don’t think I could continue living here without him. He knows that as well, so he wouldn’t. Would he?”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

Twilight sighed and then turned to face Fluttershy. “Did I ever tell you girls what happened in the castle while you all put on the crystal fair?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, I don’t think you did. What did happen… if you want to tell me, of course? I don’t want to force you to say it if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Twilight stifled a giggle; Fluttershy might be a warrior pony, but she still had the same meek politeness she had when she first met her. “Well, while you were all putting on the crystal fair and showing those ponies a good time – which, by the way, I was surprised to hear how you were beaten so easily by Rainbow Dash in the jousting demonstration.”

“I wasn’t feeling too brilliant that day,” Fluttershy replied defensively. “And it all came onto me at once. If I had more time to prepare, and if I was feeling better, I might have sent Rainbow flying… although I wouldn’t want to do that if it meant hurting her.” She shook her head, and had the subject changed back. “So anyway, you and Spike went into the castle?”

“Oh yeah, well, when we entered the castle, we had a look around for a moment, before coming to the throne,” Twilight continued. “Using a spell Celestia taught me, we found a hidden stairway in the throne room that spiralled down into complete darkness.

“While Spike stayed up top, I began to navigate – well, fell, would be a better term really – down the stairs. When I arrived at the bottom, I found a door. I tried to get it open, but it just wouldn’t stand still. So I used the same magic as I did with the stairway. It worked, the door opened, and I went through.”

Twilight paused to shudder as she remembered what happened next. “I suddenly found myself in Canterlot. Shocked, I started looking around, until I found Princess Celestia. Cut a long story short, the door was one that led you to your worst nightmare. When Spike looked through it, he saw me sending him away, saying that I don’t need him anymore. Afterwards, I told him that I would never send him away – ever.”

Fluttershy’s eyes softened, and she gave her friend a sweet smile. “I’m sure he knew that as well. You mean a lot to him, you know.”

Twilight nodded. “I know, but it doesn’t hurt to give him some assurance.” A moment of silence followed, until Twilight spoiled it by jokingly adding, “Of course if I do kick him out, then there would be something really wrong with me.”

The two shared a quiet giggle, then turned their attention back to the book once more.

When her mind brought her back to the present, Fluttershy thought she was the dumbest pony alive. She wanted to slap herself for being as stupid as she felt she had been. She suddenly imagined that a wall of grief had clouded her senses to really think about the sudden change in attitude towards her and Spike by her friends.

But now that wall had been torn down, and she could finally see.

She suddenly knew that her friends – her real friends – would never lie to her. They would never hurt her like they did, nor would they discard her over such petty reasons; they had navigated an entire country to look for her after she ran off to find Firewing, for goodness sake! And Twilight would never give up Spike for anything, and would never abandon him.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror as her mind tried to tell her that something was wrong with her friends. ‘What could have happened to them to act like that, though?’ Was it a spell of great, evil power? Were they going to extreme lengths to protect them from something? Were they actually changelings in disguise? The questions that started to fill her head suddenly broke away, and her mind went back to her last conversation she had with Vidarr.

“Your friends will need you, more than ever,” he had said. She abruptly shuddered in fear. Was this what he meant? Was this the start of what the dragon had warned her? Either way, her friends needed help, and she knew she had to be the one to give it to them.

Her ears folded flat when she realised something. How could she, a pegasus, save her friends from whatever was happening to them without magic? She might be a warrior, but she didn’t think swords would be of any use here. She realised quickly she had to go to somepony who was powerful at magic, and would help Twilight and the others with whatever has befallen them. Out of the few ponies she knew that could, one of which was Twilight, only one came to light.

Princess Celestia.

The giver of light was one of the most powerful ponies she knew, and she was a close friend of hers; the Princess would sometimes come round for tea occasionally with her and her friends so she could get away from the politics of running a country. Fluttershy knew she would help her; her faithful student and everypony else that seemed to be acting like meanies to each other.

She was about to jump off the couch to get the train to Canterlot, when another thought hit her. What about Spike? She looked down at the dragon, who was still clutching her like a child would hold to its mother when scared, and pondered, though not for long. She knew she couldn’t leave Spike here on his own, especially in the state he was in. She only had one option left to her.

“Spike?” The little dragon looked up. “How do you feel about coming to Canterlot with me?” She quickly added, “I won’t force you, of course. You can stay here if you’d like.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll come with you,” Spike said. He quickly wiped his eyes. “I don’t think I can handle being by myself for a while.”

Fluttershy gave him a brave smile. “Neither can I.” She hopped off the couch, and then gestured with her head for him to hop onto her back. “We won’t miss the train, then,” she explained.

Spike gave her a nod, then leaped off the couch and landed on her back. Fluttershy felt him wrap his arms around her neck and make himself comfortable. “Ready?” she asked, looking back. Spike nodded. “Then let’s go.” She instantly broke into a gallop, making Spike grip around her neck a little bit tighter. She pushed the door open, calling as she left, “I won’t be long, Rosemary, bye!” Once she got outside, she broke into an even faster gallop as she headed into Ponyville.

“So,” Spike asked as they entered the town, “why are we going to Canterlot again?”

“To see Celestia,” Fluttershy answered, veering around another corner and into another street.

“But why? Is this sudden break-up between our friends that important to get Celestia involved?”

“It could be,” she muttered to herself, though loud enough for Spike to hear. She slowed herself down into a more comfortable trot as they entered the main streets, had a look around for any wandering ponies she might bump into, and then looked back at Spike. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that they suddenly decided that they don’t like us anymore? That in a single day they turn their backs on us?”

“Well, uh… sort of, I guess,” Spike said, his expression saying he was giving it some thought. “Now that you mention it, it does seem too sudden.”

“Exactly!” Fluttershy exclaimed, weaving her way around the crowds. “It all seems so sudden because it should never have happened. Think about it, Spike, they would never have done what has happened to us in the past five days. Twilight once said to me she would never kick you out; even if she lost everything else, she would never give you up. And I’ve been friends with them for so long to really believe they would hate me like that.”

She rounded another bend and headed down the street towards the library. “I don’t understand how you can think that, Fluttershy,” Spike said. “You heard them say those things, and I heard them all say those things about me.”

“Yes, you’re right, I did hear those things they all said about me,” Fluttershy said. “But now that I think about it, I believe they didn’t say those things on their own free will.”

Spike looked weirdly at her. “What are you saying?”

“I fear that something has happened to them, Spike,” Fluttershy explained. “Something that has made them act this way and has ruined our friendships with them. That’s why we’re going to see the Princess; she’s the only pony I know with magic great enough to help. We can’t rely on Twilight’s magic this time.”

Once they were out of the crowds once more, Fluttershy looked back at Spike, and read his expression. It shifted from one emotion to the next. First, it was understanding, then disbelief, then anger, then sadness, until it went full circle once more. She didn’t blame him for not entirely believing her, but she wanted him to, for her sakes more than anypony else’s.

Fluttershy came to a stop. “Spike, I know you’re having a hard time to believe this. I know you feel betrayed, Spike. I do too. But I know, deep down in my heart, that they would never really do what they did to us.”

Spike looked lost. “But, how can you be so sure that something did happen to them?” he queried. “What if they really don’t like us anymore?”

“I am not entirely sure,” Fluttershy admitted. “But I will not give up on my friends without a fight.” She lifted up a hoof for him to shake. “Are you still with me?” She saw a thousand conflicting thoughts pass across his eyes. “I can’t do this alone, Spike. I need all the friends I have by my side to help me.”

After a moment of intense thought, Spike sighed. “All right, Fluttershy.” He took hold of Fluttershy’s hoof in his claw. “I’m with you. I may not entirely believe you, but I will help you. For all our sakes.”

Although she wanted him to believe her completely, she couldn’t argue with his help. “Thank you,” she said, grinning. She took her hoof off his claw, and then continued to gallop down the street and towards the train station.

Another five minutes later, they rounded the last corner and came out on the large space between the Golden Oaks Library and the train station. Fluttershy felt a wave of relief run through her when she saw a train sitting beside the platform. She broke once more into a run, but only went a few paces when she stopped and stared in horror at what was in front of them both.

Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity were standing in line, waiting to get tickets to board the train. Fluttershy squinted her eyes to make out something on them, something shiny and golden. Only when Twilight turned around to get onto the platform could the Dragonlord see what was on her head.

A large tiara, or a big crown thingy as Twilight had once called it, sat nicely on her head, showing her status as the bearer of the element of magic. Fluttershy could quickly make out the others wearing their elements, but where was hers? “Why are they wearing the Elements of Harmony?” Spike whispered as they walked closer.

“More to the point: where’s mine?” Her eyes glanced over the saddlebags to see if one of them had her necklace in it, stating she was the bearer of the element of kindness. She suddenly made out the tip of her element in Twilight’s saddlebags, and had to resist the urge to charge in and take it from her.

“Come on, ya’ll, or we’ll miss the train!” Fluttershy heard Applejack yell to the others as they got their tickets.

“I sure hope the Princess wants us there for a gathering,” Rarity said as they walked through the door leading onto the platform. “She promised us one last time and it never happened.”

“She said in her letter that it was extremely important, and wanted the element bearers to be there with our elements…” Twilight explained. Her voice faded out as the door closed behind them, which was a relief to Fluttershy; she didn’t want to hear what they would probably go on about next.

She trotted up to the ticket pony, smiling as best she could. “Excuse me, but could I have two return tickets for Canterlot, please?” she requested. Spike looked at her in alarm.

The pony quickly gave them the tickets. Fluttershy thanked him and nimbly made her way onto the station. “Are you crazy?” Spike whispered into her ear. To Fluttershy it seemed like he was trying to hold back his temper. “We are going to run into them for sure if we take the same train!”

“Not if we sit in the opposite carriage,” Fluttershy countered. At Spike’s confused expression, she went on. “If they’re on one end of the train, then we’ll be at the other end. It’s perfectly simple.”

“But what if the train is full except for one carriage, and we all have to sit in that carriage? It will either be horrible or very awkward. And I definitely don’t want to lie under a chair for an entire trip… again.”

Fluttershy shot an eyebrow up in confusion. ‘What did he mean by ‘again’? I’ll ask him later.’ “It won’t come to that, Spike. I promise.” She made it on the platform and looked up and down the small halt. She could make out Applejack’s stetson above the small crowd getting into the last carriage of the train. “Come on, in this one.” She galloped through the door of the first carriage, just before it closed and the guard blew his whistle, making the train set off.

Once on board, and with the train on its way, Spike jumped off Fluttershy’s back and walked alongside her to one of the seats. Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice he was looking down the corridor warily, as though he was expecting them to walk into the carriage. She was scared about it herself, and kept glancing down the corridor as well. “Come on,” she said gently, gesturing with her head at the chair nearest to the door, “over here.”

Fluttershy sat on her rump, while Spike sat by the window, gazing out of the scenery as the train left Ponyville and began its journey up the mountain towards the white city. “Do you think the Princess will help us?” Spike asked, turning his head towards Fluttershy. “Truly?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I hope so.” A pang of hope went through her. “Maybe that’s why she called the Elements of Harmony up to Canterlot? Maybe she knows what is happening, and knows the only way to fix it is by using the Elements.” She hoped, she prayed, that was true.

“But why didn’t they give you your element in Ponyville?” Spike queried.

“They’ll probably give it to me up at Canterlot; try and make it look like things are fine. I’ll do whatever Celestia asks of us, then get some alone time with her and tell her what’s been happening back in Ponyville.”

A silence lingered between them for a moment, making Fluttershy believe Spike’s curiosity had been sated for a while. Until he suddenly said, “What if the Princess can’t fix it, because there is no problem with them to begin with?”

Fluttershy felt like she wanted to yell at him for having a lack of faith. The moment she realised she felt like that she felt horrible. It wasn’t his fault that his faith was shattered. It was whatever caused Twilight to kick him out in the first place. The only way now to restore that faith would be to find out whatever caused this, and fix it.

Her mind then went to think about what Spike just said. He did have a point. What if she couldn’t fix it? She shook her head to rid herself of the thought, then looked down and smiled at Spike. “She will fix it, Spike. I’m sure of it.”

“Yeah, but what if she can’t?”

“Then I will go across Equestria, and beyond if need be, to find someone that can. I swore to defend my friends when they can’t defend themselves, and I intend to uphold my vow and do my duty.”

“Vow?” Spike asked, raising both his eyebrows in puzzlement. “What vow? And what duty?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, but the feeling of the train stopping made her look up. She jumped in shock when she saw the white and golden towers of Canterlot towering over the train, and the station just beside them. They had arrived at Canterlot. “My vow and duty as a Dragonlord, Spike,” she answered eventually. She pressed her face against the window and glanced to the left, waiting to see her (former) friends appear from the train and leave.

She didn’t have to wait for long. They soon appeared, chatting and laughing about something, from the carriage they went in and trotted off the station and towards the palace. Fluttershy gave Spike a gentle tap on the shoulder. “This is our chance, Spike.” She jumped off the couch and walked off the train, with an utterly confused dragon just behind her.

The city of Canterlot, from what Fluttershy could see, didn’t seem to be affected by whatever troubled Ponyville. Most of the ponies seemed to be talking to each other nicely enough, the atmosphere of the city didn’t seem as clouded as it did back home, literary and figuratively. That view changed the deeper they went into the city.

As they neared the palace, they saw more and more guards carrying out patrols across the city. Fluttershy saw a guard standing on nearly every street corner, clutching a spear around a leg and looking for any reason to use it. The pegasus stallion saw her looking and narrowed his eyes at her. Fluttershy yelped and looked away, covering her face with her long mane, while her heart raced like an arrow across the air. “What is happening around here?” Spike wondered aloud. “Surely Canterlot can’t be going through the same thing as Ponyville? Can it?” He looked to Fluttershy for answers.

“I don’t know, Spike,” she replied, peering out of her mane to look at him, “but I would rather be in the palace right about now.” She increased her speed into a canter, prompting Spike to start jogging to keep up with her. None of them noticed that the guard was beginning to follow them.

They soon made it to the gates of the palace and were waved on through without a second glance. “Right,” Fluttershy sighed once they made it inside the palace and at the top of the stairs, “where would the Princess be at this time of day?” She looked down at the little dragon, who jumped when he realised she was staring at him.

“Why me?”

“Because you’ve helped Celestia with several things over the years,” Fluttershy answered. “So you would be the best dragon to know where she would be. I would ask one of the other ponies around here, but there’s something about them that I don’t trust.” She looked around her to see some of the guards, even some of the servants, eyeing her cautiously, like a predator would look before charging in and killing its prey.

It made Fluttershy feel like she had just made a grave mistake in coming here.

“Well let me see… hmm,” Spike pondered, putting a claw under his chin, looking at the ground, and tapping his left foot. “… Hmm… aha! I know where she’ll be.”

“Where?”

“In the throne room,” Spike answered. “About this time she’ll be going through court and listening to the problems of the land and stuff like that. Yeah, I think she’ll be there.”

Fluttershy gestured with her head for him to jump up onto her back, which he complied without protest. “Then let’s go and find her.” She instantly broke into a canter down the right corridor from the stairs, knowing where the throne room was. In front of the main door, a group of eight guards blocked the palace entrance and formed a cordon, while another group of five began to follow them.

As Fluttershy cantered, she couldn’t help but notice the stares she was getting from the servants, guards, and other ponies that were wandering the corridors of the palace. Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest. Sweat began to pour down her face, frightened by the sudden stares she was getting. None of them looked friendly to her, and it made her think how long would it be until she was suddenly pinned down and imprisoned for some reason. She covered her face with her mane once more and quickened her canter, feeling more eager to get to the throne room, and Celestia.

At last, allowing Fluttershy to let out a heavy sigh of relief, she made it in front of the huge doors of the throne room. Although they were closed, there were no guards to stop her from opening them. She let Spike jump off her back, then she reared up, pressed her hooves against the doors, and pushed them open slowly. The doors creaked and groaned against the pressure Fluttershy put in her hooves, nevertheless they opened, and soon she was in full view of the throne, and the pony sitting on it.

Fluttershy trotted through with her head held high, Spike just behind her, gazing at each of the guards in the room. Fluttershy noticed them too, and glanced at each. There had to be about two dozen guards in the room, all armed with spears around a leg, or the horns on their heads. Fluttershy looked at each of them with cautious eyes, then looked to the Princess.

Upon seeing the cold look she was getting from the winged unicorn, it confirmed her fear that she just made a terrible mistake in coming to Canterlot.

“Spike, stay close to me,” she whispered. Spike nodded, then moved himself so that he was touching her side. Fluttershy stopped so she and the little dragon were at the first step, then both of them bowed low. “Princess Celestia,” she greeted her politely. Fluttershy lifted her head up to look at her again, smiling disarmingly. “It’s good to see you again, Princess.”

The Princess’s cold gaze disappeared, to be replaced with one of deep sadness. “Fluttershy… and Spike. I was just about to send for you, Fluttershy.” She looked at the parchment in her magic, and then made it disappear with a flick of her head.

‘Maybe I was right, and Celestia does know what’s happening,’ Fluttershy thought. She hoped she was right, for it didn’t look it around her. She briefly wondered where Twilight and the others were presently, but it was a fleeting thought. She took a step forward and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself when Celestia got off the throne.

Celestia began to walk down the stairs towards the two, while two guards behind her closed the gap between them, and the others blocked off the door, cutting off any attempt to escape. “Fluttershy, for the past four years I have known you, I considered you as one of the best friends I have ever known. I have always been grateful for what you have done for me, such as mostly reforming Discord, and saving our world from extinction. You’ve done so much for me, as I have done for you these past two years.” She now towered over the smaller pegasus, allowing Fluttershy to clearly see the tears streaming down from her ruler’s eyes. “And this is how you repay me?”

Celestia’s horn glowed, and a scroll with a seal of Fluttershy’s cutie mark appeared before them both. At once, Celestia ripped it open, and then levitated it in front of the now trembling pegasus. Fluttershy’s eyes scrolled down the writing, and her eyes widened to the point they were about to bulge. She even felt her heart stop beating. She easily recognised the writing, for it was her own, but she never recalled writing the treason planned on it. ‘How is this possible? How did somepony forge my own mouth writing?’ “I… I never… Princess, you know I wou- would never…” Her voice trailed off into frightened squeaks. From the look on Celestia’s face, it seemed that any defence from her would fall on deaf ears.

“Fluttershy Firewing,” Celestia said, her tone in a state of sorrow, “I’m placing you under arrest for high treason against Equestria and its allied nations.” Fluttershy felt her heart bang against her ribcage, threatening to burst out. “Your guilt has already been proven, and your sentence has already been approved.” She turned to the two guards standing just behind her. “Freeze her, then take her to the dungeons to await her fate.”

Fluttershy spun around to face them both, eyes wide in terror and disbelief. One of the guards lowered his head so his horn was pointing directly at her, glowing with golden magic. Fluttershy flung a hoof over her eyes and braced herself for whatever was going to happen.

The sound of magic leaving the horn and shooting towards her filled her ears, then the sound of it hitting something hard, followed shortly by something heavy hitting the ground. ‘What just happened?’ she thought. After a moment, she moved her hoof away from her eyes, and screamed in horror as she gazed at the paralysed body of Spike lying in front of her. His arms were stretched out wide to shield her, and his eyes wide open in horror, yet he was still as stone.

Fluttershy rushed forward to help him, but the other unicorn sent another beam of golden magic at her. It hit her square in the chest, clouding her vision in white, and making her body go stiff. Then she felt and heard nothing.

Chapter 3

“Is she dead? Please tell me she isn’t dead?” a voice, one Fluttershy made out as Spike’s, said, seemingly echoing. Fluttershy wanted to open her eyes to assure him that she was still alive, but she couldn’t open her eyes, or her mouth completely. She felt as though a blindfold had been placed over her eyes and a gag had been placed in her mouth. She silently prayed she would be able to see and speak soon.

“Rest your fears for the moment, young Spike, for she is not dead. The spell is starting to wear off. See. One of her legs is starting to twitch,” another voice, one that she couldn’t recognise yet sounded familiar, assured him.

“Let me try waking her up again.” Although Fluttershy couldn’t see, she could hear Spike kneel on the ground and lean closer to her ear. “Fluttershy? Can you hear me?” he called nervously. “Twitch a leg again if you can.”

Fluttershy didn’t twitch a leg. Instead, she let out a low groan, much to the relief of those around her. With whatever had held her back broken, she slowly fluttered her eyes open, to find Spike looking into her own with relief on his face. “Spike?” She shifted herself to get up from the rough floor, but Spike pushed her down gently.

“Not yet. The spell put you in a weak state,” he explained. “You’re gonna have to wait a while for it to fully wear off before you can stand up again.”

“Spell?” Fluttershy asked confusedly, her mind in a thousand different places to fully understand what had happened. “W-what spell?”

“The spell my sister had placed on you to stop you from running anywhere,” the other voice, this time Fluttershy could make out it was a mare’s, explained. “It froze your body and mind in a paralysis, making you look like a statue. Rest easy, Fluttershy, for it will wear off soon.”

At that, the events of what happened flooded back to the front of her mind. The meeting in the throne room, the Princess declaring her a traitor, then being shot by a golden light, and then finally everything going white. Her eyes widened in horror as she tried again to get back up. “No! I can’t rest easy! I have to get out of here! I need to talk to the Princess! I need to explain that…” She trailed off as she looked around her.

She was in one of the cells of the dungeons deep below Canterlot. It was a large square, with only five rough looking beds against the walls as its main features. The floor was made of damp stone, making the cell cold and her coat stand up on end. And the only window in the cell was on the plain wooden door leading out into the corridor.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened even more as she began to panic. “No, no, no, no, no, NO! I need to get out! This has all been a mistake!” Before Spike or the other pony could stop her, she got up and galloped up to the door. “Let me out!” she shouted, banging the door lightly. “I’m not a traitor!” She could feel her eyes beginning to water. “Please…” But there was nopony outside to hear her pleas; if there was, they were very quiet. She rested her head against the door and sobbed, tears flowing from her eyes like rain.

“Fluttershy?” Spike called. After heaving back another sob, Fluttershy turned to face Spike with watering eyes. She could see the terror in his eyes about what might happen to them, and she couldn’t blame him for that. She was terrified herself.

She suddenly remembered seeing Spike on the ground, frozen still like a statue, after stepping in the way of the spell aimed for her. In doing what he did, she realised in horror, he had declared himself a traitor alongside her. She suddenly spun around, stormed up to him and held him by the shoulders with her hooves, glaring at him. “What were you thinking? Getting in the way like that!” she said, her tone raised slightly above her usual, meek level, which terrified Spike. “You should have done nothing, Spike. You should have stayed out of it.”

Spike shook his head. “How could I, Fluttershy? How could I just stand by and watch you get arrested for nothing? What was on that letter, anyway?”

Fluttershy sniffed back another sob. “I-I-it said that I w-was planning to create my own kingdom with all the animals of Equestria in Whitetail Wood, with me as their queen,” she whimpered.

Spike blinked, looking at her incredulously. “How can Celestia accuse you of something like that? You have always been loyal to her – to her and Equestria! How can she say that it was you who had written it?”

“That’s the problem, Spike. The writing on the scroll was of my own, down to how I write the letter E,” Fluttershy sniffed, wiping her eyes and cheeks dry. The scariest part of that letter was that Fluttershy once suffered a nightmare involving her as a queen of critters. ‘Did somepony manage to find out about that nightmare, and write it down to accuse me of treason?’ Fluttershy wondered.

“Well even then it still can’t be possible for you to betray Equestria!” Spike exclaimed. “It’s blatantly obvious that you were framed for it, and I think I know who might have done it.”

Fluttershy’s ears flexed while she looked at Spike curiously. “Who?”

“There’s only one pony I know who can copy your mouth writing, as well as others. Only one pony who is intelligent enough to even attempt it.” He left the rest unsaid, but it didn’t take long for Fluttershy to figure out who he was going on about.

Twilight Sparkle.

“No,” Fluttershy whispered, shaking her head furiously. “No!” She veered around him to stand in the open space. “If Twilight does no longer like me, I wouldn’t think she would ever take that hatred to this level!”

“To be honest, Fluttershy, with the attitude she had when I last spoke to her, I wouldn’t know what she’s capable of,” Spike admitted. Fluttershy could tell it was hard for him to say such a thing.

“But this is beyond her, Spike!” Fluttershy insisted, her eyes pleading for him to see reason. Yet a small part of her festered with doubt. Twilight was the only pony Fluttershy had confided in about the nightmare, and had helped her look past it in case it drove her mad. ‘Twilight could never use that against me, could she?’ She quickly shook the thought away. ‘Twilight’s too nice for this. Something else is at work here.’

“But, Fluttershy, Twilight is the only pony I know that can copy yours and everypony else’s mouth writing accurately. I can’t think of any other pony who can do that,” Spike persisted, much to Fluttershy’s annoyance.

‘He really has it in for Twilight. Then again, so would I if she had kicked me out for no apparent reason.’ “But surely she knows we could be executed for what she wrote – if she wrote it.”

Spike went pale at the thought. “Executed? You mean… we’re going to die?”

“I assure you two, we will not be executed. It is not our way,” the mare with the soothing voice said.

Fluttershy’s right ear twitched at the sound, making her spin to face whoever it was. “How do you know what’s going to happen to us?”

“Because, dear Fluttershy, my sister and I created the laws and punishments against those for treason,” the mare said. With that, the mare stepped into the low light, making Fluttershy see clearly who it was she was talking to.

“Princess Luna?” Fluttershy gasped, her eyes wide in surprise.

The Princess of the Night nodded curtly, smiling bravely. Luna looked weaker compared to the Princess Fluttershy remembered at the wedding reception of Cadence and Shining Armor. Her eyes were solemn, tired even. Her mane and tail, which once flowed high with the solar elements, and twinkled like starlight and space, were flowing lowly to the ground and the twinkle in her hair was now gone, as if her power was fading. Her tiara, breastplate and royal horseshoes were missing. Some of the feathers on her wings were out of place, and a large metallic ring, locked with a golden aura of magic, was attached to her horn, denying her the ability to use magic.

Fluttershy took a step forward, wanting to hug and comfort the poor pony standing in front of her, but found herself unable to. “How… how…” She looked away to clear her throat, and then looked back and said, “How can you be here?” She backed away from the Princess a little, her eyes suddenly fearful. “Are you here to torture us?” She suddenly stepped in front of Spike, spreading her wings defensively. “If you are, then leave Spike alone. I will take it all.”

Luna shook her head, her eyes and face giving away her offence of the thought. “Nothing of the sort, Fluttershy. I despise torture, as does my sister. No, I’m afraid I am here for the same reason you are. I have been declared a traitor by my own sister, and thus have been sent down here to await our sentence. The same with yourselves, and my niece.”

“Your niece?” Fluttershy queried, looking confused while lowering her guard. “Forgive me, but I thought you didn’t have any family other than your sister. The closest relative I imagine to you would be…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened in horror as her mind came to the conclusion to who the other pony was. “You can’t mean that…”

Luna nodded, then turned her head to look behind her. “She was brought in about three days ago, in chains by her own husband, and left down here.” Fluttershy peered over Luna’s shoulder, and managed to make out in the darkness the silhouette of Princess Cadence.

The Crystal Princess was lying prone on one of the beds, her head resting between her hooves and tears cascading down her cheeks. Her mane looked like a bush, and her tail fared no better. Her wings, like Luna’s, had feathers sticking out of place and revealed a severe lack of preening. Her royal regalia were missing from her body. Again, like Luna, a metallic ring was attached to her horn, held in place by a golden aura of magic. Worst of all; much to Fluttershy’s horror were Cadence’s eyes, which stated that the mare that possessed them was mentally broken.

Tears came into Fluttershy’s eyes at the sight of the Princess. Unable to bear it anymore, she forced herself to look at Luna. “What happened?” she asked.

“I can’t really say, since most of what I learnt came out as sobs and such. But from what I heard, it seems her husband, Shining Armor, accused her of being a traitor. He said that she was planning to separate the Crystal Empire from the rest of Equestria, and had her arrested with this piece of paper stating such accusations. She was taken to Canterlot in chains by him and thrown in here. At the same time, I was accused of plotting to create a separate kingdom ruled by myself by my sister, and thrown in here as well.”

Fluttershy’s hind legs gave way and she collapsed onto her rump, her face in complete disbelief to what she had just heard. “Celestia would never believe you two wou…” she tried to say. “She wouldn’t…”

“Oh, for crying out loud, she just did, Fluttershy!” Spike yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. “She just threw us in here, without proper evidence or trial, and have condemned us to whatever punishments she has for us!” A whimper escaped from Cadence, while Fluttershy shuddered in fear.

From what she had remembered at the orphanage’s school, she learnt that treason in Equestria was a rare, yet most unforgivable crime a pony or another citizen of Equestria can commit. The times it had been played out have been few, but the sentences of those traitors were never recorded for some reason, which terrified Fluttershy. Although she was not afraid to die, she was afraid of whatever fate Celestia had planned for her. If it wasn’t death, then what was it? Was she to be banished from Equestria forever, doomed to wander the world with a traitor’s brand on her flanks and scorned for the rest of her life? Or was it something else, something far more terrifying than death or exile?

Either way, she needed to know, and the only pony she could ask was in the same cell as her. “Princess Luna?”

The Princess of the night stopped comforting Cadence for a moment and looked at the Dragonlord. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“What’s going to happen to us?” she asked. Upon seeing Luna’s hesitance she added, “Please? I would feel better knowing what awaits us.”

Luna, after a moment of further hesitance, nodded. “We will be taken from this place and led into the gardens, where we will stand before Celestia and the Elements of Harmony,” she reluctantly explained. “There, we will be turned to stone by the Elements, and become statues in the gardens of Canterlot, doomed to listen the world go by until Celestia sees fit to have us released and ‘reformed’.”

Fluttershy and Spike paled beyond comprehension, while Cadence began shaking violently with terror. Luna went back to Cadence’s side and began stroking her head to calm her down. Spike jumped up to Fluttershy and clung onto her tight, shaking in terror. Fluttershy quickly returned the hug, sharing Spike’s fear by trembling in fright.

Encased in stone? Forever? No wonder the ponies of Equestria had no idea of the fate of traitors; if they did then there would be an outcry. It seemed to Fluttershy to be a fate that was far worse than death, to listen to the world as everypony went by, gazing at them, wondering who they once were. Only when Celestia saw fit to see them reformed, then she would be freed, and she would see a new Equestria, one unlike she had been born in.

It was something she didn’t want to see. If the choice were given to her, she would gladly choose death over being turned to stone. Unfortunately, that choice wasn’t given to her, unless… ‘Hold on, didn’t she just say we’ll be turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony?’ she asked herself.

“Princess?” Luna looked up at her. “I might have heard you wrong, but didn’t you say that we will be turned to stone by the Elements of Harmony?”

Luna looked down in thought, her ears folding flat on her head as she did so, and then looked back up again. “Yes. That is usually the way we turned traitors who we thought could be redeemed into stone back in the old days.”

Fluttershy looked at Luna for a long time, blinking every now and then with large rounded cyan eyes as her mind came to terms with what Luna just said. When she did, she started doing the one thing she hadn’t properly done in a week.

She began to laugh.

At first, it was a fit of giggles, but then it started coming out as uncontrollable laughter. She fell off the bed and began rolling around the room, clutching her sides, while a perplexed Spike and Luna looked on.

“Uh, Fluttershy?” Spike said eventually, trying to get her to stop rolling about. “What’s the point of laughing about that?”

“Indeed, Fluttershy,” Luna agreed, “this isn’t really a laughing matter.”

“Oh, but it is!” Fluttershy squeaked. Once she finally managed to stop laughing, she got off the floor, a hoof against her chest as she began to regain her breath. “But you said that the Elements would be used to turn us into stone?” Luna nodded. “Well, how can they do that if I’m an Element Bearer myself? I can’t exactly fire the element at myself! I mean, that would be just silly!” She began to giggle again, out of joy and relief. The elements were controlled by the six of them, and could not be used by five of the six, meaning that herself, Spike, Luna and Cadence were safe.

Luna said nothing; she simply stared sadly at her for a long time. “Indeed you are, Fluttershy,” Luna agreed. “And I’m so sorry of what is about to happen to you.”

Fluttershy’s giggles faded away as she looked into Luna’s sad eyes. “What do you mean, Princess? Surely we are…” Her voice faded away, as did her grin, as she felt something wrong in her.

“Fluttershy, are you all right?” Spike asked concernedly upon seeing Fluttershy’s face.

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy whispered with a shake of her head. She put a hoof to her chest to feel her heart slowing right down from a beat a second, to a beat every four seconds. It suddenly stopped beating altogether, making Fluttershy’s eyes widen in alarm. “What’s happening to me?”

Suddenly, she felt as if her heart was being pulled from its place and out of her chest. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as pain that felt like a sword slashing down her back again coursed through her. “The Tearing has started,” she heard Luna say sadly. “Spike, stay with Cadence and look away. Do not look back for any reason.”

Spike, his eyes wide with fear as he watched Fluttershy trying to bear the pain, looked at Luna for a second in shock. “There must be something I can do!”

Luna shook her head. “There is nothing we can do, except be by her side. Do as I say, and stay with Cadence. Look at her, flatten your ears, and whatever you do, do not look back.”

Spike reluctantly complied with the request, and then moved to face Cadence. With Spike out of the way, Luna walked up to Fluttershy and hugged her close. “Hold onto me, and don’t let go,” she ordered.

Fluttershy flung her forelegs around Luna’s neck, screaming through gritted teeth as she felt like she was burning, only this time more slowly. “It will be quick,” Luna said. “Quick, but extremely painful. Your body will feel like passing out, but no matter what, it is imperative you stay awake, Fluttershy.”

“And what happens if I don’t stay awake?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes wide with terror.

“Then you could die,” Luna warned her. “Hold onto me now, for the last part of the Tearing is about to begin.”

“I’m scared, Princess. Really, really, scared,” Fluttershy rasped, holding onto her tight like a child would a mother, her crying eyes never leaving Luna’s.

“Good. Stick to scared. Scared keeps you awake,” Luna advised.

Fluttershy nodded, then her eyes widened in horror and she let out a shrilled gasp as she felt as though a sword had just been plunged through and up her heart. As suddenly as it came it was gone, to be replaced by a feeling of sickness working its way up her throat. “I think I’m going to throw up,” she choked.

Luna pushed her upright and whispered, “Let it out. Do not fight it.”

Fluttershy gagged uncontrollably as she felt something crawl up her throat, her chest beginning to rise and fall rapidly as she tried to breathe. Then suddenly, her mouth opened wide, and gasped as a cloud of bright, almost golden yellow with a slight fade of pink escaped from her open mouth. Just as the mist appeared, it was gone in a flash, leaving the room almost dark once more.

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths, and she felt her body topple over as she began to pass out. She could hear Spike sobbing in the corner with Cadence, and she saw Luna standing over her, shedding a few tears. “Is it over?” she whispered.

The last thing Fluttershy saw before passing out was Luna’s curt nod.

“Fluttershy?” Spike called into her ear, making her ears twitch in response. Fluttershy groaned as her senses came on once more, and she opened her eyes. Everything ached. She felt like she had been standing in the same place for hours without moving an inch. “Oh, Fluttershy, I’m so glad you’re all right now!” Spike shouted, hugging her tight while trying to sniff back tears.

Fluttershy slowly raised a hoof and patted Spike on the back. “It’s okay now, Spike,” she whispered delicately. “It’s okay.” She looked up from the baby dragon and looked around.

The first thing she realised was that she was lying on one of the rough beds that rested against the walls of the cell. The second thing was that Luna, Cadence and Spike were looking at her with a mixture of relief and sorrow.

“I’m glad to see you awake, Fluttershy,” Luna greeted her whilst walking up to her. “Spike, help her sit upright; it will help her get her strength back.”

Spike nodded, and then aided Fluttershy into sitting on her haunches. Fluttershy’s body shook with fatigue as she sat upright, her forelegs the worst as they trembled to the point everyone in the room feared she might collapse again. Once Fluttershy was sitting upright, Spike jumped up on the bed and sat next to her, keeping a claw on her chest to keep her balanced. “Thanks, Spike,” Fluttershy said weakly.

“Oh! I had almost forgotten!” Luna exclaimed. She quickly ran to the corner of the cell, then came back a moment later with a cup of what smelt like hot chocolate in her teeth. “Here, drink this. One of the guards came down with it while you were out. Just be careful, it’s hot.”

“He said it would help you when you awake,” Spike added. “He seemed quite sympathetic for you, actually. Said that was something nopony, not even a traitor, should go through.”

Fluttershy reached out with trembling hooves and accepted it quickly. “Thanks,” she whispered. As she stared at it, some of the chocolate spilt out of the cup and ran down the side onto her trembling hooves. Yet she never felt a thing.

After a moment, she took a sip of the chocolate, giving Spike a reason to breath again. She felt the sweet taste of the chocolate on her tongue, but couldn’t feel the extreme heat of it. ‘And I never will again,’ she thought sadly. She took it away from her mouth, and used a hoof to wipe away the drink staining her lips. “Thank you. Both of you,” she said, her voice barely above her whisper.

“Shh, my dear, don’t speak,” Luna said with a small smile. “You are still weak from the Tearing.” She gestured with her head at the chocolate in her hooves. “Drink it. It will help, I promise you that.”

Fluttershy nodded, then took the cup to her mouth and gulped down the whole lot in a few seconds, to the shock of everyone in the cell. “I’ve never seen someone gulp down hot chocolate like that before,” Spike whispered to himself. “The only one I have seen do that is… myself.”

Fluttershy gasped for breath when she took it away, her chest rising and falling heavily and her legs trembling with a mix of exhaustion and terror. She had just gone through one of the worst experiences of her life, one that, she feared, may stay with her until her last day. But what did happen to her? It certainly wasn’t a panic attack. She had several panic attacks before, some in the most inappropriate moments, but never did she have one like that. She wanted to know, and the only pony that knew was the Princess of the night.

She slowly lifted her head up to look at Luna, her eyes filled with fear and curiosity, and asked, “Princess Luna? What just happened to me?” Luna looked like she wasn’t going to answer. “You know, Princess. I know you do. Please, tell me what happened.”

Luna, after a moment of hesitance, looked up at her and nodded in confirmation. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy, for you are a bearer of an Element of Harmony no longer,” Luna stated, tears in her eyes.

Fluttershy felt her hold of the cup leave her hooves. She toppled and moved to collapse on the bed, but before she could, Spike got hold of her and set her upright. “What do you mean?” Spike asked while rubbing Fluttershy’s back to calm her down, while Fluttershy breathed rapidly and heavily, incredulous to what she had just heard.

“I mean that she just had the Element of Kindness ripped from her very soul,” Luna elaborated.

Fluttershy looked at her with unbelieving eyes. “How is that possible, Princess? How can I simply be no longer an Element Bearer?”

“You see, when you are chosen to become an element bearer, the spirit of the element weaves itself into your soul, making you and the element one and the same,” Luna explained sullenly. “However, using ancient, yet highly powerful magic, an element’s spirit can be freed from the soul of the bearer, either with force, or willingly. Unfortunately for you, Fluttershy, your ‘Tearing’, as the process is called, was done with force, and as such is a horrible and painful process.”

Spike threw himself at Fluttershy, hugging her tight. Fluttershy quickly returned the hug, her eyes wide with terror, yet with a bout of curiosity. “Forgive me if I’m a little intrusive, Princess, but you make it sound like you’ve been through it yourself.”

Luna nodded sadly. “I have, my dear.” She took a deep breath, and then continued. “Before I became Nightmare Moon, I was the bearer of three of the Elements: honesty, generosity, and loyalty, if you’d believe it.” Fluttershy nodded to say she did. “When I turned against Celestia and seized control of the night as Nightmare Moon, my sister, with heavy reluctance, tried to wrestle control of the Elements from me so she could use them all, and free me. I tried to keep them, so she was forced to use the Tearing ritual to separate them from me.”

She shuddered in remembrance. “I still remember the agony from that day, my own and my sister’s as she tore them from me. Anyway, after my imprisonment, Celestia went through the Tearing herself, forcibly, I might add. In shame of what she did, and in grief of losing me, she gave up using the Elements and hid them in the old castle in the Everfree Forest, left dormant until those who can truly use the elements are alive.”

Fluttershy tilted her head, looking at Luna with great sympathy, and understanding. Before Spike could stop her, Fluttershy jumped forward and embraced Luna in a hug. The winged unicorn was taken aback, yet quickly returned the gesture by wrapping a leg around the smaller mare. “I’m so sorry, Princess,” Fluttershy whispered.

Luna chuckled. “You have no reason to apologise, dear Fluttershy,” she said, pulling away. “You weren’t even born when I became Nightmare Moon. So you have no fault in my downfall and shame.”

“I know, I just meant it as… oh never mind,” Fluttershy said quietly. She pulled back from Luna and sat back on the bed, staring at her hooves. “So, what happened to the Element of Kindness? Was it destroyed?”

“So long as there is kindness in this world, Fluttershy, then the spirit of the Element will never die. Instead, the Element’s spirit would have gone to the current bearer of the Element of Magic: Twilight Sparkle. There always needs to be six elements. No more, no less. So when a bearer falls or has his or her Element torn away, the Element’s spirit will pass onto the Element of Magic, or another bearer if Magic is unavailable,” Luna explained, her eyes downcast and sullen.

“So,” Spike deduced, “with Twilight and the others in control of all the Elements, and nothing to protect us from being turned to stone, does that mean that we’re screwed?”

“Spike!” Fluttershy shouted, looking at him angrily. “Watch your language, mister!”

“As blunt as he had put it, he was telling the truth; we are screwed.” At that, Cadence began sobbing once more and her body shook in fear. Luna shot over to her and wrapped a leg around her niece’s shoulders to comfort her, saying that Discord told her he had felt no pain on being turned to stone.

Spike tightened his hold on Fluttershy, while the pegasus simply stared with trembling horror at the cell door. First, her own friends have turned against her, and now Celestia herself has decreed them all traitors with little, but enough, proof. She knew instantly that whatever affected her friends affected Celestia as well, for she knew Princess Celestia would never be like this. She was too kind to do this to them, and too understanding and knowledgeable to believe they would do such a thing. So what caused her to think like that?

If anything, that question, as well as the others that thrived in her head made Fluttershy more driven to get out of this mess. But how could she do that, when she was now named a traitor across Equestria? And how would she be able to escape from here, knowing that when she stepped through that door facing her, she was doomed?

She didn’t know. It was as simple as that. She just didn’t know how she could get out of here without being escorted out into the garden to be turned to stone.

As soon as that question came into her mind, another one cropped up. The letter. Who wrote it and why? Somepony wanted her framed; to get her out of the way for some reason, and most likely forged the same evidence that condemned Luna and Cadence as well. She couldn’t – or refused to – believe Twilight would forge such things, so who?

Just then, a nasty suspicion re-appeared in her mind. What if Twilight did forge those letters? She shook the thought from her head ferociously. ‘Twilight is not nasty. None of them are. Something else is behind all this, and by Vidarr’s wings I will find out what.’ Her eyes narrowed a little as she felt anger course its way through her. ‘And make them sorry that they harmed my friends.’

But how was she going to do that, when she was condemned to stone? The vast questions that she could not answer were filling her head, beginning to irritate her and give her a headache. She shifted a hoof away from Spike’s embrace and rubbed her forehead gently, easing the numbing pain she was feeling there. She couldn’t answer all of the questions in her head, but she could at least answer a few, like Princess Celestia’s sudden change in attitude, and the only pony who could answer that for her was in the room with her.

“Luna?” she said suddenly, looking up at the night Princess.

Luna turned her head around to face her, while still rubbing Cadence’s back in comfort. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Um, would you mind if I have a quiet word with you about something, please?” Fluttershy asked. “It won’t be long, I promise.”

After a moment, Luna nodded. “Spike, could you look after Cadence for a moment please?”

Spike nodded. “Sure, Princess.” He jumped out of Fluttershy’s hold, then walked over to the other Princess and embraced her, allowing Cadence to keep on crying.

While Spike comforted Cadence, Luna followed Fluttershy to the other side of the cell. Fluttershy sat up on the bed, while Luna only sat beside it, looking at Fluttershy expectantly. “Okay, Fluttershy, what do you want to talk about?”

Fluttershy looked at her hooves for a moment, wondering whether this was such a good idea. But her mind quickly reminded her of why she wanted to ask the Princess in the first place. She couldn’t believe that her friends turning against her and Celestia believing them all to be traitors to be unrelated, and wanted to know about Celestia in the last week. ‘Okay, Fluttershy, you can do this,’ she thought.

“Princess, I was wondering – if you don’t mind, that is – if you can tell me something?”

Luna cocked her head to one side. “Like what?”

“Well, um… has Celestia been acting, sort of strange in the past week or so?” she asked eventually, drawing a circle in mid-air with a hoof.

Luna looked at her horn for a moment as she thought. “Well, unless you count being thrown in here without proper trial, then I would say she has been acting a little out of character lately.”

Fluttershy’s ears pinned upright; they appeared to be getting somewhere. “I hope you don’t mind me asking this. But, when did these strange happenings begin?”

“Hmm,” Luna pondered, rubbing her chin with a hoof. “When I noticed something was different about her, it was a Monday, at our usual lunchtime get-together.”

Fluttershy’s ears quickly deflated. “Oh, well, what about Sunday?”

“I don’t usually see her on a Sunday,” Luna answered. “I’m busy that day with my own state of affairs to carry. However, I did see her last Sunday heading to her quarters after court in the evening. I said hello, like I do, and all she replied with was a grunt. Celestia can be very grouchy when it is a bad day at court, thus I just ignored it and wished her a cheery goodnight.

“The next day, Celestia didn’t say a word to me at breakfast, or at the start of lunchtime. I tried to start up conversation, like I do, but I got no response from my sister. It was nearing the end of lunchtime, where I decided to ask what’s wrong. Instead of telling me, she just walked out without a thank you or a goodbye. I never felt more gutted since returning home then I did that day. On Tuesday, I was imprisoned with this evidence shown to me by Celestia herself. A day later, after sobbing my eyes out, Cadence was thrown in here on charges of treason. So, we’ve been stuck down here for four days crying our eyes out.” She looked down at the floor for a moment, then lifted her head again and asked, “Why are you asking me all this?”

“Because it could be important,” Fluttershy replied sadly. “Last Sunday, the friends that I have loved so much for the past four years suddenly turned around and said they hated me, and said they didn’t want me in the group anymore. At first I was distraught, broken, by this. I did my best to carry on and live without them, but I couldn’t do it. I just missed them so much.

“Anyway, earlier today, Spike came over and said Twilight kicked him out, saying he wasn’t needed anymore. It was that moment, Princess, when I realised something was wrong.”

“Wrong? What do you mean, wrong?” Luna asked confusedly.

“I mean that something has happened to them all, Princess. Something to make them all act this way. I fear something has happened to your sister as well, Princess, and I won’t rest until I find out what.”

After a moment of silence, Luna sighed. “Fluttershy, you are a sweet mare, and I appreciate you wanting to help my sister. But I don’t think there is anything you can do to help Celestia. I fear that being a ruler of a country on her own for a thousand years has taken its toll on her sanity, as well as other things. I fear that only now she has finally lost it.”

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. “You think that Celestia has gone… insane?”

Luna nodded sadly. “To be honest, I should have expected it sooner or later. Such a long life like what she’s been through can’t be good on a pony’s mind. Only a crazy pony could forge evidence like what has brought us into this situation. A crazy pony, as much as it pains me to say it, like my sister.”

Fluttershy stared at Luna disbelievingly. “Then what about my friends, Princess? How is it they turned against me and Spike at the same time your sister turns against you?”

“Coincidence, Fluttershy. That’s all it is,” Luna answered.

Fluttershy shook her head nimbly in disbelief. “I can’t believe that. I refuse to believe that those that we once loved would have forged such evidence against us.” She jumped off the bed, and began to pace in the open space between Luna, Cadence and Spike. “It just doesn’t make any sense. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t. Why would Celestia suddenly turn insane now when you have returned to help her rule again? And at the same time as my friends turning against me, and everypony else starting to dislike each other?”

“You refuse to believe with your own eyes that Celestia has gone mad?” Luna enquired.

Fluttershy stopped pacing, and brought her head up to look at Luna, her gaze narrow. “Yes. I refuse to believe it. Princess Celestia is a strong ruler with a strong mind and soul. I can’t believe that she would fall low like she did.”

Behind her, Spike groaned. “Oh, come to your senses, Fluttershy! Can you not see it? She, and Twilight and the others now hate us, and want us out of the way. That’s why one or all of them framed us. To get us out of the way.”

Fluttershy spun around to face Spike with a glare. She moved to reprimand him, but suddenly stopped, hating herself all of a sudden. What would yelling at him accomplish? It would certainly not convince him otherwise, neither would it make things any easier than they were. She had a look around, and could quickly see from the looks of the others that she was alone in her belief, and it infuriated her. She put her head in her hooves and groaned. “What will it take to convince you all?” she muttered aloud, intending it to be unheard, yet everypony heard it anyway.

“I do not think there is any other way you can convince us,” Luna said sadly.

Fluttershy took her head out of her hooves to say something to Luna. She closed her mouth upon looking into the Princess’s eyes. They no longer contained the strength she had once seen in them once. Instead they contained the shattered remnants of a heartbroken mare, a mare she could sympathise with. For the past week she had felt the same way, before she had smashed down the wall and saw the truth. Just because she had broken through the wall didn’t mean that the others have, too. “We’ll see,” she said eventually, smiling warmly.

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but looked up and paled when she heard the cell door unlocking. “It’s time,” she whispered fearfully.

Fluttershy backed away from Luna and the cell door as it opened with a screech. From the door, five unicorn guards emerged, with three holding leg and wing cuffs in magic floating above their heads, while a forth came with claw cuffs and a fire-proof muzzle.

“Get them up and out into the gardens,” the fifth unicorn ordered, rather reluctantly by the tone of his voice. “The Princess and the Element Bearers are waiting for them.”

Fluttershy backed away from the guards; her face etched into fear as they made their way through the door, spread themselves out and began to close in on the four prisoners. Fluttershy felt her rump press against the wall of the cell, and watched with fear as a unicorn guard walked slowly up to her with leg and wing cuffs held by magic.

“No!” Spike screamed as he attempted to escape the hold of the guards. “I’m too young to get stoned! Please don–” He was cut off when he was picked up by magic, and had a fireproof muzzle attached to his face.

“Leave him alone!” Fluttershy screamed, frightened but feeling angry as well. “Take that thing off him, now!”

“I’m sorry, but the Princess insisted on it,” the guard holding Spike said to her, although not looking at her face in fear of bringing shame on himself.

Fluttershy looked from the guard holding Spike, to the one approaching her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered sincerely as she stopped right in front of her. “I wish there was a better way than this.”

Fluttershy looked at him in the eyes, and saw the sheer hatred for himself burning in them. “So do I,” Fluttershy whispered in response. She took a deep breath, then let it out again as she felt her trouble, fears, loves, and everything else that had weighed her down over the years leave her. She suddenly felt at peace. She sat on her haunches, and lifted up her forelegs for the unicorn to slap the leg cuffs on. “Not too tight, please,” she requested. “My body bruises quite easily.”

The unicorn nodded, and quickly slapped the leg cuffs on, tight enough for them not to slip off, yet loose enough not to hurt. For that small mercy Fluttershy was grateful. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to stick this on as well,” the guard said, showing a large metallic clamp that resembled a harness she had seen Applejack’s brother wear.

Fluttershy nodded, then stepped forward quickly and turned to the side so the guard could attach it to her. He did so with little difficulty. She could feel her wings instinctively trying to spread out and get rid of whatever held them at her sides, but to no avail. The clamp felt heavy on her back, and it felt like it was pressing against her sides, suffocating her. Yet it was bearable, much to Fluttershy’s relief. By the time the wing clamp was on, the four of them were cuffed and ready to be taken outside.

“Come on then, let’s get this over and done with so I can drink this out of my memory,” the unicorn captain said, turning around.

Fluttershy looked to the guard, who gestured with his head to move. Not wanting to argue, Fluttershy began to walk forward, the chains on her forelegs rattling as she walked. “Take it slowly,” the guard beside her advised. “You could trip up on the chains.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. Behind her, Luna was pushed forward by her guard, while Cadence submissively walked on, too scared to protest. Spike, however, was floated above his guard, his eyes wide with fear.

Fluttershy was soon out of the cell, and standing in the corridor. To the right of her, the corridor passed more cells, before stopping at the steps of a flight of stairs that spiralled up into the palace. To the left, the corridor went past more cells, while at the end was a small door with a golden unicorn’s head on the front.

And much to Fluttershy’s relief, she was led left. ‘Thankfully we won’t be humiliated by walking through the castle,’ Fluttershy thought as they walked down the corridor in a sullen silence, save for Cadence sniffing back tears of pain.

“Captain, permission to express how deeply wrong I think this is?” the guard next to her asked.

The captain looked back at him with sympathetic eyes. “As much as I like to hear it, son, permission denied,” he answered.

“But I’m not the only one who thinks it, sir,” the guard continued, pointing to some of the others down in the cells. “I know they’re traitors, sir, and deserve to be punished. But this… this just seems too extreme.”

The captain swung his head back around to face the guard, his face stating his growing annoyance on the subject. “Yes, it is a bit extreme, and I know there are others who think they deserve something less extreme. But I also know that around half of the guard believe they deserve something far worse.” Fluttershy felt her heart stop beating at the thought of so many ponies hating her. “And these are the Princess’s orders, private,” the captain reminded him, “and like it or not, we were trained to follow them. Besides, Discord was turned to stone, twice I might add, and nopony morally questioned that as far as I am aware. Nopony even battered an eyelid about it. Now cease talking and open the door.”

The private reluctantly nodded, then left Fluttershy’s side to open the door in front of them. Fluttershy walked slowly up to the door, then stopped and waited for the door to open with her head held high and her eyes narrow. She will not show fear in front of them. To do so would make whatever controlled Celestia and her friends win. Yet deep down, she could her heart beating rapidly and her body burning with fear.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and the light of the sun blinded Fluttershy, forcing her to close her eyes and lower her head. She blinked a few times so that her eyes could get used to the sun, and once they did, her eyes widened.

A large hedge wall encircled the area of the featureless garden, disallowing any ponies the chance to see what was being done here. Around the edge of the garden, royal guards ponies of unicorns and pegasi stood in silence, their faces emotionless and their gazes unmovable. And at the centre of the garden, Celestia stood behind the five bearers of the Elements of Harmony, who stood in a line, in the central green with a pebble path running around it, who looked their way with gazes of contempt.

“Come on, keep moving,” the captain ordered. Fluttershy quickly complied, and moved out of the way of the door and into the garden. Unlike the other times she had been here, she felt the softness of the grass beneath her hooves, the sweet freshness of the air, and the raw beauty of the life that the gardens emanated.

‘Probably,’ she realised, ‘because I won’t be seeing this place for a long, long time.’

“Halt,” the captain ordered. At once, Fluttershy stopped, while Spike was placed next to her, with Luna and Cadence placed alongside him.

For a moment, all was still. The wind stopped blowing, the birds stopped singing, and some began to take flight and leave the city as though they knew what was coming. Fluttershy glanced around her to see guards gazing at the four of them with either looks of disgust, contempt, or sympathy. Fluttershy felt her heart get twisted with every gaze that looked like to be one of hate. She looked down at Spike, to hear him whimpering with fear through the muzzle clamped to him. “Be brave, Spike,” Fluttershy whispered. She wished she could follow her own advice this time.

“Fluttershy Firewing!” Celestia called over to them. “Step before us!”

Fluttershy looked over to Celestia, and nodded. With her head raised high, she began the short walk forward, to the spot she reckoned she won’t be leaving till Celestia saw fit to have her released. ‘What will Equestria look like in a few hundred years?’ she wondered. ‘Will it even exist? Will I be remembered, either as a traitor, or a bearer to an Element of Harmony?’ Although seeing Equestria in the future was intriguing, it was still something she didn’t want to see. Besides, how long will she be encased in stone. A hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand? A million? It terrified her to not know how long she would be trapped here.

“Stop!” Celestia suddenly commanded. Instantly, Fluttershy stopped, then turned around to face her ruler, and her former friends. Her eyes moved to Twilight, and the crown that now fully encircled her head, with five spikes running around it and a five pointed star on its face. Fluttershy quickly looked from her to Rainbow, then Applejack, then Rarity, and finally Pinkie…

She had to smile at the sight of the pink earth pony, and the large, evil-pony moustache that was stuck on her face. ‘Only Pinkie Pie could do something like that,’ she thought. But as she looked closer at the mare, she could see something that shocked her, and broke her heart once again.

Pinkie Pie was crying.

Tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall, yet her look showed no signs of her ever doing it. She looked closely at the others and saw that they, despite the glares of hate coming towards her, were crying just as hard. ‘They are being forced to do this,’ she realised. Her mind suddenly raced with thoughts and images of her five friends screaming out in their minds, trying to break away from whatever forced them to do these things, yet somehow couldn’t control themselves. They were being used and toyed with like puppets on a string, and Fluttershy felt despair as she didn’t have a way to cut the strings. ‘I’m so sorry, my friends. I am so sorry I couldn’t save you,’ she thought despairingly.

“Before your punishment is carried out, is there any last words that you wish to share with us before your imprisonment?” Celestia asked harshly, as though she was impatient with this.

Fluttershy looked up at Celestia, and her eyes widened when she saw the tears pouring from the winged unicorn’s eyes. Whatever pain her friends were in, it seemed nothing compared to the sheer agony she could see in Celestia’s eyes. ‘I forgive you, Celestia,’ she thought. ‘I promise you that when I get out, I will find whatever forced you to do this, and make them pay.’

“Just do it,” she said. She bowed her head swiftly, and tensed her body as she prepared herself for what may happen. She hoped it wasn’t painful. It didn’t seem that way from how Discord acted just after he was released once more. Yet it could be different depending on who the Elements were fired at.

She looked up once more to see Twilight lowering her head, and her horn lighting up in its magenta glow, as she prepared to harness the power of the Elements. Just then, she noticed something above Twilight’s head, something moving towards them at quite a speed, and something very large.

She squinted her eyes to make out the thing, and when she did, her heart almost jumped in joy at the sight of it.

“Um, actually, would you mind if you hold it for a moment, please? I do have something to say. Sorry if I’m holding you up or anything,” Fluttershy said, raising her hooves up as best she could to stop them.

For a moment, Twilight’s horn continued to glow with intensity, making Fluttershy fear they would never stop. Thankfully, after a groan, Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and she looked up again, glaring at Fluttershy, even as tears swept down her face.

“Very well,” Celestia relented. “Let us hear your final words of mercy.”

‘I doubt you will show any, whoever you are,’ Fluttershy thought. “Thank you,” she said kindly. She quickly reared up, and gestured with her forelegs in a downward swoop whilst saying, “Duck.”

The six ponies glanced at each other, incredibly confused. Fluttershy quickly glanced at her fellow prisoners, and saw the confusion in their faces as well of the odd request. She smiled at them, and gave them a wink of assurance.

“What exactly do you mean by ‘duck’?” Rarity enquired.

“Maybe she wants a duck with her whilst she’s encased in stone?” Pinkie suggested. “Let’s go get her a duck. Come on, it’s going to get pretty lonely for her, after all.”

“Where exactly are we gonna get a duck at this time of day?” Applejack queried, looking at Pinkie with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m sure we can find one at a pond somewhere,” Pinkie answered. “One who is willing enough to be encased in stone as well.”

“I don’t think you’re going to find a duck who is willing to be turned to stone, Pinkie,” Rainbow reasoned.

“At least we can try,” Pinkie said persistently.

“Oh, for crying out loud, we’re not giving her a duck!” Twilight bellowed. “We’re wasting time here. Let’s finish with this traitorous cow so we can get on with the others.” Twilight lowered her horn once more and prepared to fire up the Elements.

“Hold on,” Fluttershy interrupted again, looking up every now and then.

Twilight’s horn stopped glowing once more. “Oh, what is it now?” she yelled, growing visibly annoyed.

“No, um, I didn’t mean duck as in I would like a duck. I meant ‘duck’ as in get down; take cover, prostrate yourself to the ground, that sort of thing. I mean, if you want to, of course, I can’t exactly force you all to do something.”

“Oh,” the six ponies chimed, nodding in understanding at each other. That understanding quickly returned to confusion.

“What do you mean, take cover?” Celestia demanded. She broke away from the Element Bearers and strode nimbly towards Fluttershy with a look of venom. Fluttershy, surprisingly, even to herself, stood her ground, looking at the Princess with a sweet, innocent smile. “And take cover from what, exactly?”

“From the dragon,” Fluttershy answered.

“What dragon?”

“That dragon,” Fluttershy replied, pointing behind her.

Celestia turned her head around, and gasped in horror at the large yellow dragon with a black mane and black spikes and a creamy underbelly flying towards them, his mouth wide open and ready to spit fire.

Celestia spun her body around to face him, but before she could power up her horn, the dragon breathed fire between the Element Bearers and the Princess, cutting them off from each other. The dragon flew away from the garden, then spun around and moved to hover above the ponies, looking at the scene before him with sadness and disgust.

“Vidarr,” Fluttershy whispered, tears of joy in her eyes at the sight of a friend and the only kin she had left.

Vidarr swept a claw across the air, making the flames rise high into the air and envelop the element bearers in a ball of flame. That wall of flame suddenly surrounded the prisoners, Celestia, and Fluttershy, cutting them off from the guards around the gardens.

He looked down at Fluttershy and her fellow prisoners, and clenched his claw together. Fluttershy looked down at her hooves to see her leg cuffs blazing white with heat, before melting and disappearing altogether. The same went with her wing clamp; it burned white and melted into nothingness. She looked at Luna, Spike and Cadence, and sighed in relief when she saw the bonds on them blazed white, and then melted as well, freeing them.

“No!” Celestia yelled. Her horn suddenly lit up with golden light, and aimed it at Luna and Cadence, intending to strike them down. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror, yet she felt pain for Celestia as she could see the Princess’s crying eye twitch, as though the real Celestia was fighting against what controlled her.

‘Come on, Celestia, I know you can fight it. You’re stronger than anything!’ Fluttershy thought pleadingly.

Yet despite the Princess’s strength, it appeared it wasn’t enough.

A blast of golden magic shot out of Celestia’s horn, and hurtled towards them like a meteorite. The two former Princesses powered up their horns to form a shield to defend themselves, yet the blast was coming at them too quickly, and they were weak after four days of imprisonment. Their horns stopped glowing, and the two bowed their heads and waited for the end.

It was not to be.

Vidarr jetted out a burst of flame from his mouth onto the orb, disintegrating it before they could feel the heat from it. He tucked his wings to his sides, and then dived to the ground, landing in between Celestia and Luna, Cadence and Spike, who stared at him with awe and relief. “Kom deg bak meg, Fluttershy Ildvinge (Get behind me, Fluttershy Firewing)!” he commanded to the Dragonlord in Dragonian.

Fluttershy hastily galloped from the spot she was frozen to a moment ago, to stand behind the great dragon, shaking in fright. She quickly glanced at the wall of flame to see if her friends were okay, and sure enough they were.

Vidarr gave Fluttershy a curt nod as she ran past him, and then turned to face the Princess of the sun. “Celestia Solaris,” Vidarr greeted the Princess, curtly bowing his head.

“Vidarr,” Celestia sneered, her teeth snarling with rage, even as tears poured from her eyes. For only a few seconds, but what seemed like to Fluttershy hours, the two ancient beings stood gazing at each other, pondering on who would make the first move, or what should happen next.

‘Please don’t fight, please don’t fight, please don’t fight,’ Fluttershy pleaded desperately in thought. If those two did fight, she figured, then only one would come away alive, and Fluttershy wanted both to stay alive.

“It has been a long time, my old friend,” Vidarr said while using his tail to shield Fluttershy, Luna, Cadence and Spike. Fluttershy reared up, pressed her hooves against the dragon’s tail, and craned her neck just to see what was going on.

“Indeed it has, Vidarr,” Celestia agreed. “Too long. The last time I saw you was just after I had banished my sister for the first time. So tell me, why do you appear now, before these traitors?” she asked, gesturing with a hoof at the ponies hiding behind Vidarr’s tail.

“Because I cannot allow you to do what you intend to them, Princess,” Vidarr said. “They are innocent of the charges you have brought against them.”

“Innocent? How can they be innocent?” Celestia yelled, taking a step closer to the dragon. “The proof has already been discovered and confirmed by their own writing!”

Vidarr glanced to Fluttershy for confirmation of this. The only response he got back was a little nod. “Du vet jeg aldri ville skrive noe slik, ikke sant (You know I, or any of us, would never write anything like that, don’t you)?” Fluttershy whispered in Dragonian.

Vidarr gave Fluttershy an assuring smile. “Jeg vet (I know),” he whispered. He turned back to Celestia. “Even if they are guilty of the charges you laid against them – which they aren’t – the punishment of traitors being turned to stone is considered too harsh, according to the laws of Equestria; laws, that you created.”

Luna shot her head up over Vidarr’s tail to look at Celestia in shock. Fluttershy could practically hear the Night Princess’s heart being crushed some more. “Tia? Is this true?”

“You mean she never told you?” Vidarr asked, twisting his head to gaze at Luna. “The punishment of ponies or other creatures being turned to stone for treason was abolished about two hundred years after your imprisonment in the moon for the sheer barbarity it is.”

Luna looked crushed, giving Fluttershy the urge to want to hug her and comfort her. “Why did you never tell me?” Luna whispered, though loud enough for Celestia to hear.

“Oh, do you need me to hold your hoof all of the time?” Celestia snapped, making Luna flinch back. “I have the whole library here with books full of Equestrian laws and customs and such. But did you ever look at one? No! You would rather stay in the palace for a year of sulking! And when you do decide to go out and see Equestria you think that everything would be just the same! I have far better things to tend to then having to deal with a pathetic excuse for a sister!”

Fluttershy felt her own heart break when she saw the devastation in Luna’s eyes, and felt a great amount of sympathy for Celestia as well. She could see in the Princess’s eyes that she was in agony with every spiteful word that was forced out of her mouth.

“Now I see, Celestia Solaris,” Vidarr said suddenly. “Now I see that something is truly wrong here.” He pointed a finger at her. “You are not the Celestia Solaris I remember. The pony who cried for hours with me at her side as I tried to comfort her from what she did to Luna Nocturnus Solaris. The kind, generous, honest, funny Celestia Solaris I remember is not what I see standing before me.”

He took a step closer to Celestia, his eyes sympathetic and pleading. “Whatever has happened to you, Celestia Solaris, you can fight it. I know you are trying now, by the tears that run down your cheeks. Reach out to me, Celestia Solaris, and break from whatever has affected you.” He lifted up a claw for her to take, hoping the simple gesture would help her battle for control.

Celestia wiped her eyes, yet the tears continued to pour. “There is nothing wrong with me, Vidarr. I have just opened my eyes, and seen my sister, niece and Fluttershy for what they truly are.” She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow a bright golden once more. “And if you don’t stand aside, Vidarr, you will join them in their punishment.”

Vidarr pulled his claw back, and sighed sadly when he saw that it wouldn’t work. “Do you really think your magic is any good against me? You may be strong in magic, Celestia Solaris, but I’m stronger.”

Celestia grinned. “We’ll see.” She let out a cry of rage, and from her horn a large beam of golden light shot its way towards Vidarr.

The dragon, however, was prepared. A second before the beam could hit him, he casually brought up his claw, and deflected the beam back at her. Celestia’s eyes widened as the beam landed in front of her then began to encircle her like the spell Vidarr used on the Element Bearers. “I hope you are in there, Celestia Solaris,” Vidarr said demurely. “If you can hear me, then I pray you will forgive me.”

The cry of rage from Celestia was lost as the beam of golden light enveloped her. Vidarr let out a sad sigh, and then turned to the four hiding behind his tail. “Let us get away from here.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “And not a moment too soon,” Spike said, tugging at her tail. “Look!”

Fluttershy turned around, and gasped in horror as a whole legion of pegasi and unicorn guards appeared from the palace and garden entrances, charging towards them. “Quickly! All of you!” Vidarr shouted. “Onto my back!”

At once, Cadence, Luna, Spike and Fluttershy leapt onto the palm of his claw, then sprinted across his foreleg and onto his back. “Wait a second, where should we go?” Spike asked.

“South!” Fluttershy cried instantly, her eyes wide and her voice sounding like she was panicking. “Just head south, now! Go!”

Vidarr looked hesitant, but complied nonetheless. He spread his wings, and with a mighty thrust towards the ground, sending several unicorns coming towards them to the ground, he burst into the air, and was quickly away from Canterlot and flying south at a speed no pegasi could match.

As they flew away, Fluttershy looked back to see the fire shield that surrounded Twilight and the others break apart, and they could only watch as Vidarr flew far away. She could see Rainbow about to fly after them, but Applejack held her back by the tail. A few seconds later, the spell around Celestia broke, and she too could only watch and scream with fury as they became nothing but a dot in the distance.

Fluttershy watched as the city of Canterlot began to grow smaller behind them, until they were far away, and not being pursued. Fluttershy felt her legs give way, and she fell onto her back, and began to laugh in joyous relief.

Despite the odds, they were free once again – at least for now.

“Du plukket et godt tidspunkt, Vidarr (You picked some good timing, Vidarr)!” Fluttershy called as she got up and trotted towards his ears.

The dragon chuckled. “Jeg prøver (I try),” he said, glancing upwards to see Fluttershy. “Det er godt å se deg igjen, Fluttershy Ildvinge. Det har vært alt for lenge siden (It is good to see you again, Fluttershy Firewing. It has been far too long).”

“Jeg skulle ønske jeg kunne si det samme om deg, Vidarr. Men jeg kan ikke, for jeg vet hva ditt egentlige hensikt er. Jeg må ta til våpen igjen, ikke sant (I wish I could say it was good to see you too, Vidarr. But I can’t, for I know what your presence here means. I’m to take up arms again, aren’t I)?” she asked heavily.

“Hvordan vet du at jeg ikke hadde kommet hele denne veien for en kopp te og en fin prat (How do you know I haven’t just come this way for a spot of tea with you and a nice chat)?” Vidarr teased, smirking. “Jeg har hørt du har noen av de beste sortene av te rundt i området (I hear you have some of the best tea around).”

Fluttershy laughed. “Jeg tror ikke jeg har en stor nok kopp for deg, Vidarr, eller en stor nok te-pose (I don’t think I have a big enough cup for you to have, Vidarr, nor would I find a big enough tea bag).”

“Jeg er sikker på at vi kunne improvisere (I’m sure we could have improvised),” Vidarr responded, chuckling. The chuckling died away, as did his smile. “Men jeg er redd du snakket sant, Fluttershy Ildvinge. Det virker som om du må ta til våpen igjen, som jeg fryktet du måtte gjøre (But I am afraid you speak the truth, Fluttershy Firewing. It appears you must take arms once again, as I feared you would).”

Fluttershy felt the colour drain from her face, and she let out a heavy sigh. “Jeg har fryktet denne dagen for de siste to årene, Vidarr (I have been dreading this day for the past two years, Vidarr),” she said sadly. “Men jeg trodde alltid du ville komme foran min dør og si at jeg måtte dra et annet sted. Jeg ville aldri ha sett for meg at jeg skulle løpe fra mine venner (I always thought you would turn up at my doorstep, saying that I was needed elsewhere. I never would have imagined it would be like this; running from those I once called my friends).”

“Jeg så det ikke heller (Neither did I),” Vidarr said. “Jeg tror at ingen forutså denne galskapen. Men vi kan ikke beskymre oss for det nå. Vi må bringe alle dere til sikkerhet (I don’t think anyone could have predicted this madness. But we cannot worry about what has occurred presently. We must first get all of you to safety).”

“Før vi gjør det, kan vi rask stoppe ved min hytte, værsånill (Before we do that, could we stop by at my cottage quickly, please)?” Fluttershy requested. “Det er noe ting jeg må få tak i (There are some things I have to get).”

Vidarr nodded, for he understood what Fluttershy intended to get. “Selfølgelig (Of course),” he replied. Fluttershy nodded her thanks, and then looked back at the others on his back.

Luna was holding tightly onto Cadence, who was still crying, while Spike sat in silence with his arms crossed and looking at her hauntingly. “Tell us, Vidarr, my old friend!” Luna called, a small smile on her face, which pleased Fluttershy. “How did you know of our danger?”

Vidarr looked back at his old friend with sullen eyes. “The news of your imprisonment has spread fast across Equestria, and beyond, Luna Nocturnus Solaris, and yours too, Mi Amora Cadenza. I rushed into Equestria to talk to Celestia Solaris and get her to see reason, but then word reached my ears of the accusations of you, Fluttershy Firewing.

“Alarmed, I raced over to the place of your residence, only to find it deserted with only a single white doe rabbit outside. I quickly realised you were in Canterlot, so I raced over to the city as fast as my wings could take me. The rest you have seen.”

Luna’s small smile vanished. “So our imprisonment is known elsewhere?”

“I’m afraid so,” Vidarr answered with a nod. “Many nations are aware of your plights, and are just as confused as to what brought this about. Some say your sister has finally gone mad, others are that she is dead and a tyrant has taken over. Some are even preparing themselves for war. Either way, storm clouds are gathering over Equestria, Luna Nocturnus Solaris, and we must all be ready.” Vidarr turned his head around, and looked down as Ponyville appeared below him.

“Hold on!” he warned to the ponies and dragon on his back. With that warning, he dived straight down.

“Why are we going to Ponyville?” Luna demanded, confused and frightened about the possibility of staying there. “Surely we must continue fleeing!”

“We will!” Fluttershy promised, holding onto one of Vidarr’s spikes for dear life as he dived. “I just need to pick up some stuff at my cottage first!” She breathed a little better when Vidarr veered up and slowed down as they approached Fluttershy’s home.

Fluttershy looked at her home with sadness, for she knew it could be the last time she would ever see her home. ‘No!’ She shook the thought away. ‘I will see it again. By Vidarr’s wings I will see my home again after this day.’

Vidarr landed on the road in front of the little bridge, and lowered his head so Fluttershy could jump off. “Spike, could you give me some assistance please? I need your help with something,” Fluttershy requested.

Spike looked confused at her, as though he was looking at someone he didn’t know. ‘Why’s he looking at me like that for?’ she wondered. Her eyes widened as an answer came into her mind. ‘Does he even know what I am? Did Twilight ever tell him what happened in Horsca?’ The gormless look on Spike’s face answered that for her.

“Sure, Fluttershy,” Spike said tiredly as he loosened his grip from Vidarr’s back. “I’ll help you.”

Fluttershy smiled at him in thanks, then jumped off Vidarr’s back with Spike close behind. “Hvis du ser vaktene fra Canterlot komme denne veien, dra (If you see guards from Canterlot coming this way, just go),” Fluttershy said, looking at Vidarr with serious eyes. “Ikke vent for oss. Vi vil prøve å miste dem i Everfree Forest (Don’t wait for us. We’ll try to lose them in the Everfree Forest).”

Vidarr reluctantly nodded. “Jeg skal gjøre som du sier, Drageherre (I will do as you ask, Dragonlord).”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said, and then galloped over her bridge, with Spike running after her.

“Okay, Fluttershy,” Spike said as they slowed down to a walk as they approached the front door. “You have some explaining to do. Firstly, why on earth are you friends with a dragon?”

“I’m friends with you, aren’t I?” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Yes, but from your own words, and from what Twilight told me, I’m not a huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon!” Spike reminded her.

Fluttershy looked up at Vidarr, who stared back at her with a raised eyebrow, and blushed, grinning sheepishly. “Yes, well, Vidarr is different to most dragons.” She reared up and unlocked the door.

“How is he different to most dragons?” Spike queried.

“Because he knew my father,” Fluttershy muttered in response. “And if my father trusted him, then so shall I.” She opened the door and stepped inside her home for what could be the last time.

She stopped for a moment, and breathed in the scent of her home. It smelt like the first days of spring, with the sweet aroma of the first flowers as they bloomed in the meadows, and the smell of new life. Fluttershy’s ears flattened as she looked around for her animal friends, yet couldn’t find even one. ‘Probably got scared off by Vidarr,’ she realised. She didn’t blame them for that. She too would run away when a fully-grown dragon would land outside the door.

Her ears suddenly picked up the sound of ponies whimpering in the kitchen, and walked slowly over to investigate. “Hello?” she called. “Who’s there?”

Three familiar faces appeared from behind the kitchen, making Fluttershy jump a little at the sight of them. “Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo cried. They raced over and jumped her in a hug, surprisingly glad to see her.

“Girls? What’re you all doing here?” she asked as she pulled away from them.

“We were wonderin’ if we could stay here with ya for a few days,” Applebloom explained. “Applejack is being a straight up meanie with us, so much that the rest of us decided to head up to Manehatten. I would have gone, but these lot made me decide to stay behind.”

“And Rarity has just got worse and worse over the week. I can’t stand being in the same room as her anymore,” Sweetie Belle added.

“So they found me and explained their problem, where I told them I was having the same problem as well. My parents have been doing nothing but arguing for the past week, and I can’t stand it anymore. We would have gone to the clubhouse, but we quickly realised that anypony looking for us would look there first. So we came here,” Scootaloo finished.

“So, could we stay with you… please?” the three girls asked together, drawing out their bottom lips and giving Fluttershy the biggest eyes she had ever seen.

Fluttershy tilted her head and smiled warmly at them. “Even if I had a colder heart, I still couldn’t say no to your faces,” she said. “Of course you can stay, but… I’m sorry, girls, but I can’t stay here with you.”

The three young fillies looked devastated. “Why not?” Scootaloo asked.

“It’s important that I go,” Fluttershy replied. “I can’t really explain why, but I must.” She brought the three of them in a quick hug. “Look after the place for me, won’t you? Take care of yourselves, and I’ll see you all when I get back.” ‘If I get back.’

With all she needed to say said, she broke away from the three fillies and raced upstairs, with Spike in tow.

“And another thing,” Spike said suddenly as they walked into Fluttershy’s bedroom, “what kind of language were you and that dragon speaking in? It sounded familiar to the one you spoke to me that day after you woke up a month after that dragon attack.”

Fluttershy lowered herself onto her stomach, and carefully felt around her floorboards for the one that was detachable. She grinned to herself when she found one that sounded lighter than the others. She sat upright, then carefully and precisely, lifted the floorboard out from its place, and looked in.

Spike stood beside her, and gaped inside. “What’s in there?”

Inside the hole was a large brown sack, tied neatly at the end with a piece of string. Fluttershy pulled the sack out of the hole, and placed it beside her, then opened it up. “These,” she answered, taking one of the items out and revealing it to Spike, who gasped in wonder.

In Fluttershy’s hooves was a bracelet that lengthened from the bottom of Fluttershy’s knee to the top of her pastern, allowing her to use her hooves flexibly as though she never had it. On the face of it was the golden head of a unicorn pony, while at one end was a small slit for something to poke out from, while the other was what resembled a hilt of a sword. While below the bracelet were straps that loosened or tightened magically depending on who was carrying it.

“What is it?” Spike asked, staring at it in wondrous awe.

Fluttershy slotted the bracelet onto her left leg, which fitted nicely around her cannon, and felt like it wasn’t there at all. Then, with a sudden yelp from Spike, Fluttershy lifted up her leg, flexed her hoof back, and let the two-foot sword shoot out of it and point into the air.

Fluttershy looked at Firewing with sad, heavy eyes. “Det er tid til å bli brukt igjen, Ildvinge (Time to be used again, Firewing),” she said in Dragonian. She pulled her hoof away from her, and let Firewing crawl back in, singing mournfully as it disappeared. With Firewing away, it was time to take the other one out.

Fluttershy dived her hooves into the sack, and pulled out another bracelet a second later. This one looked worn and battered, and didn’t have a unicorn head on it, but it did have a hilt that resembled a sword’s at the end. Fluttershy quickly attached that onto her right leg, and then flicked her hoof back, and let the blade of Drage Bane shoot out quick, then let it back in again. ‘I’m wasting too much time here,’ she thought. ‘We need to get back to Vidarr as soon as possible.’

However, she knew she couldn’t yet, for there were two more things to be attached to her before they could leave.

She lifted the last two things out of the sack, and showed them to Spike. “Could you help me with these, please, Spike?” Fluttershy asked. “I mean, if you want to, of course.”

Spike nodded, though he stared at her as if he well and truly didn’t know her anymore. “Why do you need those?” he asked fearfully, pointing at what was in Fluttershy’s hooves.

In her hooves were two sets of six small dagger-like blades, with small slits in each for a feather to fit in, and connected together by a thin piece of wire of some sort. “Because I have to, Spike,” Fluttershy answered regretfully, stretching her leg out for Spike to get hold of them and fit them on. “My friends are in danger, and I have to take up arms again, as I promised I would two years ago.”

Spike took hold of the blades, and then watched as Fluttershy stretched out her wings, and waited for Spike to put them on. “Who are you?” Spike asked, looking at her with disbelieving eyes.

Fluttershy smiled at him comfortingly, even as his stinging words pierced her heart. “My name is Fluttershy Firewing,” she answered. “I’m a Dragonlord of Equestria, guardian of the peace, and protector of all.” She leaned her head forward, smiling. “But I am also the shy, quiet animal lover that knocked Twilight Sparkle into the air four years ago, delighted at the sight of a baby dragon in front of me.” She leaned back, and gestured with her head for Spike to fix the wing blades on. “Please, Spike? I need you to do this now.”

After a moment of hesitance, Spike nodded, and began slotting the blades onto Fluttershy’s feathers. Fluttershy grimaced at how cold each of the blades felt as they were attached to her wings, but that cold feeling, just like the first time, passed quickly.

Finally, after a long while, Spike finished putting the blades on, and stepped back in awe at the sight of them. The blades made Fluttershy’s wings look like they were made of metal, and shone in the light of the high sun.

Fluttershy looked at each of her wings with sad eyes. Proud, but sad. This was the day she had been dreading for two years. The day that had plagued her in her nightmares on and off from the day she knew she would have need of them again. She had thought of many reasons as to why she would have to fight again: the changelings invade Equestria en masse, the dragons try to take over, some great and powerful foe kills the princesses and kidnaps her friends while leaving her, believing her to be too weak to fight back.

Out of all of the ideas that came into her mind, however, this reason was one she didn’t see coming. ‘And one I would never have dreamed of,’ she thought.

“What are you going to do, Spike?” she asked suddenly, drawing Spike’s attention from her wings to her face. “Are you going to stay here, or come with me?” She added shyly while scraping at the floor with a hoof, “I don’t mind what you decide. Whatever you want to do is fine.”

She didn’t have to wait for long to get Spike’s reply. “I’m not leaving your side, Fluttershy,” he answered. He let out a sigh. “I know it’s gonna be tough, and we might be forced to do things that we wouldn’t normally do. But, right now, I could do with what I consider the only family I have left now.”

Fluttershy felt tears well up in her eyes. “I thought you didn’t like being all mushy,” she said as she hugged him tight.

“Yeah, I don’t. I guess you’ve been rubbing off on me.”

Fluttershy giggled as she pulled away to look at him in the eye, smiling amiably, yet holding him by the shoulders. “Yes, you’re right, it’s going to be dangerous, and there’s a chance we will be forced to do things we won’t usually do or like. However, if we stand together, and work as a team, then there is nothing we can’t overcome.” She let him go, and took one long last look at her bedroom.

Her bed was still unmade, her curtains were still drawn and her bathroom door was still open. Yet, despite the mess that she usually despised, it reminded her of why she loved the life of tranquillity she had shared with her animal friends. It made her want to take off her weapons as quick as she could, then bar the bedroom door and hide under her covers, shaking in fright of what was happening around her.

Despite the thought in her head, she didn’t fall prey to it. She couldn’t – no, she wouldn’t – just stand by and watch her friends and loved ones fall into madness, or be used like puppets at the beck and call of their master like maids. She will find out who this master is, then cut the strings away from them, and break her friends free.

First though, there was the problem of staying out of stone long enough to find that out. ‘We’ll get to safety first, then find out the truth,’ she decided. She looked down at Spike, who was starting to fidget in place. “Come on, let’s get going. We don’t want to keep them all waiting.”

Spike nodded in agreement, then sprinted out of the door, down the stairs and outside again. Fluttershy giggled to herself, then broke into a gallop after him. She stopped when she saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders waiting for her to go, who looked back at her in awe when they saw the wing blades.

“Where did you get those awesome looking things?” Scootaloo enquired. “And where can I get some?”

Fluttershy quickly shot her wings back to her sides, hiding the blades from sight. “Sorry, Scootaloo, but they were a one-time thing,” she lied. “You will look after this place for me while I’m gone, won’t you?”

“Course we will,” Sweetie Belle said. Her eyes suddenly widened in delight, making Fluttershy suddenly fearful for the safety of her cottage. “Hey, maybe we could get cutie marks in house sitting?”

“Yay! Cutie Mark Crusader house sitters!” the three fillies exclaimed, much to Fluttershy’s horror.

‘Oh dear,’ she thought. “Yes, well um… I can see the house will be in good hooves for a while, so I’ll leave you girls to it. Don’t open the door to anypony, and don’t get the animals all cranky. And if somepony tried to break down the door, go to Zecora’s and stay there.” Her fake, beaming smile faded as she looked at them, and her house, with teary eyes.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, and then said sorrowfully, “Goodbye, girls.” She muffled the girls’ replies by shutting the front door behind her, her head low and ears flat, as she slowly walked away.

“Fluttershy Firewing?” Vidarr called. Fluttershy looked to Vidarr with a large frown. “What troubles you?”

She sniffed back a few tears. “Everything,” she replied. She shook her head to clear it of her sorrow of saying goodbye to her home, then spread her wings and flew onto Vidarr’s back. She landed on his back, then settled down onto her stomach and sighed. “Let’s go, Vidarr. Keep heading south,” she said sadly, for she didn’t really care at the moment where she wanted to go. She was just too miserable to care.

Although he looked like he wanted to say something, Vidarr kept it silent. He nodded, then spread his wings, and shot into the air like an arrow. Fluttershy looked back and watched her home grew smaller and smaller, until she could not make it out at all.

“Okay, Fluttershy, you have some explaining to do,” Spike said, his arms crossed over his chest and looking at her with narrow eyes. “What happened in Horsca, exactly? And what exactly is a Dragonlord?”

Fluttershy sighed once more, and then sat upright. “I should have told you what happened in there two years ago, Spike, and for that I am sorry. But I suppose it is better late than never, right?” She grinned at him, trying to ease the mood, but it did no good. With a heavy sigh, she gestured for them all to come closer, which they all did, for they looked fascinated by the bracelets on her legs, and the blades on her wings.

“I will tell you everything I know,” Fluttershy said. With that, Fluttershy began to tell her story once more, while Vidarr flew away from Ponyville, and over the Everfree Forest.

Chapter 4

“So, let me see if I completely understand this,” Spike said once Fluttershy stopped talking, his eyes wide as his mind tried to process what Fluttershy had been telling them for the last half an hour. “You are the last of an order of warriors called Dragonlords that can walk through fire, have dragon-like vision, have dragon-like hearing, can speak an ancient and forgotten dragon language, live longer than normal ponies and can fight just about anything and everything!”

Fluttershy looked in his direction and nodded curtly. Upon seeing Spike’s look of utter disbelief, she said, “I know it sounds a bit hard to believe–”

“A bit?” Luna cut her off. “My dear Fluttershy, that is one of the most unbelievable things I’ve heard in a long, long time. Which is something compared to what I have heard these past few days.”

“Fluttershy Firewing speaks the truth,” Vidarr said, twisting his head to look at them. “Her blood is that of mine and my great grandfather’s, Luna Nocturnus Solaris.”

Luna’s eyes gazed at Vidarr’s own for a moment, as though trying to find an inkling of deceit in the ancient dragon’s eyes. She found none. With a sigh, Luna turned back to face the pegasus, smiling thinly at her. “Even if it is the truth, it is still very hard to believe. You, dear Fluttershy, who tried to run away from me that Nightmare Night more than two years ago, have changed into a warrior in such a short space of time.”

Fluttershy gave Luna a small, sad smile. “That pony died, Princess. Killed by dragon fire,” Fluttershy said grimly. She gestured a hoof at her body. “This is what came out of those flames.”

Luna said nothing, just nodded at her then turned back to comforting Cadence. Fluttershy looked over to Spike, who had turned his back on them all, and was gazing at the Everfree Forest below them. “Spike, are you all right?”

Spike didn’t even turn his head around. “Two years. It has taken you two years to finally tell me about what happened in Horsca,” he said, making Fluttershy grimace at the anger in his tone. “Why did it take you so long?”

Fluttershy’s ears flattened. “I… I’m sorry, Spike. I really am. I just thought–”

“That I wouldn’t be able to take it?” Spike snapped, making Fluttershy flinch back. “That cute, little Spikey Wikey wouldn’t understand that sort of thing because he’s just a baby dragon?” He slowly sighed and raised a claw apologetically. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, I shouldn’t be angry with just you. Not even Twilight confided in me about what happened in Horsca. She said you would be the one to tell me when you were ready. Guess you never were ready, were you?”

Fluttershy smiled half-heartedly, then stood beside him and wrapped Spike under a foreleg. “I am sorry, Spike, I really am, but it was hard to talk about it sometimes. I saw so much that I hope to never see again, and did things that made me hate myself for some time.”

For the first time since telling her story, he looked up at her. “But how could you hate yourself? You’re too sweet and kind to be a fighter, or a killer.”

Fluttershy chuckled lightly. “Oh, Spike. I admit there are times where I can get quite violent, but those are my really bad days.” ‘Like now, really. This could be easily considered as the worst day of all.’

“Well, we all have those,” Spike said. “But you? Fighting, killing, and putting your life on the line? That doesn’t seem like something you would do.”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if your friends’ lives were on the line, Spike? Wouldn’t you risk everything in the hope you could see Twilight smile and laugh once more?”

Spike’s ears fell flat and his face darkened as he swiftly looked away. “Don’t ever mention her name in front of me again. It’s one I particularly want to forget.”

Fluttershy’s ears fell once again. ‘He still doesn’t see that something has happened to her to make her act how she did. He’s too angry and upset to see it,’ Fluttershy thought. She could not blame him for that. “All the same, wouldn’t you risk everything for your friends, your family, the one you love?”

Spike didn’t answer. He just looked at Fluttershy for a long moment, then looked away and gazed out towards the plains below once more. Fluttershy’s heart sunk. ‘I hope one day he has it in his heart to forgive her. I hope he has it in him to forgive them all.’ Fluttershy got up on all fours, spread her wings out to help her balance, and then walked slowly and cautiously across Vidarr’s back till she felt secure. She watched as the Everfree Forest disappeared behind them and gave way to lush, green grasslands, and isolated cottages, shacks and farms.

“Pray tell, dear Fluttershy,” Luna said as she looked around the environment. “Where exactly are we going?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, Princess,” Fluttershy replied. “But now that we’re heading this way, we could try and lose ourselves in the desert. That way the ponies they send to find us may not have such an easy job in tracking us down.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “It is a sound plan you have. But please, call me Luna from here on in. I’m no longer a Princess, and neither is poor Cadence.” She looked down at the solemn mare beside her, lying prone with her head resting on her hooves and her eyes sullen.

Fluttershy pitied the Crystal Princess, and wished there was something she could do to help. ‘How can I help her, though? I’ve got my own problems at the moment.’ Yet her problems and Cadence’s were now connected, she quickly realised, as were Luna’s and Spike’s. ‘But how, though? What brought this about? How can they all turn against us so quickly?’ She did not know any answers, but was on the back of someone who might know some. ‘I should ask Vidarr what he knows, and how to convince the others to help me.’

She moved away from Luna and Cadence, then walked along Vidarr’s neck, jumped up onto the top of his forehead, and slid down onto his nose. Once she regained her balance, and safe in the knowledge that she wouldn’t fall off, she turned to look the dragon in the eye. “Har du noen ideer om hva som foregår, Vidarr (Do you have any ideas on what’s going on, Vidarr)?” Fluttershy asked the great dragon in Dragonian.

“Jeg vet ikke hva som får dine venner og Celestia Solaris til å oppføre seg slik, Fluttershy Ildvinge. Men vær du sikker, jeg vil hjelpe deg i ditt mål for å få dem tilbake som du husker dem (I know not what is causing your friends and Celestia Solaris to act this way, Fluttershy Firewing. But be assured, I will help you in your quest to get them back to you as you know them),” he replied.

Fluttershy smiled at him. “Jeg viste jeg kunne stole på deg (I knew I can count on you).” She looked at the ground to see that the grasslands of Equestria were slowly disappearing, and the dry, golden sand of the desert began to take over. “Men hva med de andre (But what about the others)?” she asked, gesturing with a hoof up at Vidarr’s back towards those she was running away with. “Jeg vet at jeg ønsker å hjelpe dem mot de som vil dem vondt, men jeg føler at de ikke ønsker det. Hvordan kan jeg bevies det motsatte (I know I want to help those that have done us wrong, but I feel like they don’t want to. How could I convince them otherwise)?”

“Du kan ikke, Fluttershy Ildvinge (You don’t, Fluttershy Firewing),” Vidarr answered. “Smertene av foræderi er en skade som ikke kan heles så let. Selv om du har rett og at noe har skjedd for at de handler på den veien, så vil skaden altid stå. Du vil ikke dømme dem for hardt, vil du (The pain of treachery is a wound that cannot be so easily healed. Even if you are right and something has happened to them to act this way, the wound will always remain. You will not judge them too harshly on that, will you)?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Jeg skal ikke dømme i det hele tatt. Demmes grunn til å ikke hjelpe meg i det hele tatt er helt forståelig. Men, det ville vært bedre hvis jeg hadde demmes hjelp i dette. Jeg frykter bare at noe har hendt mot dem til at de handler den veien, og jeg vil ikke hvile før jeg har funnet ut hva som gjør det, og så stoppe det (I’m not going to judge on that at all. Their reasons to not help me would be entirely justifiable. However, it would be better if I did have their help in this. I just fear that something has happened to them all to act that way, and I won’t rest until I find out what it is, then stop it).”

Vidarr smiled, his eyes speaking of his admiration for her. “Slik hengivenhet til dine venner, Fluttershy Ildvinge. Selv etter alt som har skjedd, du forsetter å være lojal til dem, til demmes virkelige dem. Du er en stor Drageherre (Such devotion to your friends, Fluttershy Firewing. Even after everything that has happened, you remain loyal to them, to the real them. You truly are a great Dragonlord).” His smile wavered. “Men det er ikke nå du må finne grunnen til demmes sidestykke. Hva som telles nå er å deg og dine venner til sikkerhet. Når de er trygge, så skal vi begynne å grave etter sannheten (But it is not now that you must find the cause of their ailment. What matters now is getting you and your friends with us to safety. Once they are safe, then we can begin to uncover the truth).”

Fluttershy nodded. “Du har rett Vidarr. Demmes sikkerhet kommer først fremfor alt annet (You’re right, Vidarr. Their safety should come first before anything else).” She bowed her head to the dragon, and then jumped back up onto his back, joining the others in the long and sullen silence that had befallen them.

Fluttershy didn’t always mind the silence; it was a moment for the pegasus to get her thoughts together, and think of another topic to talk about. But here, it was becoming unbearable. Spike had his back to everyone; Luna was sitting next to Cadence, stroking her head gently, her eyes stating her sorrow. While Cadence lay in a broken state, unmoving except for a few eye blinks every now and then.

Unable to take it anymore, Fluttershy trotted to Vidarr’s lower back, then sat on her haunches and looked towards Ponyville and the north of Equestria. After a moment of thought, she decided to look at her blades to see if they were in good condition after their two years of storage. She lifted her right leg up, and let Drage Bane shoot out of its scabbard.

While Firewing’s blade was two feet in length, Drage Bane’s was three feet, and had teeth along both edges like that of a shark’s, and a sharp point like an arrowhead at the end. It was made out of a type of steel that had been long forgotten to ponykind, but known to be the finest and strongest steel in Terra – forged in dragon fire, and sharpened to the point nothing could take its bite. In short, Fluttershy couldn’t have wished for a finer blade.

But even so, there were times she wished she didn’t have it. The only reason she liked the sword was that it belonged to her father, and was one of the few things she had to remember him by. As she examined the blade, she wondered what her father would have done if he had rescued them rather than Vidarr. Would he have gone through swords swirling and killed them all? Alternatively, would he have waited until the right moment, then struck without resorting to violence? She hoped it was the latter rather than the former.

“I hope you know when to use that sword,” Luna said suddenly from behind her. Fluttershy spun her head around, startled by the sudden presence of Luna’s voice directly behind her. “Forgive me for startling you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled, and then gestured with a hoof for Luna to sit beside her, which the winged unicorn complied. “It’s all right… Luna.” She thought she was going to have a hard time with just calling Luna by her name alone. “And yes, unfortunately I do know how to use it. Dragonlords know how to fight from the moment they are reborn, thanks to the memories and abilities given to us by Vidarr the First at our creation.”

Luna nodded, clearly fascinated by her ancestry. “I’m glad that you know how to use it, but that’s not what I asked. What I want to know is: do you know when to use it?”

That question hit Fluttershy hard. When to use it? “Well…” she answered, “I-I know I should use it when you or Spike or Cadence or myself are in danger, and-”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Luna cut her off. “What I meant was, are you willing to use it to take life?”

Fluttershy’s bright yellow coat went a bit paler than usual. “You mean… to k-k-kill?” Luna nodded. Fluttershy shook her head furiously in response. “I could never kill anything, Luna. I may be a warrior born to kill, but I don’t think I can bring myself to do that. All my life I have been brought up to embrace and cherish life, not to take it away.” She decided to leave out the fact that she had killed already, but saw that as an accident rather than an intentional killing.

Luna nodded, although Fluttershy could feel a sense of disappointment coming from her. “That’s what I thought,” Luna muttered, supposedly to herself, but Fluttershy heard it as if she had spoken it aloud.

She was about to ask what she meant by that, when Vidarr suddenly called out, “Fluttershy Firewing!”

Fluttershy cantered from his back, down to his head and back onto his long muzzle. “What is it?” she asked as she spun around to look into his eyes once again.

Vidarr didn’t say anything, he simply gestured with his eyes to look to her right. Fluttershy followed his eyes to find herself gazing upon Appleloosa below them. The town had surely grown from what she remembered. The main street had extended to go behind the train station, and carried on for about a quarter of a mile. Small alleyways griddled the town, packed together with new buildings and homes. While around the outskirts, apple trees dotted the barren world, putting a bit of life into an otherwise dead land.

Fluttershy wished she could go and hunker down there for a while, but knew it would be stupid to do so. Anypony that would be sent after them would head to any town in the desert looking for them; so being in any town would be impossible. Fluttershy would have made her way back to the others, had it not been for some things on the ground that caught her eye.

Large haystacks, built up to act like watchtowers of some sort, stood on either side of the road coming into town. Other barricades of different sorts were lined along the road coming into Appleloosa, slowing any approach coming from the south, north and west of the town. And the railway line going to Ponyville was gone, the pieces of track used to create even more barricades.

Fluttershy could not believe what she was seeing. ‘How is this happening?’ she thought. ‘I thought we put a stop to this when we first came here!’

“You’ve seen the barricades as well?” Vidarr asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “It’s almost like… they’re preparing for war.” Her mind began putting together the pieces: first her friends suddenly decided they hate her, Celestia arrests her sister and niece and herself and Spike for treason, and now this sudden act of hostility in an otherwise peaceful town. None of it seemed right, and she knew she had to get to the bottom of this.

Although one half of her said to keep going and get to safety, another part, her curious side, said she had to know what was going on. After a moment of mental struggle, her curious side won. She began looking around for a suitable landing spot, and quickly saw one just on the other side of a small hill east of the town, perfect to obscure their landing. “Take us down there… um, please?” she ordered, pointing with a hoof.

Vidarr’s eyes spoke of his hesitance, but he complied nonetheless. He tucked his wings a bit, and dipped his head as he began to descend towards the spot Fluttershy pointed out.

The sudden descent did not pass the attention of the others, especially Luna. “We’re landing?” Luna exclaimed. She glared at Fluttershy from the top of Vidarr’s head. “Are you insane? They will catch and take us back to Canterlot in chains if we land!” A soft whimper came from Cadence at the mention of chains, and Spike groaned a little, hugging himself tighter.

“Please, it won’t be for long, I promise,” Fluttershy assured them, holding her forehooves up as if she were halting them. “I just want to see why they are preparing for war, and then go.” Vidarr landed with a soft thud, and lowered his head to the ground, allowing Fluttershy to jump off his head and onto the ground.

She looked back at her companions, who looked down at her as if she was mad, or in concern. “If you want, stay here with Vidarr. I won’t be long.” With that, she broke into a gallop and made her way over the hill and towards Appleloosa, hoping she had made the right decision.

After a minute or so, she found herself not far from the entrance of the growing town. She made her way onto the road, slowing into a trot as she did so, then stopped and stood facing the length of the road, right down to the train station. The street was completely deserted; no sight nor sound of a pony seemed to appear. She didn’t like it at all. Nevertheless, she wanted to know what was going on. Trembling with nervousness, she began to walk slowly forward, gently picking up the pace the closer she got.

She was soon walking steadily between the towered haystacks, and looked everywhere for anypony that could be hiding. Her Dragonlord instincts began to kick in; her ears were at their highest, trying to pick out any mutters or talk between ponies. Her eyes wandered to every spot where somepony could spring an ambush, while her guts were telling her to forget this place and turn back to Vidarr and her friends.

She decided, for just this once, to ignore her guts. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time they were wrong,’ she mused. Slowly, she began to walk into the town, her heartbeat getting faster and faster with every step as she moved further into Appleloosa. For some reason, she felt like she was walking into the mouth of a large dragon, and it was any moment when the mouth would suddenly close and she would be swallowed whole by it.

She stopped just outside the town bar, and had a good look and listen around. If there were any ponies here, they were very quiet; too quiet for Fluttershy to take any longer. She needed to know what was going on, because a gut feeling was telling her this was connected to Celestia and her friends’ strange and hostile behaviour over the last week. It could be mere coincidence, but too many things have happened in her lifetime to make her believe that there is no such thing as coincidence.

“Hello!” she called out, hoping to gain an answer. “I’m not here to hurt you, if that’s what you are worried about! I just want to talk… if you want to, that is!” No response was returned, and that made Fluttershy all the more nervous than usual. “Please, I just want to know what’s going on, get some food and drink, and I’ll be on my way!”

Again, her announcement was met with silence. ‘Everypony must have fled,’ she concluded. She spun around and made her way towards the bar, intending to get some food and drinks for her friends. ‘No, they’re not my friends – except Spike, of course. And Vidarr. I barely know Cadence and Luna.’ Yet something told her she would have ample time to get to know them better to consider them as friends.

She didn’t move ten steps forward when ten ponies walked out of the bar, all of them clutching crudely crafted spears and pitchforks. Fluttershy froze when she saw the weapons, and began to step back from them in fright. The ten ponies stood in a line, with their weapons lowered and pointing threateningly at her. A twitch from Fluttershy’s right ear made her look right to see more ponies emerging from some of the other buildings, cutting off her escape route. Most of them armed with weapons of various sorts, while the rest were armed with scowls.

Fluttershy’s left ear twitched, and she saw more ponies coming out of the buildings, and cutting off the paths into the alleyways. Fluttershy saw she was now surrounded on all sides. The Dragonlord could feel her heart hammering against her chest, threatening to break out of its place and burst through her ribcage. She looked up to see a large group of pegasi were now hovering above her, cutting off every route of escape – save one.

With a heavy heart, she opened up her wings, revealing the wing blades hidden in them, and then raised her right leg and let Drage Bane shoot out of its bracelet. The ponies closing around her backed away in sudden fright at this well armed and possibly experienced mare. “Please,” she pleaded one more time, hoping they would listen to reason, “I don’t want to hurt anypony, but I will if you attack me. I just want to know about those barricades, and why they have been set up.”

At that, the ponies stepped closer. “She’s a spy!” one shouted, rearing up and pointing an accusing hoof at her. “A spy sent by Princess Celestia to find out about us!” This was met with a roar of approval from the crowd, making Fluttershy cringe.

“Kill her! Kill her and send her body back as a warning to those who dare cross the new republic!” another pony shouted, making Fluttershy’s heart beat a little faster.

“But I don’t understand? Why this sudden hatred to Princess Celestia? What’s this republic you’re talking about?” she asked. The crowd weren’t listening; they were set on making Fluttershy an example. They advanced slowly towards her, their weapons lowered and threatening. Fluttershy didn’t know what to do, fight them and possibly kill a few of them to get out, or prostrate herself on the ground, hug herself tight and pray her end would be quick.

“Stop!” a commanding, yet familiar voice called, denying her any action she didn’t want to take. As one, the ponies backed away from Fluttershy, whose heart slowed down as she sighed in relief. She turned around to face whoever saved her, and gasped.

“Sheriff Silverstar?” she asked, recognising him a little from her first trip here. The brown stallion had changed little since her last visit. His moustache had been trimmed to a more stylish look, and his mane had been shortened. But the thing that she noticed most was how much older he looked.

The stallion bowed his head at her in respect. “What brings ya here, little missy?” he asked, his tone not stating his displeasure or pleasure of her visit.

Fluttershy glanced around her to see how far everypony was from her, hoping that if she turned around one of them wouldn’t suddenly strike her with a spear from behind. Noticing her unease, Silverstar inclined his head at the ponies, and as one, all the ponies backed off to give Fluttershy some space.

Fluttershy now felt like she could breath easier, now that she had some space. She looked back at Silverstar, who was staring back at her with a curious, almost wary, look. She gave the stallion a little curtsy. “Thank you, Sheriff Silverstar,” she said. Keeping her eyes on the sheriff, she advanced towards him. Some of the ponies closest to her sprang forward to stop her making a move, but were stopped by a raised hoof from the sheriff. “Please, all I ask is some food and water for me and my friends, and I’ll be on my way.” Her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered she didn’t have any money to pay them. ‘Oh dear,’ she thought.

The stallion looked at her for a second, then nodded and gestured with his head to the bar. “Follow me,” he ordered. “There’s some stuff in ’ere we can spare for ya and your friends.”

Fluttershy looked surprised. “Really? I can just have it, for free?”

Silverstar looked back. “Ya look like ya need it, lil’ missy. Now come on, in here so we can talk in private.”

Fluttershy quickly complied and cantered after him, quickly noticing the ponies outside starting to surround the building from a distance incase she tried to do something irrational. ‘As if I ever would do anything irrational,’ she thought. A few thoughts and memories from the past came back to her, giving her statement of herself some pause. ‘Oh. Maybe I have done some irrational things in my lifetime.’

Inside, the saloon had a typical western look. An array of wooden tables scattered across the floor, a large bar with stacks of drinks behind made up one end of the wall; a flight of stairs to bedrooms for the night as well as other places Fluttershy didn’t want to think about, and a room just behind the stairs leading to a poker table. Fluttershy kept her eyes wide open, her ears at their highest and her wings stretched out to show she was not a mare to be trifled with.

Sheriff Silverstar walked around the bar and into the kitchen behind. “Would ya like some water as a drink, or somethin’ a bit stronger?” he called from inside.

Fluttershy sat her rump on one of the chairs. “Um, just water, I think, thank you,” she called in response. “Some red wine would be better, if only I could drink it properly,” she muttered to herself.

As she waited, she gave her mane and tail a cleanup, cleaning out any dust and sand she had caught from her gallop into the town. After that, she rested her head on the table and let out a heavy sigh while rubbing a temple with a hoof. She felt tired and miserable. This morning she had woken up a free mare. Now, before the day was even done, she was branded a traitor and forced to go on the run. ‘This week is turning out to be the worst week of my life,’ she thought. ‘Much worse than the week I learnt I was a Dragonlord, lost my father and nearly lost my friends.’

Her brooding was cut short when Silverstar returned with a large bag full of food and drink. ‘That should last us weeks,’ she thought. Fluttershy smiled gratefully as she reached out and took it. “Oh, thank you, sir,” she said as she peeked inside.

“Ya quite welcome, lil miss,” Silverstar said. “And never worry ’bout paying us back; we like to help others out here.”

Fluttershy smiled at him as she felt something lift off her chest. She set the bag beside her chair, and straightened herself up once more. “Now, um, you don’t have to unless you want to, but could I ask you a question or two?” Fluttershy asked, looking down at her hooves and quickly glancing up now and then.

Silverstar looked at her warily, as if he was suspecting to fall into some trap Fluttershy did not have. After a moment, he pulled up another chair and sat down opposite the pegasus. “Okay,” he sighed. “What do ya want to know?”

“Well, um, how are things with the buffalo?” she asked.

Silverstar tilted his head, his expression portraying his confusion. “Everything’s fine with them, as far as I’m aware. Why do ya ask?”

“Well, after seeing those barricades out there, I figured something must have happened between you and them to have them set up. I can’t imagine another reason, really.”

Silverstar reared his head back from her, his eyes stating his surprise. “Ya really don’t know what’s goin’ on, do ya?”

“Forgive me if I sound rude, but am I supposed to?” Fluttershy enquired with a shrug. “It’s been a long week, and too much bad stuff has happened for me to notice. Besides, I don’t read the newspaper.”

Silverstar turned around to get something, then came back with a newspaper. “Then ya need to read this. This is news coming from across Equestria,” he said, turning to the right page. He found it and then turned it around for Fluttershy to see.

Fluttershy leaned forward and read it quickly. The further she read the articles, the more she felt her blood starting to run even colder. She felt her mouth open, and her eyes widen even more in horror of what was happening.

Trottingham and Hoofington had just become their own state. Las Pegasus, Baltimare, Manehatten, Vanhoover, Cloudsdale, and Fillydelphia were rioting violently. Strutford and Detrots – two cities Fluttershy distinctively remembered – were locked down in a curfew. And the smaller towns and villages all over the country had gone totally silent, as though they didn’t exist anymore.

“There are some that say Las Pegasus has formed its own state, and Trottingham and Hoofington are just rioting violently,” Silverstar explained. “Everything is so confusing and muddled up that it’s hard to really understand what is going on. All I can see is that a storm’s sweepin’ through Equestria, to put it in a polite manner.”

Fluttershy found herself unable to read anymore. She leaned back on her chair and wiped her face with a hoof, feeling how cold she was. ‘I must look pale,’ she thought. “And what about Appleloosa and Dodge Junction?” she enquired.

Silverstar gestured with his hooves at the building around him. “Right now, you’re in the Southern Republic, the newly created nation for all the desert towns and cities that were once part of Equestria, and ruled by Braeburn and a few others in Dodge Junction. I was asked to be a ruler but I turned it down; somepony has to be the Sheriff here.”

Fluttershy’s mouth opened even wider, staring at him in disbelief. “B-b-but w-why?” she stammered. “Why break apart from Equestria?”

“Think about it, missy. What has Celestia and Luna done for us? Hmm?” Fluttershy wasn’t entirely sure what the two Princesses had done for them, except maybe allowing them to settle here, so she shut her mouth and kept silent. “We built this entire town from the ground up without any finance, or any assistance for that matter, from them.

“They never even came to us when we ‘ad that disagreement with the buffalo. So we all came together – me and Braeburn, a few from Dodge Junction, and others supporting the other towns out ‘ere – and we all decided to form a separate state and break off from the rest of Equestria,” he explained. He tapped the newspaper. “It seems like most of Equestria have opened their eyes as well to this. I have a feeling that when the sun rises again, Equestria will be no more.”

Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So, what about those barricades? Are they there to sto…” Her voice faded into silence at the look she was getting from Silverstar. It was a wary, almost suspicious look, as if Fluttershy was asking too many questions – too many important questions. She realised quickly she should have been more careful in what she said.

‘I think it’s time to leave,’ she decided. She quickly scolded herself for not following her guts for this one time and kept on going with Vidarr and the others. “Well, uh, thank you, Sheriff, for, um, letting me know about what’s going on around Equestria, and, uh, for the food and drink.” She pushed her chair back and jumped off, then wrapped the strap of the food and drink bag around her shoulders. “It will come in handy for me and my friends as we run into the desert for our very lives,” she said quickly while walking backwards towards the exit, her eyes never leaving Silverstar’s. “Um, thanks again!”

Silverstar cocked his head at her, his suspicious look never receding. Suddenly he cried, “Colts!” At once, two ponies burst through the door with their spears lowered and pointing at Fluttershy, forcing her to stop. “Ya asked too many questions, little missy,” Silverstar said. “Too many for comfort. Yes, those barricades are to stop any retaliation from Equestrian forces should they try and take back the town, which we think they will attempt.”

Fluttershy glanced back and gulped as she saw how close the spears were to her hide. “S-so, um, what does that mean for me?” she asked, looking back at Silverstar.

The stallion took his hat off and pressed it against his chest. “I’m sorry, miss, but I can’t let ya walk away from here. Even if ya ain’t a spy, if ya get caught and interrogated for being here ya could tell them all our arrangements and such. I can’t let that happen.” He gestured to her wings. “Take those blades of yours off, as well as any other weapon ya carry, and no harm will come to ya. Ya have my word as the Sheriff of this town.”

Fluttershy considered for a second to put down her weapons and surrender, but knew if she did then there was a chance that when Equestrian forces do – will come, Fluttershy thought – then she would get caught up in the attack, and possibly be captured once more. It was something she did not intend to happen to her; besides, she needed to get back to her friends. ‘I hope you can all forgive me for this,’ she thought. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Sheriff, so I’m sorry.”

Before anypony knew what was happening, she went low, spun around, let Drage Bane whisk out from its scabbard, and cut off the spear ends of the ponies’ weapons.

The stallion on the right quickly recovered and tried to take her down with a single kick of a leg in the head. Fluttershy swerved away from the hoof, and then countered by taking the leg in her hooves and pulling it hard, dislocating it. “Sorry,” she whispered as the stallion screamed out in pain. She threw the stallion to the side, not noticing he was knocked out cold by stumbling into a table head first. The other stallion lunged at her a hoof ready to hit her, and teeth ready to bite.

Fluttershy swerved away from the hoof, and was meant to use her other hoof to deflect the stallion’s head, only to hit him harder than she intended to. He went down without a sound. “Oh my, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard!” she squeaked frighteningly as she looked down at the colt she had punched. She looked up at Silverstar, who looked sullen at the scene in front of him, and then spun around and ran outside, intent on getting out of the town.

She halted when she saw the vast number of ponies looking at her with angry eyes. As one, the ponies rushed forward in an attempt to capture her again. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes as she figured out a way to get passed them, and then spread her wings once again as she willed herself to charge forward. Just before she and the ponies clashed together, she thrust her wings down in a heavy beat, spraying clouds of dust and sand into the ponies’ faces, blinding them and driving them away from her outstretched wings. She did it repeatedly until a cloud of sand obscured her from the ponies, and allowed her to pass through without hurting anypony.

Eventually, she found her way out of the crowd of ponies, and left them in the dust. A pegasus saw her about to leave the town, and dived down in an attempt to stop her. At the right moment, Fluttershy veered out of the way, making the pegasus land face first into the ground. “Sorry!” she called. At the sound of her voice, the other ponies of the town charged out of the dust cloud Fluttershy created, and thundered towards her.

Fluttershy squeaked, “Eep!” in fright, and ran just a little bit faster out of the town and towards the ridge where Vidarr and her friends resided. Her heart raced like a drum, and her eyes were wide with fear as she tried to ignore the ideas of what might happen to her if they captured her.

“VIDARR!” she called as loud as she could as she raced over the crest to where she knew they were. The dragon’s head shot up at the hearing of his name, and sighed in relief as he saw Fluttershy race towards him.

“I thought for a moment I would have to rescue you, Dragonlord,” he said as she raced up to him.

“You still could if you want! Look!” She pointed to the crest of the hill where about a hundred angry looking ponies were striding over. They instantly halted when they saw the large yellow dragon she was with, and began to back away in fear.

“Allow me to deal with this,” he whispered into Fluttershy’s ear. He turned himself around and set himself so that Fluttershy was behind him, then spread his wings and bared his teeth, growling like a wolf. Some ponies began to flee back to the town in terror, while some bravely, or foolishly, stood their ground.

One pony lowered her spear and walked up to the dragon, thrusting it threateningly. Amused, Vidarr took a step closer and, with two fingers of his claw, snapped the spear in half like a twig. The pony looked at what was left of her spear, then back at Vidarr, and then grinned sheepishly as she tried to escape his gaze.

Grinning, Vidarr leaned his head forward and suddenly whispered, “Boo.” At once, everypony began to run away back to the town in terror, screaming their lungs out. Vidarr couldn’t help but laugh as he watched them go, and neither could Fluttershy.

“Forgive me for not sharing your amusement, but I don’t see the funny side of what just occurred,” Luna said, watching with a mildly perplexed look.

“I don’t see the funny side either,” Spike concurred, sharing the same look with Luna.

“It’s just that ‘boo’ made them all run away,” Fluttershy explained as she jumped onto Vidarr’s back. She chuckled once more as she fell onto her haunches, shaking her head at herself. “So legendary.”

“Quite. But I’m sure Vidarr would not have had to go ‘boo’ if you stayed on his back and we kept on going!” Luna yelled, prodding Fluttershy on the chest hard. “What were you thinking?” Luna continued, making Fluttershy’s ears fall flat as she took it. “You could have been captured; you could have had us all captured! Do you hones-”

“All right!” Fluttershy snapped, cutting her off. “I get it, I made a mistake, don’t we all do that from time to time?” She sighed as her shoulders slumped and exhaustion began to make itself known to her. “I’m sorry, Luna. And I’m sorry to you two as well,” she said, turning to face Cadence and Spike with apologetic eyes. “It was wrong of me to go in. I realised that by the time I was nearly done.” She suddenly looked back at Luna as she just remembered why she went in there in the first place. “But what I learnt should make up for it.”

“You mean you found something out, Fluttershy Firewing?” Vidarr said, turning his large head to eye her curiously.

Fluttershy turned her head to look at Vidarr and then nodded. “I’ll tell you about it as we move,” she said.

Taking that as a cue to move, Vidarr spread his wings out and shot into the air, going straight up for a moment then levelling out as they went south, leaving Appleloosa behind them. With danger out of the way for a moment, Fluttershy began to tell them what Silverstar told her. The ponies and dragons’ eyes widened in horror as Fluttershy told them in brief about the growing unrest and chaos affecting all of Equestria.

“This can not be happening,” Cadence said quietly, surprising everyone since she hadn’t spoken yet. The mare slunk down even further, her eyes welling up with tears of sorrow. “Please tell me this isn’t happening…”

Luna walked up to her and hugged the other winged unicorn comfortingly. “Are you certain of this, Fluttershy?” she demanded.

“I’m not entirely sure, Luna, since most of what I was told came from a newspaper,” Fluttershy answered. “But if the desert towns have separated themselves as well, then surely others would have followed.”

Luna shook her head, sighing. “Celestia, you fool,” she muttered to herself. “You shouldn’t have imprisoned us for false accusations. Now you have a whole nation up in arms about it.”

Fluttershy raised her eyebrows in shock. ‘She really thinks they’re doing it because she and Cadence were imprisoned.’ She wanted to tell them that she was right and something had not just happened to Celestia and her friends, but now all of Equestria as well to act the way they are. But she could see she would lose that argument, since all of them felt exactly as Luna felt. ‘I’ll have to wait for some more evidence,’ she decided. ‘Only then they would really believe me.’

The group fell silent as Vidarr flew them all across the desert.

The sun was starting to disappear under the horizon when the three ponies and two dragons decided to stop for the night. They landed on what looked like a huge square rock with a roughly flat surface on top that, conveniently, had a naturally created ramp that they could use to get down.

Once Vidarr landed, Spike was the first to jump off. “Finally!” he exclaimed, stretching his legs and arms. “Sitting on a dragon’s back for half a day is not comfortable.” He began going for a little stroll around the rock face.

Fluttershy was next to jump off Vidarr’s back, followed close behind by Luna and Cadence. The three ponies flexed their wings for a moment to quell the aching feeling they all had in them. “That took forever,” Cadence said dryly, stretching her legs out. “It does feel nice to walk again.”

“It certainly does, and it feels nice to be here,” Luna said, looking around.

Fluttershy could only nod to agree. The view from the rock was outstanding. South of the rock they stood on, the Macintosh Hills displayed a deep, fiery red in the low sunlight; while around them were miles of flat desert, displaying a bright, almost golden colour as the sun disappeared. “Right,” she said quietly, “should we set up a campfire and settle down for the night?”

Luna and Cadence nodded. “Quite right, Fluttershy,” Luna agreed, “but I suggest we come up with a plan for the morning. As nice as it is here, I wouldn’t want to stay longer than a night.”

Although she wished they could stay here, Fluttershy knew Luna was right. They couldn’t stay in one place for long, or else they would be caught. ‘Perhaps we’ll keep running for the rest of our lives,’ she thought sadly. That was something she would not do – not this time.

“Stay here,” Vidarr commanded as he spread his wings. “I shall return with some firewood and food.” Before a pony or dragon could protest, Vidarr shot up into the air and quickly became a blob in the blue sky.

“At least we won’t run out of firewood quickly,” Spike said as they watched him go. “Come on,” he gestured with an arm wave, “I found a spot we can use to shelter for the night.”

“You should all get comfortable,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll wait here for Vidarr when he returns.” The two ponies nodded, and then followed Spike to the centre of the rock, which had large rocks positioned like sentries around a small area, which kept the high, gale wind out of their faces and kept them warm to some degree.

Fluttershy watched them go, and then began pacing in a circle as her mind tried to understand and make sense of what was going on around her. “I wish I had a brain like Twilight’s,” she said to herself, for she could think of nothing that she had read or heard from Twilight that could solve all this. She stopped and sighed sadly as she thought of Twilight. “Hmm,” she chuckled. “I bet she wouldn’t make as much sense of it as I am. In fact, she would probably make it even more confusing.” So she began pacing again, hoping she would come up with an answer.

A few minutes later, long after Vidarr had returned with a large group of firewood and some food, she was still pacing. Bits of her mane started to stick out, her eyes were glued into a hardened glare, and her brain was beginning to hurt from so much thinking. ‘Now I know why Twilight gets so stressed easily,’ she mused.

“Fluttershy?” She spun around at the mention of her name. Spike flinched back and grimaced when he saw her eyes. “Are you gonna have something to eat? Vidarr found some rich hay and gems while he was out.”

Fluttershy’s glare softened, then she looked away and shook her head. “I’m not hungry,” she stated moodily.

“Ah, come on, Fluttershy. You have to try and eat,” Spike said persistently. “Please? For me?”

Fluttershy looked back at him, and her gaze softened as she saw the pleading, caring look in Spike’s eyes. “Okay,” she sighed. She turned around and walked to the campfire where Luna and Cadence were lying.

“Say, where did you get all these gems, Vidarr?” Spike asked as he took a handful of gems and stuffed them in his mouth.

‘He must have been hungry,’ Fluttershy thought as she walked up to the campfire. She sat on her haunches next to Spike, looking at the pile of hay in front of her.

“I found them outside an abandoned diamond mine in some woods not far from here, Spike Draconis,” the great dragon replied. “Next to a rocky hill.”

Spike swallowed the gems in his mouth, and then looked at Vidarr oddly. “That’s not my last name. In fact, I don’t have a last name.”

“Oh yes, you do,” Vidarr insisted. Spike tilted his head further, prompting Vidarr to explain. “The surname Draconis is given to those who have no known parents, or parents that are not recognised as mates.”

“So technically,” Luna concluded, “Spike’s last name states that he is a b-”

“Well the hay you brought us looks lovely!” Fluttershy shouted abruptly, cutting off Luna from finishing her sentence. “Thank you for bringing it all here, Vidarr.” The dragon looked at her and smiled.

Spike nodded in agreement, but still looked confused. He leaned over and whispered into Fluttershy’s ear, “What was Luna about to say? What does my last name mean, exactly?”

Fluttershy leaned her head back from him and shook it in response. “Doesn’t matter,” she whispered. She turned her attention to Luna and Cadence, who were sitting close together, nibbling slowly on the hay given to them. “How’re you two doing?” she asked as she lowered herself down on her stomach.

“Could be better,” Cadence replied, trying to smile but Fluttershy could see it waning. “But I don’t think I will get any worse.”

Fluttershy smiled at that, for Cadence’s sake more than anything else. “And you, Luna? How are you holding?”

“I will be fine, Fluttershy. Don’t worry about me,” Luna assured her. “Just worry about yourself and for young Spike.” She paused to shift her back end about til she felt comfortable once more. “Now, we need to start thinking about where we will head from here tomorrow morning.”

“Let’s just keep heading south,” Spike said. “We might as well since we’re this far already.”

“That would be the easiest option to take. However, I fear that we may not find any peace further south. If anything, we will be in greater risk than we are now.” Luna looked south with heavy eyes.

“What do you mean, Luna?” Fluttershy enquired with a tilt of her head. The others looked at the Night Princess for an explanation.

Luna faced her with a serious expression. “Beyond the desert lie thousands of miles of uncharted forests, ruins, and other things. All we know about the south is that the changelings hives, dragons and other dangerous beasts that roam its lands call it home. Creatures that would not hesitate to kill us in an instant.”

Fluttershy went pale at the mention of changelings, and then paled further when dragons were mentioned. “Um… I agree with Luna on this,” she said, raising a hoof for no particular reason. “Maybe it was not the best idea to go south.”

“Maybe, but we just can’t stop now,” Cadence protested. “We have to continue, for better or worse.”

Luna sighed exasperatingly; frustrated that none of them could come to a unanimous decision. “Spike, what do you think we should do?” she asked, turning to look at the baby dragon.

Spike shot his head up from the gem he was eating, to gaze into each of their expecting faces. “Uh, I don’t know, to be honest. I thought here would be just fine.”

Luna looked like she was about to groan aloud, but was able to control herself. Fluttershy smiled at him, and draped a wing across him in a hug. “It’s okay, Spike. I know it’s nice here, but we can’t stay. We’ll be open targets otherwise.”

“I know,” Spike said with a sigh. “But one could wish, eh?”

Fluttershy nodded, smiling thinly. “Yeah, one can.” She looked at each of the ponies, studying them to see if they had a suggestion, but could see none. Then she remembered. There were five members in their party, so where was the fifth? “Where’s Vidarr?” she asked, looking around for him.

The three she was with looked around for any sign of him, yet found none. “Wow, he can move quietly for a big fella,” Spike remarked as he looked around.

“Vidarr!” Luna called out.

“Over here!” Vidarr called in response. Fluttershy craned her neck up to look over a rock, and saw the silhouette of a dragon sitting at the edge of the butte, looking towards Canterlot and the rest of Equestria.

Fluttershy took her wing off Spike, and got back up. “I’m going to talk to him. He might know what to do next.” With that, she trotted around one of the rocks to join the large dragon.

“It is a beautiful sunset, is it not?” Vidarr asked when she was next to him. Fluttershy sat on her haunches and looked at where he was staring. Even when she wanted to look away and back up at Vidarr to answer, a part of her protested the action, for the sunset was too gorgeous to look away from.

Thanks to the desert, and the cloudless sky – at least, that’s what Fluttershy thought caused it to look the way it was – the sun was a dark, blood red as it descended from the sky, with rays of sunlight shooting up into the encroaching night as if the sun was trying to cling onto something to stop its descent.

Fluttershy was finally able to draw her gaze from the sun to look up at Vidarr. “Yes, it is beautiful. Beautiful beyond words.”

A grunt of agreement came from the dragon. “It is beautiful, and yet sad.”

Fluttershy looked at him confusedly. “How is it sad?”

“It is sad because this sunset marks the end of an age: the Age of Harmony. When the sun rises again, Equestria will never look like it once did.”

Fluttershy looked at him sadly, while fearing he might have given up hope already. “Yet it will still rise,” Fluttershy said, looking back at it. “And as long as it continues to rise there is still hope.”

“Hope?” Vidarr queried, looking down at her. “Hope for what?”

“Hope to undo what has been done,” Fluttershy answered.

Vidarr lowered his head so his eyes were gazing directly into her own. Fluttershy found herself leaning back from his draconic gaze; he might be a friend, but he was still a big, scary dragon. After a moment, he smiled at her. “You really think you can fix everything that has gone wrong, don’t you?”

“Well… no-not by myself, of course, I’m not that good,” Fluttershy replied, rubbing her forehooves together. “Why? Don’t you?”

Vidarr looked back towards the sunset, his face emotionless and difficult to explain. “If I’m honest, no. To fix Celestia Solaris and your friends is one thing, but to fix an entire nation seems like an impossible task.”

“I don’t believe that anything is impossible, Vidarr. Not anymore,” Fluttershy countered. “I did begin the reformation process of Discord, after all. A task even my friends thought impossible. And yet I did it.”

“Yes. You did do that. You did indeed. Despite everything you had learnt about him from Horsca, you looked past that, and changed him for the better,” he said. He glanced down at her and smiled at her proudly. “You have come far as a Dragonlord of Terra, Fluttershy Firewing. I have listened and watched with sheer pride as you have grown to become the mare sitting beside me today. I am certain your mother and father would be very proud of what I see before me.”

Fluttershy smiled bashfully and looked away, two pink blushes staining her cheeks at the high praise. “But you still have much to learn, and more room to grow if you want to become the greatest Dragonlord that has ever lived,” Vidarr added.

“Oh, I know that, Vidarr. I have a long life ahead of me to go through all that. Provided I survive the coming weeks,” Fluttershy responded. “If I survive the hammer fall that splits Equestria apart.”

Vidarr looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You think this is what I predicted?”

“What else could it be?” Fluttershy replied. She gestured with a wide wave of her hoof to all of Equestria. “Look at what’s happening, Vidarr; everypony hates each other. Whole areas of the country are splitting apart, creating their own kingdoms or other forms of government. My element has been ripped from me. And even though my friends speak hate to me, today I saw in their eyes that their true selves were screaming at me to help them. They need me, Vidarr. More than ever.”

Vidarr’s throat seemed to groan as he turned his head to look back at the sun. “You could be right, Fluttershy Firewing.” The two fell into a companionable silence as they watched the sun start to disappear under the horizon, and the moon began to rise into the night sky, which was littered with bright dots as the stars made themselves known.

Fluttershy quickly looked back to see if Luna had anything to do with this, but couldn’t see her horn glowing like she imagined it would. ‘Maybe that way of magic is different. Maybe she does it by the mind rather than with her horn,’ Fluttershy thought.

“So tell me, Fluttershy Firewing, why did you come to see me at this moment?” Vidarr asked. “Because I know it was not idle chatter that you wished with me, was it?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and then nodded. “Me and the others, namely, me and Luna, think that we’re going the wrong way. We were wondering if you had any ideas on where we should go.”

Instead of coming up with an answer, Vidarr merely chuckled. “So you finally figured out amongst yourselves that we were going the wrong way?”

“Well, we came to the conclusion that going… Hold on, what do you mean, ‘you finally figured it out’?”

Vidarr’s eyes looked at everything but Fluttershy, almost as if he looked guilty at something. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy to work out why he was guilty. “You knew?” she asked, trying to control her temper. “You knew we were going the wrong way all this time and never spoke up, not even turning around and fly us in the right one?”

After a moment, Vidarr bowed his head in shame. “I am sorry, Fluttershy Firewing. I am so used to following Dragonlord orders that maybe I had forgotten what it means to think for myself.”

“Don’t you dare give me that excuse! You had almost fifteen years to think for yourself!” Fluttershy yelled, unable to control her anger anymore. Realising she was yelling, she took a deep breath to clam herself, which worked slightly. “So if you know which way we should go, then could you please tell me… please?”

After a moment of hesitance, Vidarr lifted up a claw, and with a single finger, pointed north. “North is where you should go, Fluttershy Firewing. To the one place where you will definitely be safe: Horsca.”

The realisation that dawned across her face and mind hit her harder than a slap to the face. Horsca; the land of the horses, and the kingdom of Queen Freya Palomino, a personal friend of hers, and who had pronounced Fluttershy as a Thane of Horsca two years ago. It was the perfect place to go for sanctuary.

And here she was, going in the completely wrong direction.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” she screeched into the sky. She buried her face in her hooves to muffle the frustrated scream that she released. After a moment to scream, she lifted her face out of her hooves, and looked at Vidarr vehemently. “And you were going to tell me this, now?”

Vidarr, despite being a large dragon hundreds of years old and one of the deadliest creatures on Terra, shrank back from Fluttershy’s terrifying gaze. “Well, sort of. I had hoped that you would figure it out halfway into the desert. I was going to say something at about Appleloosa, but then I saw the barricades, then heard what you said, and my mind went so deep into thought that heading north escaped my mind for the moment.”

Fluttershy pulled her lips back into a growling snarl. “You better have a pretty good reason to do this to us, Vidarr,” Fluttershy whispered as she tried to calm down. She could feel Drage Bane twitching in its bracelet, begging to be let out. And if she was completely honest to herself, she wanted a reason to have it come out.

Vidarr nodded, though Fluttershy could see that whatever he was about to say would be said with a heavy heart. “I am afraid I do, young Dragonlord, and it pains my heart to have to put you in such a position.”

“What position?” Fluttershy demanded angrily. As soon as the words tumbled out of her mouth, she knew half of the answer. “This is a test, isn’t it? You want to test me on something. What is it?”

Vidarr, after a moment of silence, nodded in answer. “Fluttershy Firewing, you are the daughter of Firewing Moneris, the last Primarch of the Dragonlord order. When a Primarch dies, the title he had passes down to the Dragonlord he chooses, or the only one that can accept the title. Since you are the only Dragonlord known to Terra at present, the title of Primarch, therefore, passes down to you.”

In an instant Fluttershy forgot that she was angry. She felt her hind legs give way, and she collapsed onto her rump. “B-but,” she sputtered, “h-how does that work, since the Dragonlord order is gone, with just me left?”

“A Primarch isn’t only the leader of the Dragonlord order, Fluttershy Firewing. To many countries, the word ‘Primarch’ means guide, others it means shepherd, and to those like the Griffon Kingdoms, it means great warrior. Those meanings are derived from the Dragonlord order, and the deeds they have done for those countries. You will not only be asked to lead Dragonlords, but to guide and lead entire nations.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror and her body tensed up once more. ‘Me? Primarch? A leader of ponies?’ Furthermore, being a leader meant being the centre of attention. She shuddered in fear at the thought that maybe one day, a group of ponies would look at her, waiting for some order or guidance that she didn’t think she could give, simply because she didn’t do well in large crowds.

“I-I don’t think I could do that, Vidarr,” Fluttershy objected. “I don’t think I could ever lead ponies. I just don’t think I have what it takes to lead. I prefer just following or giving advice from time to time. Not true leadership.”

“But do you want to always be the sheep that follows the shepherd, Fluttershy Firewing?” Vidarr asked.

It was a good question, Fluttershy realised. Was she content to just follow, and not be followed? Many of her animal friends considered herself a leader, strictly speaking. They listened to her, asked her for guidance, and followed her without question. If they did all that, while she led them, surely she can lead a couple of ponies, could she?

After another long moment to think about it, Fluttershy shook her head. “No. No, I don’t want to be a follower all my life.”

“That’s what I thought. No one ever wants to be just a follower,” Vidarr agreed. “You’re right, though. You don’t have what it takes to lead. At least, not yet.” He lowered himself so that his belly touched the ground. “Would it surprise you to learn that once Celestia Solaris and Luna Nocturnus Solaris were once simple unicorns who would rather frolic in meadows than lead a nation?”

Fluttershy looked back to where the Princess of the Night was sitting in shock. “Yes,” Fluttershy simply answered as she turned back around. “Yes it would.”

“Well that is the truth. When they came into this world, they cared little about the trouble Equestria had under Discord’s rule, and lived peacefully north of the Crystal Empire until they met Starswirl the Bearded. The great Dragonlord taught them of their destiny, and helped them to achieve it by helping them discover the Elements of Harmony. With Starswirl’s teaching and advice, as well as the advice of others, they became the rulers they were meant to be.

“Anypony can be a leader, Fluttershy Firewing. Some, just a rare few, are born with the sense of command, but most earn it through experiences, both good and bad. That is how you will become a good leader, by learning from your mistakes, and improving yourself in mind, and body. You were not born with a sense of command, but you will certainly gain it in the dark days to come. For that sense to be gained, however, you must be tested with a task. The task I have for you will require a great deal of strength, intelligence, and no small amount of courage. Do you think you can handle all that?”

Fluttershy wanted to say that she couldn’t. She wanted to say that she wanted to leave Luna and Cadence with the decisions, while she ran and cowered under a rock somewhere. She never felt more scared now then she did in her twenty two years of living; even the fear in Heimdallr’s prison was nothing compared to the dread she was feeling at present. This were her own friends, her own people she was up against, not some evil dragon who wanted to burn everything.

Just as she thought that, she truly felt like a traitor. Her friends were in trouble, Equestria was ripping itself asunder and the Princesses of Equestria were torn apart. To run and hide now would be to go back on her oath and vow she swore into the sky two years ago, when she was just realising what she was. She had to do this, if not for herself then for everypony in Equestria, especially her friends.

Fluttershy puffed out her chest, boosting herself meagrely with self-confidence, and gave Vidarr a firm and determined nod. “I will do my best, Vidarr.”

The dragon smiled. “That’s all I can ask for.” He paused for a moment to brush some of his mane out of his face. “The task I have for you is to guide these ponies and dragon north to Horsca, without unnecessary casualties or fatalities. I want you to think wisely on any action you take, any decision you make, and get them all to safety. If you can do that, then you will have what it takes to be a good leader.”

Fluttershy’s eyes looked up at her forehead as she remembered what she had to do. “So, how do I know if I passed?”

“By getting them all to safety, Fluttershy Firewing,” Vidarr answered.

“And what if I make a mistake that doesn’t result in one of us getting killed?”

“It doesn’t matter, for leaders always make mistakes; you are only mortal, after all. So long as you can make up for those mistakes and get them all to Horsca safely then everything will be fine.”

“What if I’m forced to kill one of my friends while trying to escape?” Fluttershy asked frantically, on the verge of panicking. “What if I die and they all make it? What if–”

“Fluttershy Firewing!” Vidarr roared, cutting off the little pegasus. Fluttershy squeaked and shrank back from Vidarr’s shouting, looking through her mane with terrified eyes. Vidarr sighed. “I know you’re scared, Dragonlord. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. But try not to think deeply about what you have just asked. Just keep you head cool and controlled, and you will all come out of it okay.”

Fluttershy suddenly realised how Vidarr was speaking. “Hang on, what do you mean? You make it sound like you’re not coming with us?”

Vidarr looked away, his eyes heavy with regret. “That is because I must leave you, Fluttershy Firewing. You will have to get to Horsca without me.”

Fluttershy felt her heart plummet like a stone thrown into water. “What?” she rasped, tears filling her eyes.

“I am afraid that I must return to the growing Dragon Kingdom, and convince the other dragons to aid and support Equestria, and anywhere else where strife is apparent,” Vidarr answered. “The Dragon King will know what is happening, and hopefully I can convince him to help us.”

Fluttershy looked confused. “The Dragon… Kingdom?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention,” Vidarr recalled, cursing under his breath for forgetting such information. “After you defeated Heimdallr two years ago, the spell that was placed on the dragons was broken, and the dragons can now see more clearly than they have in thousands of years. The ancient kingdom they once owned will soon be reborn and proud once more.”

Fluttershy gave Vidarr half a smile, even though she felt it strain. “That’s nice, I guess,” she said, looking at the ground. She shot her eyes back up to Vidarr. “But I want you here, with me.”

Vidarr shook his head mournfully. “I am sorry, but my kingdom and my people needs m–”

“I need you more!” Fluttershy spat, her eyes leaking tears. “I can’t do this alone, not without you. I need you by my side if I want to stand a chance of doing…” Her words faded away like a sudden wind when she felt a single finger from Vidarr’s claw on her shoulder.

“I know for a fact that you do not need me by your side on this,” Vidarr said, a warm, comforting smile on his face. “You have two Princesses by your side, ponies who have risen from the bottom to the top. And even without their guidance I know that you will succeed in this task. I believe in you, Fluttershy Firewing. You have more to give to this world in you than anypony knows – including yourself. Have faith in yourself, Dragonlord, and have faith in those around you. Without their support, and the strength you carry between you, none of you will get to Horsca.”

He took his finger off Fluttershy’s shoulder, and looked back to the moon, which was now fully over the horizon, and rising into the sky. He sighed. “I must leave while the night is young; the south lands are full of dangerous creatures for us dragons.” He put a finger back on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Måtte Vidarr’s vinger beskytte deg og dine venner til den kommende stormen, og jeg ønsker dere alle lykke i verden (May Vidarr’s wings shield you and your friends from the gathering storm, and I wish you all the luck in the world),” he said.

Fluttershy, through teary eyes, gave Vidarr’s finger a little nuzzle. “Takk, Vidarr, for å frakte oss hit og reddet oss. Og måtte Vidarr’s vinger beskytte deg mot onskapen i denne verden. Jeg håper du finner det du leter etter og hva vi trenger (Thank you, Vidarr, for bringing us here and rescuing us. And may Vidarr’s wings shield you from the evils of this world. I hope you find what you’re looking for, and what we need).”

Vidarr smiled with thanks, took his finger off from Fluttershy’s shoulder, then spun around and shot into the air. “We will meet in Horsca when I have finished business in the south! Farewell for now!” he called as he swiftly flew away.

Fluttershy’s mane tried to fly with him, blocking out her vision for a moment as she tried to pull it back. Once she was able to see again, Vidarr was just a faint black dot in the night sky.

“Unbelievable,” she said to herself exasperatingly, sniffing back her tears and clearing her cheeks. “Brings us all this way here, then tells me we’re going the wrong way, and then leaves us to go on our own.” She sighed as she turned back around, her head low and her ears flat. “I hope he was right about having faith in me; I barely have enough for myself at the moment.” She sighed once more. “Right, I better tell the others what we talked about.”

Clearing her throat, she broke into a trot to tell the others about what happened. “I wonder how well they’ll all take it?” she asked herself.

“THOU MUST SURELY BE JESTING?” Luna yelled, using the Royal Canterlot Voice once Fluttershy stopped talking.

The pegasus could have sworn she had been shifted back a few inches from Luna’s yelling. After altering her mane and tail straight, and rubbing down some of the hairs on her coat, she nodded meekly. “Um, sorry, Luna, but I’m not making this up. Before he left, Vidarr and I agreed that we should head north: to Horsca.” She never told them how Vidarr asked her to lead them there, for she thought it would be rude if she told them that she was the leader now and they would have to do as she said. ‘I’ll do it discreetly, so that they don’t even notice I’m doing it,’ she had thought as she spoke.

Luna leaned back and groaned while rubbing her forehead with a hoof, while Spike put his claws in his face and groaned loudly as well. Cadence was the only one to sit in silence, with a look that said she was contemplating Fluttershy’s idea. Fluttershy smiled gratefully at her.

“How exactly are we going to get to Horsca? Huh?” Spike asked. “We are miles away from there, and everything in between us and the horses wants to either kill us or turn us into stone.” He bowed his head. “We’re doomed. I might as well dig my own grave here and now.”

“Now hold on for a second, no one needs to dig their own graves,” Fluttershy said. “Look, Horsca, as I have said, is a far safer place than south and beyond, and Freya will certainly help us. I know that because she is my friend.”

“And what if the Horscans are troubled by the same strife as Equestria is going through?” Luna pointed out. “They are still recovering from years of war with themselves. Any wounds towards each other will not be fully healed. This would be the right time to strike at their enemies.”

Fluttershy shook her head doubtfully. “They won’t be.” She was about to say that Freya was too good a ruler to let the country fall apart that quickly, but she quickly bit her bottom lip when she realised she would insult Luna, Cadence and Celestia. All three were great rulers as well, yet the country was falling apart faster than a group of apples bucked down from a tree. “I promise you. They won’t be.” Nevertheless, thanks to what Luna said, a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind; one she knew would grow and fester.

“But all the same, how are we going to get there now that Vidarr has left us?” Spike asked again.

“I’m not sure, Spike,” Luna replied. “But I think heading north is a bad idea.” Fluttershy’s ears flattened and she pouted.

“How is it?” Everypony turned to face Cadence in surprise once she spoke. “I mean, you said yourself, Luna, that heading south was a bad idea. Now north is not exactly a great idea as well, especially now that we are here. However, like Fluttershy said it is safer than south and whatever lies that way. And besides, if we are careful, we may just be able to slip through and get to Horsca without raising any alarms.” Cadence looked to Fluttershy and smiled admirably. “I don’t know Fluttershy as much as I should, but from the time I have had with her I trust her completely on this, and if she says we can get there, then I believe her.”

Fluttershy smiled gratefully at Cadence and lightly blushed at the praise. After a moment of silence and heavy thought, Luna sighed and nodded. “If you two think it’s best we head north, then we shall head north.”

Spike shrugged from where he sat. “I may not like it as well; too much walking on my part. But, if you all think north is the best way, then I can’t stop you. Count me in as well.”

The four companions nodded in agreement, with Fluttershy grinning from ear to ear. “Thank you. All of you.” She moved closer to the fire and sat on her rump. “Now, let’s try and find the safest route we can take to get to Horsca,” she suggested. “Who has a map?”

Cadence and Spike looked at her oddly. “Um, Fluttershy? If you’d recall, we just broke out of Canterlot’s prison with barely our freedoms,” Spike reminded her. “The only one who should have got a map was you when we went back to your place.”

Fluttershy’s ears fell flat as she saw her dragon friend was right. “Oops. Sorry.”

“Not to worry, dear Fluttershy. As it happens, I know a spell that allows me to form a map out of magic,” Luna said. “I learnt it so I can discover how much of Equestria has changed in the past thousand years.”

Fluttershy grinned at Luna. “Could we have a look at it, then? If you don’t mind, of course.”

Luna giggled while shaking her head. “Of course I don’t mind.” With that, she closed her eyes, and powered up her horn.

A dark blue aura clouded around Luna’s horn, and from its tip a large bubble slowly emerged, with a large map of Equestria stretched across it. The bubble hovered in the air for a second, before coming down and landing flat in front of the three ponies and one dragon. “Right, so from what I can make out, we are here.” She pointed to a single mountain far south of Appleloosa. “And we need to get to Horsca, which is here.” She pointed to the country of Horsca, which was a large area on the map just right of the Crystal Empire, and cordoned off from the rest of Equestria by a wall of large mountains and wide rivers. “Now we just need to decide how to get there.”

“Well,” Spike suggested, “you two could simply teleport us to the north. You are powerful enough to do it, after all.”

“We could teleport you all to the north,” Luna agreed. “But using teleportation magic, especially in our kind, leaves a sort of magic residue that hangs in the air for a while, like smoke from a steam train. It can be traced easily by other winged unicorns, so my sister will know exactly where we are going, and would be able to catch us before we could recover from such a long trip.”

“She won’t have to,” Fluttershy interjected. “My friends would probably have worked out at the same time I would try to head north later on. They would then try and catch us before we even make it to Horsca. At least, that’s what I would do if I had Twilight’s mind.”

“So what does that leave us?” Cadence said. “Walking to Horsca? From here?”

“What else would you suggest, dear niece?” Luna snapped. “To take the train from Appleloosa to Canterlot, and from there to Horsca?” Cadence meekly shook her head, while Fluttershy shot a glare in Luna’s direction for acting so harsh to her.

Luna sighed, and rubbed her head with a hoof. “Forgive me, Cadence, that was unfair on you,” she said, raising another hoof in an apologetic gesture. “But yes, we’ll have to walk. I would suggest flying since most of us are flyers, but I know I’m not a fast flyer, and neither are you, Cadence, and you too, Fluttershy. Walking will be safer. It will not be without its risks, I can promise you that. But those risks are far fewer than any other option open to us.”

“So the question is: how do we get there? East or west?” Spike said, breaking the moment of silence that existed between them.

The three ponies looked up at him with confused eyes. “What do you mean, Spike?” Fluttershy asked.

“Right,” Spike explained, pointing at the map, “so Canterlot is right smack bang in the middle of Equestria, right?” The three ponies nodded. “Right, so we have to avoid the centre of Equestria as much as possible. So, if we could give Canterlot a wide berth by heading east or west from here, we could cling to the edges of Equestria and – hopefully, mind you – make our way to Horsca in relative safety.”

The three ponies looked at each other as though they all had an epiphany. Fluttershy looked back at him, and smiled. “You have a great mind, Spike,” she remarked.

Spike blushed in embarrassment. “Ah, it’s nothing, really. That sort of thing happens when you have too many geography lessons with Twilight. But anyway, which way do we go from here: east or west?” The group fell silent once more as they looked at the map, figuring which way they could go.

“How about west?” Fluttershy suggested. Everyone looked at her for an explanation. “Well, if I was Celestia, I would send anyone sent to get us east, to Manehatten, Fillydelphia, or Baltimare, in the hope we might get a ship and head to the Griffon Kingdoms, or try that way to get to Horsca. If we take west, through Ponyville, and then through the Unicorn Range, then we could follow the road to Strutford and Detrots, and from there head on into Horsca.” As she spoke, she placed a hoof on the bubble and created a yellow trail mark which ran through Ponyville, then through the Unicorn Range and straight up into Horsca. “There won’t be anypony to stop us if we go through Ponyville since they would all be on one side of Equestria looking out for us while we slip on by the other side. What do you all think?”

Spike was nodding his head in approval, while Luna and Cadence looked at each other warily. “Clearly, you don’t know my sister as well as I do, Fluttershy,” Luna said. “She has been around longer than anypony on Terra, and knows a great deal on tactics and such. Even if she has whoever she will send after us heading east, she will have guards deployed around Ponyville in the likelihood, no matter how small, that we return for some reason.”

“And besides,” Cadence added, inspecting the map once more, “the road that leads to Ponyville from here goes through the Everfree Forest, and I don’t think any of us intend to go in there.”

Fluttershy looked at her, then back at the map quickly. Her eyes widened when she saw that their route, if they took that path, would indeed lead into the Everfree Forest. “Um, I-I think it’s better that we take a safer path,” she said shakily, shivering at the thought of such a journey.

“I thought as much,” Luna said, smiling wryly. “I do agree with you on going west, though. However, I would suggest an alternative route.”

“Then why don’t we go around Ponyville,” Cadence suggested. She put her hoof down on the map, and ran it through the desert, past Ghastly Gorge, then went up beside the Everfree Forest and past a group of mountains and woodland east of Las Pegasus, all the while leaving a pink trail behind her hoof. “If we go that way, then head up through Whitetail Woods, then after that we could follow Fluttershy’s plan.”

Spike leaned over from his seating position and looked at what Cadence was planning. After a moment of studying it, he nodded in approval. “That would probably work,” he said.

“I agree as well,” Fluttershy said, nodding her head.

Luna nodded. “Then it’s settled.” With a quick burst of magic from her horn the map dissipated, becoming nothing more than small bodies of liquid. “Tomorrow we set out from here and head west, and once we’re clear of the desert and in the dense woodland areas head north.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement to the plan.

Cadence let out a yawn. “Well I’m going to sleep. The day’s events have been… tiring for me.” Without a further word she set herself down onto her stomach and fell asleep almost instantly.

Fluttershy looked at her sadly, wishing there was a way she could help the poor mare from the nightmares that would inevitably come. “Can you help her, Luna?” she asked pleadingly.

Luna smiled comfortingly at the pegasus. “Have no fear for Cadence, dear Fluttershy, for I will guard her this night, as I do all nights,” she explained, looking at her niece sweetly. She looked up at Fluttershy. “What about you? Will you be all right?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I think I’ll be fine, thank you.” She let herself fall onto her side and closed her eyes. “Goodnight, Luna.”

“Goodnight, Fluttershy,” Luna wished her. With that, Luna got up and walked away, disappearing into the darkness like a shadow.

Fluttershy peeped an eye open to watch her go. She was about to call out to ask if she was going to sleep, but then thought against it. ‘She’s the Princess of the night, silly,’ she thought. ‘I imagine she doesn’t need as much sleep as we do.’ She looked from where Luna disappeared to where Spike was, and saw him shifting to the opposite side of the campfire, away from her. Fluttershy felt her heart sink. “Um, Spike?” she whispered, hoping she didn’t sound like she was pleading. “Would you be all right by yourself? I mean, you could sleep by me, if you want.”

Spike looked at her with questioning dragon eyes, then shook his head and settled down. “I think I’ll be all right, Fluttershy. Thanks anyway.”

“Oh… o-okay, Spike,” she said, her tone not bothering to hide her disappointment. “Remember, if you need anything, I’m just here.”

Spike rolled about until he felt comfortable. “I will. Thanks again.” He settled his head down and closed his eyes. “I’m glad you’re with me out here, Fluttershy,” he said drowsily, before falling into sleep.

Fluttershy’s ears remained flat, crestfallen she didn’t have something to hold and comfort. ‘Oh, why can’t I be selfish for once?’ She started to shiver as the fire began to die out, and the cold desert night began to make itself known.

At home, in the winter, she would rely on her fluffy bed for warmth and a hug, and if that didn’t work, then her animal friends or her teddy bear. Yet out here, she had none of those comforts. ‘I should have taken my teddy bear.’ So she had to hold the only thing she can – herself. She wrapped her forelegs around herself tight, hoping that would help put her into a comfortable sleep.

Unfortunately, it didn’t. Every time she closed her eyes she could see her friends coming towards her equipped with the Elements of Harmony, with Celestia just behind them with cold eyes as she was turned to stone. She felt herself begin to shiver as the image began to play repeatedly in her head. She lifted her head up and smacked herself lightly with a hoof, hoping that would rid it. The only thing it did was make her feel like an idiot.

She spread herself out once more and hugged herself even tighter, trying to think of a way to rid herself of this nightmare. Suddenly her mind drifted back to two years ago, when her father sang her a lullaby to ease her into sleep after her first encounter with Heimdallr. She hoped it would work, or else it would be a long night.

Hugging herself once more, she cleared her throat and began to sing softly:

“Darkness, darkness, be my pillow.

Take my head, and let me sleep.

“In the coolness, of your shadow.

In the silence, of your deep.

“Darkness, darkness, hide my yearning.

For the things, I cannot be.

“Keep my mind, from constant turning.

Toward the things, I cannot see.”

It didn’t take Fluttershy long to fall into an unpleasant sleep afterwards. Her last thoughts before her consciousness shut down for the night was, ‘I will find you all again. Even if it takes me the rest of your lives, I will save you.’

Chapter 5

“Fluttershy?” a faint whisper flowed through Fluttershy’s ears. When the pegasus responded with only a grumble, she received a hard push on the shoulder. “Fluttershy?” her name was whispered again, this time more abruptly, as if the speaker was losing patience.

Fluttershy opened her eyes, and groaned when she saw the faint sunlight shining directly into her eyes. “Come on, Fluttershy, we have to get going,” the voice said again, this time more recognisable as Cadence’s.

Fluttershy lifted her head up and looked up at Cadence, who was standing over her and prodding her gently on the shoulder, with a tired look in her eyes. “Do we have to go now?” she complained.

“I’m sorry, but yes, we have to,” Cadence replied sternly, like a mother would with an unruly child. Her gaze softened a bit and she backed away from the smaller mare. “Rough night?”

Fluttershy sat up, and then nodded while rubbing her eyes. “Yes. A horrible night.”

Cadence tilted her head, and looked at her sympathetically. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she sat down next to the smaller pegasus.

Fluttershy didn’t want to recall the events that had ran through her mind the previous evening, but knew that she should do, for her sake more than anyone else’s. “I dreamt I was back in Canterlot,” Fluttershy started, looking at her hooves. “So many chains were wrapped tightly around my legs and my wings, and I had a collar around my neck, choking me. I could feel it getting tighter with every passing minute.” As she spoke, she rubbed her neck as though it had been there. “I looked up, and saw all my former friends looking back at me, staring at me with such intense hate.” She paused to shiver in fright as the image became frozen in her mind.

She felt Cadence drape a wing over her back, comforting her greatly. “Thank you, Cadence,” Fluttershy said. She sighed, and quickly continued. “Then the Elements of Harmony were fired at me. I remember seeing a ray of colours coming towards me, and then I looked down and saw my legs going grey as I was turned to stone. All I could do is scream in terror as I was soon fully encased in stone, and then all I saw was darkness. I couldn’t even scream anymore. I couldn’t see, yet I could hear them all cheering, and Celestia calling Spike to stand beside my still form. It was horrible.” She began shaking as the nightmare was now infused in her mind.

She suddenly felt something like a leaf go gently up and down her back. She looked up to see Cadence running her outstretched wing over it, smiling comfortingly at her. “It’s okay now, Fluttershy. We’re free from them all.”

Fluttershy nodded. “For now at least.” She shook the thought away, and felt her mind was once again blank, much to her relief. She looked back up at the former Princess. “What about you? Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

Cadence cocked her head from side to side. “A bit. I first dreamt of being back in the Crystal Empire, with Shining in front of me, looking furious and in a rage I had never seen before. He started yelling in a language I couldn’t understand, but I flinched and cried at every word. Before it got any worse, my mind went blank, and I had a dreamless night from then on.” She looked over to Luna, who was checking through the bag Fluttershy acquired yesterday to see how much food and drink they had.

Fluttershy followed Cadence’s gaze to Luna, and felt confused as to why. “You do know that Luna can go into our dreams, right?” Cadence enquired, glancing at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror, and she felt a blush form on her cheeks. “She can! Oh! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I- I… If she asks, I have no idea who that pony wa–” She was cut off by Cadence’s laugh.

“Don’t worry about that, Fluttershy, Luna only goes into those with nightmares to make sure all ponies are sleeping well at night. She stays well clear of normal dreams, so have no fear of her walking into your fantasies.”

Fluttershy’s shoulders slouched in relief. “Phew,” she breathed. In fact, that does explain why her nightmare in Canterlot finished so suddenly, and she found herself back in the bunny field that she usually dreamt about. ‘Thank you, Luna,’ she thought, smiling at her. She looked back at Cadence with a small smile. “I’m glad you had a better night than I did.”

“Yeah, well, last night I wished that when I woke up the next day I would be back in the Crystal Empire, and in Shining’s embrace…” Her voice faded away into the day, as did her small smile.

Fluttershy flexed out a wing, and draped it gently over Cadence, looking at her with great sympathy. “I wish I knew what to say or do to help you, Cadence. I really do.”

Cadence smiled sweetly at her. “You’re so sweet, Fluttershy.” Her smile dissipated and she looked to the ground. “But there’s nothing you can do to help me, except be by my side.”

Fluttershy nodded. “And I will be, always.” A silence lingered between them for a moment as the two collected their thoughts. “Cadence?” The Crystal Princess looked up. “What would happen if, say, I was right, and Shining and the others were controlled by some evil force? Would you still go back with him?”

Cadence sighed. “Even if you’re right, Fluttershy, I couldn’t. I can’t just go back with him and pretend that none of this actually happened. Some of the things he said to me…” She shuddered briefly. “He said some things about me that he hated, and I know were true. I know I can be what he said to me sometimes, but I cannot change who I am, no matter how hard I try.

“I had hoped he would understand all that, and accept me for who I am, but I was wrong. It seems I’ve been wrong about a lot of things lately,” she added darkly. “I would be living a lie if I did go back with him, one that I couldn’t follow.” She got back on her hooves and walked away from the pegasus, who watched her go with wide, devastated eyes and flat ears.

“Cadence, wait!” Fluttershy called, raising a hoof to stop her.

“There’s no future between me and him, Fluttershy,” she added, her voice breaking with emotion. She looked back at Fluttershy, her eyes tearful. “I know you care about everyone you know, but just accept that for my sake. You should get up and get ready to get going. It’ll be best if we start off soon.” She continued trotting up to Luna and Spike, who were stretching their legs and getting ready for the day to come.

Fluttershy, however, couldn’t accept that. Cadence was right that they should never forget about the troubles of their past, but Fluttershy thought she was wrong that they should let it control their lives. She knew that, deep down, Cadence loved Shining still, and would gladly be with him again; she just needed a gentle push in the right direction. ‘If I’m right, and Shining and everypony else is affected by something, then the evidence will be the push I need.’ However, where she was going to find the strength to make that push, she had no idea. She just hoped Vidarr would find out wherever he was going.

“Are you up yet, Fluttershy?” Luna called.

Fluttershy raised a hoof in assurance. “I’m up. I’m coming.” She got up onto all fours, gave each of her legs a quick stretch, and then began walking up to the others. As she walked, her mind went back to the other thing Cadence said. ‘Have I been living a lie?’ For the past two years she had been living like her time in Horsca had never occurred. She had tended to her animal friends, spent time with her pony friends, and that was that. She never went out and did what Dragonlords did: fight and kill until killed, mostly because she felt like she didn’t need to, or want to. Was it really wrong to not follow what she was, and didn’t want to be?

“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” Spike remarked, making her break out of her train of thought. She stopped and blinked when she realised she was standing right in front of them.

Fluttershy looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Spike smiled bravely at her. “We’ll be fine. We’ve got two of the most powerful ponies with us, and the greatest warrior on Terra. I’m sure we’ll get to Horsca in no time.”

“I hope so too,” Fluttershy said as she kicked out a foreleg. “I just hope that we can get there peacefully.”

“We all do,” Luna said, looking out at what was before them. “But don’t keep your hopes up that we will. Be prepared to spill blood when necessary, Dragonlord.”

Fluttershy just nodded in response, mostly because she was too miserable and tired to argue. She looked from Luna to the desert they had to cross, and couldn’t help but feel afraid. The desert carried on until it disappeared over the horizon. It was a dry, featureless plain of bright orange rock, with nothing between the ponies and dragon, and the blazing sun overhead.

Fluttershy gulped, not noticing that her body was lightly trembling in fear. ‘What’s there to be scared about, you scaredy pony?’ her mind asked. ‘You fought and took down two dragons for goodness sake! Surely you can get through this… I think.’

Although she knew her mind was telling the truth, she didn’t find it assuring. The first dragon she had defeated in battle was dead to begin with, and was controlled by the second dragon, who made it a bit easier for her to defeat him by shrinking in size and duplicating himself a hundred times over. Those two were naturally born creatures, whilst their opponent this time was the sun itself, blazing down on them as if Celestia had turned it up just to burn them out of the desert.

Yet despite the heat, and the barrenness of the land ahead of them, they had no choice but to go across. Fluttershy looked up at Luna and asked, “How long will it take us to get out of the desert?”

Luna looked at the sky in thought. “At a quick trot, then maybe we could make it out before nightfall at best,” she answered after a moment. “If not, then two days at the least.”

“That’s good. So long as we’re not out there for more than three days then we should be all right,” Cadence said. “We just have to be careful with the water and food we have.”

“I’ll look after all that,” Luna offered. She picked up the bag with her magic and strapped it around the bottom of her neck and rested the actual bag on her back. “There, now I suggest we get going while the sun is still low.”

Fluttershy, Spike, and Cadence nodded in agreement. The four companions each took a deep breath to calm their nerves, and then fell in line as they made their way to the ramp leading down to the desert.

“Hold up,” Fluttershy said after a few steps.

A few groans were made in response. “What is it now, Fluttershy?” Luna queried, looking back with an agitated stare.

“Well, I was just wondering… if you all want to, of course, if we could fly some of the way?” Fluttershy suggested. “I just want to stretch my wings for a while.” She emphasised this by stretching her wings out and flapping them quickly.

The two winged unicorns looked at each other for a moment in consideration of Fluttershy’s suggestion. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of a flight as well,” Cadence agreed after a moment of thought.

Fluttershy breathed a quiet sigh of relief. ‘The sooner we’re out of the desert, the better,’ she thought.

“I agree, too,” Luna concurred, unfurling her wings from her sides. “It would be nice to have a fly after a long time sitting on Vidarr’s back.”

“But what about me?” Spike asked with a raised finger. Before anypony could answer, Cadence got hold of him with her magic, and dumped him onto her back. “Thanks, Princess.”

“You’re welcome. And please, Spike, just call me Cadence,” she replied, smiling at him. “It’s the least I can do after what you did for the Crystal Empire.”

Fluttershy looked away and giggled behind her mouth when Spike blushed. “Ah, it was nothing, Cadence,” Spike said, waving it away. “All I did was jump off a tower and give you the Crystal Heart.”

“It was still more than what most did, Spike,” Fluttershy intervened. She looked back towards their destination, and spread her wings out, her wing blades gleaming in the rising sun. “Are we all ready?” The two former Princesses nodded. Without another word, Fluttershy broke into a gallop as she moved towards the edge.

As the edge came up, Fluttershy prepared herself to jump. ‘You’ve done this before, Fluttershy,’ her thoughts encouraged her. ‘Just like Pinkie once said. A hop, skip and a jump. So move that little rump and jump!’

Her eyes widened when she thought of Pinkie, and that random song she had sung while going up that mountain to encourage the dragon to leave. Her heart sunk a little at the thought, and it made her wish that Pinkie was here now, to sing them all a song of encouragement for what they are about to go through. ‘I can’t rely on Pinkie’s randomness now,’ she thought. ‘I’ll have to encourage myself.’

“Fluttershy, jump!” Luna cried out from behind her.

Fluttershy zoned back into concentration just as the edge was coming up. Thinking fast, she slowed down a bit, then hopped, skipped, then jumped into the air, with her wings spread out wide and her blades whistling as the wind tickled them. Before she could drop, she flapped her wings steadily, and felt herself begin to fly upwards. She stopped herself to hover for a moment just to get her bearings in order, and looked around to see Luna and Cadence hovering over the spots they were originally standing, looking at her oddly.

“What was with the hop?” Luna asked with an amused expression.

“And the skip and the jump?” Cadence added.

Fluttershy blushed pink in embarrassment as she tried to cover her face with her mane. “Just something an old friend told me once,” she explained.

Luna and Cadence chuckled. “Well there’s no point floating here,” Luna said. She gestured with her head to what was in front of them. “Come, let us be away while the day is young.”

Fluttershy nodded, then turned around from them and began to fly west, with Luna and Cadence close behind.

A few hours later, Fluttershy was beginning to wish for more water. Her mouth felt dry, and her whole body stunk of sweat; she could feel it trickling down her neck, back and rump. She had tried to keep her wings stretched out to shield her back from the sun, but it only made her feel more exhausted keeping them upright, so now they flopped at her sides and dragged themselves across the ground. ‘Maybe flying wasn’t such a good idea after all,’ she mused.

They had flown for a long time, with the large rock they had slept on now lost from view altogether. Unfortunately for them, it was the only landmark around. In every direction, as far as Fluttershy’s eyes could see, the landscape’s only feature was a flat, barren desert, bright golden like the sun, and cracked up like the broken shell of an egg. It was after a few hours of flying that Fluttershy’s left wing began to play up, which forced them all to land and walk the rest of the way.

Now, the sun was at its highest in the sky, and they were still nowhere near anywhere. “Luna?” Fluttershy called to the nightly winged unicorn up front.

Luna looked back. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I was wondering if we had any water to spare? If so, can I have a little bit please?” She quickly added, “Don’t worry if we don’t have enough.”

Luna chuckled. “We have plenty, Fluttershy. Plenty to last us for days.” She opened up the zip with her magic, and brought out a large canteen of water for Fluttershy to have. “Here,” she said, levitating it over to the small pegasus. “Drink the lot. Do not worry, Dragonlord, for we have plenty to spare.”

Fluttershy took it with a hoof. “Thank you, Luna,” she said, before gushing down the entire canteen in a few gulps. Once gone, she took it away and exhaled a lot of air. “That feels better,” she muttered to herself. She threw the now useless canteen away, and looked at each of her companions.

None of them seem to be faring any better, it seemed to her. Luna was up front, her head held high, yet the Dragonlord could make out tiny drips of sweat going down the pony’s body. Cadence, who was far behind her, seemed to be doing worse. She looked like her head was slowly being pulled to the ground, her body was soaked with sweat far worse than any of them, and a few of her feathers were out of place.

Spike seemed to be the only one not minding the heat, for he was still on Cadence’s back, laid out flat on his back with his head resting in his claws, seemingly asleep. ‘No wonder poor Cadence is exhausted,’ Fluttershy thought. She looked down and saw a small stone on the ground; one not big enough to hurt anyone, yet would still wake up Spike.

She stopped walking, and waited for Cadence to come up alongside. When she did, she picked the pebble up with a hoof, aimed with her tongue sticking out, and then threw it with what energy she could spare. The rock tapped Spike on the head, bringing him upright in an instant as he looked around for whoever disturbed his naptime. “Fluttershy!” he shouted when he realised it was her. “What did you do that for?”

Fluttershy glared at him in response, then simply gestured for him to get off Cadence’s back. Spike looked at Cadence for a moment as he considered what Fluttershy asked him, then back at her and nodded. Fluttershy smiled at him in thanks, and trotted on.

“Say, Cadence?” Spike asked from her back. “Mind if I get down and walk for a while? My legs could do with a stretch.”

Cadence looked back at him with a small smile, her eyes sparkling with a small amount of relief. “Sure you can,” she replied. She lowered herself onto her knees, and let Spike jump off at a run.

“Thanks, Cadence,” he said, before running up to Fluttershy.

“Did I hurt you when I threw the stone?” Fluttershy asked worriedly once Spike was beside her. “I didn’t mean to if I did.”

Spike shook his head. “No you didn’t. All the same, it might have been easier if you had just asked.”

“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Fluttershy responded. “Sorry.”

Spike waved the apology away with a claw. “Don’t be, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t thinking straight. We all have a lot on our minds.”

Fluttershy smiled at him, glad she was forgiven. She suddenly noticed something in his eyes she rarely saw in him. A bout of curiosity and interest. “What about you, Spike?” she queried. “What do you have on your mind that involves me?”

Spike gave her a look of disbelief. “How did you know I wanted to ask you something?”

“You just looked like you wanted to ask me something, that’s all,” Fluttershy replied with a shrug. “So anyway, what is it you wanted to ask?”

Spike nodded. “I was wondering, if you could or are willing, to tell me more about the Dragonlords?”

Fluttershy’s small smile faded a little. “Like what?”

“You know, how they came about, what they did, that sort of thing. When you were telling us about them yesterday, and how you defeated Heimadale or whatever his name was, I was intrigued, to put it one-way. I just wanted to know more about them, because they sounded awesome.”

Fluttershy wanted to say that there was nothing awesome about an order of killers, but went against it. Spike was still a baby dragon and, like most children who didn’t know any better, was still naïve about such things. “Oh… okay, I think.” She cleared her throat then began to tell the history of the Dragonlords, loud enough so that everypony else could hear as well incase if they were interested.

“Okay, so um… Where to begin? Uh… Oh yes! At the start, I suppose. The Dragonlords were a knightly order of warriors formed nearly five thousand years ago to protect everyone that lived, and anyone that couldn’t protect themselves. They were made up from the strongest earth ponies, the fastest pegasi and the most powerful unicorn magi.

“They were formed in the aftermath of the Great War, when a great dragon king called Yngvi, ordered his dragons to attack every nation that was caught in the conflict, and restore the peace. Unfortunately, despite the strength and power of the dragons, they failed, and Yngvi’s son, Meili, was killed in the resulting battles.

“Afterwards, Yngvi was banished from the Dragon Kingdom by the other dragons for violating the code of peace the dragons had formed to protect the races of Terra. Yngvi, devastated with his loss and dismayed at the hatred these creatures had for each other, claimed that they should no longer exist, and vowed to wipe everything out. After a hundred years, he used the sun’s energy to give himself a new identity and form. With this magic, he became Heimdallr, the self-proclaimed Illuminator of the World, and he set about to purge the earth with fire.

“He began by annihilating the kingdom of Ferghana, the country from where the story of the creation of Hearts and Hooves day came about. After demonstrating his powers there he moved on and wiped out at least four races, and had brought several other races close to extinction.”

Cadence, Luna and Spike looked at her in horror. “That sounds horrible,” Cadence said.

“It was,” Fluttershy agreed with a nod. “Heimdallr forced me to see the destruction of Ferghana. I couldn’t do anything to help anypony; all I could do was watch as Heimdallr demolished the place and burned everything that lived there.”

She shuddered quickly in remembrance, and then continued. “After a while, Vidarr the First, the greatest of the dragons, ordered his elite dragon warriors to attack Heimdallr and bring him down. They all failed.

“Once he had defeated the dragon warriors, Heimdallr turned on the Dragon Kingdom itself. Using a spell he had learnt from Discord, or another one of his race, he manipulated the minds of every dragon that lived, turning them towards greed, and selfishness. The resulting spell destroyed the Dragon Kingdom, as every dragon tried to tear each other apart for its riches.

“Yet somehow, Vidarr managed to hold onto his mind. In a last desperate act, he summoned the strongest earth ponies, the fastest pegasi and the most powerful unicorns to the ruins of their kingdom. There, using ancient and forgotten magic, and splitting his body and soul into little pieces, he gave it to the two thousand ponies brought before him.

“Vidarr was killed in the process, but he gave himself up knowing that the ponies he had chosen would be able to defeat Heimdallr where many others failed. With improved hearing and eyesight, the acquirement of a whole new language, a stronger skeleton and body and an increase in their natural lifespan, they tracked Heimdallr over Horsca and defeated him in a great battle.”

Fluttershy paused as her ears fell flat and her head dipped. “But they didn’t kill him. Instead, they locked him up in a prison beneath a huge lake; with water so cold you would freeze to death in seconds. They simply left him down there and went on to other things.”

“So, why didn’t they finish what they started?” Luna asked. “Surely anypony could see that leaving that monster alive was a great mistake.”

“It was a great mistake, Luna,” Fluttershy agreed, “and the Dragonlords paid for it with their existence. Most of the Dragonlords were blindingly arrogant, unable to see that keeping Heimdallr alive was too dangerous a risk. Some saw through it but were always silenced before it could be acted upon. While the Dragonlords bickered amongst themselves, or fought against far lesser threats, Heimdallr began a war of destruction against the Dragonlords, and hammered them until recently, when it was only me, and my father left.”

Spike gasped. “Your father?” Fluttershy looked at him and nodded. “But, Twilight told me you were raised at an orphanage.”

“I was, Spike. My father left me there when I was one month old.”

Spike looked disgusted. “Why would somepony do that? That’s just wrong.”

“I agree with Spike on this one,” Luna agreed. Cadence nodded as well. “It seems a mighty despicable thing to do to one’s own daughter. Unless, it was without proper reason. Why did your father leave you at the orphanage?”

“Because my father loved me and my mother too much,” Fluttershy answered. “He knew I had Dragonlord blood in me, and knew that my mother wouldn’t have approved of this. Neither did he. He didn’t want me to lead the life he had, one of adventure, death and destruction, so he gave me up to see me safe.” She paused to chuckle at something. “It’s a shame I couldn’t escape that fate.”

Her three companions nodded in understanding. “So, how did you become a Dragonlord?” Cadence enquired.

Fluttershy shuddered once more at the memory. “Do you all remember the sudden dragon attack Ponyville suffered two years ago?”

They all nodded sadly. “I remember it clearly,” Luna said grimly. “I was with my sister for lunch when we were delivered the news. I still remember my sister’s face turning into one of horror as she read the letter detailing what had transpired in the town. I remember her dropping everything and running out the door with tears in her eyes. She didn’t even stop to tell me what’s wrong.” Her eyes widened when she realised what Fluttershy was getting at. “So you… and when you said yesterday you were killed by dragon flames… that was that day?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, Luna. The dragon killed me, and after a while I rose from the ashes, completely re-healed, and sent the dragon packing. It was then where my true purpose was shown to me.”

“So,” Spike quickly changed the subject, “what happened to your father? How comes I haven’t seem him around yet?” The others glared at Spike for saying such a thing, for it was obvious to them what did happen to her father.

Fluttershy brought her head low, and her mane drooped over her eyes. “Because he died two years ago, Spike. I watched him get picked up by the teeth of a dragon, then hurled through the air and back onto the ground. By the time I dealt with the dragon, he was already dead. I never said goodbye to him. I never even got the chance to say how much I loved him.”

She looked past her mane when she felt a claw touching her shoulder, to see Spike looking back at her with sad eyes. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled at him bravely, and gave him a quick nuzzle. “It’s okay, Spike. I know he’s all right now.” She looked up at the sky and smiled, wondering if her father and mother were watching her right now from the heavens.

Spike tilted his head in confusion. “So, uh,” Spike moved on, “Are you sure there are no other Dragonlords?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “There aren’t any at the moment. I’ve been keeping my ears close to the ground for two years to hear of any news of weird happenings like what happened to me elsewhere in Equestria, but so far there have been none. But maybe one day there will be another.” She paused to sigh sadly. “Just not from me.”

“Ah, isn’t that a bit harsh on yourself?” Cadence said gently. “I know from Twilight how shy you are, but I’m sure you will find yourself a stallion someday to give you children.”

“That’s just it, Cadence,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head. “I can’t have children.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. “You mean you’re… barren?” Spike whispered.

Fluttershy nodded, and then smiled bravely while cautiously draping a wing over Spike. “It’s okay, Spike. It was years ago I learnt I would never have children, and I don’t see the point being miserable about it anymore.”

Luna turned her head back around, her expression in a state of puzzlement. “Hold on. You said that when you were killed by the dragon you were completely re-healed, right?” Fluttershy nodded in response. “Well then surely your ability to bring life was re-healed when you were reborn as a Dragonlord. Right?”

“Actually, Luna, Twilight thought of that about a year ago,” Fluttershy replied with a small grimace. “She said that maybe my reproductive organs might have been healed when I became a Dragonlord, so me and her went to the hospital to get them checked out.” Her ears flattened. “And we learnt that I still can’t have foals. I came out of that hospital with only wounded pride.”

She looked away from them all for a moment as she quietly sniffed up her tears. Her hopes of one day having children to call her own were dashed with just a few words. She remembered as they headed back into town Twilight trying to comfort her, which worked to some degree. They parted ways after a cup of tea and a small exchange of words.

A sudden, horrible thought made its way into her mind. What if that day was one of Twilight’s nasty ways to get at her? What if, when she left, Twilight laughed about it, then ran off to tell the others? ‘NO!’ Fluttershy yelled in thought. She knew Twilight too well to think she was capable of such cruelty. That was above the unicorn.

However, the sudden image of Twilight smirking evilly as she left the library now stained her mind, putting her thoughts and beliefs of her friends into doubt. What if her friends were always like that when she wasn’t around? What if they truly did hate her? ‘No, no, no, no, NO!’ she shouted once more. They were her friends. They were all part of the Elements of Harmony – at least, she once was. But even that was taken from her, ripped from her very soul. Yet, she would live by what it stood for, as she has always done; the Element chose her for a reason, after all.

She was taken out of thought when she suddenly saw something to the left of her in the desert. Something that shouldn’t have been there. “Luna! Cadence! Spike!” she called to the others, who had walked a bit further while she had lagged behind.

Her three companions stopped, then quickly turned back to her. “What is it?” Cadence asked once they were up close to her.

Fluttershy just pointed to the thing. “Do any of you know what that is?” Her fellow travellers looked to where she was pointing, and gasped.

Thanks to being in the desert for seemingly a long time, the old buildings and walls could easily have been mistaken for natural rocks. One building was a massive bulk of wood and stone at the base, while a piece of it spiralled into the sky like a spear stuck in the ground. One of the other buildings, one that looked to have been a rectangular shaped object, was a heap of rubble, while around it was the remnants of what appeared to have been an outer wall.

“A part of the Dotted Wall,” Luna stated, a look of joy on her face.

“Um, excuse me, but what is it?” Fluttershy asked, looking at her expectantly.

“One of the hundreds of forts and castles that were built as a wall across the border of southern Equestria to keep the changelings out of our lands,” Luna explained. “When me and my sister came to power, we were the only ones who could defend our country from enemies. The greatest of these were the changelings, who attacked our country with ruthless efficiency, sacking towns, killing those who opposed them, and draining the love out of those that had surrendered.

“Me and my sister drove them back several times while the guard regained strength, but we were just two against thousands. We couldn’t be everywhere at once. Therefore, we literally banged our heads together to come up with a plan to try to keep them out forever.

“At first we came up with a large wall that stretched across the south, but quickly came to realise what little good that would do when your enemies can simply fly over. So we had these forts and castles built like a wall, with large beacons at the top of the towers that would warn Equestria of any threat from the south. Annoyingly, the changelings didn’t come after they were built, so they were garrisoned for a period of time, then abandoned. Shame really. I was looking forward to bashing more changeling skulls together.”

Fluttershy and Spike looked at each other, sickened by Luna’s thirst for such brutality. “Well,” Cadence said, smirking, “if somepony would have been there at my wedding a bit earlier, then maybe she might have had the chance to do just that.”

“Hey, in my defence, I was busy with another very important affair,” Luna countered. “One so extremely important the entire night sky would crumble apart without it.”

“Like what?” Fluttershy and Spike asked together.

“Like taking a doze every once in a while!” Luna answered, rather proudly by the tone of her voice. “My sister should do it more often. Probably might have helped to slow her descent into insanity.” She turned away from the others to look back at the ruined castle.

“Did she really sleep through the whole changeling invasion?” Fluttershy whispered into Cadence’s ear.

“Oh yes,” Cadence whispered a reply, nodding. “My aunt could sleep through a volcanic eruption if she wanted to.” She was about to say more, but Luna turning around to face them brought them her attention.

“Okay, if I remember me and my sister’s designs, these castles were connected by an old path that was weaved together by magic. If it still exists, we can use the path to make our way out of the desert before we start going in circles.”

“Well that would be hard since we’ve been walking in a straight line all this time,” Spike muttered to Fluttershy. The pegasus snorted in a vain attempt to suppress a giggle.

“You two can laugh,” Cadence whispered to them, trying hard not to chuckle also, “but Luna doesn’t have a very good sense of direction; if we kept following her lead and not whatever she has planned, we would probably end up back in Canterlot.” With that, the three began to snicker while trying to be discreet about it, and failing miserably.

Luna scrunched up her nose at the three. “If I recall, it was only once that I got myself and my sister lost in the wilderness. As you can see, we came out okay. Now please be silent while I try to concentrate.”

She then turned around and allowed her horn to start glowing its dark blue colour. Fluttershy felt herself leaning forward in anticipation for what could happen, as did Spike. After a minute or so, the colour surrounding her horn faded, and the world went silent once more. Luna opened her eyes and stepped back, waiting alongside the others for what she just summoned.

At first, much to Fluttershy’s disappointment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a small bright silvery orb appeared with a gentle humming sound. It shot out of the ground and flew into the air like a firework, before descending gently back to the ground like a balloon and floated above the ground like a jellyfish, pulsating a silver light every now and then.

Fluttershy felt her mouth open in surprise, and utter delight. “Is that a wisp?” she asked, her eyes widening.

Luna looked her way, and nodded with a wry smile. In a yellow flash, Fluttershy was next to the creature of magic and examining it to the point her muzzle was touching it. “It’s so cute!” she exclaimed, weaving her way around it with a look of sheer delight.

Cadence, Spike and Luna could only roll their eyes at the scene. If Fluttershy noticed, she didn’t care or show it. Her entire focus was on the little adorable ball of glowing light in front of her. The wisp slowly moved towards her, and gave her something akin to a comforting nuzzle on her cheek. Fluttershy’s cheeks went bright pink, but she held a warming smile as she returned its affections. The nuzzle from the wisp felt like it was a way of the creature saying that everything would be fine, and Fluttershy believed it.

‘If Twilight were here, she would be just as delighted as I am,’ she thought. Her mind quickly imagined Twilight dancing around the wisp with a delighted grin on her face, while the others – minus herself, for she would be dancing alongside her – looked on perplexedly. Her ears fell flat as she thought about Twilight, and the others. ‘I would do anything to have things be the way they once were,’ she thought sadly.

Another thought told her she was doing something now to make things right again. The whole journey she was about to undertake was just the start of what would be her toughest test as a Dragonlord, and she knew if she failed, she could never save her friends, or Celestia, or all of Equestria, from whatever held them. ‘I will not fail,’ she thought. The wisp gave off another pulse of light, brighter than the last, as if it was saying, I know you won’t.

A sudden sound like popping made her squeak in fright and jump up and away from the wisp. She turned around, only for her eyes to widen in delight even more to the point she thought they might fall out. One by one, wisps began to appear from out of the ground, forming a curved but aligned path that began to grow longer and longer into the distance and heading west.

Luna chuckled at the look on Fluttershy’s face, which was one of sheer disbelief. “Me and my sister summoned these wisps at the creation of these castles,” Luna explained. “Wisps are creatures that are always willing to help a traveller lost and alone in the most isolated places.” She looked around to address them all. “Should any of you ever get lost, and find yourself alone, think hard and offer a silent prayer, and the wisps will come to help you.”

The two ponies and one dragon nodded. “We’ll remember that, aunt. Thank you,” Cadence said, smiling.

Luna nodded, then gestured with her head towards the wisp path. “Come on, then. Let us make haste while my sister’s sun shines above us.” She turned around, and broke into a trot to follow the wisps while they stayed put. Cadence and Spike followed quickly after her.

Fluttershy let out a sigh as she broke into a trot to catch up to them. She stopped and looked back when she heard a long hum from behind her. She watched with sad eyes as the first wisp sank back onto the ground, and then evaporated like a puddle of water, till there was nothing left to say it was there.

“Such a beautiful creature,” she whispered to herself. She turned away and broke into a canter to catch up to the others, her fears and troubles now plaguing her mind even greater than before.

The rest of the day’s journey, to the point when the sun was at the edge of the horizon, was mostly done in silence, save for the sound of the humming from the wisps as they appeared and disappeared as they trotted swiftly past. Fluttershy felt a pang of sadness flow through her every time she heard a wisp fade out of existence behind her.

It seemed to her that the wisps were a metaphor to life itself; bright and beautiful at the start, yet it eventually fades away and returns to the ground from whence it came. Although that was the way of life, it was a sad thing to think about, and Fluttershy hated thinking about the sad aspects of life.

“Something on your mind, Fluttershy?” The young Dragonlord shot her head up to see Luna was now walking next to her, looking at her with concern.

“Um, yes, quite a bit actually,” Fluttershy answered with a few tiny nods.

“Care to share?” Luna asked, tilting her head upwards a little.

Fluttershy looked back at where the path once was. “I was just thinking about all those wisps, and what could have happened to them.”

Luna looked back with her at the former path they took. “Ah yes. Well have no fear for them, Fluttershy Firewing, for wisps cannot die. They simply return to the ground and await their next summons,” she answered.

Fluttershy felt relieved to know that they never actually died, but she still couldn’t understand where they came from. “Luna? Don’t worry about answering if you don’t know, of course, but I was just wondering: where do wisps come from?”

Luna smiled at Fluttershy’s rather inquisitive nature. “Wisps are creatures of magic,” she replied. “So naturally, wisps are born in the place where magic itself is stored.”

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. “Then, where is magic stored?” she asked.

Luna’s smile grew wider, forming into a thin grin. “Magic exists between the three realms, my dear Fluttershy: Tartarus, Terra and Paradise. It is there where magic stays, and at certain points across Terra where it seeps into our world like lava.

“There are a few stories relating to the immaterium, as it is known. At the creation of the world, and the three realms, magic connected the pieces of rock that floated in space like putting a jigsaw together, only this time the hold was stronger than the hold of glue. However, even the strongest glue can break and crack. When the dragons emerged as the first race, they found tears across Terra where magic seeped out and spread across the earth. The longer they remained near it, the more they became exposed to it. Eventually, they were gifted with the abilities of breathing fire, and creating other magic spells. They became the first magi of Terra.

“Another story involves the creation of unicorns. About two thousand years after the creation of the three realms, a large group of earth ponies were wandering across the world, seeking a new home and a better life for themselves. Eventually, they came across a large tear that rested on the face of a mountain; only they thought that it was an entrance of a cave. So, they proceeded in, all of them without fear. For their bravery, they were rewarded. They emerged on the other side alive, but not unchanged. For one, their minds were now fused with the immaterium, allowing them to use the magic that flowed there through the horns that now protruded from their heads.

“Of course, nopony knows if that one is true or not, but it is a great tale that you wish was real. Don’t you think?”

Fluttershy looked at her perplexedly, unsure of how to take the conversation further; the pegasus felt like she was the worst pony to have a long, casual talk with. Therefore, she let out a, “hmm,” in agreement, and then looked away from Luna and began to gaze at the scenery. The desert had begun to take life all around them, with cacti scattered about the landscape, and tall white husks of what had been trees appeared occasionally.

As well as natural objects, the path of wisps took them past more castles, some in better condition than others. The first castle they saw after the one they had discovered was just a pile of rubble, the second had its walls missing, the third had its walls but no towers, and the forth was relatively intact, but despite Spike’s wishes to rest there, they cantered on, eager to get out of the desert by day’s end. A hundred more castles passed them by since then, and just when they thought they were nearing the end of the desert, they would walk over another dune, and find many more miles of desert ahead of them.

“What else is on your mind?” Luna said suddenly, tilting her head a little.

Fluttershy spread out her right wing quick, gave it a shake, with her wing blades making a whistling sound as she did so, and then folded it back to her side again. “Sorry, just had an itch,” she explained, grinning sheepishly. “But I was thinking about how my friends, Celestia, and nearly everypony just turned against us and each other like they have.” In fact, that was what had been in her mind for most of the day’s journey, thinking over what could have caused the sudden change in her friends’ demeanour.

Luna let out a sigh, as though she was tired of this. “You really think that my sister and your friends have been altered to turn against us?”

“I don’t think, Luna. I believe,” Fluttershy replied. Before her mind could tell her to stop before she went too far, she asked, “Why don’t you believe me? I thought you would know your sister better than to think she could sink as low as she did.”

Luna glared at her, making Fluttershy shrink back fearfully. “Do not tell me how I should know my own sister!” she hissed.

Fluttershy used her mane as a shield across her face. “Sorry,” she squeaked. “I… I didn’t mean to cause offence. Please don’t be mad at me.”

Luna’s gaze softened quickly, as though she regretted what she just said. She looked away from her, sighing. “I can’t be mad at you, Fluttershy, because you’re right,” she said, her voice breaking. “I don’t believe you because I barely know Celestia anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy enquired, tilting her head in confusion. “When she came round for tea sometimes, she spoke very fondly of you. It sounded like you were both close.”

“Oh, we were close, Dragonlord,” Luna replied. “Once, we never left each other’s side. However, that closeness has faded away over the past four years.”

She let out a sigh, and continued to speak. “When me and her were little, we sang together, played together, and when we got older and took over Equestria we ruled together. We did everything together: founded new cities, created new jobs, created the Everfree Forest; all of Equestria was forged by us. Now look at it. Celestia has managed to forge all of this.” She gestured with a sweep of her hoof at all of Equestria. “She did this, and more, all on her own in my absence. When I came back, I expected Equestria to change, but never like what I saw in my time to travel the country.

“As I travelled the land to see what had changed, I saw that she had made Equestria into her own image, one of order and harmony, while my part had faded into nothingness. I thought we could be more sisterly again once I had returned, leave out the politics for one day and concentrate on being family again, but even that has been taken away from me. We once played and sang together, now her time is made up creating new laws and listening to other ponies’ problems, but never my own. Her and me rarely speak now, and when we do, it’s always about politics, the way the country is ruled, and so on and so forth. It is never about ourselves or anything else dear to us, like it used to be. If it wasn’t for her cutie mark, I would think a different pony was ruling the country.”

She looked back at Fluttershy, her eyes glistening with tears. “I wish I could believe you, Fluttershy. I really do. But I just can’t. I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes in a bid to fight back tears.

Fluttershy felt her heart snap at the pain Luna was in, and knew in an instant what she had to do. She jumped up and wrapped her forelegs around the neck of the night Princess, stopping the two ponies as Fluttershy hugged her. Luna opened her eyes, shocked by the sudden gesture. “It’s okay, Luna,” Fluttershy said softly, pulling her head back to look at her. “I don’t blame you for not believing me, for I’m finding it difficult to believe myself sometimes. Ever since we fled Canterlot my mind has been plaguing me with the ideas that my friends have never really been my friends. Yet I refuse to give in to those thoughts, mostly because I’ve known my friends for so long that I know they could never be like what they were in Canterlot.”

Fluttershy forfeited her hold of Luna, and hovered back from her, her wing blades whistling as they swung up and down. “If I knew how to change your mind, I would come out and say it. But I don’t. So all I am going to ask of you is to stand beside me, and help me uncover the truth. Would you do that for me, please?”

Luna looked deep into her eyes, making Fluttershy think she was looking into her fractured soul. Eventually, the emotionless look she was getting from the Princess faded away, as her lips curled into a smile. “You have a kind heart, Fluttershy. I can see why you once bore the Element of Kindness.”

Fluttershy blushed bashfully, and looked away, her mane flowing across her face. “Thanks,” she squeaked from behind her mane. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Spike’s excited calling pulled their attention.

“Luna! Fluttershy! Come and have a look at this!” he called.

The two ponies looked forward to see that Cadence and Spike had moved to the top of a small sand dune that stretched itself out like a wall. ‘Wow,’ Fluttershy thought as her eyes moved across the length of the dune. ‘It’s incredible what you don’t see until you are right up close to it.’

“Let’s go see what this is about, shall we?” Luna asked. Fluttershy nodded, and together the two galloped up the slope to the top of the dune, not stopping until they were standing beside Cadence and Spike and the line of wisps. Upon reaching the top, they instantly saw what had gotten Spike so excited, and their eyes widened in delight, and relief.

Ahead of them stretched roughly another mile of desert, with a ragged line of wisps stretching to the horizon. After that, the land was covered in a natural green. Across the horizon they could see a wall of forest, with trees taller than most Equestrian houses, and to the right, roughly five to seven miles away, was a large hill surrounded by woodland. And at its summit, standing high and proud, was what appeared to be a relatively intact tower of a castle, the rest of it obscured by a dense woodland.

“That looks like a suitable place we can spend the night,” Cadence said, pointing at the tower.

Luna’s eyes squinted as she made out the castle’s tower. “I concur,” she said a moment later, her eyes returning to their normal size. She looked towards the sun, which was now starting its descent under the horizon. “It is getting late, and I don’t think we could travel much further and find a more suitable place to camp for the night.”

Fluttershy and Spike nodded at each other in agreement. Fluttershy suddenly picked up a faint sound of whistling through her ears, almost like a strong wind. She looked behind her, and her eyes widened in horror. “And not a moment too soon,” she said, poking Luna on the side. “Look!” she shouted, pointing from the direction where they came.

The two ponies and one dragon looked behind them, and gasped in horror. Behind them, a long distance away, was a huge wall of sand and wind, swirling about as though a twister was being formed. “A sandstorm,” Luna stated. She brought a foreleg up to her forehead to block out the sun, and squinted her eyes to see it clearer. “And a big one at that.”

“You think?” Spike muttered sarcastically.

“How far away do you think it is?” Cadence asked, fidgeting nervously as she gazed at the wall of dust and sand.

“I would say a few hours away,” Luna reckoned assuredly. “We should be able to get to the castle in time if we’re fast enough.”

“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy objected, shaking her head. She lifted a hoof up, licked the base of her hoof, and brought it up into the air. The wind was strong, and getting stronger with every inch the sandstorm was closing the distance between them. “If I’m right, that sandstorm will be on us in less than half an hour,” Fluttershy calculated. She hoped her guess was wrong, but she was incredibly fascinated about sandstorms in school to be vastly incorrect.

“So what do you propose?” Luna queried fearfully.

“Basically… run,” Fluttershy answered as she began to back away.

The others didn’t need a second telling. Cadence tossed Spike onto her back, and then the three began to gallop as fast as they could go towards the ruined castle, with each of them looking back every now and then to see the top of the sandstorm beginning to appear over the dune wall.

After a mile of running, the dead, golden lands of the desert began to disappear, and around them brownish grass began to emerge from the ground. Fluttershy could feel her breath beginning to grow hoarser as they ran. Her legs, especially her hind legs, began to ache and groan in protest at the excessive use they were going through. The pain she felt running from her legs made her want nothing more than to fall down and rest. Yet her mind told her to keep going, knowing if she did, she would be engulfed by the sandstorm, and wouldn’t come out again.

In front and behind her, Luna and Cadence were running with ever tiring stamina. She could hear her friends’ breaths begin to sob as they tried to regain their breaths and keep up the pace. She could see that both of them were an inch away from giving up and falling down, but after looking behind to see the sandstorm was beginning to come closer, they gained an extra boost that kept them going. “Don’t stop!” Fluttershy goaded them hoarsely.

Eventually, the land was beginning to turn greener and brighter as they finally left the desert and were back in the grasslands. Fluttershy felt herself begin to slow down, but looked up again to see the tall tower of the castle coming ever closer to them, beckoning them to keep going. So that is what Fluttershy did; she continued to run.

She looked behind once more to see how they were doing, and her eyes widened when she saw the sandstorm, although having lost momentum since they left the desert, was still coming at them at a dangerous rate, as though some other force drove it forward. She quickly saw that they would be caught in it at the speed they were going, and felt her heart sink. She looked towards the castle to see it was too far to reach in time, and felt her heart sink even further. ‘Guess this is it,’ she thought sadly. ‘And this time there will be no one to fly us–’ Her eyes widened as that thought came into her head, and how incredibly stupid she felt at forgetting the one thing she was born with – again.

“Our wings!” she cried to Luna and Cadence. “Fly the rest of the way! We can use the wind of the sandstorm to push us away faster!”

Luna and Cadence heard her instantly, and spread their wings and took to the air. Fluttershy followed suit quickly afterwards, with her wing blades singing in the wind. As soon as her legs left the ground, she felt herself being pushed forward by the strength of the wind. Normally she would panic or try to regain control of her wings, but this time she used the wind as a guide, and trusted it. She stretched her forelegs in front her, stretched her hind legs out to give her a more streamlined appearance, and with her wings working with the wind behind her, pushed forward at a speed that soon put her, and her friends, out of harm’s way.

After a while of flying, and trying to keep control, the three winged ponies finally arrived above the ruined castle, and quickly inspected it. The castle had what remained of an outer wall that was shaped like a large square around the main keep. The main keep had a main hall that was shaped like a cuboid, while another part of the keep was to its right and shaped like a cube, with a near-destroyed single tower at the top left corner of the building.

Although there was more, the three ponies and one dragon were more concerned about shelter from the sandstorm coming at their tails, so they were relieved to see the main hall’s roof was still largely intact, giving them ample shelter from the storm. “With haste, friends!” Luna shouted as she nose-dived through a large hole in the roof.

Cadence whispered to Spike, “Hold on tight, and don’t let go,” before diving head first into the hole after Luna. Fluttershy looked behind her to see the sandstorm coming up close now, then followed her companions at a more relaxed rate, feeling glad that they were now safe from everything.

As soon as she came through the hole, and out of its way, Luna charged up her horn, and sent a beam of dark blue light at the whole, creating a black shield to protect them from the storm. “There,” Luna said breathlessly. “We should be safe… now.” With that said, she closed her eyes, and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Fluttershy’s eyebrows shot to the top of her head as she looked at Luna’s unconscious form. “Oh, you poor thing,” she whispered, tilting her head in sympathy. She wished she had a blanket to give her for a moment, but quickly realised she didn’t bring anything this time, not even her medallion containing the picture of her parents. Only her weapons. A loud thud behind her made her jump out of her skin, before realising it was only Cadence falling into unconsciousness as well, and Spike too, making Fluttershy smile softly at the way his small form was pressed against Cadence’s for comfort.

She looked up when she heard the wind beginning to howl, and realised the storm was now outside and blowing fiercely about them. ‘It should pass soon,’ she thought. ‘I’ll give it an hour before it dissipates completely.’ However, until it did pass there was nothing to do, except for what her companions were doing right now. ‘I could do with some shut eye myself.’

She lowered her hind legs until she was sitting on her haunches, and then lowered the rest of her body down until her head was resting on her forelegs. She shifted about for a bit until she felt comfortable, and when she was, she closed her eyes and fell asleep with the wind and the sandstorm moaning and whistling into her ears.

Chapter 6 (part 2)

Spike’s eyes widened with horror. “Trixie? As in ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’? The most annoying unicorn on the planet?” Fluttershy just nodded, giving Spike a reason to scream out, “WHYYYY!” He put his claws in his face, and groaned so loud the two ponies with him feared the building was about to collapse by his voice alone. “Of all the annoying ponies we could have possibly run into, why did it have to be her?” he complained. He started slamming his fist into the ground, chanting, “Why, why, why, why, why!”

Before Spike could complain anymore about this sudden turn of events, Cadence ran up to him and clamped a hoof over his mouth, silencing him. “Hush, Spike!” she shouted, glaring at him. “Unless you want ponies that are out there looking for us coming here!”

Spike took a deep breath to calm down, which thankfully worked, to the relief of the two ponies with him. “How can a pony be this far from anywhere?” Cadence asked aloud, turning back to face Fluttershy.

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” Fluttershy answered. “We might be able to find out where the nearest settlements are, and then plan a way to avoid them.” Cadence nodded in agreement. “Right, I better get back down there. Thanks for the stew.” With a bowl of stew in her hooves, she flew out of the door and back into the tunnels, flying slowly so she wouldn’t bump into the walls around her.

After a while of bumping into walls, spilling some of the stew in the process, and almost getting lost, she found her way back down the corridor with Luna and Trixie. The Night Princess was standing over the unicorn, ready to bring down Nightbringer if the need arose, while Trixie cowered in fear of the tall mare. Fluttershy would not have believed the sight unless she was there to see it herself. ‘What must have happened to her, though?’ she wondered as she approached, for when she looked into the mare’s eyes, she couldn’t help but feel a great amount of sympathy for her.

Trixie was just a shallow shell of her former self. Her ribs were showing, revealing how starved the poor mare must be. Her mane and tail was dirty and ragged, and her body was covered in small cuts and bruises.

Fluttershy approached cautiously, her wing blades whistling as she fluttered gently in front of the show mare. “Hello? Trixie?” she called gently, tilting her head a little. The mare in question looked up at her with frightened yet curious eyes. “I brought you some stew to eat. I’m sorry that it’s not a lot, but it’s all we can spare.” She set the bowl down in front of Trixie, and backed away. “Please eat it. Please?”

Trixie studied the bowl for a moment, before pushing it away. “I do not want any of your kindness,” she said grumpily, looking away.

Luna groaned. “Oh, Fluttershy, let’s just leave her and get back to the others. We’ll be wasting time and food with her, otherwise.”

“No!” Fluttershy snapped, shooting Luna a glare that made Luna visibly shiver and take a step back. “You can head back up if you want, but I won’t! Not while she’s like this!” She turned back around to look at Trixie, her eyes pleading for her to take a sip. “Look, Trixie, I know it’s not in your nature to accept help from others, but I need you to put that stubbornness aside for a moment if you want to live.”

“What’s the point of living?” Trixie muttered. “Everything that I lived for is gone.”

“There is every reason to continue living, Trixie,” Fluttershy said. “Yes, there are moments in our lives that make us want to fall down and give up. But if we let those moments control us, and guide us in what we do, then we are truly lost.” She put her hooves on Trixie’s cheeks, and gently lifted her head up to look her in the eyes. “Yet while we live, the things that make us want to keep on living are still there, but are on the ground, just waiting for you to pick them up again, that’s all.” She took her hooves off Trixie, and gently pushed the bowl closer to the unicorn. “And you can’t pick them up again if you’re dead.”

Trixie looked at her for a long time, before breaking her gaze from Fluttershy and brought it down at the bowl in front of her hooves. With the speed of a cat pouncing on its prey, Trixie grabbed the bowl with her hooves, and began gulping the stew down.

“Oh, not too quickly, please, Trixie,” Fluttershy warned her, raising a hoof to stop her. “It could be dangerous if you do that.”

Trixie looked up at her with narrow eyes, and then went back to her stew, gulping more slowly and carefully than before. With Trixie okay for the moment, Fluttershy went back to face Luna, who, to her credit, was still waiting for them. “You really didn’t need to stay, Luna.”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone with her, even if she seemed to be an old friend of yours.”

“Oh, she’s not my friend, Luna,” Fluttershy corrected her, looking back at the blue unicorn. “Just an acquaintance, really.” She looked up at Luna. “Did you find anything wrong with her?”

Luna shook her head. “I did a magical scan on her quickly, and walked around her to see. Apart from lacking proper food she seems okay. No forced entry, I’m glad to say.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, glad that such a thing wasn’t the case. Yet it didn’t make it any easier to understand what had happened to her to force Trixie down here to hide. “So tell me, Fluttershy. How do you know this mare?” Luna whispered in a hushed tone, so Trixie wouldn’t quite hear them.

Fluttershy looked over to Trixie for a moment as she ate the stew down greedily, as though somepony was about to snatch it away from her. “We first met her about four years ago,” Fluttershy started. “About six weeks after Twilight first came to Ponyville. She came with her own show, and showed us some dazzling magic displays, and boasted how she managed to defeat an ursa major.”

Luna snorted in disbelief. “Pah!” she scoffed the idea. “Nopony, not even my sister, could defeat an ursa major, for they are creatures of the night. As such, they are my responsibility to defeat.”

“Yes, well, it was quickly revealed that it was a lie, for she wasn’t even able to beat a ursa minor when it came walking into town; I wasn’t there to see it but Applejack told me all about it in the morning. She told me how Twilight was able to levitate the creature up, and then send it back to its mother in the Everfree Forest. Trixie ran out of town just after that, humiliated, and having lost everything.

“Just a year ago, Trixie returned with the Alicorn Amulet around her neck, and wanted to face Twilight in a magic duel. At first, she defeated Twilight, banished her from Ponyville, and enslaved us all as she became the new ruler. We all learnt quickly she was becoming corrupted by the Amulet’s power, and we needed Twilight back to help us stop her. I was sent out of Ponyville to find her, and found her in the Everfree Forest with Zecora. I told her what we had learnt, and she came up with a plan to rid Trixie of the Amulet.

“With our help, Twilight managed to trick Trixie into thinking she had an even stronger amulet, and was able to duplicate ponies, turn mares into stallions, and other spells. She took the Alicorn Amulet off herself, and we snatched it back and gave it to Zecora to store away. Afterwards, Trixie apologised to Twilight, which the unicorn forgave her, and went off with a newfound respect for her, and for others in general.”

As she finished, she looked back at Trixie, who was just finishing off the last of the stew. “So what happened in the past year to bring her to this? I thought everything was going all right for her.”

“Well, as you can see, everything has not gone all right for Trixie,” Trixie said, glaring up at the pegasus even as she looked ready to collapse again.

Fluttershy took a step forward, trying to resist the urge to hug the poor unicorn. “Oh, Trixie, what happened to you?”

“Yes, and what brought you rather suspiciously to this place?” Luna added. “The nearest settlement must be miles away from here.”

“It is. And there isn’t anything suspicious about me coming here,” Trixie replied. She let out a sigh, and began her tale. “When I left Ponyville, I began thinking about my life so far, and what I had achieved in the time I had been a travelling magician. The answer I discovered shocked me, and chilled me to my bones. I have done so little, whereas your friend, Twilight Sparkle, has became everything I once dreamed of being. She managed to get all of that by being humble, and modest and… well, just being good. While I got as far as I did by telling lies, and you saw how well that went for me.

“So I decided to turn my life around, and do something that many would see me as the Great and Modest and Kind Trixie, rather than the Great and Powerful Trixie most ponies know me by. Therefore, I started going around the cities and towns of Equestria, displaying my magic tricks, as well as telling great stories of many great ponies who saved Equestria many times in the past few years. Three quarters of the money I got from ponies listening to me went to the different charities around these cities, like Vanhoover; the main charity there was for a foal’s hospital.”

Fluttershy beamed proudly at her. “That is amazing, Trixie. I imagine the ponies who run the place must have been thrilled.”

“Oh, they were,” Trixie agreed. “They even asked me to put on a show for the young fillies and colts who were there. Of course, being the caring pony I am, I gratefully accepted.” She paused to smile at the memory. “You should have seen their faces, Miss…” Her voice trailed off when she realised she didn’t know Fluttershy’s name.

“Oh, y-yeah, I suppose we were never introduced properly. My name is Fluttershy Firewing, and this is Princess Luna,” Fluttershy introduced them, gesturing with a hoof at herself, and then pointed at Luna.

Trixie looked from Fluttershy to Luna in shock. “A Princess!” she exclaimed. She moved to rise, but a gentle hoof from Fluttershy set her back down. “Forgive me, Princess, for not bowing.”

“It’s quite all right, Miss Trixie,” Luna said, waving the apology away. “I can see you are not in a state for such formalities, even if they are not necessary, or acquired for me anymore. I am no longer a Princess of Equestria.”

Trixie nodded, although Fluttershy could see most of it went over her head. ‘Probably tired out, the poor thing.’ She zoomed herself back into concentration when Trixie began talking again.

“Well, you should have seen their faces, Miss Firewing. All of them had beaming smiles across their faces, and their eyes were wide with delight as I worked my magic on them. Everything was going fine; I left cities and towns behind me with happy ponies, and it made me feel like I accomplished something. Until…” Her voice faded away, and her smile disappeared.

Fluttershy and Luna leaned their heads closer. “Until, what?” they both asked.

Trixie looked back at them with solemn eyes. “Until about a week ago,” she answered. “Last Saturday I came upon a village of earth ponies about thirty miles or so from here, on the edge of the desert, and surrounded by forest. As always I set up my show and wowed them with my magic and my stories. Afterwards, they welcomed me warmly and as humble as could be expected of me, and we had a village feast that went into the night. Before midnight, I retired for the night, feeling content with what I did, and everything that has happened so far.”

She paused to shudder as the memory came into her mind. “The next morning,” she continued, her voice staying strong but cracking slowly. “I was awoken by several of the ponies, who were armed and looked extremely aggressive. They threw me out of my wagon, and drove me out of the village, with some of them throwing stones at me.”

Luna and Fluttershy looked horrified. “I know this village,” Luna muttered, drawing Fluttershy’s attention. “The ponies that live there are a peaceful people. Why would they harm somepony all of a sudden?”

“Still think that it could all be a coincidence?” Fluttershy enquired, lifting an eyebrow. Luna’s silence confirmed her answer. She turned back to Trixie, who had managed to recover from her sudden breakdown. “Why did they start attacking you all of a sudden?” she asked gently.

“They said it was because I was a unicorn,” Trixie replied, sniffing back tears. “That unicorns don’t have a place near them, and I should go and live somewhere else.” She took a deep breath to calm herself, and continued. “Afterwards, I was left out alone in the forest, starving, penniless, naked, and cold, I was forced to wander aimlessly into the wilderness, with a whole village of earth ponies behind me shouting insults.

“I eventually found myself in Las Pegasus, and was forced to beg for food and bits on the ground streets. Whilst there, I noticed the ponies of the city were acting really strange. There were constant arguments, and even large groups of militia being organised to supposedly defend the New Kingdom of Las Pegasus.”

Fluttershy and Luna exchanged nervous glances, both of them wondering, and fearing, what that could mean. “So what brought you out of Las Pegasus and all the way here?” Luna queried.

“It was this Saturday when I was forced out of town once more,” Trixie replied. “It was the early morning when I had to take extreme measures to keep myself fed and alive. I stole an apple from the market, and was forced to run when I was caught stealing it. I was chased out of the city and into the wilderness, where I managed to lose them thanks to the woods. That apple kept me going for a day, but it wasn’t enough, so I wandered aimlessly once more, hearing the harsh cries of ponies behind me who were looking for me.

“It was yesterday afternoon when I saw the tower of this castle, and willed myself there with what remaining strength I had left. I then saw the sandstorm coming this way, and forced myself to gallop inside. I took shelter in this tunnel, and rested to try and recover before setting off again, which I tried to just now. Then I saw you, Miss Firewing, and feared you were somepony from Las Pegasus looking for me. Therefore, I ran back down here to hide, and prayed you never saw or heard me. The rest you know.”

Fluttershy looked at her sympathetically, the urge to hug her, to give her comfort, becoming too much for the compassionate pegasus. Eventually, she caved in to it. She leapt onto the unicorn, and wrapped her forelegs around her gently. “Well, it’s okay now,” she said gently, rubbing Trixie’s back softly. “You are safe now. Nopony will hurt you.”

Trixie pushed her away. “But I’m not safe, though. They will continue to look for me; they are probably out there looking for me now! They won’t stop! They will never–” She was cut off from her frantic ranting when Fluttershy pressed a hoof against her lips, smiling assuredly.

“She is right, Fluttershy,” Luna informed her. Fluttershy turned her head around to face the former Princess. “The Las Pegasus guards ponies are some of the toughest in Equestria. They never stop hunting those that have committed crimes in the city. If they were not far behind from Trixie then they may be close by.”

Fluttershy and Trixie’s eyes widened with glinting horror. “So what do we do?” the Dragonlord asked.

“We have to get back to the others, and make haste away from this place,” Luna answered.

“But what about Trixie?” Fluttershy enquired, gesturing with her head at the unicorn, who was now trembling in fear.

“We have to leave her, Fluttershy,” Luna answered, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “I’m sorry, but we can’t afford to have her tag along with us. We only have enough food for four. Besides, she’ll be better off in a prison cell than with us.”

Fluttershy shook her head, glaring at Luna with disgust. “I can’t just leave her, Luna,” she said. “Not like this.” She began to slowly place Trixie onto her back. She could tell that Trixie didn’t like this, but the unicorn was too exhausted, and too weak, to argue with her or fight back.

“What are you doing?” Luna demanded as she watched Fluttershy struggle with getting Trixie on her back. “Do you realise that bringing her with us might name her a traitor like us?”

“I’m well aware of that, Luna,” Fluttershy replied. “But I can’t just leave her down here to die, nor can I leave her to the prison cells of Las Pegasus. If we could take her as far as Strutford then maybe we can leave her at one of the hospitals. Better yet, take her with us to Horsca. She will receive great care there.”

Luna looked set to argue, but closed her mouth when she realised that arguing with Fluttershy was pointless. Fluttershy was inclined to agree with her. Despite only knowing Trixie as an arrogant, spiteful liar who had once caused great havoc in Ponyville, her heart could not take seeing the unicorn in this state.

After a while, she managed to get the unicorn on her back, and felt the unicorn’s legs wrap around her barrel and hips. “Comfortable?” she asked, looking back. Trixie nodded weakly. “Right, you’ll be coming with us until you are better,” she said kindly. With that, she broke into a gentle trot, with Trixie bouncing on her back, and Luna just behind, her sword loose and ready to draw if need be.

“You don’t have to do this,” Trixie grumbled persistently. “I don’t need help. All I need is to lie down for a bit and fall asleep.”

“I know I don’t, but I am going to,” Fluttershy insisted, looking back at her with a small smile.

“Why are you doing this?” Trixie queried wearily. “Why are you going out of your way just to help me? You should hate me for what I did to you and your town a year ago.”

“Because nopony else will, Trixie,” Fluttershy replied. “And yes, you wronged me once, as well as many other ponies. But what’s the point of holding onto grudges? Grudges only lead to anger and hatred, and they lead to further suffering and anguish.” Fluttershy’s smile broadened. “We’ll take you to Horsca, and they’ll get you fixed up and better again. You have my word as a Thane of Horsca.”

Trixie sighed and slumped. “Why can’t you just get me to anywhere but Las Pegasus? Why make such a hassle in taking me there?”

“Because no city in Equestria is safe, Trixie. Not anymore,” Fluttershy answered grimly. She quickly recounted the news she had learnt in Appleloosa to the unicorn about the grim and unbelieving events that were transpiring across the country.

By the time Fluttershy had finished talking, she and Luna had rounded the bend and were walking slowly towards the main doors. “Are you certain of this?” Trixie whispered, her coat far paler in colour than usual.

“I’m afraid that Fluttershy speaks the truth, Trixie,” Luna confirmed sadly. “And if you’re correct about your story on Las Pegasus, then surely the newspaper can’t be too far wrong.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped and let her ears prick right up when she heard raised voices.

Voices that she did not recognise.

“Oh no,” she whispered. She lowered herself into a crouch, and walked up to the left-sided door. Luna followed suit, and hid behind the other.

“What is it?” Luna whispered nervously. On Fluttershy’s back, Trixie began to shiver in terror.

Fluttershy craned her neck around the door, and pricked her ears right up to hear whoever was out there. Her heart stopped beating when she began to hear what they were saying.

“Are the prisoners secure?” one stallion asked in a gruff tone.

“Affirmative, sir,” another replied in a far younger tone, but was still a stallion. “Me and Gedrin got the Princess before she could use her magic on us. We gagged her, tied her up quick and placed one of those unicorn things on her horn to stop her from using her magic. Dannica took on the little dragon. Tied him and gagged him pretty easily, I might add.”

“Good. Any sign of the other Princess, or the Dragonlord?”

“None as yet, sir. They might have separated into small groups so they’d be harder to track down.”

“Plausible, but I wouldn’t have thought so. They know they’ll be safer in full numbers. No, they’re around here somewhere.”

“What do we do now, sir?” the younger one asked. “Take the prisoners back with us?”

“No,” the captain replied. “With our numbers we wouldn’t be able to get far before their associates jump us and rescue them. The others and me will go back to camp and rouse some more troops. You will stay here and keep an eye on them. Do not under any circumstance engage Luna or Fluttershy should they appear. Let them free the others, and walk away from the castle. Once they’re out of the castle, and you know they haven’t spotted you, follow them a certain way until you can determine where they are heading. Report back to me as soon as you know.”

“I won’t let you down, sir,” the stallion said.

“I know you won’t, private.” With that, the two ponies’ hoofsteps faded away, as though they were heading back to the hall, where Cadence and Spike were now being held captive. A fact that didn’t help Fluttershy’s sensitive nerves. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, her breaths were quick and heavy and her eyes were wide with terror.

She glanced to her left to see a dark blue hoof on her shoulder, and looked up to see it was Luna’s. The winged unicorn gave her a quick shake to calm her down. “What is it, what’s wrong? What did you hear?” she asked.

“They’ve captured Cadence and Spike,” Fluttershy replied once she was able to speak again. Luna’s eyes widened in horror, and she could feel Trixie on her back beginning to tremble in fear of what might happen.

Luna took her hoof off Fluttershy’s shoulder, and peered around the door. “Did you hear where they were being kept?” she whispered.

Fluttershy nodded. “In the old hall,” she replied, gesturing with her head. Luna nodded her thanks, and then unsheathed Nightbringer from her side, bringing it up to her face. Before she could take a step outside, Fluttershy stepped in front of her. “Wait, what do you think you’re doing?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Saving our friends, Fluttershy. What does it look like?”

“You look like you’re intending to spill blood to free them, that’s what,” Fluttershy replied. She shook her head. “We need to do this without resorting to violence. Nopony needs to die tonight.”

“Well how are we going to free two captives from a group of guards?” Luna enquired, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head as she anticipated an answer from the pegasus.

An answer, which Fluttershy did not have on her tongue. “Oh, I don’t know how, Luna,” she said, shaking her head. “But I want to try this without having to kill a pony. And there’s only one guard now.”

“You don’t have to kill the pony, you know. Just leave it to me and he won’t feel a thing when I finish him,” Luna boasted, smiling wryly.

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes at the former Night Princess. “I would like to get to Horsca without having to see a trail of dead ponies behind me.” She peered past the door again, and looked up to see if she could see the guard. Thankfully, she couldn’t. ‘Okay, Fluttershy, you need to get your brain in gear,’ Fluttershy thought. ‘What do you have that can take the pony down without resorting to violence?’

Her first thoughts were her good looks. She could use her charm and body to woo the stallion away, while Luna scurried over to the hall and freed Cadence and Spike. After a moment, she shook the thought away. ‘That would never work,’ she decided. ‘I can’t even charm a pony into lowering the price for a ten bit cherry!’ Her mind began to work again as she tried to think of another way.

Another was to send the stallion on a wild goose chase after her while Luna ran into the hall and freed Spike and Cadence. Again, she shook the idea away. ‘I can’t go too far, or I’ll get lost,’ she realised. Besides, after a long day of walking, and staying up late at night, she felt like she couldn’t move too quickly, despite being a Dragonlord.

‘This is getting hopeless,’ she thought as she banged her head lightly on the door. She glanced up and saw that Luna was starting to get impatient. She realised that if she didn’t think of a way soon, then Luna would head up there and end the pony’s life. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, what else do you have that isn’t fatally lethal?’ She quickly went through everything she had: her weapons, her legs, her flanks, her eyes…

‘My eyes!’ she exclaimed in thought, grinning at herself. She knew exactly what to do. “Luna, could you take Trixie for me, please?” she asked pleasantly.

Luna, although looking confused, nodded, and gently lifted Trixie from Fluttershy’s back and onto her own with her magic. “Do you have a plan?” she queried.

Fluttershy nodded confidently. “You just need to stay down here, while I go up top and hide for a moment. Wait a minute or so, then make some noise really loudly to attract the stallion towards you. Leave the rest to me,” she explained in a hushed tone.

Luna looked slightly unnerved by Fluttershy’s plan, but nodded. With Luna on board with her plan, Fluttershy swallowed down the nervousness building up in her throat, and started walking out of the tunnel. “Wish me luck,” she said shakily as she tried to fight back her fear.

“Break a leg,” Luna said, smiling encouragingly at her. Trixie didn’t look up from staring at Luna’s neck. Fluttershy nodded gratefully at the Princess, then turned around and headed up the slope.

“Okay,” Fluttershy breathed, trying to keep herself calm, “just relax, Fluttershy, and keep it together. You’ve faced far worse than this. Far worse. You can do it. Just stare him in the eyes and don’t show any fear.” Yet she felt fear. A great amount of fear.

She quickly found herself standing out on the edge of the slope, and in full view of the hall. She spread her wings, and fluttered silently behind one of the ruined buildings to hide. After a moment, and realising she hadn’t been spotted, she peered over the wall to have a look around.

The moon was hidden behind a thick wall of clouds, shrouding the world in complete darkness. Fluttershy could barely make out the hall, and neither could she see through the nearest window the pony and dragon held captive in there, or the guard holding them.

Her mind suddenly came up on the subject of bats, and her eyes widened as another idea surged into her head. She might not be able to see clearly in the dark, but she could hear better than most, and bats were just as good listeners as she was. So rather than relying on her eyes for the moment, she would hear her way around.

She pinned her ears upright, and closed her eyes as she blanked out all thoughts and other nocturnal sounds like the owls hooting in the forest around them. After a moment, she could hear the sound of hooves clopping against the stone ground. ‘That must be the guard’s hooves,’ she reckoned. She listened carefully to the sound of the hooves, and her eyes widened when she concluded that he was coming this way.

Hastily, she backed away from the edge, and lowered herself to the ground, shaking in fright. ‘Please don’t look left, please don’t look left,’ she prayed continuously. Her heart went still, and her pupils shrunk to the size of pins when she saw him emerge from behind the building.

He was pretty tall for a guardspony. He had thick, strong legs, strong enough to cave a skull in with a single buck kick. His coat was a dark grey, and on his back, even though it was dark, she could make out the faint hint of golden colour on the steel plates of his armour, the colour and armour design for the ponies of Celestia’s Royal Guard.

Fluttershy’s eyes bulged when she realised he was a soldier of the Royal Guard. She couldn’t believe they had caught up with them already. They probably did not even know they were trying to escape the desert, or in the desert for that matter, so why were they this far from Canterlot? Were they out here looking for them and came across them by chance, or was it because of Las Pegasus? Either way, she knew she had to find out, and she knew he had to stay alive. ‘I might even learn what’s going on with the rest of Equestria,’ she reckoned.

Therefore, she waited and stood still as stone as the stallion walked slowly past, his golden eyes shining in the darkness and looking for any sign of movement. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when he didn’t stop and try to tackle her. Things would have got violent really quickly, otherwise. With her belly as low to the ground as she could dare, she crawled slowly after the stallion, stopping every now and then when he stopped, and praying that he would not turn around suddenly.

“Wahooo!” the sound of Luna’s voice echoed across the castle, making the stallion bolt his head upright and his ears flick up at the noise. He lowered himself into a cautious position, and moved slowly forward, the spear in his right leg lowered and ready to use.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes at the sound. ‘I have no idea what that was meant to imitate,’ she thought. She jumped a little when she saw the stallion was taking the bait and moving to check out the sound, and continued crawling after him. She prayed this would work, or otherwise there would be blood on their hooves; blood, that she would never be able to forgive herself for. ‘I’ve had the blood of one too many on my hooves already,’ she thought sullenly in remembrance to the first – and hopefully only – time she killed something with her own hooves.

Her father was in danger, and was knocked unconscious by a large, terrifying reman. In haste, she had jumped the creature, intending to only knock it out, but recoiled back in horror and sickness when she had opened her eyes to find Firewing in its side, and the reman lying dead with its eyes wide with pain. ‘Those might have been the eyes of a monster, but he was still a living creature that was capable of joy, pain, sorrow, and everything else we are capable of,’ she thought. Many times since coming back to Ponyville she wished she could go back and change what happened to what she would have preferred to happen, but knew such a wish was stupid and impossible. She knew she would have to just accept the fact she had killed someone, and move on. ‘Besides, I’m a Dragonlord. I’m meant to kill something,’ Fluttershy thought, yet those words sounded vile in her head.

She broke out of her thoughts when she suddenly realised the stallion was just by the slope leading down into the tunnels, and about to head down there after Luna and Trixie. ‘Time to see if this works,’ she thought, swallowing down her fear for the moment. She needed to brave, if not for herself then for Luna, Trixie, Cadence and Spike.

She spread her wings out wide, her wing blades glistening in the low moon light, and hovered silently just above the ground. She waited a few seconds to see if the stallion would turn around, and when she felt assured he wouldn’t, she floated gently forward, her nerves screaming at her to turn back and run.

However, not matter how loud her nerves screamed, she would not run. She is a Dragonlord of Terra, a warrior pony who had fought battles and defeated far greater foes than a single pegasus stallion of the Royal Guard. ‘I can take him down easily,’ she thought proudly of herself. Whether that was the arrogance of a Dragonlord speaking, or herself, she could not say.

She stopped till she was hovering just above the guardspony, who was looking down the slope with squinted eyes to try and make out who was down there, and figuring whether or not to investigate. This was Fluttershy’s chance, and she didn’t hesitate.

She quickly tapped the pony on the shoulder, making him turn his head around to see who it was. His eyes widened quickly upon seeing Fluttershy hovering behind him, and spun around in an attempt to take her down. Before he could bring his spear to bear, Fluttershy widened her own eyes, and used the ‘Dragon Stare’.

The ‘Dragon Stare’ was an ancient power, used by the first dragons to quell entire armies and send them running off the battlefield before any blood could be spilt. It was a trait passed down to every Dragonlord, and Fluttershy was a master of it, having used a less powerful version of it since her birth. Now with her Dragonlord abilities unlocked, she could use its full potential, and to any pony looking into it, was like looking into his or hers worst nightmares formed into one.

The stallion’s grey coat turned lighter as his wide, terrified eyes locked into her own, as hers ground into his soul. He spun his body around and began to back away from her, in the hope he would break away from this devilish mare’s gaze. He forgot that there was a slope just behind him.

He suddenly lost his footing, and fell backwards and rolled down the slope, screaming in pain as he fell. Fluttershy broke off her ‘Dragon Stare’ and clamped her hooves over her mouth in shock. “Oh dear,” she said aloud. She quickly looked over the slope to see the stallion on the ground, with his forelegs on one his hind legs, gritting his teeth as he tried to bear the pain. “Oh my, I’m so sorry I hurt you, sir!” she called down. She suddenly saw Luna appear next to him, looking down at him emotionlessly. “Luna! Is he okay?”

“I think one of his hind legs are broken,” Luna replied, her sword Nightbringer appearing in front of her, which unnerved Fluttershy slightly. “But other than that he’s fine.” She added in a hushed whisper, “But not for long.”

Fluttershy breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Ah, that’s good. Could you bring him up here please so we could have a look and see what we can do to help him… um, please?” Fluttershy squinted her eyes when she saw Luna now standing directly above the stallion, with her sword rising slowly in the air, and the stallion looking up at her in fear.

“Luna? What are you doing?” Fluttershy called.

“What is necessary,” Luna replied regretfully, raising Nightbringer above her head, and getting herself ready to strike down on the stallion’s head.

It took Fluttershy a heartbeat to realise what the former Princess was about to do. “LUNA, NO!” she yelled. In an instant she galloped down the slope as fast as she could, and leapt onto Luna, tackling her to the ground just before Nightbringer could embed itself in the stallion’s skull.

Before Luna could haul herself up, Fluttershy pinned the Princess down by the shoulders and side, and looking at her with shock and disgust, while Nightbringer fell out of Luna’s magic and clattered to the ground. Once Luna broke out of her daze, she looked up at Fluttershy with surprise. That surprise quickly turned to anger. “What did you just do?” Luna demanded.

Fluttershy did not answer; she did not want to answer. She felt sickened just by looking at the Princess. She took her hooves off the Princess and spun around to look at the stallion, who was lying on the ground, watching the scene with confusion. “Can you walk?” she asked unpleasantly, for she felt like she could not control her anger.

The stallion nodded stiffly, his features giving away his fear of what might happen to him. Fluttershy walked to stand alongside him, and then helped lift him to his hooves. “Put a leg around my shoulders if it helps,” Fluttershy said. The stallion nodded, and wrapped his right foreleg over her shoulders. She looked into his pretty gold eyes, and saw great fear in them, fear of what would happen to him. At that moment, her anger faded to the back of her mind, and she gave him a warm, assuring smile. “Come on, let’s take you outside.”

The stallion nodded, and together the two ponies walked slowly up the slope and out of the tunnels, leaving behind two dazed and shocked ponies. “Take care of Cadence and Spike while I look after him,” Fluttershy called to Luna, not wanting to turn around to look at her.

Once they were out of the tunnels and back in the castle grounds, they moved slowly across the pavement, and passed the hall. “By Celestia it hurts,” the stallion hissed, gritting his teeth and groaning in pain.

Fluttershy’s ears went flat at seeing this pony in such a state, so she moved a little bit faster just so they could get out of the castle and somewhere safe and secure for the moment. “We’re nearly there, just keep your leg up for a bit longer,” she said.

They were soon outside the castle boundaries, and on the edge of the forest that surrounded it. Fluttershy stopped and had a quick look and listen around for signs that the other guards were not far away. Apart from the sound of Spike grumbling as he was untied, and the occasional bird tweet, there was nothing. Slowly, she guided the stallion to sit on his haunches, and then backed away a little. “Okay, so which leg is it that hurts?” Fluttershy asked. She might not know much about equine anatomy to fix it, but she knew she could try and make it better.

The stallion looked at her with cold, yet frightened eyes, and then gestured with his head at his right hind leg, which was being held up and off the ground. Fluttershy walked up to him, then sat down on her rump and leaned her head in to get a closer look. The leg didn’t look broken, thankfully, nor was there signs of any blood from cuts. There was, however, a large red mark over the offending area, on the ankle. She brought a hoof up, and gently ran it along the leg to see how it felt.

The stallion kicked out in instinct when her hoof ran over the red mark, making Fluttershy flinch back by it, unhurt but startled by the sudden movement. “I don’t think it’s broken,” she said once she had recovered. “I’ve seen a broken ankle on a fox once, and it looked much different to this.” She tapped her chin in thought as she tried to come up with a diagnosis. “I think you might have sprained it.”

She looked up at him, and couldn’t help but feel hurt when she saw he was looking at her like she was an enemy. She knew she needed to win his trust soon, or she would learn nothing from him. “If I had any bandages with me I would wrap it up nicely, but I don’t, I’m afraid.”

She began looking around for something she could use as an alternative to help soothe the pain. ‘If I recall a book I had once read, there was a plant that grew under the trees that healed sprained legs.’ It was fortunate since trees surrounded her. Her eyes squinted as she looked at the base of the trees around them. Her eyes widened when she saw it close by. “Stay here,” she said, before leaping up and galloping towards the plant.

“That’s all I can do!” the stallion called back through gritted teeth.

Fluttershy ignored him, and slowed down when she was in front of it. A small herb, hidden among the trees and bushes, was one that always fascinated Fluttershy, and, she recalled, helped her out on many occasions when she had a sprained ankle. It was a dark green, with leaves like thin snowflakes, and shimmered in the moonlight that shone through the canopy.

She picked it up with her teeth, and quickly cantered back to the stallion, who looked at it skeptically. “How on Terra is a plant going to help me with a sprained ankle?” he asked.

Fluttershy spat it out, and ripped off one of the leaves on the herb. “This isn’t your ordinary herb you would find; this is a Doglaviris herb,” Fluttershy explained. “And it’s not exactly the leaves I want, it’s the water on them.” She emphasised the point by gently placing a leaf on his knee, then holding it down as the water from the leaf soaked in. “I’m so sorry about this.”

The stallion grimaced and groaned in pain, but that look began to evaporate as he realised the pain was easing away. Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile smugly at the look of disbelief on his face. She pulled the leaf away, and saw the redness of the knee was beginning to fade away. She took off the leaf, and placed another one in its stead. “Now, hold that down until the pain is entirely gone,” she ordered.

The stallion nodded, and quickly placed a hoof on the leaf, while looking at Fluttershy with disbelief. “The herb gives out water from what it stole from the trees,” Fluttershy explained. “The water is full of, um, basically painkillers that the herb emanates, and when worked into the ankle it heals it over a short period of time.”

The stallion nodded, though she could see most of it flew through one ear and out the other. ‘Am I beginning to sound like Twilight?’ she thought.

“Why are you doing this?” the stallion muttered, his eyes moving to look at the ground between them. “Why are you helping me?”

Fluttershy tilted her head as though confused by the question, then gently leaned over and lifted his head with a hoof so he could look her in the eye. “Because I can,” she said kindly, smiling gently. “Because I can’t stand to see somepony hurt, physically or mentally. So I help them, in anyway that I can.”

The stallion brought his head away from Fluttershy’s hoof, staring at her in surprise. “So, you’re not a cold-blooded killer?”

Fluttershy snorted in offence. “I despise killing, mister, and I am not cold-blooded.” She looked away, her eyes narrow and her expression cold. “Is that a nasty rumour being spread about me?” she asked, trying not to look or sound like she was hurt, yet she was. The thought of so many ponies hating her hurt so much more than any pain she had ever felt before.

The stallion nodded slowly, his ears falling flat in guilt. “It came from the high command of the Royal Guard, I think, and just got passed down to others. I can see now that those rumours are false.”

“Yeah, well don’t believe every rumour you hear,” Fluttershy warned him, glancing back at the stallion, “for they could end up hurting many ponies.” She suddenly noticed she had him talking, and decided to act on it while they waited for the pain to go away. “For instance, I heard one rumour about Las Pegasus becoming its own kingdom. But I doubt that’s true.”

She looked back at the pony, and saw in the stallion’s eyes the confirmation of that rumour. “I’m afraid that you have heard correctly, Dragonlord. Las Pegasus has separated itself from the rest of country, as has the towns in the desert, and Hoofington and Trottingham as well, now.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the ill news. “So, why are you out here? Because, I imagine you weren’t looking for us here intentionally.”

Again, the stallion’s eyes confirmed that belief. “Yesterday, the Royal Guard received orders from Princess Celestia to mobilise in full, and were split up, with some heading to the borders of these separated states, while others were deployed to try and keep the peace in the loyal towns,” the guard explained. “We also received orders to be on the look-out for you and your little band, and to capture and hold you until the Element Bearers arrive to take you away.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened even more. “The Element Bearers!” she exclaimed. That was bad – really, really bad. Twilight was an uncanny tactician and leader, and with Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity with her, they became an unstoppable team. ‘Of course Celestia would send them,’ she thought. ‘I doubt there’s anypony she can trust more than them.’ Now, she realised, she would have to outsmart the five ponies she could never outwit in her four years of knowing them. ‘Things have just got worse.’

“What about you?” she asked, gesturing at him with her head. “What brings you out here?”

“The soldiers of the tenth Royal Guard legion were dispatched to surround the territory of the New Kingdom of Las Pegasus, and await further orders until the envoys have finished their work– which, I might add, they will fail.”

Fluttershy tilted her head. “Wait, did you just say, envoys?” she asked, pointing at him with a hoof.

The stallion nodded. “Celestia had a whole group of ponies hastily trained to be envoys, and sent them to the separated states to try and bring them back without bloodshed. She’s given them all two weeks to convince the separated states to come back,” he explained.

“And, what if they refuse to come back?” Fluttershy asked nervously, already dreading the answer.

The stallion’s eyes moved to look in-between them. “Then I’m afraid that war is the only inevitable conclusion,” he answered grimly.

Fluttershy felt the colour of her coat drain from her body. ‘War!’ she thought incredulously. Not since the reign of King Sombra of the Crystal Empire had ponies spilt each other’s blood in a full-scale war. Not since the times of chaos and madness of that time in the past, where history is muddled and incoherent. ‘The hammer-fall that will split Equestria into chaos and violence it hasn’t seen in thousands of years.’

Now Fluttershy could see what Vidarr truly meant. The hammer-fall had been struck, the cracks had appeared and had begun to spread across Equestria, and it would only be a matter of time – two weeks, in fact – before everypony fell into them and be consumed in the fires of war. ‘I have to stop this.’ But the question is: how?

She didn’t know, and it made her more afraid than she was already. It was becoming exactly like she had feared. She now felt that she could not save Equestria from splitting itself apart, and save her friends from whatever held them at the same time.

Then she remembered she had those that were with her to help her undo this damage. Spike, Cadence, Luna… Her eyes suddenly narrowed with seething anger when she thought of Luna, and what she was about to do to the pony in front of her. ‘Once I deal with this stallion, I’m going to have words with Luna,’ she decided, though she couldn’t think of any kind words to say to her presently.

She cleared her head for a second and looked back down at the stallion’s hind leg, and said, “You can take the leaf away now, if you want.” The stallion nodded, and threw the leaf off his leg. Both ponies’ eyes widened upon looking at his hind leg, for the redness had gone completely. “Does it hurt?”

The stallion lifted himself onto all fours, and pressed the offending leg down gently until he felt it could take his weight. “It feels much better,” he replied, sounding surprised. “As if it wasn’t hurt at all.” He looked up at Fluttershy again, his look expressing his gratitude. “How can I ever repay you for this?”

“By saying we headed south, back into the desert with intentions to get into the Southlands,” Fluttershy replied, her eyes pleading with him to say yes. She saw his look waver and his eyes flick from place to place, as though he was fighting to decide on whether to go against his loyalty to the Princess, or his debt of gratitude to the Dragonlord.

Finally, he relented. “I’ll do that,” he sighed. “Anypony sent after you will head south. You have my word.”

Fluttershy smiled, even though she could not say whether or not he was genuine about it. “Thank you.” She gestured with her head for him to leave. “Now go, before somepony finds you here with me.” The stallion nodded, and began to trot out of the woods and away from the castle. “Wait!” Fluttershy called. The stallion stopped and turned his head back around. “I forgot to ask. What is your name?”

“My name’s Robyn, Miss Firewing,” he replied. He swiftly bowed his head. “I will not forget your kindness today, Fluttershy. Thank you.” With that, he spun around and galloped through the trees, and out of sight.

Fluttershy watched him go, and sighed. ‘I hope he was telling the truth when he said he would tell them we headed south rather than north,’ she thought in prayer. She sat on her rump, and let her mind begin to go through the information she had learnt from Robyn. ‘Okay, so we have two weeks before a devastating civil war begins,’ she summarised. She briefly wondered why would Celestia give them all two weeks, rather than rush in and slaughter them all before they could properly defend themselves, like the Celestia that Fluttershy met in Canterlot would have done. Just as she thought that, the answer came to her, and her face lit up in joy because of it.

‘She’s fighting whatever is holding her,’ she realised. Her eyes widened even more when she theorised something else. ‘Maybe this two week wait isn’t a political move; maybe it’s a message! A message to us!’ The Celestia Fluttershy knew, despite being trapped deep in the body of a madpony, still had enough power to burst out for a moment and instigate a two weeks’ notice for the ponies to consider coming back. However, it wasn’t for them to hear, it was for her and her companions. They were meant to hear the message, and use the two weeks to act against whatever was holding them, and save Equestria and everypony.

Fluttershy felt like bouncing up and down in joy, until her mind reminded her of one small problem. Even if the others believed her, two weeks is still too short to fix everything, so how could they do it? ‘We just have to hope Vidarr finds out what we need to know wherever he is,’ Fluttershy replied to her mind. ‘And be quick enough to tell us about it.’

She spun around and trotted back into the castle, intending to tell Cadence, Spike, Trixie and Luna about this news. She stopped and took a deep breath to control herself when she remembered Luna could have killed Robyn in cold blood had she not intervened. Despite everything she had learnt from the laws of the Dragonlords, she felt she could ignore one of the rules for this one time. With that in mind, she broke into a fast trot to get back into the hall.

She pushed one of the front doors open, sending it to the ground with the force of her push. She looked from Cadence, Spike and Trixie, who were sitting quietly together, to Luna, who had been pacing up and down as though she was waiting for something. At the sight of the Princess, Fluttershy felt sick again. The Princess was going to kill somepony in cold blood, wounded and frightened for his life, and that was something she felt she could never forgive; she couldn’t forgive herself for nearly doing the same thing.

She narrowed her eyes, gritted her teeth and trotted quickly over to the Night Princess, who started walking up to her, her eyes demanding an explanation. “Fluttershy, what did you do to the g–?” Luna was cut off when Fluttershy slapped her hard across the face, making everypony in the hall gasp in astonishment.

For a moment, all went silent – even the birds stopped singing. Luna and Fluttershy stood firmly where they were, with Luna holding a hoof against her left cheek as it went red. When Luna recovered, she slowly turned her head to look at Fluttershy, who looked back at her with eyes of burning rage. Her teeth were gritted together as she tried to keep her anger in check, but could not control it. And she was glad for that. She wanted to release it, to let it all out, and Luna was the only pony that she could release it on.

“What, the hay, is WRONG WITH YOU?” Fluttershy yelled, her voice bellowing across the hall, and making everypony back away in fright of Fluttershy’s anger. “I want to go through this without bloodshed, yet you think the only way forward is through the sword? If that is what you think then you are no better than a cold-blooded murderer!”

Luna took a deep breath, her eyes wide with shock at the sudden action from the usually quiet pegasus. “I did what I thought to be necessary, Fluttershy,” Luna explained. “I though-”

“Necessary! How can killing an unarmed pony who’s wounded and needs help be considered necessary?” Fluttershy bellowed, her anger only increasing at the meagre defence given by Luna.

“Because, Fluttershy, sometimes you have to make the wrong choices, for the best of your group,” Luna answered, glancing over to the others, who shrank back at her gaze.

Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm herself, which failed miserably. “Well that choice has been taken from you now! He’s too far away from you to get your vile hooves on him!” she yelled, pointing at the Princess’s hooves.

Another great silence filled the room, the others looking at Fluttershy incredulously. Luna was the only one to look enraged at her. “You let him go? You fool!” She snapped, bringing her head close in a bid for Fluttershy to flinch back. The pegasus, however, stood her ground. “Don’t you realise what you have done? You have risked us all with your stupid actions!”

“No, I haven’t, because Robyn said he was going to tell them that we just escaped and headed south!” Fluttershy yelled in response, bringing her head closer.

Luna’s face twisted further in rage and she brought her head closer, until the two ponies’ heads were locked in a fierce struggle for dominance. “If you think that then you are a stupid, gullible fool! He was a soldier of the Royal Guard! He would not betray his superiors just because you convinced him by spreading your legs!”

“How dare you!” Fluttershy yelled through gritted teeth, pushing Luna’s head back with her own. “You might, but I would never stoop that low! I healed his leg for him, that’s all! Besides, I don’t want to kill anything! I may be a Dragonlord, but there are other ways to end conflict without resorting to violence! See, you learn something new everyday! Perhaps you should learn some compassion, or did you lose all of it when you became Nightmare Moon!”

“Just to let you know, I stopped a full-scale war with the whole Griffon Kingdom and the zebras by words alone! And who are you to say that you don’t want to kill anything? It is far too late for that wish to come true, you know. I’ve seen your dreams and your nightmares, and I know that there is blood on your hooves, Fluttershy Firewing! More blood than I ever thought! Do you recall the pain in that reman’s eyes as you tore his li-!”

“ENOUGH!” Cadence bellowed. She jumped up and pushed the two ponies forcibly away from each other, then stood between them, glaring at both of them. “Is that how we are going to act, like children trading petty insults at each other in the schoolyard?”

Both ponies looked at the ground in front of them, now feeling ashamed of how they acted. “I expected better from both of you, especially you, Fluttershy! I thought you were above such childish behaviour!” Fluttershy shrank back from Cadence’s anger as though it was stinging, her look one of shame. “And you, aunt, I never expected you to stoop as low as to what you just said to her!” Luna shrank back as well. “You, outside, now! I’ll talk to you in a minute.”

Luna nodded, and briskly trotted past Cadence and Fluttershy, not daring to look at either of them, and went outside. With the nightly alicorn out of the way, Cadence turned to Fluttershy with a questioning expression. “Fluttershy, look at me,” she ordered sharply, yet gently.

The way Cadence said it sounded too gentle to Fluttershy’s ears, and she flinched back in response. After a moment, she looked into Cadence’s eyes, and saw the eyes of a warrior Princess, rather than the Princess of Love she had thought her to be.

Cadence was armed to the teeth. Strapped to her left side was the sword Luna had found for her, with its crystal pommel shining in the moonlight, and its cross-guard gleaming silver. On her right was the longbow, with a large quiver of arrows strapped to her back, ready to be pulled out and loosed whenever she desired.

“And just what do you have to say for yourself?” Cadence enquired, shifting an eyebrow in disappointment.

Fluttershy closed her eyes as tears of shame built up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cadence. I know I shouldn’t have said all of those things, but I couldn’t help myself. I haven’t felt that angry in such a long time.” She cleared her eyes, and looked back up at Cadence. “I apologise to all of you for seeing and hearing that, but I will not apologise to her.”

Cadence’s frown faltered slightly. “I didn’t expect you would. Now, I have an aunt to talk to.” She began to slowly walk towards the door, her swords and bow clattering with every step.

“Cadence?” Fluttershy called. The alicorn stopped and turned back around. “I want to know something: what would you have done if you had the choice? Would you have killed him there, or let him live?”

Cadence looked at her sadly, almost sympathetically. “To be honest, Fluttershy, and it isn’t easy to say this, believe me, but I would have killed him.” Fluttershy’s ears flattened across her head, and her eyes spoke of the betrayal she felt in her. “It’s not like it is an easy choice for me to make, it isn’t – far from it in fact. But like Luna said, it is the necessary one.”

When Fluttershy didn’t reply, she continued. “Listen, that pony was trained to follow the Princess’s orders, and would be entirely loyal to her and nopony else – not even you. He will tell his superiors that we’re heading north rather than south, for anypony can see that is where we’re now heading, and they will try everything they can think of to catch us between here and Horsca. Others will be informed, and they will try to blockade Horsca from us, or try to corral us into a place where we’ll be trapped. Silencing him permanently would have been made our trip there much easier, but the chance of a more peaceful passage has now been squashed, thanks to you.”

Fluttershy’s eyes lowered to look at the ground, finding herself unable to look at Cadence anymore. “How can you say that?” she asked, her tone stating her disgust. “How can you act so cold?”

Cadence’s own ears fell flat, and she sighed. “It’s not easy being a Princess, you know. Sometimes you make a choice, and though you know it is morally questionable, it sometimes is the right one to make.” With that, she turned away and walked out of the hall, leaving Fluttershy, Spike and Trixie in stunned silence.

Fluttershy shook her head, unbelieving that she had just heard that from a pony she thought was the Princess of love. ‘I thought she was an understanding pony. I guess I was wrong,’ she thought. She was wrong about a lot of things recently, it seemed. She rubbed her forehead, groaning while feeling her body tremble with anger. Despite Cadence’s plausible explanation, she couldn’t see how both Princesses would act and think so coldly. ‘Is that what means to be a Princess? To detach yourself from that sort of emotion to make it easier to take life? Is that what it means to be a leader?’ If so, then she would have no part in it.

She spun her head around when she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and saw Trixie looking at her sympathetically, shaking with exhaustion as she tried to stand upright. “For the record, what you just did back there was very noble. It was stupid, yes, but noble nonetheless.”

Fluttershy looked away, her eyes narrow and her ears flat. “What was? Letting the guard go, or slapping Princess Luna?”

“Both, actually,” Trixie answered, making Fluttershy look at her again in surprise. “Not many ponies could get away with slapping a Princess of Equestria, or even say they did. But I want to know: why did you spare him, and why was he, and all of those guards, after you in the first place?”

After a moment of pondering on whether to tell the unicorn, Fluttershy sighed and bowed her head once more. “Two days ago, me, Spike and the two Princesses were accused of treason by false documents stating our plans to go against Princess Celestia and Equestria.” Trixie’s eyes went wide in horror, and she backed away from her as though she was cursed. Fluttershy looked up at her. “We were going to be imprisoned in stone by the Elements of Harmony, and if it wasn’t for my friend Vidarr arriving, we would be in stone right now. We were framed, Trixie, and I want to find out who did it, and why.”

Trixie tilted her head confusedly. “I still don’t get how that answers you sparing that guard’s life?”

“Because, Trixie, we are not traitors,” Fluttershy answered. She pointed in the direction Robyn had fled. “And if he had died at our hooves, then we would become the traitors we are branded as. I would rather haul myself back to Canterlot and turn myself into stone if a pony died at our hooves.”

Fluttershy turned her back on Trixie and Spike, and sighed as she looked up at the night sky. ‘Did I make the right choice, dad?’ she asked. ‘Would you have spared that pony’s life, and let him go as I have done?’

Her father didn’t come down and tell her she made the right choice, as she had hoped, so she had to make do with what her heart told her, and it said that she was in the right. If he had died, then they would become the traitors they were named as, and they would have to run and hide like cowards. There were times when Fluttershy thought of herself as a coward, plenty of times, yet now she could see that this time was not the time to hide, or be a coward. They could only run. Yet even then, she knew they couldn’t run forever. With war threatening Equestria, she knew she had to stop and take a stand, like her father and her ancestors would have done.

After a moment of thought, she looked back at Trixie expectantly. “What about you? What are you going to do?” Fluttershy asked. “Now you know the truth, it would be easier if we parted ways.”

Trixie nodded in agreement. “You’re right, it would be easier. Yet I’m not going to leave you.” Fluttershy’s eyebrows flicked up in surprise, while Spike’s eyes widened in horror. “You have shown me great kindness tonight, and given me a reason to keep on living and going. I know it’s not going to be easy, running from everything and everyone, but if I can help in any way, then I shall.”

Fluttershy’s lips curled into a small smile. “Thank you, Trixie,” she said.

Trixie bowed her head. “So tell me, where are we heading?”

“To Horsca, in the north,” Fluttershy answered.

“We’re planning to go through the Unicorn Range to get there,” Spike added.

Trixie’s eyes widened. “The Unicorn Range?” she repeated. Fluttershy and Spike nodded. “Have any of you ever been through the Unicorn Range?” Both of them quickly shook their heads in reply. “Well it’s not a place for the inexperienced. There are hundreds of paths across the Range that could send you anywhere, or back to where you started. Thankfully, I know the routes you want to take to get north, so I could guide you there, if you’d like.”

Spike opened his mouth to protest Trixie’s guidance, but before he could utter a word of protest, Fluttershy slammed a hoof into his mouth. “We will gladly take the offer. Thank you, Trixie,” she said, smiling.

Trixie smiled as well; visibly glad she was going to be useful. “Right, I need to go and find that sword I had down in the tunnels.” With that, she turned around and walked slowly out of the hall.

“Won’t you like somepony to come with you incase you get injured or collapse?” Fluttershy protested.

“I’ll be fine, Fluttershy. I feel better than I did this morning. Now if you’ll excuse me, Trixie must find her weapon.” She broke into a trot and left the hall, leaving a fuming Spike with a slightly happier Fluttershy.

“How can you invite her along with us?” Spike asked, gesturing with an arm at the direction she just left, and glaring at Fluttershy. “She’ll be an utter nuisance to us – to me – and she’ll probably won’t stop complaining about everything – in fact, she’ll probably won’t shut up half the time.”

Fluttershy glanced at him, flicking an eyebrow up. “I don’t think she’ll be that much of a nuisance; we need her to get through the Unicorn Range. And I don’t think she’ll complain as much as some ponies I know. She is a travelling showmare, after all; she’s probably used to harsh conditions like the ones we’ll face when we get there.”

After a moment, Spike sighed. “I suppose,” he conceded.

Fluttershy slung a leg over his shoulders. “Now, Spike, I know you don’t like her, and for that matter neither do I entirely. However, she might turn out to be a real sweetheart. So, give her a chance like I did with Discord. Okay?”

After a minute, Spike nodded. “I’ll do it for you, Fluttershy, but if she annoys me once, don’t hold me responsible for my actions.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I won’t, promise.” She brought her leg back down, and the two fell into silence as they waited for the others.

A few minutes later, Cadence and Luna appeared through the door, the former looking at Fluttershy amiably and shamefully, while the latter looked at her with a hateful glare. ‘She doesn’t like me anymore,’ Fluttershy thought. She shrugged it away. ‘That’s okay. The feeling’s mutual.’

Trixie came through the door a minute later, her short sword sheathed at her left side and strapped around her neck. “Why do you have that sword?” Cadence asked, pointing at it.

“Because she is coming with us,” Fluttershy answered. Cadence and Luna spun their heads around to look at her. “She’s coming with us to Horsca to get some proper treatment from the horses.” The look she had on her face made it clear that the decision was final.

Cadence sighed. “Very well then. Let us get away from this place before the Royal Guard come back with more numbers.” With that, she led the group out of the hall and through the castle grounds. Fluttershy looked back from time to time to see if Trixie was okay, and relaxed a little when she saw the unicorn was still following them, albeit slowly.

Fluttershy stopped and stepped to the side, waiting for Trixie to catch up. “I’ll stay behind you to make sure you don’t fall too far behind,” she said kindly to the unicorn. Trixie nodded in thanks, and then broke into a trot. With Trixie in front, Fluttershy began walking once more with Spike beside her, silently glad to put some distance between herself and Luna.

“Oh, isn’t this great!” Trixie exclaimed as she walked, her body shaking to keep herself upright and moving. “Two Princesses, a baby dragon, a unicorn and a pegasus, brought together through circumstance! I think that if we are gonna stay together for some time, then maybe we should have a group name. How about this one? ‘The Great and Powerful Posse’!”

Instead of groaning like Fluttershy thought he would, Spike tapped his chin with a claw as he pondered on something. “You know, being turned to stone doesn’t sound as agonisingly bad as listening to Trixie all day. I think I might wait for the guards back at the castle and surrender.” He turned around and began to jog back to the castle.

Before he could get far, however, Fluttershy wrapped her tail around him, spun him back around and pushed him back to her side. “Sorry, Spike, but you’re not leaving my sight.”

Spike sighed and slumped as he walked beside her. Fluttershy could sympathise with him; the only time she had known Trixie was as a savage bully who had enslaved her town. Yet she had known Discord as only a monster, and she had become the only friend he had. All it took was time and patience to befriend the creature of chaos, and it would be the same with Trixie. ‘I will look past the arrogant side of her, and she will become my friend,’ Fluttershy declared to herself. Vidarr knew she needed all the friends she had if she was going to survive.

With that in mind, and slightly pleased their numbers had been bolstered by one, Fluttershy followed the others as they left the castle behind them, and wandered deep into the large woodland that surrounded the castle.

None of them dared to look back.

Chapter 7

When morning broke over the canopies of the trees above them, it was bleak, miserable and nasty, much like Fluttershy’s mood. Her mood only grew fouler when the heavens opened up and the rain began to fall.

She stared at the ground intensely, as though her eyes alone would make the earth break apart before her. Her ears were flat and her tail dragged behind her, picking up sloppy mud and dirt. She felt the rain hit her back like she was being poked a thousand times, and could feel the water dripping down her mane, neck, back and rump. It was enough to bring her out of her intense staring, and she realised her neck felt stiff and achy after keeping her head so low for so long. She let out a sombrely sigh, and then looked up for the first time in what felt like hours to take in her surroundings.

The land had changed little since they moved away from the derelict castle and had trekked deeper into the woods. Trees taller than the towers of Canterlot rose up into the sky, with huge branches reaching out to each other like they were holding hands. It was a sweet sight, and it made Fluttershy smile a little. However, even that she felt strain painfully.

Movement caught her attention and she looked right and tensed herself in preparation of an attack by Royal Guard ponies. She looked up, and quickly relaxed when she saw two squirrels and their two children looking out of the hole of a tree, hoping for the rain to stop soon. She wished she could stop to help them, but knew she couldn’t. They had to keep moving; they couldn’t afford to stop just yet.

For hours since leaving the castle, Fluttershy kept her ears up as high as they could so she could hear any threats coming their way, made reality by her doing. So far, they did not hear any trumpets or the cries of soldiers giving chase. Fluttershy was thankful of that, but it didn’t seem to improve the mood of any of her companions. ‘Thinking of which, I haven’t heard a peep from them since leaving the castle. Are they still with me?’

She looked back and forth at her fellow travellers, and saw that they more or less looked like she felt: cold, wet and miserable. Luna walked ahead, her head tall and proud, while her eyes were set in a hard stare of seething anger. Cadence was looking down at the ground, her ears flat and her mane looked longer, and soggier.

While Spike walked next to Trixie, looking more miserable than most as he had to put up with the unicorn’s relentless questioning; questions that were all about the one pony he wanted to forget at the moment.

“So, does Twilight Sparkle tend to keep her books in one, organised pile, has them shelved, or in an utter mess?” Trixie asked. Fluttershy pinned her ears up and glanced over her shoulder so she could see and hear this interesting, if not one-sided, conversation.

Although she was reluctant to let Spike wallow in misery while answering Trixie’s questions, she couldn’t allow the little dragon to leave her alone so the unicorn would fall behind. ‘Besides,’ she thought, ‘they might actually get to know each other better.’ Unfortunately, they hadn’t; in fact, it seemed to make Spike’s opinion on Trixie grow even worse. Nevertheless, she wanted things to work out between them all, or else they would never get to Horsca together.

“No, she does nothing to her books, except reading them. I do the clearing up while she gallivants off to do something else. Only one day Twilight sorts out her books and she calls that Re-shelving Day, complete with capitals,” Spike answered wearily.

He saw Fluttershy looking at him, and gave her a pleading look that said, “Please put me out of my misery.” Fluttershy smiled at him, and then gestured with her head for him to come and walk next to her.

“Fascinating. Well, what about magic practice?” Trixie asked, looking at Spike questioningly. “Does Twilight Sparkle practice new magic spells in her house, or in a meadow far away so nopony can see?”

“Anywhere where she can get some peace and quiet,” Spike answered. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Fluttershy about something.” He quickly raced away from Trixie’s side and jogged up to Fluttershy.

“It was nice talking to you!” Trixie called tiredly.

Spike cringed as though he had heard a fierce, scraping sound that rattled his ears. “Yeah, nice talking to you too!” he called back. He turned to Fluttershy, cringing. “Do you know how wrong Trixie talking nicely sounds?”

Fluttershy giggled, her mood now improved by the two’s conversation. “Twilight said to me how nice she spoke to her after the whole magic duel fiasco, so it isn’t impossible for her to sound nice.”

“Probably, but it still sounds so wrong,” Spike complained. He quickly cleared out his ears, as though listening to Trixie had filled them with unpleasant muck. “Thanks for getting me away from her for a bit, Fluttershy. I think I’ve heard enough about Twilight and what she does for one day; she even asked me how long she takes baths for! Baths! Trixie’s obsessed with her.”

Fluttershy smiled wryly at the little dragon. “I thought it was quite sweet, myself.”

Spike looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “How can you call an obsession like that sweet?”

Fluttershy gave Spike the most innocent look she could muster. “Well, it’s like when I was little, I had an obsession with a cinema star that I watched in one film. He was handsome, charming, had lovely blue eyes, and,” she lowered her voice and head and whispered, “he had a really nice bum.” She shook her head to clear the image from her mind, then looked at Spike again, who stared at her oddly. “What I’m trying to say is, it’s fine to admire or be talkative about somepony, so long as it doesn’t go too far and you end up having a shrine made in your obsession’s honour. That’s when obsession starts to get creepy.”

Spike looked at her with fascinated eyes. His look gave way to a small smirk. “You know, your words are going to come back and bite you on the rump, you mark my words,” he warned playfully.

Fluttershy giggled. “I doubt that would ever happen. Who would want to obsess over me, anyway? And don’t pretend you dislike obsession. You were the same with Rarity when you tried to win her affections.”

“Hey, I wasn’t that bad,” Spike said defensively. “I didn’t keep a shrine in the library basement with Rarity’s picture on the top of it – how would I explain such a thing to Twilight when she went down there?”

Fluttershy giggled again, visibly glad to have something else to think about. “I suppose,” she conceded. “But you still didn’t stop talking about her like Trixie did with Twilight.”

“Yeah, I know. But like you said, that was ages ago now. I’ve stopped trying to win her over ever since she announced her engagement with Hugo.” His look shifted suddenly once more, and then he looked behind them at Trixie again. “Why do you think Trixie wouldn’t stop talking about her? I thought she hated Twilight for humiliating her.”

Fluttershy glanced back as well, and smiled knowingly. “Oh, I think there is a reason, the only reason I can think of at the top of my head.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively, prompting Spike to look between her and Trixie rapidly as the wheels in his head turned.

It didn’t take much longer, as Fluttershy theorised, for him to get what she might be going on about. “She likes Twilight?” he exclaimed, pointing a finger in the unicorn’s direction.

Fluttershy shrugged as they continued walking. “Maybe, or maybe not, but I would be surprised if that wasn’t the case.”

Spike rapidly shook his head as though he was ridding himself of vile images. “Oh no, that would never work out,” he said. “Those two would be always bickering about magic. I can see it as though those two were right there in front of me.” His eyes narrowed in disgust. “Actually, I think I can, and it won’t go away.”

Fluttershy giggled, and quickly spread a metallic wing in front of him. “Is that better?”

Spike let out a sigh of relief, which was muffled by Fluttershy’s wing. “Much better, thank you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled as best as she could, and then looked forward once more as the rains continued to pour. Beneath them, the ground began to turn sloppy, and she could feel her hooves be consumed by the large puddles that were now beginning to form underneath her. ‘But where are we?’ she wondered as her eyes wandered around her. ‘Are we closer to the Everfree Forest, or are we closer to Las Pegasus?’

They had made good progress since leaving the ruined castle behind them, and had trekked deep into the woods whilst zigzagging their way across it, staying clear from any main paths incase they were being pursued. Yet the mood between them was colder than a mid-winter’s day. The only ones that had spoken in the many hours since leaving the castle were Trixie and Spike, the rest being simply too afraid or too angry to say a word to each other. And with every word left unsaid, Fluttershy’s mood had only grown fouler.

She still felt mortified at the coldness of the two Princesses, and how far they were willing to go to get to Horsca. She could not understand how they could think like that, especially Cadence, who she had believed to be a demure, almost peaceful co-ruler, the one who wouldn’t take up arms against anyone. ‘I was wrong, so very wrong.’ Cadence said it was the one of the worst things about being a Princess and a leader, and Fluttershy believed her. It made her feel like this task Vidarr had given her was now pointless, for it was grooming her into something that she could not, or would not, become.

‘But then again,’ Fluttershy figured suddenly, ‘you don’t need to be a bloodthirsty monster to be a good leader.’ The Celestia she knew and remembered proved that by being benevolent in all her dealings, and was kind to all but a few. ‘If I’m ever to be a leader, I need to take a page or two out of Celestia’s book.’ So as her mind thought about the current trouble escalating across Equestria, it flicked back a few times to the history books she loved reading that detailed Celestia’s reign.

“Excuse me, Miss Luna!” Trixie called, bringing Fluttershy out of her brooding. “Could you go and do something about this deluge?”

“It is raining, Miss Lulamoon, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done!” Luna snapped, looking back and shooting Trixie a coat-piercing glare that made the unicorn shrink into herself.

Fluttershy grimaced at the harsh anger in Luna’s tone. “She still hasn’t spoken to you since your little argument, has she?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy shook her head solemnly. “No, she hasn’t. And I don’t think she ever wants to.”

“Well, maybe you should apologise?” Spike suggested.

Fluttershy shot her head around to face him with a questioning glare. “Apologise?” she gasped. “Why should I apologise?”

“Well you did slap her across the face – hard, I might add,” Spike reminded her with a raised eyebrow. “Even I felt that.” He absently rubbed his cheek gently as though Fluttershy had slapped him there.

Fluttershy raised a hoof and opened her mouth to make a point, yet no words came out of her mouth. After a moment, she let out a sigh and let her head fall. “You’re right, Spike. I shouldn’t have done that, but I haven’t felt that angry in a long time.” She looked up at Spike, shame written in her eyes. “I will apologise to her for that.” That shame suddenly disappeared, to be replaced by a hardened stare. “But I will not apologise for sparing that soldier’s life.”

“I’m not asking you to apologise for sparing that soldier’s life. For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.”

Fluttershy slowly lifted her head up high, looking at him with a small smile. “You really mean that?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Even after what he and the rest of his squad did to me and Cadence, it still wouldn’t be right if he had died down there, unarmed and afraid.” The two looked forward to see Luna was glancing at them with a narrow eye. She quickly looked forward again, snorting jets of smoke from her nostrils.

“By the way, was what Luna said last night true?” Spike asked fearfully, as though he dreaded the answer. “Did you… kill someone in Horsca?”

Fluttershy’s eyes lowered into sadness and regret. She wished she could say ‘no’ and Spike would look at her as he always does: with love. But she couldn’t lie to him; she couldn’t lie to anypony. “Yes,” she simply answered with a little nod. She shut her eyes tight and looked away as she prepared herself for the chastising words from Spike she knew that would come.

“Why?” Spike just asked, much to Fluttershy’s surprise.

She hesitantly looked back around to see Spike’s reaction, and grimaced when she saw it was unreadable. “I had no choice,” Fluttershy whimpered, tears threatening to spill as the scene replayed once more in her mind. “My father was knocked unconscious. The reman was above him, with a sword in his paws and ready to kill him. I only wanted to push the reman out of the way and knock him out. I never wanted to kill him. I never…”

She trailed off when she heard her voice starting to crack apart. She took a deep breath to control herself. “I did it out of defence for my father, Spike. There is no other reason than that. I would understand if you think of me differently now, or if you even hate me now. Like I said before; I have done things that make me hate myself.” She bowed her head and awaited Spike’s damming response.

After a moment, she felt Spike place a claw under her chin, and gently lifted her head to look in her eyes. “It’s okay, Fluttershy,” he said finally, his expression one of sympathy rather than hatred. “I imagine anypony would have done the same thing in your hooves; I know I would have.”

Fluttershy gave him a small smile. “You say that but you don’t mean it.”

“I do,” Spike said insistently, nodding his head. “If you were in danger I wouldn’t hesitate to jump in and help you.”

Fluttershy’s small smile widened a little. “That is so sweet, Spike, but I wouldn’t want you to do that for me. I wouldn’t want you to risk your own life over mine; it would be wrong of me to think you should.”

Spike sighed. “Even if you thought that, Fluttershy, I would still do it. You’re the only pony I can call my family in this world now. The thought of losing you… is something I don’t particularly want to think of.”

Fluttershy’s jaw slackened a little, and tears started to form in her eyes, though they weren’t tears of sadness, but of joy. She slung a foreleg around his shoulders, and nuzzled him gently, a warm smile gracing her lips. “You have a good heart, Spike. I wish I could promise you that I will stay safe, but I can’t. Nearly everypony in Equestria is out for my blood and ours for what we have been accused of, and there are other creatures in Equestria that would want us all for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. This journey will be long and sometimes really hard. And…” She paused and bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of a gentler way to put what she had to say. “And there is a chance that some of us will not come out of this unscathed.”

Spike looked at her as if she had just stated the obvious. “I know that, and I’m prepared for everything. Though I don’t think we should worry about other ponies or monsters out to get us, but rather worry about spilling each other’s blood first,” he said, pointing a finger at Luna and looking at Fluttershy with a glance and a raised eyebrow.

The pegasus let out a sombre sigh and bowed her head. Fluttershy wanted to apologise to Luna for shouting at her, insulting her and slapping her – she really did. She wanted Luna and her to be friends again, for she knew they would not make it far if they bickered amongst themselves. But every time she was about to speak up and say sorry, she held back and shuddered in remembrance as she saw Luna with her sword raised high into the air, ready to kill Robyn.

What Luna was going to do to the guard pony went against everything the Dragonlord Order stood for, and what Fluttershy believed in. To kill an unarmed opponent was one of the greatest crimes a Dragonlord of the order could commit – the one worse than that was to kill, or severely harm, an innocent. Even then, what Luna was going to do went against everything Fluttershy had stood for since her birth. She was raised to cherish life and be good and kind to everyone, and never harm someone that might have harmed her, for such strength to hold back made her better.

Yet, not showing kindness to Luna went against what she had been tutored as well.

She rubbed her head with a forehoof, grimacing as she felt another headache come on. She knew Spike was right and that she had to say sorry, and she hoped that Luna would say sorry as well, yet right now it was difficult.

“Hush, everyone!” Luna suddenly yelled, stopping and raising a hoof up for them all to halt. Fluttershy halted immediately and felt a chill stab at her heart as the possibilities as to why Luna asked them all to stop flooded her head.

“What is it?” Cadence asked, taking a step closer and gripping her sword’s hilt with her magic.

Fluttershy bent her knees and clambered quickly to where Cadence and Luna stood alongside each other, their bodies low in a fight-or-flight stance and their ears raised high. Spike crouched low and followed her, as did Trixie, who stayed too close to Spike than the little dragon possibly wanted.

Fluttershy lifted her head up, and pinned her ears up as she listened out for whatever Luna had heard. It didn’t take long for her to pick out the heaving groaning of carts being moved, and the sound of pony hooves against the soft, muddy ground. “What is that?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.

Either Luna didn’t hear her, or pretended not to, but she did not answer the pegasus. “Whatever that is, it’s directly in front of us,” Cadence said. “What do we do?”

“I say we hunker down for a bit, and wait for it to go silent. It might be a patrol of the Royal Guard looking for us,” Luna said, glaring at Fluttershy as she said it, and making Fluttershy wince back as though she had been punched in the shoulder.

“I’m going to take a closer look,” Fluttershy announced, much to everypony’s horror. Before any one could pull her back she crept forward like a spider, her eyes wide and her ears pinned up high. She ignored the hushed whispers of her companions calling her back, for she was intrigued by what she was hearing. The sound coming from up ahead did not sound like a patrol to her at all; it sounded more like a funeral procession.

After a minute of wading through bushes and brushing past trees, she found herself in front of a bush that stretched out in both directions like a wall. She crept up as close as she possibly could without making too much noise, then raised her head and peered over the bush. What she saw on the other side shocked her deeply.

Below the hedgerow, wedged between a small cutting, was a road that stretched through the forest, westward towards Las Pegasus, and east towards Ponyville, or so Fluttershy assumed it was heading. And on the road, hundreds of ponies were heading east: the young, the old, the rich, the poor, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, it didn’t matter, for all of them looked miserable. Most of them could barely pick up their hooves as they walked, kicking up dirt or tripping over into the mud; it was clear to the Dragonlord that they had been travelling for some time without stopping. She watched one old mare fall down, and prepared herself to jump forward and help. She stopped herself when she saw a younger stallion offer to help, but the old mare pushed him away violently and shouted something that Fluttershy wished were words the foul-mouthed beavers had made up.

She looked back down the road, and saw the line kept on going and going. Some ponies were pulling large carts full of valuables, while others pulled carriages with a wealthy family inside. And every so often, a single, weary looking soldier walked along the far side of the road, his eyes peering over the crowd and making sure no trouble was made.

It was a sight that filled Fluttershy with despair. She knew why all these ponies were here the moment she set eyes on them. They were now refugees. They were running from a war that they knew was going to happen, and desperately wanted to get away from it before it even begins.

Fluttershy’s ears began to flicker as she picked up bits of conversations that she could hear, and each one filled her with sorrow and dread.

“Well what I heard is that Appleloosa and Dodge Junction are gone. Wiped out by Princess Celestia’s forces in one night. Manehatten has gone silent, but apparently there’s nothing else going on up north.”

“The north is the worst, that’s what I heard. The Crystal Empire is under Cadence’s control and her knights are raiding towns and villages, leaving few ponies alive. The rest in-between are just butchering each other. But nothing is going on in the deserts.”

“I heard somewhere ponies from Trottingham and Hoofington have come together to form an army, and are right now marching south towards Canterlot, slaughtering anypony that gets in their way.”

“The ponies of Vanhoover have built a wall around their city, I heard, and are keeping ponies out who are trying to escape this madness.”

“All I know is that Luna, Cadence and Fluttershy are to blame for this. I hope there’s a special place in Tartarus for them when this is all over – if it ever ends.”

‘Ouch,’ Fluttershy thought, grimacing and feeling pained all over as though she had been stabbed in the gut. ‘They blame me and the others for this?’ The thought made her eyes brim with tears. She had never been so hated by other ponies before. Fluttershy knew a few didn’t like her, but she was all right with that for she knew you couldn’t like everypony on Terra – except if you’re Pinkie Pie. To be hated, however, felt far worse than any pain she had ever felt before.

Unable to bear the sight of so many miserable-looking ponies on the move, she spun around and trotted quickly back to where the others were, her head low, her eyes sullen and her ears flat and dripping with rainwater.

She found the others tucked beside a large tree, with its branches stretched and its leaves so big it protected them from the elements. “What did you see?” Cadence asked gently, visibly pleased to see her. Trixie and Spike smiled at her, but Luna didn’t even look up to acknowledge her presence.

Fluttershy plonked her rump on the ground, and sighed. “A whole group of ponies from Las Pegasus fleeing east towards Ponyville,” she replied sullenly.

“What?” the three ponies and one dragon gasped, looking at Fluttershy with wide eyes.

“They’re all refugees fleeing into central Equestria to escape the upcoming war,” Fluttershy elaborated, flicking her head back as a gesture to the fleeing ponies.

“What do you mean, ‘refugees’?” Trixie asked, before taking a sandwich Cadence made and devouring it messily.

“And what war?” Luna enquired, her eyes narrow. “Is there something you should be telling us?”

Fluttershy avoided Luna’s glare, and instead looked at Cadence, Trixie and Spike with a sheepish grin. “Oops. Sorry, I guess I never told you all about what Robyn told me,” she said, rubbing her left foreleg sheepishly. “Well, he said that Celestia had sent out envoys to each of the separated states, and she gave them two weeks to come back to Equestria, or it will be open war between them.”

The ponies and dragon visibly paled at the mention of war. “Are you certain of this?” Cadence asked, leaning forward. Luna cocked an eyebrow as though saying she didn’t believe her.

‘Luna is going to make my life difficult. I just know it,’ Fluttershy thought upon seeing Luna’s face. “I am certain, Cadence. And the ponies filing down the road there is enough evidence to prove it.” She opened her mouth to speak once more, but quickly shut it again. She knew they would not want to know about the things that have been said about the country and about the Princesses, as well as herself.

Cadence leaned her head back, and ran a hoof through her mane. “This is ill news,” she muttered to herself. She looked to Luna. “We should get out of Equestria before the war begins, surely?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock. ‘She intends to run away from this, without even helping? Without even trying to help?’ she thought. She looked at the Crystal Princess adversely.

“We should be, considering Trixie here shows us through the Unicorn Range correctly,” Luna replied, glancing at Trixie dubiously.

Trixie smiled smugly at them all. “I promise you, Trixie will get us through the Unicorn Range in less than a day,” she boasted.

The others expressed their doubts evidently on their faces – all except for Fluttershy. “I know you will, Trixie,” Fluttershy said, a small smile on her face. She knew one of the most important aspects of a leader is to have faith in all those she leads.

She looked outside the single patch of dry land, and saw with relief that the rain had stopped. She pricked her ears up, and listened to the sound of carts moving and ponies walking, but all she could hear was the sound of birds singing joyously to the returning sun.

“Come on, I think the ponies have moved on. Let’s keep moving while the sun is out,” Fluttershy said, gesturing with a hoof for them to come forward. The ponies all nodded in agreement, and together they walked towards the road in silence.

After a while of sloshing through the wet and muddy ground, taking great care not to leave any evidence of them being in the woods, they came upon the road, which was now barren of life with only the hoof-prints of the ponies that had walked along it to show they were ever there ruining the flat ground. Fluttershy jumped down from the small ridge and looked left then right. “It’s all clear… I think,” Fluttershy said. The three other ponies and one dragon jumped down from the ridge as well and onto the road beside, and looked around to confirm that belief.

“It looks clear to me,” Trixie said. Cadence and Luna nodded in agreement.

“Then let us get away from here and back into the woods, or else we’ll be open targets,” Luna said. She quickly crested the other ridge and through another hedgerow onto a wide plain that stretched for about half a mile, before becoming covered by trees once more. Fluttershy and the others were soon next to her, and they began walking together once more.

“According to this map,” Luna said as they walked, a large ball with a map of Equestria in it floating in front of her, “we have just officially entered Whitetail Woods. It should take us more than a day or two to go through here, and then we should be in sight of the Unicorn Range.”

“And my chance to shine,” Trixie muttered joyfully.

“And my chance to see the sea,” Spike mumbled next to Fluttershy, earning a quiet giggle from the pegasus.

“Have a little faith in her, Spike,” Fluttershy said. “We need all the faith we have in each other if we’re going to get any further.”

“I know,” Spike sighed, “but I don’t think everypony holds that view.” He pointed a single finger at Luna, who was looking back at her with eyes that did not display anger or hatred, but something else.

Before Fluttershy could decipher what it was, Luna turned her head back and walked on, with Cadence just behind. Fluttershy and Spike looked at each other worryingly, before breaking into a jog to catch up with them.

“Do you think she’ll talk to me at some point?” Fluttershy whispered, leaning her head close to Spike.

The little dragon threw up his arms. “I have no idea. Just give her a day or so and then try speaking to her.” Fluttershy nodded in acceptance, then watched vividly a group of butterflies fly past them and onto the road.

The group went silent as they trekked deeper into Whitetail Woods.

They had walked across the great domain of Whitetail Woods for many hours before deciding to stop for the night, content in the knowledge that they might have lost their pursuers. Trixie needed it more than most; her legs were shaking with exhaustion by the time they reached their spot to camp. Though it was safe to say her condition had improved immensely since they had met her nearly a day or so ago, she still needed a bit more time before she could be considered fit and healthy again.

They all decided to rest on a small yet steep hill that overlooked the whole of Whitetail Woods. A small clearing resided on one side of the hill, giving the ponies and dragon ample space to spread out and settle for the night.

That was precisely what they all did.

Fluttershy laid down flat on her back, with her hind legs stretched out and crossed and her head lying on her forelegs, watching the stars shine in the sky and the bright moon move slowly across the sky, the light making Fluttershy’s coat shine like she was a crystal pony. Her eyes were wide open with wonder, for her mind could not bring her into sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would see her friends either yelling at her for something she did not do, or screaming at her for help. Therefore, she willed herself to stay awake, and decided to watch the night go by.

“The stars look beautiful tonight,” she whispered to herself, sighing contently. Before she became a Dragonlord, she never truly appreciated the beauty of the night sky, or the calming power of the full moon, for she usually tucked herself into bed when the stars came out and the owls had gone out to look for breakfast.

Now, she wished she had stayed out for longer and admired the night more, for it was one of the most beautiful sights that graced Terra. The sky was bright with a single colour, yet there was an essence of life coming from them, as though their light shining down on them kept the planet and its inhabitants alive.

As well as the beauty the stars emitted, the sense of calm they gave to Fluttershy was overwhelming. When she looked at them, she felt a solace she could never have with her friends, both animal or pony. For here, and at times like this, the only ponies she thought, or hoped, she could talk to were her father or mother. Better yet, both of them.

“Mum? Dad?” she whispered, praying for voices she knew would never come. “I hope you can hear me, wherever you are, for I really, really need your help.” After a moment, she chuckled to herself as she moved one of her forelegs out from under her head and rested it above her belly button. “I know you won’t be able to truly help me, but all I ask is for your guidance. Should I continue with this task Vidarr gave me, or forget it and let Luna or somepony else with better skills than I take charge?”

There wasn’t a breath of wind, or a shooting star that answered her. As far as she knew, she was alone. She sighed once more, her eyes moving across the sky for a sign or anything that could help her. ‘Why am I looking at the sky for them anyway?’ she wondered in thought. ‘They might be looking from below as far as I am aware. Nopony knows truly where Paradise is.’

But it wasn’t because of the truth as to why ponies think Paradise is above them and not below; it was the ideal it presented. Fluttershy was one of those believers. She loved the idea that her father, Firewing, and her mother, Rosemary, were looking down on her, and smiling widely at their daughter, who was once a small, orphaned child, now a fully-grown mare, aged twenty-two, and the most powerful warrior on Terra. ‘Still too young for what I have gone through, and what I will go through,’ she mused. As she thought that, she wondered how she would age now that she had a lifespan of about a thousand years. How long will it take her to get wrinkles and old bones and go for long naps? She shuddered at the image of herself looking like Granny Smith in about seven hundred years. ‘Rarity would want to know my secret if it happens like that,’ she giggled quietly to herself. She giggled again after a pause of thought. ‘She already does, silly.’

She sighed sadly when she thought of the unicorn, and how much she missed her. She missed her company, their chats, their relaxation time, and just generally spend time together like good friends should. Though, as she thought about it more, it would be better that she was not here, for the unicorn would have never stopped whining about nature in general, and how muddy her hooves were getting. That always annoyed Fluttershy a fair bit when she and the others had gone camping in Whitetail Woods sometimes in the past two years. In fact, it always annoyed her when Rarity had a dramatic fit over the littlest thing, like the day when Twilight went mad, Rarity had forgotten the plates for their picnic, so decided to jump on a couch she had dragged all the way from her home and cry dramatically.

She quickly realised she was getting stressed again, so took a deep breath, and fixed her eyes once more on the stars, feeling the calming affect they had. At this moment, she felt at peace.

There wasn’t a sound from the others around her. Trixie had fallen flat on her side, exhausted after a long day’s journey. Her health was gradually improving since they had met her, having plenty to eat little and often, but she still needed to have an eye on her in case she fell behind. Spike was huddled in on himself, shaking a little from the cold night, while Cadence lay out on her left side, her mouth wide open for ants or other bugs to crawl in. Where Luna was, there was no sign, but Fluttershy knew she wouldn’t be too far away. She sighed again, and a small smile crept onto her face as a shooting star raced through the sky.

Suddenly, one of her ears twitched as the sound of singing graced her ears. Confused and curious, she sat upright and flicked her ears up in the hope she could hear it clearer. Soon enough, she could hear it as though she was in the audience of a concert at the far back. “Where’s that singing coming from?” she wondered aloud.

She stood up, and briskly trotted to the edge of the hill to hear better. The song being sung sounded solemn, like one would sing at a funeral, yet there was something else about the singing; it sounded too peaceful and magnificent for a pony to sing. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise as she figured out who the creatures singing it were.

“Whitetail Deer,” she whispered in delight.

She lifted a leg up to take a step forward, but before she could set it back down, a voice behind her made her stop. “Where are you going?”

Fluttershy looked back to see Trixie with her head raised, and looking at her suspiciously. “I thought I heard something just now. I’m going to check it out,” Fluttershy whispered.

Trixie began to get up as well. “Then I’m coming with you,” she stated. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by Trixie sealing her mouth closed with magic. “I’m coming with you, and that’s that.”

After a moment, Fluttershy nodded reluctantly, allowing Trixie to break her hold on Fluttershy’s mouth, and allowing the pegasus to breathe properly again. “All right, but stay quiet and stay close to me,” Fluttershy ordered, before adding meekly, “if you want to, of course.” With that, she began to trundle down the hillside, with Trixie close behind her.

They soon made it down the hillside, and back onto the flat plain with trees all around them, making Fluttershy feel enclosed and afraid. She looked back to see Trixie was still close to her, glancing left and right quickly and shivering. ‘She’s cold,’ she thought.

Fluttershy took a step to the side, waited for Trixie to stand beside her, and then quickly draped a warm wing over the unicorn’s back. Trixie stopped shivering instantly, and Fluttershy could see a faint smile on her lips. “Thanks,” she quipped, looking away quickly.

Fluttershy smiled, then looked ahead and froze in shock at the scene in front of her. Trixie stopped beside her, and tilted her head at the wide-eyed face Fluttershy had. “What’s gotten you so– hey!” she cried as Fluttershy took hold of her hoof and dragged her behind a large bush.

“Stay quiet, please,” Fluttershy whispered. Slowly, she craned her neck to look over the bush, and her eyes widened even more at the procession before her.

Curious as to why Fluttershy was like this, Trixie peeked over as well, and when her eyes locked onto what was going on before them she gasped in astonishment. “Incredible,” she whispered.

Along a small path, dozens if not hundreds of deer walked sullenly through Whitetail Woods, singing their hearts out in their ancient yet entrancing language. They were tall, just being a foot or so taller than an average pony, and all of them had a light brown coat with white spots like freckles that covered their backs and sides. Their short, stumpy tails were plain white, and seemed to shine silver in the moonlight, and their ears were long and pointy.

They were the most beautiful creatures Fluttershy had ever seen.

“Who are they?” Trixie asked, watching the deer go by with wide eyes.

“Whitetail Deer,” Fluttershy answered, her eyes never leaving the seemingly sorrowful procession. “The indigenous inhabitants of these woods. They’ve been here for thousands of years. When Equestria was formed, and expansion began, the deer and the ponies, naturally, began to antagonise each other as the ponies inched closer to Whitetail Woods.

“Ultimately, war broke out when a few ponies cut down some of their trees, prompting the deer to drive back the invaders. They won the first war easily, by luring the Equestrian forces into the woods, and then destroying them utterly. The second war was more ferocious, and ended in a stalemate with Whitetail Woods two times smaller than they once were. When Princess Celestia and Luna came to power, they settled a peace deal with the deer, allowing them to keep the woods while Equestrian ponies settled around it. We’ve been at peace with them ever since.”

Trixie looked at her with fascinated eyes. “Fascinating.”

Fluttershy lowered her head slightly as a large buck skipped past the crowd, his large blue eyes looking for trouble. As soon as he appeared he was skipping past the procession once more, allowing Fluttershy and Trixie to breathe again. The two ponies craned their necks once more to watch the Whitetail Deer go by.

“Are all of those deer female?” Trixie asked.

“They’re doe’s, Trixie,” Fluttershy corrected her. “And yes, mostly. There are a few bucks in the group, but they’re only younglings.”

“How do you know?” she asked. She looked at Fluttershy for a moment, before saying slyly, “Were you looking?”

“No!” Fluttershy whispered loudly, blushing pink while ferociously shaking her head. “I just looked at their heads and saw their antlers were growing through. A doe doesn’t have any antlers, only the bucks do.” She looked back at the group of deer, and felt her heart sink at the sadness of the song they were singing. “I wonder what they’re singing about?”

“Probably lost their king or something,” Trixie suggested. “I just don’t get why they do not sing it in Terran?”

“Because it’s an old song sung by our people before ponies ever came to our lands, and even before the time when the races of this world came together in harmony,” an old yet powerful voice replied. Fluttershy and Trixie squeaked in fright and ducked down, hoping they wouldn’t be found behind their bush. “It’s quite all right, little ponies. I do not intend to harm you.”

Fluttershy didn’t know why, but the deer’s voice was enough to make any anxiety leave her instantly. She quickly stood up, and her eyes widened in awe at the great buck.

The old buck was much taller than most deer, and had the largest antlers on his head, which revealed his age and his title as King of the Deer. His coat was far darker, and his spots a cloud grey. His long pointy face stared down at Fluttershy with a small but warming smile. At once, Fluttershy walked through the bush and out into the open, her eyes never leaving the deer’s own.

“Fluttershy, come back!” Trixie whispered, reaching out with a hoof to stop her, yet Fluttershy ignored it. Her eyes were a mix of fascination and awe as she stared at the deer.

“Do not be afraid, fellow children of Terra, for if I wanted to harm you I would have done so by now,” the deer said smoothly. Fluttershy’s ear twitched as she heard Trixie relax as though she had been entranced, and step out from behind the bush towards the deer.

The deer’s eyes moved from the unicorn to Fluttershy with the unwavering warm smile. When Fluttershy was about five feet away and was visible in the moonlight, his smile vanished and he looked at her in awe.

Fluttershy quickly bowed her head to the buck. “Um… h-hello,” she said hesitantly, feeling unsure of how to begin this once in a lifetime encounter. “I suppose I should say thank you for this. It’s a real honour to be talking to a deer of Whitetail Woods.” She glanced to her right and saw Trixie standing next to her, studying the deer in awe.

The buck bowed his head lowly. “The honour is mine this very night, Dragonlord.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly as she stepped back in shock, while Trixie shot her head around to look at her in surprise. “You know what I am?”

The buck nodded. “Only one of the great warrior’s of Terra could survive such a terrific wound such as yours on your back,” he said, pointing to the long scar that ran down Fluttershy’s back. “The Dragonlords are revered greatly by our people, for we would have been destroyed by Equestrian expansion long ago had they not intervened and saved us – saved both of us – from further war.” He looked back at his people heading north, and sighed sadly. “It is a shame they cannot help us here.”

“Help you?” Fluttershy asked confusedly. “Um, if you don’t mind answering me, of course, but where are you all going? And why do you feel like you need help?”

The buck looked back at her with sullen eyes. “We are retreating deeper into the woods, young one, to shelter ourselves from the enclosing darkness that threatens this world.”

Fluttershy felt cold all of a sudden. “Darkness? What darkness? Is it the war threatening to tear Equestria apart?”

The buck shook his head mournfully. “No, my dear, I’m afraid not. It is far worse than that. An ancient evil has risen once more, and behind it, a great and terrible army flocks together like carrion birds. Together, they will ravage this world and create a new order – one that will dominate all.”

Fluttershy looked down at her coat and saw that it was a far paler shade of yellow than usual. She glanced over to see Trixie fared no better. “How do you know all this?” Fluttershy asked, looking up once more whilst shaking in fright.

“We have foreseen it: in the stars, the clouds, the world itself, we have seen this terrible future; one that no one could stand against. That is why we are fleeing, to hide and pray that this evil will pass us by. If you two have any sense of survival, you will do the same.” With his words of doom spread, the buck turned away from them and began to follow the other deer into the woods. “I wish you both the best of luck in the dark days to come – you will need it.” That said, he skipped after the other deer, who were now out of sight yet their song sounded as loud as it had been before.

Fluttershy and Trixie watched them disappear with wide eyes, while Fluttershy’s mind filled with both wonder and dread. ‘What did he mean, ‘a great evil has risen once more’? ‘An order that will dominate all’?’ She hated it when somepony spoke in riddles, for she was not the best pony to answer them. She cleared it to the back of her mind. ‘It doesn’t matter now. What does matter now is that I am right. If the deer are running away from something terrible, then surely this terrible thing must be behind the chaos that is strangling Equestria.’

Yet, even with this new piece of information, she figured it still wouldn’t be enough to convince Luna, Cadence and Spike. They could see it as the deer having had a few too many mushrooms, and had only hallucinated something that they thought was the end of the world. ‘Besides, the deer probably would not know of Equestria’s troubles.’

She shook the thoughts to the back of her mind, and began to trot back to their camp. She didn’t make it far when she felt a hoof touch her shoulder, and make her spin around to face Trixie, who looked at her in awe. “You’re a Dragonlord!” Trixie exclaimed, looking all over her as though she didn’t believe it. “An actual living, breathing, fighting Dragonlord?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in surprise. “Y-y-you know about my order?” she asked.

Trixie nodded, her eyes turning from surprise to utter delight. “Why, of course I do. I wouldn’t have said otherwise!” she shouted.

Fluttershy shook her head disbelievingly, her eyes locked into Trixie’s own for any trace of a lie. She found none, and previously considered the truth impossible. “How? The Dragonlords never kept records of themselves and what they did. Believe me, me and my old friends checked.”

“Ah, yes they tried, but a few things slipped past even their eyes and made it into the history books. Clearly they never counted on Trixie, and her amazing Dragonlord finding skills!” Trixie proclaimed, rearing up and throwing her hooves wide into the air to make a dramatic pose. She quickly fell back onto her forelegs, unable to stay rearing up for too long.

Fluttershy blinked several times. “Okay,” she said as she turned around. She continued trotting back up the hill to their camp.

Trixie galloped after her, and slowed down when she was alongside the Dragonlord. “When I was a little Trixie, my mother and father would always tell me bedtime stories on a whole range of subjects. One story in particular I will always remember was one about a pony who wanted to be greater, and met a group of ponies named Dragonlords. They told him that he was great to begin with, so he went home and became a great pony. The story is better than I make it sound, I promise you. Do you remember your parents telling you about it?”

Fluttershy stopped suddenly, and then turned to face Trixie with sorrowful eyes. “I wasn’t as lucky as you, Trixie. I grew up with no parents, no family to call my own; only the other fillies and colts at the orphanage I lived in for most of my life.” She continued to trot, while Trixie watched her go with regretful eyes.

“I’m… I’m… I’m sorry,” she said eventually, making it sound like she had never said an apology before. She raced after Fluttershy once more. “I didn’t mean to cause any offence.”

‘Spike’s right, it is weird to hear Trixie being so nice,’ Fluttershy mused. She looked back at Trixie with a small smile. “It’s all right, Trixie. You did not know about me being an orphan; you don’t know anything about me. So there’s no need to be so hard on yourself.” The two ponies soon made it to the top of the hill, and had a quick look around.

Cadence had rolled over onto her other side, and Fluttershy could see a small puddle of drool leaving her slightly open mouth. Fluttershy quickly looked away to see Spike, and tilted her head and smiled sweetly when she saw him hugging a small branch he had found that resembled a small teddy bear. Luna was still unseen, but again, Fluttershy knew she wouldn’t be too far away. ‘She’s probably watching the deer procession,’ she thought.

The two ponies moved to a small corner far from the two sleeping bodies as possible, then settled down onto their stomachs. “So tell me, if you don’t mind, how did you find out the Dragonlords were real?” Fluttershy enquired, looking at the unicorn with a raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t. Not for a long time,” Trixie replied, shrugging. “But it wasn’t until history class in primary school that I discovered they were real. I was looking through one of the history books for the older years, because I was so good in history that little children’s history books could no longer suit me, when I noticed a small sentence referring to the Dragonlords just before Celestia and Luna’s rebellion.

“Stunned, I decided to look through nearly every history book on Equestrian warfare that ever existed, just to find out more about this incredible order of ponies that dedicated their lives to creating peace.” She paused to let out a sigh. “They became something special to me, Fluttershy. The more I learnt about them, the more I inspired to be like them. Not killing anything, of course, I could never be like that, but the way they strutted about as though they owned the planet, and how they were so great and powerful, they just… I realised that was how I wanted to live; be great and powerful.”

Fluttershy felt a small smile crawl across her face as the pieces came together in her head. “So you wanted to be a Dragonlord, yet you couldn’t truly be one, so decided to aspire towards them, right down to their arrogance?” Fluttershy concluded.

Trixie nodded, scraping a hoof across the ground. “Yes. Is it wrong to aspire to something greater?” she asked with an accusing look.

Fluttershy threw her hooves up as though she had been caught stealing. “Oh no, there’s nothing wrong with that at all! I just feel that the Dragonlords are not exactly the right role models to follow, since I’m one myself,” she said.

“Then surely you know how great they are, and what they have done for this world,” Trixie said.

Fluttershy nodded sullenly. “Oh yes, I know what they have done, and I know what they shouldn’t have done. Last year I went to Las Pegasus to my father’s old house, and found a small book documenting one of my ancestor’s defence of the city of Liberum. It detailed several other things as well, but it mostly told about how he, a small group of Dragonlords and a whole army of Liberum ponies were able to hold back and defeat a far larger army of Equestrians under King Tyran.”

Trixie’s eyes widened in interest. “The Dragonlords at Liberum were led by one of your ancestors?” Trixie asked. Fluttershy nodded, and watched as a wide grin spread across the unicorn’s face. “One of my ancestors fought at that city as well. She fought as one of the archers against the Equestrians, and was there at the end of the war in Canterlot when King Pacificus took over and deemed that all ponies be equal by ridding us of clothes.”

Fluttershy smiled as well. “Really? Wow, imagine that. I wonder if our two ancestors ever spoke to one another?”

“Better than that, I wonder if they were ever friends?” Trixie giggled at the impossibility. “No, my ancestor was a bit too low born for somepony as high and mighty as a Dragonlord.”

Fluttershy’s smile disappeared, and she shook her head. “The Dragonlords might have been arrogant in their abilities to fight, but they were never too high and mighty for anyone. They always considered everypony equal to them, not in battle prowess, but in heart and mind. They helped anyone that needed it because they could help. Yet most of the time they did it through violence, and killing others to advance their goals and that of others.”

Trixie suddenly looked confused. “Forgive me, but you make it sound like they’re not around anymore.”

Fluttershy looked back up at Trixie with a solemn expression. “That’s because they aren’t around anymore, Trixie. I’m the last of the Dragonlords.”

Trixie’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock. “How? How can the Dragonlords be gone? They were considered invincible in the small amount of text I found out about them.”

Fluttershy shook her head once more. “When I found my father again, he told me that nopony is invincible, not even the Dragonlords. Unfortunately, the Dragonlords considered themselves invincible, and were destroyed in a long and terrible war against the very creature they were supposed to destroy at their beginning.”

Trixie visibly slumped. “That’s horrible,” she said. “To be around for thousands of years, only to be wiped from the face of the earth. And in our time, too.” Trixie made a pondering face as a silence grew between them. “If I may ask, what was it like? Becoming a Dragonlord, I mean.”

Fluttershy looked up from the ground, and had to fight back the terrible memories of how she became one in the first place. “Horrible,” she simply answered. “The worst experience of my life.”

“Oh, it can’t have been that bad. A few changes to your body here and there, and that’s it, done.”

Fluttershy’s face darkened to a more serious look, and the tone of her voice became grim and heavy. “Imagine standing in the middle of a large bonfire. You aren’t bound in place, but you just cannot move as the flames wrap around you. You can’t scream as your coat and skin is ripped off you like teeth are tearing it off piece by piece. You feel your insides start to burn and your mane, tail and your skin are torn from you, and all the while you are still alive, and in constant agony. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, your mind goes blank, and you’re dead.” She sighed and looked down at the ground. “That’s what becoming a Dragonlord is like, Trixie. You feel what it is like to die, and then rise from the ashes like a phoenix and be reborn once more as someone new, someone different, and someone colder. I’m not the pony I once was.”

She looked up to see Trixie staring at her with horrified eyes. The look of horror gave way to regret. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” she said, rubbing her left foreleg. “I didn’t mean to bring back horrible memories for you.”

Fluttershy smiled affectionately at Trixie. “It’s all right, Trixie, I know you didn’t. Now you know what it’s like, please don’t step into any fires intentionally. You might not rise up again like I did.”

Trixie nodded. “I won’t.” She looked back at the two sleeping forms behind her. “Are you going to tell them what that deer told us tonight?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head while shifting her body about a bit. “I might do if I had a bigger chance of them believing me, but right now, no.”

“But why not? Surely that would be enough to convince them that you’re right.”

Fluttershy looked up at Trixie, her eyes wide and hopeful. “You mean you believe me?”

Trixie nodded. “You seem so certain that something is wrong with Equestria, and only an idiot cannot see that it is the work of something else. If you want it, I will help you, Fluttershy, in any way that I can.”

Fluttershy grinned and squealed quietly with delight. “Oh, thank you, Trixie!” she leapt forward and wrapped her hooves around the unicorn’s neck. “You’re a good friend.”

Trixie looked stunned. “We’re friends?” she asked as Fluttershy set herself back down.

Fluttershy nodded. “Why, of course we are. Although my first impressions of you were less than high, now I see you away from the stage you seem like quite a nice enough pony.” Fluttershy suddenly shied away. “You… you can say I’m a friend too, right?”

Trixie broke out of her daze, and put on a faint, nervous smile. “I would like that. It’s just that I have never had any friends before. I’ve never been really good at making any.”

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’ Fluttershy wondered. She smiled warmly. “You’re not as different to Twilight in that regard. She was never good at making friends, much like me, really.”

Trixie’s eyes grew curious at the mention of Twilight. “Do you think Twilight Sparkle would want to talk to me again? I would like it if we started from scratch. Get to know each other better, you know.”

‘Oh, I bet you do,’ Fluttershy said in thought, giggling inwardly. “I think so. We just got to find something that could help her get better first.” She suddenly let out a yawn, making her blush. “Oh dear, pardon me. Right, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to go to sleep.” She rolled onto her side, and let out a sigh as she got comfortable.

Trixie nodded in agreement, then fell over herself and relaxed. “What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?” Trixie asked.

Fluttershy shrugged. “I’m not sure, but hopefully nothing bad. Goodnight, Trixie.”

“Goodnight, Fluttershy.” With that, Trixie closed her eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly. It didn’t take Fluttershy much longer to fall asleep as well, her dreams invaded with the screaming and yelling faces of her friends.

Chapter 8

When Fluttershy awoke the next morning, the sight of a thin veil of mist clouding the small clearing greeted her silently. She lifted her head up, feeling the wet droplets of mist trickle down her head and neck, and looked around her.

The landscape was but a thick aura of mist that slithered around the trunks and branches of trees that surrounded the small hill her companions and herself were camped on, and it stretched to every corner of the horizon, covering Whitetail Woods in its cold, wet embrace.

It was almost as though a great beast had come during the night and had devoured parts of the entire forest. “Hmm,” Fluttershy chuckled at the ridiculous thought as she rolled onto her stomach. She lifted herself onto her legs, feeling the trickling remnants of the mist run down the sides of her body and drench her feathers. She shot her wings out and flicked them about, spraying water out of her exposed feathers and off her wing blades. Afterwards, she shook the rest of her body dry, and then looked around at her fellow travellers.

Cadence was lying on her back, snoring loudly with a large puddle of water surrounding her head. Spike was snoring just as loudly as he rolled about, muttering and moaning about something. Beside her, Trixie slept soundlessly on her stomach, her sides rising and falling at a steady pace. Luna, however, was nowhere to be seen. ‘She’ll appear when everyone else gets up,’ she thought.

Fluttershy looked up at the sky, and sighed when she saw the sun, though obscured by the clouds, shining its golden light onto her and her little band. She hoped she was right when she said to Vidarr that as long as the sun continues to rise, there is still hope, for the hope and faith she felt in herself and the others around was beginning to dwindle. Although slow, it had begun the moment she had struck Princess Luna in anger, and from there, she knew hope would continue to fade away.

Fluttershy shook the thoughts from her head. ‘Hope will never leave me,’ she thought determinedly. She let out a contented sigh, and tapped her hooves and rubbed them together when she realised just how hungry she was. ‘Now, time for a spot of breakfast.’

She walked up to one of the bushes that were nestled at the edge of the trees behind them, and began nibbling cautiously on one of the leaves. To her surprise, they tasted quite nice. ‘They’re not daffodil and daisy sandwiches, but they’ll do,’ she thought as she began to tear the leaves off their branches and eat quietly so not to wake anyone with her rude eating habits.

Soon, though, she felt as stuffed as an apple pie, so decided to turn away and walk back to the centre of the camp. ‘With breakfast over, now what do I do?’ She looked to each of her companions, and sighed out of boredom. ‘There’s nothing to do until they wake and Luna appears, and then after that I have to endure an awful silence where no one talks because we don’t know what to say to one another.’

That’s when a thought struck her. For better or worse, they were going to be stuck with each other until they reached Horsca and finally Castilian. After that, it was any-one's guess what they would do. Fluttershy realised that they needed to put an effort into working together, getting to know each other better and actually becoming friends, if they were going to even get to that point. ‘We need to be kinder to one another,’ she thought. She turned her head around, and smiled faintly when her eyes rested upon the bag Silverstar gave to her many days ago. “And what better way to get to know one another better than sitting by a fire and having breakfast together,” she whispered decidedly to herself.

She got hold of the bag containing all the food they had, and took out a small box of four eggs, a bag-sized pan and a tripod with bendable legs. ‘Perfect,’ she thought, smiling widely. She despised eating eggs, but the others might not. She knew for sure Spike would like some, even though he would have preferred gems.

After getting the fire going once more, which took a while since a lot of the sticks she found were wet from the fading mist, she broke one of the eggs open using the edge of the pan that rested on the tripod, then started to fry it. ‘Now there’s nothing to do but wait until the eggs are boiled,’ she thought, as she settled onto her stomach with a small frown.

As she waited, she decided to think back to yesterday, to what she had heard from the refugees and the rumours that had begun to spread from across the fractured Equestria. She knew some of the things they said, like Cadence rampaging across northern Equestria with an army behind her, were ridiculous. However, some, if not most of the stuff she had heard made her heart beat a little bit faster in worry. What if they were true?

‘Could Appleloosa and Dodge Junction really be all gone?’ she wondered. She shook her head of such thoughts. ‘Of course they can’t be. Celestia sent envoys there, and to every other town and city that had split away. There’s no way she would change her mind now.’ Yet as she assured herself of that, the doubt still lingered at the back of her mind.

The Celestia she had met when she was in Canterlot was a pony of action, who preferred getting something troublesome out of the way before it could ignite the fires of rebellion and war. What if Celestia lost all patience suddenly and only now has ordered a rapid assault on the separated towns and cities before they could organise a defence? With the messages sent out, Celestia could catch them woefully unprepared and off guard.

Then there was the problem with the separated towns and cities themselves. Just because Celestia has requested peace in two weeks with a ceasefire during that duration does not mean the towns and cities that had separated would abide by that order as well. For all she knew, Trottingham and Hoofington could really have joined forces, and even now are marching across a divided Equestria, destroying towns, villages and maybe cities that are not even loyal to Celestia anymore.

If this war was or ever will happen, Fluttershy predicted, it would not be a war of six or seven states versus one. It would be an open war – a total war, where each state would fight for dominance over the entire continent by any means necessary. And that would make any chance of uniting the country even more difficult, if fighting was already taking place, that is. ‘This just got even more complicated,’ Fluttershy groaned, rubbing her forehead.

She looked up when she heard the first pony begin to stir. She smiled as best she could when she saw Cadence get up tiredly, her eyes looking heavy and her whole body shaking with fatigue. “Good morning, Cadence,” Fluttershy greeted her.

Cadence looked her way upon hearing her voice, and smiled amiably. “Oh. Morning, Fluttershy.” She loudly sniffed the air, and then looked at the frying pan in front of the pegasus with narrow eyes. “Are you cooking eggs?”

Fluttershy’s ears fell at the sound of Cadence’s tone, and she cast her eyes away to look guiltily at the ground. “I-I just thought you could all have something nice this morning; something nice for a change. I’m sorry I wasted an egg.”

When there was not a reply from the alicorn, Fluttershy looked up to see Cadence staring dreamily at the crackling egg, her tongue licking her lips constantly at the sight and a small plate she had just fished out of the bag grasped in her magic. “This is the best idea I have heard all week,” Cadence said, much to Fluttershy’s delight. “Could I take that one now, please?”

Fluttershy nodded, her eyes revealing her surprise at how willing Cadence was to have egg. “Sure, it should be ready now.” She dived her hoof into the pan, picked up the egg and neatly set it on Cadence’s plate. “Sorry if I seem surprised, I just didn’t expect you to like egg.”

“Well, there are a lot of things ponies don’t know about me,” Cadence pointed out, before devouring the egg in three quick bites. “Like that.”

Fluttershy looked stunned. “Wow, how did you do that without burning your tongue?” she asked as she broke open another and set its insides in the pan.

“It’s all to do with the speed you eat it,” Cadence explained with a flick of a hoof. “The only problem with doing that is you get some rather bad stomach pains…” Her voice faded away as her eyes widened and she put a hoof to her stomach. “Like now.”

Fluttershy planted a hoof in her mouth in shock. “Oh dear. Um, would you like me to do anything to help?”

Cadence shook her head, her face looking pained. “It’s okay,” she replied in a winded tone, “I’ll be all right in about five minutes. Don’t worry about me, just concentrate on feeding Trixie, and Spike when he wakes up.” She pointed behind Fluttershy, where Trixie was getting up from where she had settled last night.

Fluttershy smiled as the unicorn tiredly staggered up next to her. “Morning, Trixie,” she greeted her kindly. “Would you like some egg?” she asked, pointing to the pan.

“Oh, yes please!” Trixie answered cheerfully, suddenly awake once more. She quickly sat on her rump by the fire, and grinned expectantly as she took Cadence’s plate with her magic while simultaneously taking the egg from the pan.

Fluttershy smiled as Trixie dug in, and then cracked open another and set it in the pan, the yolk sizzling noisily thanks to the heat from the fire. With another egg ready to be eaten, she turned to look back at Trixie, only to raise an eyebrow as she watched the unicorn eat.

Unlike Cadence, Trixie ate with the grace and dignity of a pony of Canterlot, taking small nibbles from the egg slowly while keeping her head held high. “This egg is simply the best egg I have ever tasted,” she remarked halfway through it. She glanced at Fluttershy curiously. “What did you do to it?”

“I-I did nothing, honest,” Fluttershy said bashfully, her cheeks burning pink at the praise. “I just put it in the pan and fried it, that’s all. I guess I have the magic touch.” She briefly remembered her father saying the same thing to her about her cooking the morning of the day he was killed by Heimdallr, and violently shuddered at its memory.

“You okay, Fluttershy?” Cadence asked, looking at her with worry.

Fluttershy looked back at her and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, just a memory passing through my head. Nothing that can hurt me now.”

Cadence nodded uncertainly, then looked over her shoulder to see Spike getting up and dusting himself off. “Morning, everypony,” he greeted them all as he stretched out his arms and legs. He froze all of a sudden, and sniffed the air once the aroma coming from the pan reached his nostrils. “Is that egg I smell?”

Fluttershy nodded, a small smile on her face at the sight of a good friend. “Morning, Spike, and yes it is egg you smell. Would you like one? Don’t worry if you don’t, though, I’m sure somepony else would have another one.”

Spike’s belly growled, giving her his answer. “How can I turn down free egg?” he enquired as he walked over to the campfire. He sat down next to Cadence, and took the egg with his claws. “Mmm,” he moaned as he devoured it messily, spraying yolk everywhere, “this is so good. Simply the best egg ever. How did you do it?”

Fluttershy blushed once more, a small smile on her face. ‘I should take up a job as a chef once this is over,’ she thought. “I did nothing, really. I just put them on the pan and left them to fry,” she explained as she broke the last egg open and poured it into the pan. The others looked at her as though they didn’t believe her. “It’s the truth, honestly.”

Cadence chuckled. “Well in any case, I think it’s safe to say that Fluttershy should be our chef in our time together.” Trixie and Spike grunted in agreement, making Fluttershy blush once more. The group fell silent for a small period, exchanging a bit of small talk between bites. Fluttershy watched and smiled sincerely, silently pleased her plan to know her companions better could actually work.

Fluttershy flicked her head around suddenly when she heard bushes being rustled behind her, and quickly looked back at the pan as Luna walked into the clearing. “Good morning, auntie,” Cadence greeted her with a wide smile. “You have got to try some of Fluttershy’s egg. It is delicious!”

Fluttershy could feel the Night Princess’s eyes bore into her back, making her feel chilly all of a sudden. That chilling feeling quickly died away when Luna walked around the campfire to sit on the other side of Cadence, smiling thinly. “Don’t mind if I have some,” Luna said warmly.

Trixie passed the plate over to her, while Luna took it and the last egg off the pan with her magic. She quickly began to eat it with the grace of true royalty, taking small bites out of the sides. Her eyes lit up with delight as the taste took hold in her mouth. “Mmm,” she grunted as she finished it. “Doesn’t taste bad.” She swallowed the last of it, and then said to the group, “Let’s keep moving. I would feel safer if we didn’t linger here any longer.”

The others nodded in agreement, and began to make themselves ready for another long day of trekking through the woods. All except for Fluttershy, who sat where she was, her ears flat on her head and a slow but heavy sigh leaving her parted lips.

“I wouldn’t let it get to you, Fluttershy,” Cadence said softly. “Luna saying ‘it doesn’t taste bad’ is the highest praise in Equestria when it comes to her.”

“It’s not that,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head. “I just hoped that, well, we could have spent an hour or so… talking to each other. You know, getting to know one another better; we are going to be stuck with each other for a long time, after all.”

Cadence smiled comfortingly. “I’m sure there will be plenty of time for that to happen. Now come on, move your bum and let’s get going.”

Fluttershy nodded reluctantly, then stood up straight, quickly put the fire out with her hooves, and packed the tripod and the pan back into the bag. A minute later, once everyone was ready, the five companions made their way down the hill and onto the small path Fluttershy and Trixie saw the deer take the previous evening.

They made good progress through Whitetail Woods, with the three winged ponies taking turns to fly up past the trees to see where they were heading and navigate through the woods and the fading mist. They soon came across a spot where the path forked into two directions: one heading northwest, and the other heading directly north, towards the Unicorn Range. They swiftly followed the path heading north, leaving any trace of the Whitetail Deer behind.

After three hours of walking, they soon came into a large clearing that looked like a large peanut from the air – at least it did to Fluttershy before she made her way back down after her flight turn – with large stumps scattered across where trees used to stand. Some of them had large pieces of wood sticking up like a termite mound from where the tree had fallen suddenly. The sight of so many tree stumps made Fluttershy feel angry and sad at once. ‘Trees shouldn’t be destroyed by ponies. They should be allowed to die first before being used,’ she thought. That was when another thought came to her. Ponies are forbidden by Equestrian law to cut down trees in Whitetail Woods, so who or what did?

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Cadence suddenly greeted her. Fluttershy shot her head from the stumps to look at the Crystal Princess suddenly walking beside her. Cadence’s ears were flat across her head, and her eyes expressed a heavy amount of guilt. “Are you all right?”

“I’m okay, I think. Just a little bit sad for all these trees,” she said waving a hoof in the direction of the stumps. “What about you? Is your stomach better now?”

“Oh yes, much better now, thank you. I really need to stop eating food so quickly. It’s a bad habit I picked up when I was being raised by earth ponies.” The two fell into a comfortable silence for a moment. “Fluttershy,” Cadence sighed, “I want to apologise to you for what I said to you back at the castle.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened; out of all the things she expected Cadence to say, that was not one of them. “You don’t have to apologise for anything, Cadence.”

“Oh, I think I do need to,” Cadence persisted. “Especially for what I said. I have seen the way you look at me, too, a look of disgust every time you lay eyes on me. I can only imagine what you must think of me.”

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t think horribly of you at all.”

“Don’t. Lie,” Cadence said through gritted teeth and narrow eyes. Fluttershy felt herself shrink under her gaze. “There is one thing I can’t stand, and that are liars. I can see what you think about me every time you look at me. Don’t deny that you hate me for what I said.”

Fluttershy wanted to assure her that she was wrong, and that she held no hard feelings for what was said back at the castle. But she knew before she even said them that they were lies. She was disgusted with Cadence for saying what she had said, she did dislike her terribly for what she wanted to do, and the pegasus hated herself immensely for it. “I am so sorry for thinking about you like that,” Fluttershy said softly, bowing her head in shame. “But I was raised so differently than you. I just cannot begin to understand how you could think like that.”

She felt Cadence brush up against her gently, like a mother would with a foal to keep her warm. “I know why I said those things, but it hurts me to no end to know the reasons,” Cadence said painfully, much to the young Dragonlord’s confusion. “I was trained and raised by Celestia to become everything a Princess of Equestria should believe in and follow. I was taught to love and spread love to all by her, for that was my talent. What I said back at the castle went against my training, my talent, everything I was told to believe in. And I know why. I… I was afraid, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy looked at her in shock. “Afraid?”

Cadence nodded, her gaze directed away from Fluttershy’s. “I was afraid of what would happen to us, and what would become of us when you had let him escape. I was afraid that I would be dragged back to Canterlot in chains, like the first time, and put into stone. I don’t want to be frozen in stone, Fluttershy; I don’t want to hear the world go by while I scream myself into insanity. That’s why I said I would kill him if I had been given the choice. I thought coldly for my own gains – my own survival.”

Fluttershy could no longer feel disgusted by looking at Cadence. She could only feel sympathy for her. She quickly nuzzled Cadence’s neck in assurance and comfort. “It’s okay, Cadence. I forgive you. I understand fear can cloud a pony’s judgement and make them do things that they would not usually do. I should know; I lived in constant fear for twenty years of my life. But know that you do not have to think so coldly just to survive. Sometimes, though not all the time, being kind and loving can make you go one step further than being cold and heartless.”

Cadence nodded, a sincere smile on her lips. “I know that, and thank you, Fluttershy, for being so understanding and loving. I know what I said yesterday was out of fear, but what I said about being a leader is the truth. It is always hard, and you will be called upon to do some dark, hateful things that would benefit the many, while only punishing the few.”

Fluttershy nodded grimly. “Like killing King Sombra?” she said.

Cadence’s eyes wavered in their fixed position with Fluttershy’s. “Yes, like killing him,” Cadence replied, nodding.

The two fell into silence once more as they wandered out of the clearing and back into the clustered spaces of Whitetail Woods. Luna spread her wings wide, and then took off and flew through the canopy and into the open, clear sky. “Are you going to try and talk to my aunt again?” Cadence enquired upon seeing her go, raising an eyebrow at the pegasus.

Fluttershy’s ears fell flat once more and she looked away. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I want to, really, but every time I look at her, I can only see her trying to kill Robyn again. She probably wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway.”

Cadence shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know. Although Luna can keep a foul mood for a long, long time, she doesn’t ever hold a grudge against anypony. Not even against a pony who slapped her across the face.” She looked at the smaller pegasus with a wry smile. “I still can’t believe you did that.”

Fluttershy showed off her most sheepish grin. “Well, to be fair, neither do I. I was just so furious I had to hit something, and Luna was the only legitimate target at the time. Afterwards, though, I felt like I should go on my belly and beg for forgiveness for doing that, but my anger stopped me from grovelling at her hooves.”

Cadence giggled. “Well, I can’t condemn it, nor can I praise it. As for why Luna’s not talking to you anymore, I don’t think it’s because she hates you. Ask her tonight, if you want to, and you’ll find out why.” With that, Cadence cantered further ahead to keep an eye on her aunt, leaving Fluttershy to her thoughts.

A few minutes later, her thoughts were acutely interrupted by a scream of alarm from Cadence echoing across the woods. Fluttershy brought her head up in horror, and spread her wings out as she mentally prepared herself to face whatever caused Cadence to shriek. “Spike, Trixie, stay here!” she called, turning back to face them. “Don’t move unless one of us calls you to, and cry out if you get into trouble!” Before she could give the two a chance to respond, she galloped ahead in long strides, hoping to get to Cadence before whatever it was up ahead injured her.

She soon made it to Cadence’s side, and was about to ask what was wrong when she soon caught sight of why the alicorn screamed. “Oh no,” she whispered, feeling herself paling incredibly as she stared in horror at the scene before her.

A large open cart filled to the brim with logs sat amidst the dense space of oak trees. And around the cart, a dozen bodies of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns lay sprawled out on the ground or against the trees in pools of blood, their bodies displaying hideous wounds and bruises from what clearly must have been a one-sided fight.

As much as she wanted to, Fluttershy could not bring herself to look away. Cadence did, only if it was to bring back up her breakfast. Fluttershy broke out her stare upon hearing Cadence throw up, then quickly took to the air and gently rubbed Cadence’s back. “Shh, it’s all right,” she cooed, trying to ease the fear she could feel crawling up the alicorn’s spine.

“All right?” Cadence repeated, shooting her pale head back around to look at her with a glare. “How can this be all right? Look a little closer, Fluttershy, and you can see that they are all dead!” Cadence stared at the Dragonlord oddly. “How can you look so normal in front of a scene like this? How can you be like that, in the face of such atrocity?”

“Because, Cadence, I have walked across a battlefield littered with dead horses,” Fluttershy answered solemnly. “I have seen death over a hundred times, and it rarely ever does anything to me anymore. This, on the other hoof,” she said, looking back at the carnage, “is one of those moments when it does.”

“And it makes Equestria’s situation all the more dire,” Luna said as she emerged from behind the cart, her eyes looking over each of the bodies.

“How so, aunt?” Cadence asked curiously, keeping her gaze fixed on Luna and not on what was around her.

Luna looked at one body in particular, a light brown earth pony with his side and chest torn open by little wounds. “This pony in particular sustained multiple fatal injuries with weapon points of the exact same size,” Luna explained. “If it were arrows that caused these, there would be at least one broken piece left here. No sword a pony could possess can create such wounds this small, not even daggers.”

Fluttershy understood what Luna was getting at before the Princess had even finished her sentence. “Only the Whitetail Deer could cause such wounds,” she said. Luna didn’t reply, but her eyes confirmed her claim.

“Why would the Whitetail Deer attack a group of ponies like this?” Cadence asked. “Why go this far?”

“Because, dear niece, they were well within their rights to do so,” Luna replied flatly.

Cadence stared at Luna in shock and disgust. “How can you say that the deer’s actions are justified? These ponies were innocent!”

“I’m afraid the deer would not say the same thing,” Luna explained sadly. She gestured with a hoof at the trees surrounding them. “To them, every tree in Whitetail Woods is sacred and a place of rest for their parted ones. They believe that the souls of the dead set themselves into the trees, so they could watch over their ancestors for a thousand years before departing this world forever, then another would take his or her place.”

Luna bowed her head sullenly. “To cut down a tree to them is to bring about the greatest and most terrible grief known to Terra, for a great ancestor would have faded away before their time. After that, no fortified city in Equestria could stop the deer’s wrath.”

“That’s why they requested that no trees would be cut down as part of the treaty they set up two thousand years ago,” Fluttershy said, her eyes wide as the realisation of what had transpired dawned on her. “And if these ponies cut those trees down under Equestria’s orders, then that means…”

Luna nodded slowly. “That the treaty has now been broken by Equestria,” she said.

“And war is almost inevitable between us and the deer once more,” Cadence finished hoarsely, her eyes wide in horror.

Fluttershy looked at each of the Princesses in dismay, feeling that her life could not get any worse. ‘So, we have to deal with not only being hunted for treason, but also have to avoid a civil war with ourselves and a war with the Whitetail Deer.’ She sat on her haunches and rubbed her forehead. ‘Could this get any worse?’ She immediately regretted thinking that.

“Fluttershy,” Cadence said. Fluttershy looked up, only to see she was looking behind her with wide eyes. Fluttershy looked back, and her jaw dropped and her eyes bulged when she saw Spike standing, frozen in terror, in full view of the horrific scene.

Fluttershy raced over to him in an instant and hugged him tight, burying his head in her chest to keep him from looking at what he should not have seen. “I told you to stay back until we came to get you,” she whispered sternly, stroking his back to ease his trembling body.

“I’m sorry,” he whimpered, trying desperately hard to hold back tears. “You were all taking ages and I started to worry so I came this way and I saw… that.” He sniffed loudly.

“It’s all right, Spike,” Fluttershy said softly. “The dead cannot hurt you.” She glanced back at the alicorns with narrow eyes. “We need to get out of here. It would do no good staying here if we’re now enemies of Whitetail.”

Luna and Cadence nodded agreeably, so gently turning Spike around and keeping his eyes away from the terrible scene, Fluttershy led the way back to Trixie, who sat idly for them to return with a questioning look; none of them said a word to the unicorn about what they had seen, despite her obvious questioning looks. With the group back together again, they gave the area a wide berth and continued heading north, shaken from what they had seen, and uneasy and anxious now that they were officially in enemy territory.

After many more miles of walking, flying, and even swimming across a thin, deep river after not being able to find a bridge, it was decided with some reluctance that it was time to stop for the night. The four ponies and one dragon agreed to camp out in a small clearing surrounded by thick oak trees, with many of their branches stretching out and acting as cover from the natural elements.

While Cadence set up a large fire with a large amount of sticks, found by courtesy of Trixie’s search, Fluttershy sat staring dumbly into the distance, her mind thinking back to what she had seen a few hours ago. ‘Could the deer have really killed all those ponies like that?’ she asked herself.

Though she wanted it to be a lie, she had read about the treaty in a few books she had owned, and had even seen the scroll on which the treaty was created and signed. The deer were well and truly within their side of the treaty to kill any ponies that had cut down one of Whitetail’s trees. As well as that, they were now well within their rights to carry out reprisals against Equestria. ‘Maybe they won’t do anything, though. Maybe that is all they’re going to do,’ she assured herself, though it seemed meek and untrustworthy to her. The fact that such an act was carried out puzzled her further, however. ‘Who would have given the order to cut down those trees in the first place? Surely not Celestia; she knows better than that.’

She looked back at Spike, who sat apart from her and anypony else, staring at the fire with haunted, twitching eyes. She inched herself closer to the poor little dragon, and draped a wing over his back. Spike jolted in his place from the sudden contact. “Shh, it’s all right, sweetie,” Fluttershy cooed gently, stroking his back with her feathers. “It’s just me.”

“Sorry,” Spike said ashamedly, his ears drooping. He turned away from the fire to stare at Fluttershy. “Was that what it was like in Horsca? Did you see much like… that, when you were there last time?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Yes,” she answered grimly. “And I saw it frequently from the day I arrived in the country to the day I defeated Heimdallr.”

Spike looked uncertainly at the Dragonlord. “Are you sure it’s a good idea that we’re going there, then?”

Fluttershy smiled assuredly. “Oh yes. The civil war is over now and Heimdallr is dead. Horsca is a definite improvement to this country. The only creatures you have to worry about are the remans, but they tend to stay in the mountain caves, and I don’t plan on going into any more strange mountain caves for as long as I live.”

Spike looked sceptical, but he nodded nonetheless. “Okay, Fluttershy. I trust you on this. And thank you, for this,” he said, gesturing with a claw to the comforting wing on his back. “I think I needed it after that.”

Fluttershy’s smile grew a little wider. “You are welcome, Spike. And don’t forget, if you ever need to talk, I will listen, okay?” Spike nodded. He looked as though he was about to say more, but before he could spit it out Luna began to speak.

“We made good progress today,” Luna addressed them as she circled the group, her eyes on a map levitating in front of her. “Another day without certain difficulties and we should be free of Whitetail Woods and be in the Unicorn Range.”

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. “That would be nice,” Spike said. “I’m starting to get bored of seeing trees.”

“You’ll probably get bored of seeing mountains by the time we get through the Unicorn Range, little Spike,” Trixie said, smiling cheerfully. “The Range is full of them.”

Spike narrowed his eyes at her. “I know that, Trixie, and I’m not that little,” he said smarmily.

“You’re still littler than all of us,” Trixie pointed out.

Before Spike could scream out in rage, Fluttershy shut his mouth up with a hoof. “You’re right that he is still smaller than us, but he was a lot smaller when I first met him. He’ll soon grow up to tower over all of us. Won’t you, Spike?” She took her hoof away from Spike’s mouth, and looked down at the little dragon, glaring at him to keep his next words nice and polite.

Spike wiped his mouth to rid himself of the pony hair that was caught on his lips and tongue, and then said politely, “Yes, I will grow up soon and be bigger than every pony that ever lived or will live.”

Trixie nodded, though her eyes spoke of how obvious his statement was. “Might I ask, Spike: how did you end up with Twilight Sparkle?” Trixie asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“She hatched me from an egg when she was enrolled into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” Spike answered. “I was part of her entrance exam. Been with her ever since – at least, until she kicked me out, that is.”

Trixie looked confused, as was evident by her nose wrinkling. “Strange, for when I enrolled into the school, my entrance exam was just a bit of paper and a few questions I had to answer. All the other ponies that enrolled were pretty much the same.”

Fluttershy and Spike looked at each other perplexedly. ‘What made Twilight so different that she had a different entrance exam?’ Fluttershy thought. From the look on Spike’s face, he was thinking exactly the same.

“Princess Celestia must have been lucky that Twilight came along when she did,” Trixie said, sighing. “I would do anything to have been the Princess’s personal student.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her. “Well, maybe one day you might be. I doubt the Princess puts an age limit to her students.” ‘If we ever find out what’s wrong with her and Equestria first.’

Trixie smiled kindly at her. “Thanks, Fluttershy, but I think that offer has been and gone. I graduated out of that school many years ago, and I don’t think they would take kindly to the fact that I had returned.”

Fluttershy tilted her head curiously. “Why? Did you do something wrong while you were there?”

Trixie nodded, a small grimace on her face. “Well,” she said while pawing at the ground, “I may have tried to use a very advanced teleportation spell, and I might have tested it on the teacher’s favourite cat.”

Spike and Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “And what happened to the cat?” Cadence asked.

Trixie’s grimace grew a bit larger. “Not entirely sure, but we did find her tail outside Canterlot’s walls.”

Spike shifted himself closer to Fluttershy for protection, not noticing that Fluttershy had shifted herself even closer to him. “Don’t ever use magic near me, please?” Spike asked fearfully. “I would very much like to stay on this earth, and here with you all.”

Trixie giggled. “Don’t worry, I only know a few powerful spells, like the cloud-walking one so I can get to Cloudsdale or the higher levels of Las Pegasus. That type of magic is below me.”

“So what other spells can you do?” Cadence asked, shifting about from her position to get comfortable again.

“Not many I suppose,” Spike muttered under his breath. Fluttershy heard him and shot him a silencing glare.

“Oh, quite a bit, actually. The usual levitation spells, but they’re nothing special; everypony can do those. I can cast a fake duplication spell I learned recently that creates a mirror version of a creature. Very fragile, though, and can break from the simplest touch, but effective if you want to get away,” Trixie replied smugly. “Oh, a fog spell that can cover anywhere, and finally, one of my favourites, a spell that magically creates fireworks. Though I’m good at all of those, I like that one the most. I think it is of my love for loud explosions.”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes, smiling a little. ‘At least we’re talking to each other,’ she thought. She suddenly noticed that Luna wasn’t with them anymore. “Hey, did anypony see where Luna went?”

“Yeah,” Cadence answered, pointing to the left of her, through a group of trees, “she went that way. I think she just wanted to watch the moon rise.” Fluttershy dipped her head to Cadence in thanks, then got up and trotted through the woods and to find Luna. “Good luck, Fluttershy,” Cadence whispered delicately to her as she left them behind.

As Fluttershy wandered through the darkening wood, her ears kept high to listen out for anything troublesome, a thousand thoughts and questions ran through her mind. Out of all of them, however, only one stood out. ‘What am I going to say to her?’ Should she first apologise for slapping her, and hope Luna will do so as well for insulting her? Alternatively, should she start with a bit of small talk, and then go into the apology? She was unsure how Luna would react, but from what Cadence had said to her earlier, she might be able to listen. ‘Vidarr knows we need to stick together, or none of us will get to Horsca.’

She soon found Luna on the other side of the woods, sitting at the mouth of a large lake that stretched out towards the moon, which looked like it was rising from the large body of water. Fluttershy’s mouth fell open as she stared in wonder of the scene before her.

The moonlight shimmered across the surface of the water, making it look like mercury. A steady breeze swept across the land, making Fluttershy’s mane flow through the air like Luna’s. The Princess herself sat as still as stone, her eyes closed and her breaths steady and relaxed, as though she had found a place of peace.

Fluttershy swallowed back her nervousness, and then walked cautiously forward, her gaze fixed on Luna. ‘Okay, Fluttershy, you can do this. Just be nice, talk politely, and for goodness sake at least sound like you’re sorry, which, don’t forget, you are,’ she told herself sternly.

She quickly found herself beside Luna, and sat down on her haunches while gazing out at the shining lake. Luna peeped an eye open to see Fluttershy sitting next to her, and quickly closed it again. “Um… hi,” Fluttershy said, grinning what she called her squee smile.

Luna opened her eyes with a sigh, and looked down at Fluttershy neutrally. “Hi,” she said. The two fell silent once more, with only the croaks of frogs to fill the otherwise dead night.

Fluttershy rubbed the back of her neck. “So, um… how are you?”

Luna grunted. “My cheek doesn’t feel as sore as it did, thanks for asking,” she replied, rubbing the cheek in question with a hoof.

Fluttershy grimaced at the harshness of Luna’s tone, but managed to bite back a just as harsh reply. The two fell silent again, and watched as the moon began to rise in its full glory into the sky. “The moon looks beautiful tonight,” Fluttershy remarked, her eyes moving across the sky. “The whole night looks incredible, as it has done for the past two nights.”

Luna’s hard look softened at the praise to her night. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” she said. Again, the two lapsed into silence.

Fluttershy suddenly giggled at something. “The moon looks pretty big tonight, as well. I hope you’re not ‘mooning’ me.” She giggled, hoping it would break the mood between them, yet all it did was make Luna look at her oddly. Fluttershy’s cheeks lit up pink and she hastily covered her face with her mane, giggling in embarrassment. “Sorry. I’m not that good with comedy.” ‘I should learn to leave the jokes to somepony like Pinkie Pie.’

Luna stared at the night sky for a long time, before giggling like a little filly. Fluttershy peeped out of her mane just to see why she was laughing and saw, to her delight, she was laughing at her joke. “That wasn’t bad. I’ve heard worse jokes, but at least that one made me laugh,” Luna commented. She stopped giggling, and looked at the moon once more. “You are right, though. It is pretty big tonight. Maybe I should push it back a bit.” She closed her eyes once more, and gently blew out some air from her mouth. As though it were a command, the moon began to grow smaller as it was pushed back.

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. “How are you doing that?” she enquired. “You’re not even using magic!”

“My sister and I raise the sun and the moon telepathically, Fluttershy. So long as I am alive, the moon will rise, move across the sky, and then descend back under the horizon, giving way to the sun,” Luna explained. She gazed at Fluttershy questionably. “Did you really think that pompous display Celestia puts on for the Summer Sun Festival is real? Do you expect me to go out every night, rise into the sky, spread my legs out and use my magic to make the moon rise?” Fluttershy shook her head quickly. “I hoped so. That would be tiring for even us old ponies to do.”

Fluttershy nodded, though she only had a faint idea on what Luna was going on about. The two, once more, fell into a more companionable silence as they watched the moon – now smaller in size – continue to rise, and the water shimmer with its light.

“I am sorry about what happ–” the two said at once. The two ponies stopped talking, and laughed awkwardly at the situation they were both in. “Sorry about that. You go first, Fluttershy,” Luna offered.

Fluttershy nodded in thanks, then said sincerely, “I am so sorry for slapping you back at the castle. That was wrong of me, I know. I just have not felt that angry in a long time, not since my father died. But feeling angry about something is not a plausible excuse for my actions, and for that I am sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.” She bowed her head and awaited judgement.

She felt a gentle hoof touch her chin, and it lifted her head up to look back at Luna, who wore a humble smile. “You are forgiven for your actions, if only you can forgive me for mine. I said some horrible things to you; I even called you a whore.”

Fluttershy flicked up an eyebrow. “You never called me a whore.”

“I said that you spread your legs for him, that is calling you a whore back in my old time,” Luna said. She sighed heavily as she ran a hoof through her sparkling mane. “That was wrong of me, and I am dreadfully sorry for it. But know this. What I said was only said because I was angry that you let him go, I never truly meant anything by it.”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on her shoulder, smiling at her. “You are forgiven, Luna,” she said. She withdrew her hoof from Luna’s shoulder, only to place it on the cheek that a few days ago she had struck. “I also understand now why you were going to kill Robyn. It’s okay to be scared, Luna. I, too, am terrified at what is happening, as are the others. No need to bottle up your fears around us, especially me, okay?”

Luna nodded. “I will remember that. Thank you, Fluttershy.” The two briefly went silent, pleased that they had such a horrible weight taken off their shoulders. “I want to know something, though: why did you allow the pony to live?”

“Because if he had died at our hooves then that would make all of us murderers and traitors. We may have been accused as traitors, yes, but we are not traitors. Killing him would have made us all guilty of treason,” Fluttershy explained. “Something I intend to never happen.”

Luna nodded in understanding. “I see. And maybe you are right, Fluttershy. Maybe it wouldn’t have been wise to kill Robyn.” They went silent once more as they saw a shooting star race across the sky, before vanishing in a split second.

“We’re doing quite well, aren’t we?” Fluttershy said suddenly, looking at the sky. “We’ve come this far, and we haven’t been caught yet.”

“Not yet, but it will get harder now, thanks to you sparing that guard,” Luna said.

Fluttershy glanced up at her and raised an eyebrow confusedly. “I thought you said I was right and that he should have been spared.”

“I did, but I was also thinking of the consequences of such an action,” Luna said. “Any action a pony takes has a consequence, and leaders have to think of multiple consequences before deciding which one to take. While sparing that soldier’s life keeps us clean from committing treason, it also makes getting to Horsca harder, now that they know where we are heading.”

“But what if Robyn was telling the truth?” Fluttershy insisted. “What if he told them we were heading south instead of north?”

Luna looked down at her with a mild look. “And what if you were wrong? Hmm? What if we just lost them within the woods, or that they were too scared to even come in now that the Whitetail Deer would kill any armed pony on sight?” She shook her head. “You need to think about these things before you make such a crucial decision…” She lowered her voice and stared at the bank of the lake. “That is something I do not think you are capable of.”

Fluttershy tilted her head confusedly, frowning. “What do you mean?”

Luna sighed heavily. “Fluttershy, you are a sweet, kind mare,” she began, “and I like you for that. However, I believe you are too kind and loving, something that a leader cannot be. A leader must be able to see that sometimes the most direct action, like taking a life, is crucial to their survival, and that of those they lead. You must be able to act cold and ruthless sometimes, for some ponies might not be as kind as you, or maybe like Robyn. You must know when to be merciful, and when to be merciless. And you have to balance both, or else ponies will either see you as a weakling, or as a tyrant.”

Luna stood up straight and moved to turn back into the woods and camp. “Those are qualities that I don’t think you are capable of possessing, dear Fluttershy. So forget this task Vidarr gave to you and leave the decisions to me and Cadence.” She began to walk slowly into the woods, ready to leave the pegasus in a state of shock.

‘She doubts I can do it,’ Fluttershy thought to herself as she stared wide-eyed at the lake. ‘She doesn’t believe in me, like a good friend would.’ That knowledge infuriated the pegasus more than she thought it should.

Something clicked inside her at that moment, making her determined above all else to be what Vidarr wanted her to be. All her life she had been doubted in her abilities to do anything by everypony: her teachers, her fellow classmates, and even her own friends sometimes. They had all doubted her at some point for some reason or another, and it always made her feel like a lesser pony. A weakling that couldn’t do anything.

Not anymore.

“No,” she growled, her hooves digging into the dirt beneath her.

Luna stopped, and looked back with a perplexed look. “Excuse me?”

Fluttershy spun around to face her, her eyes narrow and burning with determination. “I said no. I will prove you wrong, Luna. I will show you that you don’t have to be cold to lead ponies. I will show you that a leader can be loving, wise, just and benevolent without resorting to the goal of pointless deaths!” Fluttershy declared. “I will be that leader, Luna, and I will show you that it can be done!”

Although her body showed no change, Luna’s eyes lit up in admiration. “I hope you do prove me wrong, Fluttershy. I really do.” With that said, Luna walked slowly into the woods, leaving the pegasus alone with the moon shining down on her back.

Fluttershy was still seething with rage the next day.

After a while of brooding angrily over what Luna had said to her, she had stormed back to the camp and had lain out on her side, facing away from the group and without saying a word to them. She quickly fell asleep after that, her dreams haunted by her Ponyville friends once more, as they always have been since this trouble began.

When the morning came, a small breakfast was made and eaten in silence, with everyone, except Fluttershy, who stared at the fire in front of them, looking at each other with uncertainty of what to say. After a moment to feel fully awake again, they packed up everything they had and wandered back into the woods, heading north all the while.

After an hour or so, they crested the top of a small hill with no trees blinding their view, and caught sight of the Unicorn Range for the first time. It was a thick wall of mountains and hills that seemed to stretch across the horizon. ‘It’s so close,’ Fluttershy thought when she looked up in awe, ‘yet still so far away.’ Luna had said that they needed to pass through a valley first that separated Whitetail Woods and the Range with a wide plain and a crossroad in the middle leading to the cities, towns and villages that resided across Equestria.

They soon lost sight of the Range again, and found themselves back in the shadows of the great oak trees. They had wandered for another hour since, with Fluttershy staring at the ground, contemplating on how she was going to lead them when the situation arose for her to do it.

At the moment, she did not feel like a leader at all – in fact, she believed nopony thought themselves as the leader. They all made suggestions, and either agreed or disagreed with them. No pony or dragon had said that they should be the leader, at least not yet. Which prompted Fluttershy to ask herself, ‘Do they know what Vidarr tasked me with back in the desert?’ And if not, what, and how, would she tell them?

“I take it the talk with Luna yesterday went swimmingly, judging by your actions last night and this morning,” Spike said as he walked alongside her.

Fluttershy glanced in his direction, sighing grumpily. “It went okay, I guess. Luna and I are friends again, at least,” Fluttershy replied.

Spike looked lost. “So why did you look and act so moody last night?”

Fluttershy sighed once more, and had a quick look around to see if anypony else was about. Trixie was at the back, looking at the different trees and the various birds that nestled up in them. Luna was up front, her eyes fixed forward. Cadence was nowhere to be seen, for she was up above them scouting ahead to see if they were going the right way and that the path was clear.

Nodding to herself, Fluttershy looked back at Spike, and said, “Did Luna tell you about what Vidarr spoke to me about that day on the rock before he left?”

Spike looked at his forehead for a moment, before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think she did.”

“Well, Vidarr told me that as I am the last of the Dragonlords, the title of Primarch gets passed down to me. I need to prove to him, and to Vidarr the First above us, that I have earned that title by guiding you all to Horsca.”

Spike still looked confused. “So, what does the title of Primarch mean?”

Fluttershy mentally cursed herself for forgetting that Spike did not know what a Primarch was. “A Primarch is the high leader of the Dragonlord order, Spike. He or she is the leader that is elected by the predecessor, or done at an election or something like that. He or she has total command of all the Dragonlords, and decides what they do and what they don’t do.”

“Oh,” Spike oozed, nodding and looking like he understood. “So basically, you’re a leader of a group of ponies that isn’t around anymore.”

“Precisely!” Fluttershy beamed. Her beaming grin vanished when she realised what Spike had just said. “Ah.”

Spike raised his claws. “You see! So why did he ask you to lead us when we are not Dragonlords?”

“Oh, he… he did say why,” Fluttershy quickly replied as she remembered. “He said that Primarchs tended to give council to other nations to help them out, or lead armies of other races to victory if the situation arose. Well, he didn’t actually say that, but that was the idea of it, I think.”

“Oh, I see – I think,” Spike muttered under his breath. “So, how does that explain the reason as to why you were in a strop last night?”

“I wasn’t in a strop!” Fluttershy shouted defensively. She quickly shied back and blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry.” She sighed sadly and let her ears flop. “I guess I was in a bit of a strop last night, wasn’t I?”

“Can’t argue with you there,” Spike said, rolling his eyes. “So yeah, anyway, why were you acting like that?”

“Because she doesn’t believe in me,” she answered, glaring at Luna and pointing an accusing hoof at the former Princess of Equestria. “She doesn’t think that I can lead you all there without any deaths, and I’m going to prove her wrong by actually leading us there, and without any pony dying, too.”

Spike grinned. “That’s the spirit, girl!” he said, giving Fluttershy a heavy pat on the shoulder.

“Ouch,” Fluttershy said, gazing at Spike with a hurt look.

Spike grimaced and cursed under his breath for his heavy handiness. “Sorry, I forget you have a sensitive body sometimes.”

“It’s okay, my body isn’t as sensitive as it used to be; most of my scars or bruises tend to disappear in less than an hour now that I’m a Dragonlord.” Her ears suddenly twitched as she heard the sound of wings flapping against the wind. “Everypony, stop!” she ordered sharply, bending her knees and hoping it was Cadence coming back.

Sure enough, her heart relaxed when she saw Cadence shoot down like a rock back to the ground. She trotted quickly over to where the Princess had landed. “Did you find anything on you–?” she asked, but trailed off when she noticed how pale Cadence looked. “What did you see?” she asked, dreading the answer.

Cadence gestured with her head to whatever was behind her. “You all might want to take a look at this,” she said. With that, she turned around and led the group forward, with the others just behind her guessing what it was that Cadence had seen.

Five minutes later, they emerged from the woods to find themselves at the edge of a hill that sloped down into a large valley that was about the width of Ponyville. At the far end, the valley sloped up and evened out once more, and a few miles behind a small woodland area, the hills and mountains of the Unicorn Range were in sight. The valley itself appeared to have once been a river, or a great glacier, but now it was covered in delicious green grass, with thin, dirt roads that crossed at its centre, and a large assortment of tents rested around where the two roads conjoined.

“Well, that’s just perfect,” Trixie mumbled, while the others looked down in horror.

The tents were as white as salt, with thin golden lines around the open flaps and roofs. Each tent bore a flagpole, and on the pole, a large flag with the cutie mark of Celestia on it tried to fly with the wind. The others couldn’t see, but Fluttershy could make out white and grey dots of ponies of the Royal Guard walk about the camp, while she could hear the sound of steel clashing against steel, and the roar of forges working fiercely as they prepared themselves for war.

“Can anypony make out their colours?” Luna asked.

“I can,” Trixie answered. “I can see blue, a lot of white, a bit of gold, and oh, purple over there, and–” She was cut off by Luna slamming a hoof into her open mouth.

“I meant it as who do those ponies down there follow,” Luna elaborated. Trixie’s eyes widened in realisation, before giving off a nimble nod in understanding.

“I can see banners with the cutie mark of Celestia on them, Luna,” Fluttershy answered, putting a leg across her forehead to block out the sun above them so she could make them out clearer.

Luna pulled her hoof out from Trixie’s mouth, wiped any saliva off it, and nodded gratefully at Fluttershy. “Thank you, Fluttershy,” she said, smiling at her. That smile faded to be replaced with a large frown as she looked back at the campsite.

“Why are they down there?” Spike enquired, looking to each of the ponies for an answer.

“Down there is supposedly the centre of Equestria, Spike,” Cadence answered, directing with a hoof as she spoke. “The northern to southern road leading into the Unicorn Range and down to here goes towards the northern cities and, barring the trains, is the easiest route to the south. Anypony that wishes to lead an army down this way would have to take this path to get to the south, and have direct access to Canterlot, Las Pegasus, or even the eastern cities.” She paused for breath. “This is strategically the most important crossroad in Equestria.”

“And if Celestia’s memory is unchanged in her hasty descent to insanity, she will know this,” Luna added. “She’s seen the many holes around her country and her capital, and right now she’s filling them all in with soldiers, giving her armies access to all routes that lead anywhere outside central Equestria.”

Fluttershy and Cadence nodded in agreement, while Trixie and Spike looked down in horror of the growing unrest. “Well, Fluttershy, this is your moment of truth,” Luna said, turning her head to look at Fluttershy, who shrank back at her expecting gaze. “How do you propose for us to get around this?”

Fluttershy gulped as she realised that this was the moment to see if she could prove her claim and lead them all into the Unicorn Range without anypony dying. “Why are you putting this weight on Fluttershy?” Cadence asked, her eyes narrow on her aunt. “Surely yourself would be the better pony to lead us around this. No offence, Fluttershy.”

“None taken,” Fluttershy replied with a squeak.

“I’m asking her this because she is the leader of our little group,” Luna answered. “According to Vidarr, anyway.”

Cadence’s eyes widened in shock, and then turned to Fluttershy for confirmation. “Is this true, Fluttershy?”

After a moment of Cadence’s eyes boring into her own, Fluttershy sighed. “Yes, it is true. Vidarr told me that since I am the Primarch of the Dragonlord order, I must prove that I can keep that title by leading you all to Horsca safely. I thought you knew. You did give me all those pointers about how being a leader is a tough job.”

“Yes, well, I must have been giving you advice without knowing it then,” Cadence replied. She added with a chuckle, “How thoughtful of me.”

Fluttershy chuckled, too, and then dipped her head and sighed ashamedly once more. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything to you all. I guess I didn’t want to sound so bossy when I came back to the camp and declare that I’m the leader now.”

She looked up when she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Cadence said warmly. “I imagine that would have been quite hard on you to be given such a heavy task. But if you had said something earlier, I would have gladly helped you and given you advice.”

Fluttershy’s ears pinned back up, and she smiled widely at the alicorn. “Really?”

Cadence nodded. “I was like you once before. I was not a leader in any shape or form. Just a lost, scared little pegasus wandering the woods looking for mummy and daddy. But over time, I learnt how to become that leader, and I know that you will too. I believe in you, Fluttershy. We all do.”

Fluttershy looked from Cadence to Trixie, then to Spike, and finally to Luna. All of them except Luna looked at her either admirably, or vividly expressed their belief in her that she could do it. It lit a fire inside her belly that made her feel determined to get them across, and do it by following the ways of a leader and by her own beliefs as well.

She looked back at Cadence, and nodded with a thin smile. “I will do my best,” she said determinedly.

“I know you will, sweetie. Just take your time with it; there’s no rush so long as we aren’t seen,” Cadence said smoothly. “And don’t think with your head.” She placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s chest. “Think with your heart. Your head makes you think logically and coldly. Thinking with you heart makes you think on what’s right, and I know you will come up with the right thing.” She gave the pegasus a little pat on the shoulder, and then looked around to address the others. “Let’s give Fluttershy some space so she can think about this without us breathing down her neck.”

The others nodded in agreement, whispering, “Good luck,” and, “I hope you get us over there okay,” to Fluttershy as they sneaked back into the woods and out of sight, leaving the Dragonlord alone to a building panic at the massive pressure she was given.

Her chest started to rise and fall in an increasingly rapid rate, and her eyes bulged as she began to panic. ‘Oh, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?’ she asked herself, jogging on the spot. She stopped when she quickly remembered seeing Cadence and Twilight practice a little calming technique the last time they were in the Crystal Empire, and decided to give it a go. “Okay, put a hoof to your chest and take a deep breath in, and then stretch your leg out in front of you and breathe out,” she reminded herself. She pressed a hoof against her chest, taking a deep breath in as she did so, and then breathed out again as she stretched her leg forward.

She set her leg back down, and felt a sudden calmness take her, like the stars had done the night she had seen the deer. ‘Wow, it really does work,’ she thought pleasingly, smiling to herself.

“She has learnt how to keep calm,” she heard Cadence whisper cheerfully to Luna. “She could make a great leader now.” Luna responded with a dubious snort.

Fluttershy glanced back and giggled. ‘When will ponies ever learn that talking about me behind my back is not a good idea?’ she wondered. “Thanks, Cadence!” she called. She looked back at the scene before her, sat on her haunches, and began looking for a way past.

She firstly considered going around the camp in either direction, to give the soldiers a wide berth, and then walk across the valley and finally make their way back to the path and head into the Unicorn Range. After a moment to think about it, she shook it off as a rubbish idea. Following the valley right would take them too close to Canterlot, while heading left would put them in the middle of a potential war zone, with a tension between them as thin and as fragile as a lake of ice.

She then thought about going under the valley. The moles of Whitetail Woods knew her well, and would gladly dig holes big enough to allow her and her friends to safely walk under the campsite and out to the other side. She turned back to tell the others to start looking for mole hills, but stopped when she thought more about it. ‘That wouldn’t work, either.’ Moles were only small creatures, and they would take days, maybe weeks, to build a tunnel big enough for them to walk through; time that they did not have.

‘We can’t go left nor right, and neither can we go under,’ she narrowed her options down by looking at her hooves. ‘All that is left for us is to go… up.’ Her eyes widened and she merely glanced up at the sky as it came to her. “If we could use some clouds as cover,” she whispered to herself, with a hoof beneath her chin as she pondered, “we could simply drift over the camp, and then get off and fly into the Range without anypony being none the wiser.” She clapped her hooves together and giggled excitedly. “That’s a brilliant idea! Fluttershy, you are a genius!”

Her excitement quickly died away when she finally noticed that there was not a cloud above them. She kicked at the ground and let out a moan of frustration. “Oh, come on, give me a break!” she cried out. She slumped where she sat and sighed heavily. If they couldn’t go up or down, left or right, then they would have to go through, possibly killing so many ponies in the process. ‘Maybe Luna was right. Maybe sometimes bloodshed is the only way forward,’ she thought reluctantly. She looked up, took a deep breath to prepare herself to say to Luna that she might have been right, when her eyes caught something to the right of her.

She looked, and gasped delightfully at the sight of dark storm clouds clustering to the east of them and advancing slowly towards the camp. She put herself into a posture of prayer and whispered in Dragonian, “Takk, Vidarr den første (Thank you, Vidarr the First).” She turned around to face the tree line. “I have a plan!” she announced to the others, grinning at herself.

The three ponies and one dragon quickly emerged from the tree line, their expressions stating their interest of Fluttershy’s plan. “Well then, don’t leave us ‘hanging’, as you modern ponies say,” Luna said. “What have you got planned for us?”

Fluttershy looked at Luna with a little grin, and then turned to Trixie. “You said that you know how to cast a cloud-walking spell, didn’t you?”

Trixie nodded. “Why, yes, I did.”

“Good, because I would like you to cast it on yourself and Spike,” Fluttershy instructed pleasantly. Trixie nodded, although her face revealed a hint of uncertainty. She looked over to Spike, who looked really scared of being where he was now, closed her eyes and cast the spell.

A greyish magenta aura wrapped and swirled around Trixie’s hooves and Spike’s feet for a long moment, before fading away into nothingness. Trixie peeped an eye open, and sighed with relief at apparently not blowing up Spike. “Did it work?” Spike asked, his eyes shut tight and his body tense as a statue.

Fluttershy smiled, and rested a hoof on his shoulder to calm him down. “I think it did, Spike. But the only way to find out is to walk the clouds themselves,” she said, much to the confusion of others.

“What clouds are we walking on, pray tell?” Luna enquired, raising an eyebrow.

Fluttershy grinned at her, and then pointed to the storm clouds to the east. “I’m talking about those clouds, Luna,” she said. The others looked at where Fluttershy was pointing and gasped in horror; though their eyes revealed their slight surprise.

Fluttershy grinned again and then spread out her wings. “Right, Luna, you take Trixie on your back, and Spike, you go on Cadence’s back,” she ordered nicely. “Is that okay with you two?”

“That’s… fine,” Cadence said nervously. Luna nodded uncertainly when Cadence looked to her as if she was asking permission to continue. “But I have to ask something. Are those storm clouds safe to walk on?”

Fluttershy looked back to Cadence with a gormless look, then back to the clouds. As she looked, her time in flight camp came back to the front of her mind, and not the time she was picked on constantly, but from the lessons she learnt.

She knew those clouds were nimbostratus clouds, storm clouds filled with rain and vicious lightning. Not only did she know that metal and lightning were a bad combination, she also knew only pegasi were able to endure such bolts tearing through their body for a long time before it finally killed them. That was why only the oldest or the most experienced pegasus ponies like Derpy Hooves and Rainbow Dash respectively were allowed near and to deal with such clouds. ‘Yet I’m neither,’ Fluttershy thought. She could feel her body start to shake with fright at the certainty of being electrocuted.

‘No!’ she yelled at herself. She had to do this, not for herself but to get those that were counting on her across safely. And the only way to do that was to go first and take the shots like a mare. ‘Rainbow Dash would have done the same.’

“They should be okay,” Fluttershy replied, sounding calmer than she felt. “Just as long as we keep all metallic objects covered, then we should get through there fine. However, I will walk ahead and be a lightning conductor, while you all stay in a single line and follow me from afar.”

Cadence looked at her in horror. “Are you insane?” she exclaimed. “You’re gonna get yourself killed!”

“Pegasi have a high endurance to lightning bolts,” Fluttershy said, staring defiantly at Cadence. “So long as I’m not hailed by bolts then I should be okay.”

“But even then after a certain amount your body won’t be able to take it and it will go into shock!” Cadence protested. “Fluttershy, you mustn’t risk yourself like this, it’s not worth it!” She turned to Luna. “Luna, tell her, tell her to stop!”

Luna looked between them, her mind obviously weighing the options, before sighing and bowing her head. “I don’t think I could change Fluttershy’s mind, dear niece, no matter how hard I’ll try,” she said in defeat. “If this is Fluttershy’s choice then so be it.”

Fluttershy nodded, ignoring the horrified look on Cadence’s face. “It is my choice, and none of you will change my mind,” she said. With a sigh, Fluttershy turned around and spread her wings once more, while the others hesitantly followed Fluttershy’s instructions and prepared themselves for cloud walking.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Luna said as she got onto her stomach and let Trixie clamber onto her back.

Fluttershy looked back at her, and nodded. “Me too.” She looked back at Spike, who rested comfortably on Cadence’s back with his arms wrapped around her neck, while Luna lifted herself back onto her legs with Trixie’s leg around her neck and her barrel, and then covered up her sword with the food bag. “Right, are we all ready?” Four uncertain nods answered her question. “Okay, let’s go.”

With that, and a final swallow of her nerves, she thrust her wings to the ground, as did the others behind her, and took to the air.

She could hear her wing blades sing as she flapped her wings and sent herself towards the clouds slowly advancing over the valley and the camp below. As they slowly gained altitude, she looked down to see the soldiers in the camp racing back to their tents to shelter from the incoming storm, and sighed with relief. ‘At least they won’t see us flying into the storm,’ she thought. She looked back to see the others were doing pretty well. Spike was clutching to Cadence’s neck for dear life, while she could hear Trixie praying that her spell worked. ‘I hope it will too, for Cadence and Luna’s sakes.’ Even with their endurance, they were still ponies, and carrying such weight could be costly to them.

The clouds seemed to be higher than they looked, for Fluttershy’s wings, especially her left wing, were beginning to ache from overuse. She could feel sweat trickle down her face and the back of her neck, making her feel like folding her wings back up and falling. She shook such thoughts out of her head, and gritted her teeth together as she put her all into it. She dared not to look back to see how the others were doing, in case she lost it and fell. “We’re nearly there!” she goaded them on. “Just a bit further!”

She shook her head rapidly to get rid of any sweat she felt on her face, and blinked to clear any tears of exhaustion she could feel in her eyelids. When she opened them again, she felt the soft, cool feeling of a cloud rub against her body as she passed through it. ‘We made it,’ she thought. She folded her wings back to her sides, covering the blades once more, and quickly grabbed hold of the top of the cloud with her forelegs. She groaned as she hoisted herself onto the top of the cloud, and once she felt her whole body resting on it, sighed and relaxed. “I… I did it,” she rasped, a small grin on her face.

She heard the sound of wings flapping against the wind, and looked up to see Cadence and Luna arriving on the top of the clouds. Their bodies were drenched with sweat, and once both ponies landed they collapsed onto their stomachs, letting Spike and Trixie roll off their backs and onto the cloud. All of them gasped for what air was up there with them, and rested for a moment, feeling safe as they felt the clouds below them move gently with the wind over the Guard camp below.

“Everypony okay?” she called as she set herself back onto her hooves.

Cadence raised a hoof in assurance as she lay flat on her back. “I’m still alive,” she announced breathlessly.

“Me too,” Spike called, his voice muffled by being face down in the cloud.

“Me three,” Trixie said, panting for air.

“We are all here, luckily, and have yet to be seen by the guards below,” Luna said, peering over the edge. She looked back at Fluttershy. “Shall we continue?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not yet. Let them all catch their breaths first,” she responded, gesturing with a hoof at the exhausted ponies and dragon that had clung on for dear life, or flew all the way up here.

Luna nodded in respectful agreement. “Of course,” she said as she turned away from the edge. She sat down, and patiently waited for the others to get up and be ready to continue.

As she waited, Fluttershy stood and walked forward, checking out the path ahead with her keen eyes. She could see that the cloud was piled together from smaller clouds until it formed a long stretch of road that ran from the edge of Whitetail Woods to the Unicorn Range, and was as wide as Ponyville. A few holes in the clouds were scattered here and there, with nothing below them to stop a pony or a dragon from plummeting to their deaths, but they can’t be helped. Besides, they were all mature creatures who had ample control of their feet and hooves. ‘This will be a piece of cake,’ Fluttershy thought, grinning thinly to herself. ‘Provided I don’t die from electrocution first.’

“Ready to move on?” Fluttershy asked as she turned back. By now, Cadence, Spike and Trixie were on their hooves and feet, and were ready to continue.

“We’re ready, Fluttershy,” Luna confirmed with a gentle head bob. She lifted a leg up and pointed to the path laid out to them. “Lead on.”

Fluttershy nodded, and then turned her head around to look ahead, swallowing the ever-present lump in her throat. “Right, everyone, stay in a straight line and stay behind me a few feet,” Fluttershy ordered kindly. “Do not stray from the path under any circumstances. Okay?” She didn’t need to look back to see if they understood; she knew them long enough to know they did. “Right then, let’s walk.”

She put one hoof forward. Nothing happened. Then another hoof went forward. Again, nothing happened. Slightly less hesitant, she began to walk steadily across the cloud, taking care not to touch any sensitive areas that might trigger a lightning strike.

She glanced back to see her companions were following her lead from about twenty feet or so away, copying every step she had made, and staying in the line they had created: Luna was up front, followed by Spike, then Trixie and finally Cadence, who looked at Fluttershy nervously.

‘She’s afraid,’ Fluttershy realised. ‘She has every right to be.’

She looked forward again, and set her hoof down once more.

She was suddenly engulfed in a flash of bright light that was so intense Fluttershy thought she was going to be blinded, and a noise so deafening it drowned out anything else. She closed her eyes, flattened her ears instantly, and waited a few seconds to open them again. “Fluttershy!” Cadence screamed once the noise faded away.

‘At least I can still hear.’ She heard a few gasps of shock from behind her. She opened her eyes to find that she could still see, which was a relief.

The Dragonlord looked behind her again to see Luna, Cadence, Trixie and Spike staring at her in surprise. “Um… why are you all staring at me like that?” she asked, hiding behind her mane.

Luna took a step forward. “Are you all right?” she asked concernedly.

“Um, yes, I’m fine, thank you for asking.” Fluttershy turned her head a bit to the side. “Shouldn’t I be?”

“Well you just got struck by lightning, so you should be anything but fine!” Cadence shrieked in response.

Fluttershy stared at Cadence for a long time, her body going pale as what the alicorn told her began to sink in. She looked at her hoof and expected it to be charred or at least swollen, but there was nothing there to indicate she had just been struck with fifty thousand volts worth of natural electricity. “I’m… I’m fine,” she replied, taking deep breaths to calm herself. “Really. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Spike asked worriedly.

Fluttershy took a minute to consider what Spike asked, but she looked at him, smiled and nodded. “Yes, Spike. I’m fine. Now let’s keep walking and get off this cloud before something bad happens.” With that, she circled the spot where lightning had come out, and continued walking. The others briskly did the same.

“Okay, Fluttershy, just keep calm and controlled,” she whispered to herself. “You survived one strike, so you can surely survive another without much fuss.” Although she knew she shouldn’t, she was baffled by the fact at how painless it was.

Her mind took her back a few years or so ago, before she became a Dragonlord. She remembered Rainbow Dash telling her that she was going to be helping with a heavy storm that evening. Fluttershy had asked her if it was dangerous, and Rainbow had replied, “Don’t tell anyone else this, because I will deny it, but one time I got struck by lightning after stepping on a sensitive spot, and I screamed like a filly getting her first flu jab. It was like being tickled, but with a thousand hooves hard and it became so painful that it became too much. But don’t worry, I can take such a hit now cause I’m awesome like that,” she had added upon seeing Fluttershy’s look of horror.

Rainbow had said it hurt, if not a bit, so why didn’t she feel a thing? She broke out of her brooding when another lightning bolt hurled itself through her from the cloud and lashed out at the surrounding area like pointed fingers scratching at a surface. The pegasus tensed up, closed her eyes and gritted her teeth to bear the pain, but again there was nothing; even her hearing survived intact after the deafening explosion of thunder.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked at her body and saw it was completely unscathed from the strike. She shrugged it off and continued onward, the others following warily far behind her.

The next ten minutes went by quickly for her: she walked a few extra paces, got zapped by lightning, and then continued walking as if nothing had happened. As she travelled further, she began to realise what it was that was keeping her from death. Her Dragonlord blood was the only thing keeping her from being boiled and having her organs and coat fried. She was impervious to most hot temperatures – once upon a time, when she first became a Dragonlord, she once burnt her tongue on a bowl of soup, now she could eat as if it was cold – so it appeared to her as if she was immune to the heat and fierce shock of electricity, too. She giggled excitedly to herself. ‘Thought it would be a piece of cake.’

As time began to pass by, however, Fluttershy began to feel weaker after every strike. Picking up her legs felt more of a chore than they should, and her breathing began to grow hoarser. ‘What is happening to me?’ she thought fearfully as her pace began to slacken, her entire body aching with fatigue. She was so concerned about her own well being, that she failed to watch her step.

Another lightning strike pummelled into her from directly below. Fluttershy gritted her teeth and put her strength into standing upright, but once the bolt had gone and the thunder continued to rumble, her legs gave out and she fell onto her stomach, panting for air in the hope it would help regain her strength.

“Fluttershy, are you all right?” Cadence cried, concern for her staining her tone.

Fluttershy groaned lightly as she heaved herself off the cloud and onto her hooves once more. “I’m fine,” she rasped in response, looking back with an assuring smile. “Just feeling a bit tired.” She shook her head and continued to walk flaggingly. “We’re nearly there!” she yelled.

She was right. Ahead, no more than a few yards away, were the edges where the clouds ended and the never-ending sky met. Below the clouds and sky were the vast hills and mountains that dominated the Unicorn Range, spreading into a bold line that disappeared westward. The other way was Cloudsdale, and Fluttershy could just make out through her hazed vision the great mountain Canterlot perched upon.

‘Come on, Fluttershy, we’re nearly there, just a bit further,’ she coaxed herself. With her encouragement, she put every remaining ounce of strength into her legs and stepped forward once more. Once she put her whole weight on top of just her foreleg, she felt it tricky just to keep upright.

“Fluttershy, you have to stop for a minute!” Spike called concernedly. “You’re going to fall if you’re not careful!”

“No!” Fluttershy yelled stubbornly, taking another step forward. “I need to get to the end. I need to do this for you all.” She lowered her tone slightly, becoming inaudible to most of the group. “Besides, who’s going to miss me if I do fall? Nopony likes me, so nopony will be really upset if I do go.”

“That’s not true, Fluttershy! I will!” Spike yelled. “We would all miss you! Please, Fluttershy, you’re not proving anything by risking your life like this!”

“I’m not doing this to prove anything!” Fluttershy retorted weakly, glaring back at Spike. “I’m doing this to keep you all safe! To give you all a chance to live and get to Horsca! And if I have to die to make sure you all get there then so be it!”

Ignoring the meek protests from her fellow travellers, Fluttershy turned away and stepped forward once more. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this. Once you reach that edge they will have a clear path to the Unicorn Range,’ she goaded herself. She took another step, then another, and another, the edge closing in with every step.

Five steps to go.

Four more. Fluttershy quickened her steps.

Three steps. She felt her hind legs slip out from under her, but before she could collapse, she regained control, stood upright and soldiered on.

Two steps. She could feel her legs beginning to buckle, getting ready to collapse at any minute.

One.

Fluttershy pressed her hoof down harder than she should have done, and felt a final blast of lightning pass through her and lash out at the surrounding cloud. Once it had stopped, with only the rumble of thunder blasting through her ears, she smiled to herself as she looked down weakly at the ground a mile or so below them, even as she collapsed onto her knees, gasping for air.

“I… I did it,” she said proudly, before she fell forward and passed out.

After seeing her father in Paradise, and seeing for herself what the great realm looked like, Fluttershy thought she would be waking up in that realm painless and feeling ten years or so younger. So why is it that her whole body ached with fatigue and she felt seventy years older?

“Fluttershy!” a voice rattled through her ears, making her groan and grimace. She felt herself turned over onto her back, and then felt gentle yet firm slaps to her face with a hoof. “Can you hear me?”

“Ouch,” she rasped weakly, struggling to open her eyes. Once she did, however, her vision was bombarded by light, so she had to narrow them and look away until her sight adjusted. Soon, though, her eyes felt better, and she opened them fully to find Cadence sitting above her, a hoof ready to slap her again if need be.

Cadence smiled in relief when she saw the pegasus awake, setting her hoof back down. “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake. For a moment we all thought you were…” She shook her head and stopped herself from finishing her sentence, her smile cracking slightly. “That doesn’t matter. How are you feeling?”

Fluttershy shook her head to clear her vision and rubbed her face with a hoof. “I’m fine, I think,” she replied dazedly. She looked around, and saw to her surprise that she was lying on the flat top of a large hill looking towards the Equestrian Royal Guard Campsite. She looked behind her, and saw to her surprise the road that led into and over the rolling hills of the Unicorn Range.

‘But how can I be on the ground?’ The last thing she remembered was tumbling over the edge and falling to her death. “What happened?” she asked.

Cadence smiled warmly. “We made it to the edge of the cloud just as you fell over; we rushed over when we realised what was about to happen. If it weren’t for Luna flying down and catching you on her back, you would be dead,” she explained.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise, before looking around for the former Princess of the Night. She quickly found her sitting stoically beside Spike and Trixie, who sat together in silence, staring at her with admiring eyes and a warm smile. “Nice to see you once more among us, dear Fluttershy,” Luna greeted her charmingly.

Spike looked up upon hearing Fluttershy’s name being said, and gasped in delight upon seeing his best friend awake once more. “Fluttershy!” he called. He jumped up, raced over and tackled the pegasus in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right!”

Fluttershy smiled, and calmly ran a hoof down Spike’s scaled back. “I’m glad you are all okay, too,” she said, looking at them all with a smile. She turned to Luna last. “And thank you, Luna. Thank you for saving my life.”

Luna bowed her head respectfully. “You are most welcome,” she said with a smile. That smile was quickly replaced with a frown. “But why did you risk yourself like that? The lightning was sapping away your strength, you could have died trying to prove something.”

Fluttershy, with the help of Spike, lifted herself up so that she was halfway between sitting and crouching. “But I wasn’t trying to prove anything, Luna. I was trying to get you all across safely without risking any of your lives. Just mine.”

“But why?” Luna demanded confusedly.

Fluttershy stared at her with a flat face for a long moment, before forming a warm smile. “Because that’s what good friends do, Luna,” she replied. “They look out for one another.”

Luna stared at the Dragonlord in silence for a long time, with no hint on what she was thinking. Eventually, she broke out a smile. “Now I know why my sister chose you to reform Discord,” she said quietly. She got up and stretched her back and hind legs. “I have to say, I was highly doubtful of your plan and that it would get us across safely. Twas… a nice change to see my fears were unfounded.”

Fluttershy grinned at her, and then again, with Spike’s aid, she lifted herself onto her haunches. “I’m glad it worked too, to be honest,” she said proudly.

Cadence leaned forward and hugged Fluttershy gently from the other side. “I knew you would think of something,” she said.

Fluttershy blushed at the praise and calmly shook her head, surprised at finding herself in the middle of a hug sandwich. “It was a team effort, Cadence,” she said modestly.

Cadence tilted her head. “Even though Trixie had that cloud-walking spell on her to cast on Spike and herself, we did nothing else.”

“Yes you did,” Fluttershy insisted. She set a hoof on Cadence’s shoulder. “You all did more than I did. You all believed in me. You all knew I could get us past them, and if it wasn’t for your faith in me, I wouldn’t have thought of something.” She leaned her hoof forward so her foreleg was around Cadence’s shoulders, and briefly nuzzled her. “Thank you,” she looked to everyone else, “all of you, for believing me and sticking to my idea.”

A chorus of, “you’re welcome,” and, “it was nothing,” followed. “Right then, is everyone ready to continue?” Luna asked, looking to each of them for an answer. Everypony and Spike nodded. “Then let us get into the Unicorn Range whilst we remain undetected.”

With that, the five travellers sauntered casually down the path and into the Unicorn Range. Fluttershy looked back at the campsite, which was now faded by the heavy downpour of rain that bombarded them, and grinned. ‘We did it. We passed them by without any of them noticing.’ It felt too good to be true, but it was. They had managed to get past an army of ponies and were now clear to enter the Unicorn Range. Fluttershy felt herself prance in joy as they walked steadily uphill. ‘Well done, Fluttershy,’ she thought to herself; in her mind she could hear a thousand hooves clapping together.

She stopped congratulating herself when she felt the breath of a pony breeze through her ear. “That was a nice plan, Fluttershy,” Luna remarked, a sincere smile on her face. “Though some of it was thanks to plain luck, behind all of that there was a very cunning plan amongst all of that. Keep coming up with stuff like that, and maybe you will have what it takes to be a leader.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help herself but grin widely at the praise from the former Princess of the Night. “Thank you, Luna,” she said. Luna dipped her head at her, and then trotted ahead with her head held high and a nice, friendly grin stretched across her lips.

Fluttershy let out a contented sigh. ‘Maybe things will get better from now on,’ she thought happily.

Chapter 9

The Unicorn Range was the most reclusive and mysterious place in Equestria, second only to the Everfree Forest. First explored by Clover the Clever during the first Equestrian expansion, it was named as such when the brightly talented unicorn had ventured deep into the Range after hearing strange reports from other explorers.

After venturing warily through the Range and into one of the mountains through ways the unicorn never explained, she discovered one of the many mysterious tears that leaked out magic from between the Three Realms inside, spilling it across the Range like a wave and coating it in mostly harmless magic. To this day, anypony that went inside the Range to find the tear came away without ever gazing upon it.

Despite the lack of danger, it made many ponies fearful of walking into it, out of fear that they would get taken away by the powers that dwelled within, or get lost among the many hills and mountains that made up the Range.

Eventually, after many years of living under its vast shadow, the ponies of Equestria got used to the Range and were able to construct small paths that ran through it, whilst simultaneously mining the Range for what it was worth. Finally, after centuries of work, the mines ran out of resources to dig up, so they were gradually abandoned and the vast tunnels and small villages that housed the miners were given back to nature. The Range is barely used in the days of Celestia and Luna, with only a few farmers tending to the land and isolated homes and villages for those who wished to live there and away from the rest of Equestria.

The Range, as a whole, was sublime. That was the only word Fluttershy could think of to describe it as she looked at the walls of ancient rock around her while looking for a suitable place to relieve herself. From where she was, the dark stone walls of the gorge looked as though they were tilting downwards towards her, threatening to topple over at any moment and crush her like a hoof would tread on an anthill. There was a vast beauty about the Range, yet there was something twisted and evil about it as well.

At that moment, and she was unsure why, she felt as though the Range was looking at her with hungry eyes. Her heart started to beat a little faster at the thought of so many eyes gazing on her hatefully. She soon found a dark corner out of the way and, not wanting to spend longer than she needed alone in this place, she galloped into it, disappearing out of sight from unwanted gazes.

She soon finished and began to trot back to where the others had set up camp. Fluttershy’s uneasiness steadily grew as she walked through the thin gorge, her eyes shooting from one side to the next, looking for anything that could be a potential danger. “Oh, get a hold of yourself, Fluttershy,” she chastised herself. “There’s nothing here that could harm you. All those that want to would never find you here.” However, she knew it would take a lot more than her words alone to pull herself out of her fear.

She froze when she caught with the corner of her eye something looking down at her with white eyes that dripped with hatred. Before she could get a better look at it the creature retreated from the side and into the shadows. She decided not to investigate what it could be, and galloped as fast as she could back through the gorge. She breathed a sigh of relief when the gorge’s closing walls suddenly broke away from each other, and found herself looking at her exhausted companions.

The five of them were camped in the middle of the gorge in what looked like a large bowl, with a smaller crack – what once was a small stream connected to a large lake – in the walls heading westwards and deeper into the Unicorn Range.

Their first walk through the Range had been easy for all of them, yet it was still tiring after a long day. They followed the thin, rocky paths over and between gently sloped hills, and passed an old abandoned farm with rotting food left beside the ruined farmhouse. Regrettably, the group walked by, realising that there would be no consumable food left there judging by the smell alone.

Despite the lack of new food, the group was in mostly high spirits, Fluttershy noticed. Luna and Cadence wore pleasant smiles, Trixie was healthier and stronger than she was the day they had met, and Spike was happy as well about their current location.

“If the Range is going to be as easy as these hills, then I’m ready for it,” the little dragon had boasted as they climbed down another hill.

Trixie looked back at him and smirked. “You know nothing, Spike Draconis. This is just the warm up. Wait until you see the western side of the Range.”

They walked for many hours more before Fluttershy could feel the sun starting to set, and they agreed to find a place to camp for the night. They walked for another five miles through the gentle hills of the eastern side of the Range heading west until they came upon a gorge. It wiggled through the Range like a river – Luna said that it was a river once, before the lake from where the water flowed from dried up and the river simply faded away.

Beyond the gorge, and a few more hills and high plains, the mountains beckoned them closer. They were intimidating, to say the least. Tall as towers, and with pointy caps like spears, they were an impressive sight to see. Fluttershy, however, did not take kindly to the idea that she would be walking in their shadow at some point tomorrow, but kept it to herself.

After a brief moment of discussion, they all had unanimously decided and agreed to camp down in the gorge that night, for the smoke from their campfire could be obscured by the high walls of the gorge and the cloudy night above them.

“Are you all right, Fluttershy?” Cadence asked. The others looked at her with concern. Fluttershy quickly realised she had been standing where she was for a minute or so now while she had brooded on the afternoon.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts of the past, and then trotted up to them with her head held low, and her eyes shooting from one corner to the next. “I think so, thanks,” she replied with a little smile. “I just feel like we’re being watched.” She paused to have a look around the edges of the bowl, spying for anything that could be looking down at them. “And followed.”

The others had a look around the edge of the gorge as well; Luna and Cadence loosened their weapons from their scabbards in a flash of magic. “I don’t see anything,” Trixie said.

“Me neither,” Spike concurred. The two winged unicorns looked back at Fluttershy and shook their heads to confirm Trixie and Spike’s belief, sheathing their blades fully once more.

Fluttershy visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, I guess,” she said as she moved to sit next to the campfire, between Spike and Trixie. Yet she couldn’t rub off the feeling that malicious eyes were watching her and her companions constantly, anticipating the moment to strike.

The five lapsed into a warm, companionable silence for a moment, listening to the cackles of the flames as they broke up the twigs they had found close by, and the swift but gentle breeze running like a river through the Range.

Spike suddenly let out a long, content sigh, and then fell onto his back with his head resting on his crossed arms. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starting to like living like this,” he said with a small smile. “It’s so peaceful here, and somewhere where I’m not bossed around to do something for the sake of somepony else.”

Trixie hummed in agreement. “I can agree with you there, Spike. This is why I love travelling: seeing the incredible sights Equestria holds, meeting new and interesting ponies, and finding your inner peace out in the wilderness.” She sighed contently. “This is the life for me, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“But surely there must be some point where you want to settle down,” Cadence said, shifting herself to lean heavily on her left side. “I know there were times when I was a Princess where I just wanted to get away from it all and be normal for once, and have a faithful husband and a foal of my own…” She stopped herself before she could start crying, knowing that such a dream now was crushed. Luna slung a leg over her shoulders to comfort her.

“There was one time, Cadence – mind if I call you that?” Trixie asked. Cadence shook her head. “Well, Cadence, there was one time where I wanted to stop travelling and settle down. I met a nice stallion in Vanhoover – well, he seemed nice enough. He came to all my shows nearly every day without fail, and he even let me stay at his house for the time I was there. Naturally, I began to fall for him. He was just so handsome and kind, and that is rare to find in a stallion. I told him this, and he said he loved me as well.”

Everyone looked at Trixie, their eyes sparkling with interest. “Well, what happened between you two?” Cadence asked, gesturing with a hoof for her to continue after the unicorn had gone silent.

Trixie’s ears fell flat. “He kicked me out of the house for no apparent reason, and told me to never come back to Vanhoover. Terrified, I left Vanhoover quickly, and never went back. Been travelling ever since.”

Fluttershy brought her hooves up to her mouth to cover her gasp. “That’s horrible,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears. “How can ponies be so cruel?”

Trixie smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. I had my vengeance; Trixie never forgets a wrong done to her. I learnt a bit later that he was a pony of etiquette, somepony who was recognised and respected by the higher class of Equestria. And he had a lovely wife. A model, she was, one highly respected by loads of ponies. If word went out that he had an affair, the scandal would be immense.”

She paused as a smirk that made Fluttershy feel uncomfortable crawled across her face. “I wrote a letter telling his wife that him and me had an affair while I was in Vanhoover, and put enough evidence with the letter, like love letters to me that I had kept, to prove it. Needless to say, his climb up the ladder was brutally cut short.”

Fluttershy’s mouth opened in shock, yet she could not help but feel impressed. Anypony that did such a thing to another pony only brought such misery on themselves, she believed.

“Wow, seeing that in the paper must have been awesome,” Spike said, a wide smile on his face as he looked at Trixie with admiration.

Fluttershy noticed at a glance the look on Spike’s face, and grinned wryly to herself. ‘Maybe there is hope between the two,’ she thought pleasingly.

“Oh, trust me, young Spike, I felt highly satisfied afterwards,” Trixie said with a grin. “To see such a pony brought low felt very rewarding.” Her smile vanished quickly as she bowed her head. “But that experience taught me a valuable lesson; never trust anypony, for they could ditch you just as readily as they accepted you.” She finished by briefly glancing at each of them with wary eyes.

Fluttershy’s grin disappeared as she looked into Trixie’s distrusting gaze. ‘She doesn’t trust us.’ She could understand that an experience like that could change a pony’s view on life, but she believed that such experiences should never do so. ‘Trust and faith is important, especially for us to get along,’ she thought.

She quickly got up, walked through the fire, and sat next to Trixie, who stared at her in awe. “I think you can trust us, Trixie,” she said warmly, putting her hoof on top of the magician’s. “I promise that we will never betray you, or abandon you to whatever fate. We will always be here to help you, and help each other.”

She paused to look at each of them as an idea came into her head. “Isn’t that right, everypony?” She drew her hoof off Trixie’s, and hung it in the air over the fire. “We are all together in this, right until the end? We trust each other, and look out for one another, no matter what?”

Spike was the first to put his claw on Fluttershy’s hoof. “Till the very end.”

Cadence looked at them both for a second, before lifting her leg up and placing her hoof on top of Spike’s claw. “To the end, and beyond.”

Luna looked at the set of hooves and claw in front of her. “I’m not sure I follow with what you are all doing.”

“You put your hoof in the middle here, aunt,” Cadence explained. “It signifies that you are part of a team now. We fight as one, we live as one, we love as one, and we die as one.” Fluttershy and Spike nodded in agreement.

Luna’s mouth formed an O in understanding. “Oh, I see, well why didn’t you say so.” she put her hoof on top of Cadence’s. “To whatever end.” She paused to giggle delightfully. “Huzzah! Now I feel like I’m in a wolf pack.” The four of them looked to a very uncertain Trixie, who seemed to be fighting against what she believed in and what she ultimately wanted. It reminded Fluttershy of herself when her friends banded together to rid Ponyville of Trixie when she had enslaved the town.

Eventually, Trixie sighed and then placed her hoof in the centre as well. “Very well, but don’t give me any reason to regret this,” she warned them.

Fluttershy beamed brightly as joy filled her weary heart. The five of them were certainly the weirdest collection of travellers she had ever seen or read about. One Dragonlord, two Princesses, one baby dragon and a magician. All of them brought together through circumstance, and forced to stick together in a world consumed by hatred and under the growing threat of war.

Yet, for some reason, Fluttershy would not have it any other way. ‘They are my friends now, just as much as my Ponyville friends are,’ she thought. However, to her they felt more than friends. She felt like she was part of a pack of wolves, and with that thought the old proverb came into her mind. ‘The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.’

Luna was right. They were a pack. Alone, they could be defeated and destroyed. But together, they could be unstoppable.

“Um, mind if I remove my hoof now?” Trixie asked. “My leg is starting to ache.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she saw that they were still holding their legs over a rather fierce looking fire; not a problem for her or Spike, but the others she wasn’t so sure about. She quickly brought her leg away from the fire and set it back to her side, as did the others. “Sorry. Just got a bit carried away there,” she said sheepishly, blushing in embarrassment.

“I noticed,” Luna said, chuckling. “So anyway, I suppose we better plan our next move from here before we retire for the night.” The group collectively nodded in agreement.

With that, Luna lit up her horn, and from its tip sprouted a dark blue bubble, which formed and kicked about until it was as large as a pony. Luna gently moved it across the air, until the bubble splattered across a part of the gorge just behind Spike. After a moment, the face reformed till it was a perfectly presented map of Equestria. Luna got up and moved to stand in front of it. The others followed suit, and soon they all stood in a line facing the map, which Luna changed with her magic until only the whole of the Unicorn Range was viewable.

“Right, Trixie,” Luna said, turning her head to face the unicorn, “you know this place better than any of us. So would you please inform us of how to get to Horsca from here?” The others looked to Trixie for an answer.

Seeing it as her turn in the spotlight, Trixie raised her head, and walked up to the map to get a closer look at it. “Hmm,” Trixie pondered to herself loudly as she surveyed the map, while the others looked on expectantly.

‘I know you can do it, Trixie,’ Fluttershy thought as Trixie pointed and waved her hoof all over the Range, looking for the right path to take and which ones to avoid.

“I think I’ve got it!” Trixie proclaimed suddenly, jolting Cadence and Spike awake – they had fallen asleep while they waited for Trixie to give them an answer. “Right, so I have narrowed down our options to just two.”

“Out of how many options?” Luna enquired.

“Out of five potential ones, actually,” Trixie replied with a smile. “So, our options are as follows: we could either go east, this way.” She paused to drag a hoof along the map to the eastern side of the Range, just below Cloudsdale. “And then head up north.” She paused once more as she ran her hoof quickly up and off the map. “Or, we could head west, wiggle our way through the Range until we get to this point, which is also the quickest way out: the Vale of the Lost.”

Fluttershy felt a shiver crawl up her spine at the mention of such a name. “And what is the Vale of the L-l-lost, exactly?” she asked shakily.

“It is the most mysterious place in the whole Range; a large valley that stretches out along the northern edge of the western side of the Range,” Trixie replied. “It is a place that is riddled with paths, made up by those who became lost within its high rocky walls, and were driven mad by the isolation and the solitude they found.”

Trixie paused to chuckle, not seeming to notice their anxious faces. “Of course, that is just a made up tale. The road builder who was responsible for building the roads across the Range got lost within the Vale and created roads going all over the place, bless him. Embarrassed, he made up the name just to make the place sound creepier. But it is the quickest and safest route to take once you know where you are going, which I do,” she added boastingly.

Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof. “That still leaves us with very little options should something occur on route,” she observed. “Isn’t there any other way to head directly north from here?”

“There is,” Trixie replied, nodding, “by flying over the Range.” Spike’s eyes and her own widened in the hope that the three fliers would fly them across, saving time and energy.

Cadence, Fluttershy and Luna shook their heads. “I don’t think I could endure flying for such a long time with Spike on my back,” Cadence said. “No offence to you, Spike.”

“None taken,” Spike said, waving it away with a sweep of his claw.

“And I got exhausted by trying to get up to the clouds. I’ll probably be knackered by the time we get to the other side of the Range,” Fluttershy chipped in.

“Then it’s settled – we’re not flying over the Range,” Luna decided, with the other winged ponies nodding in agreement.

“Fine,” Trixie relented, looking defeated, “so that just leaves us either going east or west from here. Your choice.”

Luna shook her head. “Not mine, or any of ours. Fluttershy’s,” she said, looking to the Dragonlord.

Fluttershy noticed they were all looking at her, and silently gulped. “I-I don’t mind it really if we all make this choice. I would prefer it if we all have a say in this,” she stammered shyly, backing away a bit and hiding her face with her mane in the hope they would ignore her.

“Well I say we head east,” Spike said, raising his claw. “The faster we get to Horsca, the sooner we can relax.”

“I vote west,” Cadence said. “It will be longer and more gruelling on our legs, but it would be a lot safer.”

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. “And what of you, Trixie? Which way would you prefer?”

“Preferably, I would vote east,” Trixie said. “Like Spike said, it will be quicker and easier to navigate through.”

Luna nodded. “Well I vote west,” she said, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “So that just leaves you to make the final say, Fluttershy. Which way is it going to be?”

‘She did that just to get my vote, I just know it,’ Fluttershy thought, glaring at Luna. “Sure,” she said sweetly, while silently cursing Luna’s name. She walked over to stand next to Trixie, and carefully studied the map with wide eyes.

She knew one of the things expected of a leader was to know the land around him or her. If she was going to lead them, Fluttershy also knew she had to learn fast on how to understand the land around her, how to exploit it to their advantage, and how to accept the consequences if it went wrong.

Luckily, however, she was very adept at getting to know rough places very quickly. “Well, um, looking at the map, I can see that going east is a bad idea… um, no offence to you, Trixie, or to you too, Spike,” Fluttershy declared, looking at each of them apologetically. “You see, going east would take us too close to Canterlot, and would also bring us directly under Cloudsdale, which I haven’t heard a peep from since this all began.” It scared her to know nothing about the fate of the greatest city in the sky. Had something terrible befallen it? Had it crumbled from the sky and taken everypony with it? She shook her head to clear such thoughts, knowing how silly they sounded. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, stop drifting off and concentrate,’ she thought. ‘Everypony is counting on you to lead them right.’

“But if we head west, it will take longer, as Cadence pointed out kindly, and take us into a potential war zone with threats all around us. However, from both routes, I would say that we should head, um… west,” she decided, slamming a hoof on the mountains to the west of them. “I can only see it as the lesser of the two evils. It potentially will be dangerous, but if we go that way, we could slip through the war unnoticed. My friend Applejack once said in Horsca, ‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm’. It is the last thing anypony will expect us to do… well, at least I hope so.”

The others looked at her with surprise etched across their faces. “That actually makes a lot more sense than I thought it would,” Luna said, scratching her head. She set her hoof down, and grinned at Fluttershy delightfully. “I think you pretty much nailed it with that argument. So it is decided.” With a flick of her head, the map exploded into a mass of bright little lights that floated into the air and then popped like bubbles. “Tomorrow morning we set out from here and head west through the Range.”

With that agreed on, the five travellers settled down and one by one – except for Luna – went to sleep. Before she closed her eyes and fell asleep, Fluttershy was only briefly aware of the unfriendly eyes watching over them from above.

The group was awake before the sun had fully risen over the horizon. After a quick breakfast to keep their strength up, they packed the remaining food away, put out the fire, and walked out of the bowl through the crack in the wall heading westward.

Trixie was up front, muttering soothing words to herself as they slowly walked through in a narrow line, taking care not to scrape their bodies across the sharp rocks. ‘I didn’t know she was claustrophobic,’ Fluttershy thought upon hearing Trixie’s voice. She chuckled to herself. ‘Silly. You don’t know much about any of these ponies.’ Luna was in front of Fluttershy, while Cadence and Spike were behind, looking around at the ancient, rough and glittering walls. The ground was covered in rough pebbles, probably from back to when the chasm was a stream and flowed gently into the Range.

They soon made it out of the gap, and walked through what used to be an old apple orchard that ran along the centre of a small valley. To the disappointment of the group, however, no apples grew on the trees. No leaves graced their crumbling branches, and the trunks were a rotting brown covered with woodlice scavenging food from the rotting wood. Fluttershy smiled as her eyes caught sight of a large group of woodlice tunnelling into the old wood. ‘Eat well, little cuties,’ she thought as she walked past. She looked ahead again, and swallowed when she saw the tallest mountains of the Range getting taller with every closing step.

At the end of the valley, they came across a thin, dirt road heading east and west, flanked on either side by tall pine trees and sloping hills. Trixie looked both ways, as though she were making up her mind on what to do, before simply turning right and heading west. The others silently trotted after her, hoping that Trixie would remember where she was going.

They followed the road swiftly, passing old abandoned homes that were mostly just a floor and some resemblance to frames, and eventually stopped in a large open field for a while as they stared at what was ahead. The road weaved like a river up the largest mountain in the Range, following the gentle climb up to where the path disappeared from view altogether.

After a quick lunch break, the group continued up the mountain, knowing that they should make it to the other side before nightfall.

Fluttershy breathed in some of the fresh, cool air as they found themselves a quarter of the way up. “I wonder how high up we are from sea level?” she said as she looked around. Even at the altitude they were, the view was incredible. Lumpy hills and small mountains littered the land around the larger mountain, with small woodland areas, elegant rivers and waterfalls, large lakes, and steady rock formations scattered everywhere between them.

“I think we are about four hundred feet above sea level,” Trixie replied, glancing over her shoulder. “I might be wrong, though. The Unicorn Range is more known for its beauty and mysteries than its heights.”

Fluttershy nodded, and then looked around her once more. Trixie was right; this place was stunningly beautiful. From what she could see of it the Range stretched right back to the horizon in almost every angle. ‘It looked so much smaller and thinner on the map,’ she thought. To see the many hills, plains, woods and mountains that made up the Unicorn Range in its entirety made her feel so small. Even though she was halfway up a mountain, she still felt terribly lost. She looked ahead at Trixie, who led the group up the mountainside. ‘At least we have a guide with us,’ she contented herself. At least, she hoped that was the case.

Halfway up the mountain, however, they began to see how difficult it actually was. The path heading to the top suddenly shot up at a steeper gradient, making it almost impassable. “I’ll be right behind you, Spike,” Fluttershy whispered to the little dragon as Trixie, Luna and Cadence began the climb up at a crawl.

Spike nodded, and after he fell onto his front claws he began to make the climb as well. Fluttershy watched him go for a moment, and then spread her wings and took to the air. Her wing blades hummed like a hummingbird as her wings flapped against the high winds, and her fore-hooves were stretched out ready to catch Spike should he slip and fall.

About halfway up, Spike set a foot down on the wrong pebble, which broke off and fell away. With a startled cry he began to slip and fall backwards. Before he could fall properly, however, Fluttershy raced forward, put her hooves around his waist and held him until his feet found something to stand on again.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and then looked back at the Dragonlord with a kind and grateful smile. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” he said.

Fluttershy smiled in reply as she let him go. “You’re welcome. Just be more careful,” she said, as she fluttered away from him, yet close enough to catch him should he fall again.

A few minutes later, they all made it to the top of the steep gradient, and saw that the path flattened out once more and weaved gently upwards, through the low clouds and out of sight. After a quick break, they continued to follow the path as it passed a small lake at the base of a large collection of mounded stone, and hundreds of little rocks scattered across the swaying grasslands.

After following the path for nearly three hours up the mountain, they finally arrived at its peak, and none of them could keep their jaws from dropping or their breaths being taken away by the sight. The top was connected to the others around it by a low ridge, which acted like a road. It gently sloped downwards until halfway where it evened out and zigzagged across other peaks, or went down to the pits between the mountains, where the sun could not shine thanks to the varying heights of the mountains dominating the Range.

“I take it we follow this ridge right along till we reach the end of the Range?” Cadence enquired with a hopeful tone in her voice.

“I wish so, but no,” Trixie answered. “This ridge slopes down until it ends just behind the cap of that mountain there.” She pointed to a mountain in the distance with a peak that appeared to be as sharp as the point of a sword. “It goes down to the base of the mountain, where it is also a good place to stop for the night. A few miles west of there the path splits up into several others, with some leading to the north and another further westward past the Vale, another one leading to a few closely connected villages here, and this one heading back.”

“Well that narrows it down then; we can’t go back, we can’t take shelter in any of the villages, so we just have to go from there,” Luna said.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “If we can get to that mountain by nightfall, then we may be all right,” she said. With agreement from the others, the five continued to trek carefully across the ridge. Though it did not look like it, the ground beneath them was worn down after many ponies walking across it, making it safer and more comfortable to travel across than what first appearances would say.

“Wow,” Spike gasped a while later as he looked right at the line of mountains in front and around him. “I wish I travelled more than I have done.”

Trixie looked back at him with inquisitive eyes. “Then where have you been?” she asked curiously.

Spike looked at his brow in thought. “Well, uh, four years ago I went to Appleloosa to help plant a tree. Whilst there I watched a war and the desecration of so many pies.” He briefly paused to sigh as he lamented the loss of such beautiful pies. “I went to the place the dragons migrate to every thousand years or so. And just a few months ago, I went to the Crystal Empire to help Tw-” He cut himself off when Trixie stood in front of him with delighted eyes and a big grin.

“You have been to the Crystal Empire?” Trixie asked disbelievingly. Spike just nodded. “Oh. My. Gosh! I’ve always wanted to see the Crystal Empire – when it returned, of course, and when I heard about it for the first time. But since then I have always wanted to see it! The beauty, the shine, the castle, the crystal ponies, the handsome Prince, so much and more I want to see from that place! Oh, and to get the chance to dazzle so many ponies with my incredible magic skills!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “I’m sure they would be dazzled, considering they have a Crystal Heart that’s fuelled by their magic,” he muttered under his breath. Trixie didn’t hear him, but Fluttershy did, and couldn’t help but giggle quietly to herself.

Trixie turned to Fluttershy. “What about you, Fluttershy?” she asked, making Fluttershy tremble a little now that she was in the spotlight. “Been anywhere nice?”

Fluttershy looked up as she thought about all the places she had been to. “Um, four years ago I went to Appleloosa with Spike and tried to prevent a war between the ponies and the buffalo. And like Spike said, I had to watch a terrible pie fight. I’ve been up the Smokey Mountain, and um, been to Dodge Junction once, and Canterlot several times. Oh, and two years ago I went to Horsca to find a pony named Firewing, who turned out to be my father, so I would know what was happening to me.”

“Hold on,” Spike interrupted, “Sorry, but you went to Horsca to look for a pony that turned out to be your father and may or may not have known what was happening to your body?” Fluttershy nodded. “Why him?” he asked. “Surely a doctor, or Princess Celestia would have been better to tell you what was wrong.”

“I went to see Celestia about it before I went to Horsca. She didn’t know, but she reckoned Firewing might; she must have trusted him dearly to think that he would know what I had become.” Another thought that came to her mind was whether Celestia knew Firewing was Fluttershy’s father, and brought about the events that transpired by merely guiding her to him. ‘Did she see my likeness in him somehow?’

She couldn’t quite believe that. Fluttershy and her father looked nothing alike. Fluttershy had more of her mother’s features than her father’s, except the fact that Firewing was as a poor flier as she is, and that he was a Dragonlord. Nevertheless, Celestia surely must have seen something in him she must have recognised in her. She decided the next time she spoke to Celestia, she would ask her about it.

“So, uh, why did you go to Horsca to find him?” Spike asked. “I don’t think you ever said.”

“Because in the Canterlot archives below ground–”

“You mean the one they cleaned out and sealed up a year ago?” Spike queried.

“Yes, that one. Anyway, Twilight and I went down there to find a diary Celestia said was left down there to be kept safe. We found it, and deciphered that he might have headed north to Horsca. So we both agreed to head north and track him down. The rest of the girls quickly agreed to come with me once I told them about it.”

“That sounds like a very risky choice, Fluttershy,” Luna said, turning her head around to look at her. “Firewing could have easily headed south instead. In fact, he may not have even known what was going on with you.”

“I know, but I was so desperate, Luna; more desperate than I ever have been,” Fluttershy replied sullenly, her ears folding as her eyes fell onto the rocky ground beneath her. “I was changing into somepony that even I couldn’t recognise. I felt tougher, I could sleep in fire, I could speak another language, and I had better hearing and greater eyesight than I did before. I was becoming somepony that I didn’t want to be. I wanted to be who I was before I was killed by a dragon. Therefore, when Celestia told me about Firewing and that he could possibly know what was happening to me, I took the chance without even thinking about the outcome.”

Her four companions nodded in understanding. “Ah,” Luna sighed sadly, her head bobbing rapidly. “Desperation. The one thing that drives us to do things we know we would later regret in life. Am I right, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy nodded, though she couldn’t make out whether or not Luna meant something. “And what about you, Cadence?” Trixie asked, looking to the Crystal Princess as the subject changed back to earlier. “Have you been anywhere exciting and exotic?”

Cadence shrugged as she put a hoof to her chin to ponder. “I can think of a few places, like Saddle Arabia with my aunts.”

“Wow, you’ve been to Saddle Arabia!” Spike repeated delightfully. “That must have been so cool!”

“It wasn’t cool, it was hot as a furnace,” Cadence replied. “Just thinking about it makes me feel sweaty all over.”

“I know how you feel; I was the same when I went there by myself on a diplomatic mission two years ago,” Luna said. She continued talking about what happened on that particular mission, while everyone listened intently to a rather fairy-tale style story. As they listened to Luna’s tale, Fluttershy could not help herself but grin delightfully at what was happening, and at the unicorn responsible for making it happen.

‘Well played, Trixie. Well played,’ she thought as she glanced at the unicorn. Rather than keep thinking about the strife around Equestria, Trixie turned the rather solemn mood on its head and started a rather random conversation. It not only kept their minds clear for a moment and focused on a different subject, but to also get to know each other better by learning where they have been and what they wanted to see in the future. It was a great idea, and definitely an excellent way to bond with each other.

“And that was how I managed to save the Saddle Arabians from the great Colossus,” Luna finished with a small smile in remembrance, bringing the Dragonlord back into focus.

The others looked at her disbelievingly. “Wow,” Trixie oozed. “That must have been some strength in magic to pull something like that off.”

“It certainly was, little Trixie,” Luna agreed. “I must have collapsed afterwards, for the next thing I remember is that I was in the Arabian King’s tent and in his bed.” Fluttershy, Cadence, Trixie and Spike looked at her slyly. “Nothing happened, honest.” They all looked at her as though they did not believe her.

“So tell me, ponies and dragon, anywhere you want to go and see later on that you all might not have seen before?” Trixie enquired.

“I know for certain that I would love to see Neighagra Falls at some point,” Cadence said a moment later. “I hear the water shines like crystals, and if you drink from the water it makes you feel younger than you are.”

“I actually tried that once when I was younger,” Luna said with a chuckle. “Jumped right in and slurped a lot of it. Didn’t work, sadly, but I got Cele’s mane she spent hours getting ready on drenched. Ha, those were some great days.”

Fluttershy giggled at the image of a younger Luna dive-bombing into the lake at Neighagra. “I would love to see that place as well, Cadence,” Fluttershy said. “I heard there are some fish there that are the rarest in Equestria. To see them would be a treat.”

“Then why don’t we go there at some point together?” Cadence suggested, a smile growing on her face at the thought. “Once this is all over and our names are cleared, you and me go on a girls’ day out to the Falls. How does that sound?”

Fluttershy grinned brightly. “That sounds wonderful, Cadence. I’m already looking forward to it.” She just hoped they lived long enough to see it together. She kept such a thought to herself, and looked ahead again to see that the ridge path evened out once more for half a mile or so before heading back down again. She kicked a stone off the ridge and watched it tumble down the mountainside, the sound of its bounces echoing across the Range.

“Oh, that sounds nice,” Luna said. “Mind if I join you, ladies? I wouldn’t mind a good soak in the lake there.”

“I would like to come as well,” Spike added hopefully, a small, pleading grin on his face.

“And me,” Trixie said, raising her hoof like a student in class.

Cadence grinned at them, practically leaping at the thought. “That sounds fantastic! We could stay up late, watch the moon and the stars soar across the sky, and in the morning, I will make us some waffles.” Everyone cocked an eyebrow at her, to which the young alicorn wilted at. “I love waffles,” Cadence added sheepishly, shrugging.

They all shrugged it off with a laugh, and continued talking as they worked their way down the ridge, and towards the mountain Fluttershy and Trixie had suggested they should camp beside for the night.

“Go,” Fluttershy ordered, bracing herself for the attack.

At once, Trixie sprang forward with a fierce war cry, thrusting her short sword forward in an attempt to skewer Fluttershy like a griffon harpooning a whale. The Dragonlord calmly spun away from the attack, barely missing the tip of her sword, and cheekily slapped Trixie’s rump with the flat of Drage Bane as the unicorn ran past. “Ow! What was that for?” Trixie asked once she had stopped and checked where the sword had hit her, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Fluttershy blushed as well when she realised what she did. “Sorry. It’s something I did with my old friends when we practiced sometimes. It’s a bad habit I can’t get rid of.” She shook her head to clear it of thought, and pointed to her with Drage Bane. “Anyway, that wasn’t bad, but you need to keep what you’re about to do obscured. You tend to give away where you are about to strike with your eyes.” Fluttershy set herself down on three legs, and held Drage Bane close to her chest. “I’ll charge you, and you must predict where I’m going to strike.”

Trixie nodded, and brought her short sword into a low guard, pointing up to the air with the hilt gripped tight in her magic. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and studied the unicorn closely. Then, with a plan in mind, she broke into a canter towards Trixie, who braced herself for the attack as she looked for where the pegasus was going to aim for.

Fluttershy looked left at her friend’s shoulder, then slowed herself down, reared up, brought Drage Bane into the air and then swung it towards Trixie’s exposed shoulder faster than a cat’s pounce. Trixie stepped back and deflected the strike with her sword, the two blades ringing out the sound of steel as they clashed together.

Trixie grinned in triumph. “Ha!” she cried delightfully as she spun away from the Dragonlord.

Fluttershy smiled at her as she backed away. “Well done, Trixie,” she said sincerely. “I’m glad we made some progress.” She bent her front half forward again and prepared to fight once more. “Now, I am going to try again, but this time you need to keep one eye on me, and another eye on my swords.” She put some emphasis on the last word, hoping Trixie would understand what she was hinting at.

From the looks on her face, however, Trixie was too excited to understand a word. “I’m ready, Fluttershy. Bring it on!” she shouted, raising her sword above her head.

Fluttershy nodded, and without a second thought she charged forward on three legs and Drage Bane pointing towards her opponent. Just as she was within striking distance, she stopped inches away from Trixie and reared up, switching Drage Bane with Firewing as the first attacking sword.

Fluttershy brought Firewing down towards Trixie’s right shoulder. Trixie deflected it easily with a swing of her own sword, and grinned in triumph as she watched it move away. But that grin vanished when Fluttershy placed the cold steel of Drage Bane on the other shoulder.

“Dead,” Fluttershy stated sympathetically, as she pulled herself away from the unicorn.

Trixie groaned and backed away. “But that counts as cheating,” she complained.

“The art of war and combat can never be considered cheating,” Luna corrected her from where she sat on a large log with Spike beside her, who watched eagerly as the sword practice took place. “The real art of war is the feint, or the ruse. The ability to trick your opponents into thinking you are doing one thing when they go for another alternative.” She looked at Fluttershy, who went back on all fours for a moment, and bowed her head respectfully. “And dear Fluttershy has managed to perfect that trait with apparent ease.”

Fluttershy smiled bashfully at the praise. “Oh, i-it took a while, but I got there in the end; I’ve been reading a lot about military history and tactics for the past two years,” she explained, twirling a piece of her mane between her hooves. Luna chuckled at her bashfulness. “I figured I should get ready for when the time came.”

“I still think it counts as cheating,” Trixie persisted, pouting. She picked her sword up once more and swung it around, listening to the thin blade hum against the wind. “But, if I am going to get better at this, then I better practice with the warrior pony herself.”

Fluttershy smiled proudly at her. “I know you will get better, Trixie,” she said encouragingly. She reared up once more, and let Drage Bane and Firewing shoot out of their scabbards. “Okay, let us see if you can hit me this time; remember, be deceptive,” Fluttershy instructed. “And try to dodge my attacks rather than parry them. You tend to block my attacks with your sword, and that will tire you out much quicker than avoiding the attack altogether.”

“How so?” Trixie asked.

“Think about it, Trixie, you’re putting all your strength and energy into the block to make sure it won’t come down on you. Your strength against your opponent’s. If your opponent is stronger than you then you do not stand a chance. That’s why dodging is easier.”

“But they do that all the time in the action movies,” Trixie noted as she swung her blade around her head to prepare for another duel.

“If you haven’t notice, Trixie, we are in the real world,” Luna said flatly, looking annoyed at Trixie’s narrow-minded thought. “In cinema, any fighting in any film is choreographed and done with professional stunt ponies, so all the fighting is done harmlessly. Here, however, you may come against ponies who may actually want to kill you, and kill you quickly. Parrying a blade will tire you out and leave you a more open target. While avoiding the attack altogether will leave you fresher than your opponent, who will be exhausted after swinging his or her blade about.”

Trixie nodded at Luna’s words, and in a blur she charged Fluttershy, swinging her sword to strike at her throat. Fluttershy, surprised and impressed by the sudden attack, drew her head back, avoiding the slash with ease, and pushed Trixie’s blade away with Firewing while thrusting Drage Bane at Trixie’s chest. At the right moment, and a moment that surprised Fluttershy and everyone else, Trixie rolled out of the way, sending Fluttershy forward too quickly.

Fluttershy knew she had to act fast. Trixie stood up again, and then leaped forward and swung her sword from over her head, hoping the flat of the sword would hit Fluttershy’s backside and return the favour.

It never hit the pegasus.

Before Trixie’s sword came down, Fluttershy extended one of her wings behind her at what looked like a painful angle, and parried the sword away.

Using the moment, Fluttershy spun around to face her opponent once more, and backed away a few steps to get ready for the next attack. She could feel sweat pour down her face as she concentrated, yet a small grin crawled across her lips as she realised she was having the time of her life.

‘Come on, Fluttershy, you can win. You’re a Dragonlord, for Pete’s sake,’ she encouraged herself. She figured if she were an ordinary pony, and the Fluttershy she once was, she would have let Trixie win by now, or given up before the fight began. Now that she was a Dragonlord, she wanted to win and show everyone who was the best.

She shook her thoughts out of her head, and looked up, only for eyes to widen as Trixie charged her with a swinging sword. Fluttershy blocked the attack with Drage Bane, and moved to tap Trixie with Firewing. Trixie stepped back and managed to block the attack with her sword, forcing Firewing away from her, but leaving the unicorn open for her second sword.

With a light swing, she tapped the unicorn on the shoulder with the flat of Drage Bane, and ended the fight between the two.

Luna and Spike clapped in praise. “Bravo, bravo!” Luna cheered, grinning as she clapped her hooves together. “’Twas a good fight!”

“I cannot agree anymore, that was amazing!” Spike said. “Fluttershy, I didn’t know you were so awesome like that!”

Fluttershy blushed at the praise, even as she wiped her sweaty brow with a hoof. “Oh, that was nothing. Trixie did a superb job,” she said modestly. She turned to the sweating unicorn. “For somepony who only picked up the sword a few days ago, you’re swinging it like a pro.”

Trixie smiled, even though she looked disappointed at not beating the Dragonlord. “I just have a good teacher,” Trixie remarked, making Fluttershy’s blush grow fiercer. Fluttershy jumped back a little when Trixie went into a fierce fighting stance once more. “Again?”

Fluttershy held a hoof up to stop her, and shook her head. “Not yet, I wouldn’t mind a rest and a bite to eat for a moment. I’m starving after all that walking.” She walked over to the log and sat down by it next to Luna, who passed her a delicious looking sandwich. Fluttershy smiled gratefully at Luna as she took it in her hooves, and then begun to nibble on her lettuce and cucumber sandwich.

As she ate, the Dragonlord looked back to the afternoon and the time that flew by in their company.

After many more hours of walking along the ridge, which was not so bad now that the group had grown more comfortable around each other, the five travellers found themselves in the shadow of the mountain Trixie had pointed out earlier. After journeying down the mountain carefully and upon arriving in its shadow, they soon found a large area surrounded by bushes and old trees, and four old, smooth logs resting about in a circle, and a small stream running from under the mountain and past the camp for them to fill their remaining canisters and flasks of water. It did not take too long for them to realise that it was an old camp for pony scouts.

While Cadence had gone to follow the stream and possibly a place to bathe in, the others sat around to get a campfire going, and some food ready for dinner. As they waited, Luna decided to see how good Trixie was at fighting, and Fluttershy decided to teach her some things she had learnt from her time training herself. Spike was annoyed when he was not asked to learn as well. “You are a baby dragon, Spike; only a child. I cannot place such heavy knowledge on you,” Fluttershy had said gently. Spike still sulked for a while, but quickly forgot about it when Trixie and Fluttershy started play fighting.

She snickered to herself at remembering Spike’s pout face, and bit into the lettuce and cucumber inside the thick brown bread. Fluttershy licked her lips and moaned as she swallowed. “Gosh, this is lovely, Luna,” she remarked.

“Why, thank you, dear Fluttershy,” Luna said as the pegasus stared hungrily at the half-eaten sandwich in her hooves. “It took me a while to prepare, but I like to think it turned out all right in the end.”

“That it did,” Fluttershy agreed, before she began to devour the rest of it greedily and messily. Once she was finished, her lips and hooves were covered in pieces of lettuce and cucumber, and breadcrumbs stuck to her coat as though glued there. “Um,” she moaned pleasantly as she licked and sucked her hooves clean. “That was beautiful.”

With a hoof in her mouth, she looked up once more to see that Luna, Spike and Trixie were watching her with amused expressions, and blushed fiercely in embarrassment while hastily brushing the crumbs off her coat. “Um… excuse me?” The four of them laughed.

Just as the laughter died down, Cadence emerged from the bushes. Her mane and tail were neat and straight once more, and her pink coat glistened with the low sunlight that managed to shine its way through the mountain range around them. “Hey, everypony, did I miss something?” she enquired as she looked from the smiling faces of the ponies and dragon.

“Oh, not much. Just finding ourselves amused by Fluttershy’s eating habits,” Luna said with a wave of her hoof. The pegasus in question covered her face with her mane, hoping not to be seen. “You look rather fine this evening, dear niece,” Luna observed as she inspected Cadence’s shining coat.

“Oh, I just found a nice little lake to have for myself for a moment. A bit chilly, but very relaxing once I got used to the cold. If you all get a chance, you should all go down there and have a bath.” She set herself down on her stomach, and took a deep breath of the fresh, mountain air that clung to the Range. “It is so relaxing out here.”

Trixie nodded in agreement. “And isolated, too. We can keep on walking for days through the Range, and never see another soul.”

“I would like to see at least one pony or other creature out here, though,” Spike said. He jumped off the log and pressed his back against it. “Just so I can know what’s going on outside the Range.”

A grave silence fell amongst the group, with each of them beginning to wonder what was going on outside the Range. Other than the camp they had past outside the Unicorn Range, they had no idea on how Equestria was doing. Was it at war with itself already? Did everypony suddenly reconsider hating each other and everything went back to as normal as living in Equestria could be considered normal?

‘Hopefully we will find out something upon getting out of the Range,’ Fluttershy thought. Whether or not she liked what she was going to discover, however, was up to her.

“So, um, what’s for dinner?” Cadence asked, breaking the tension. “I am starving after all that walking.”

“Well let’s see,” Luna said as she peered into the food bag. “Ah, we do have two lettuce and cucumber sandwiches that I made and a lemon to spare.”

“I do not mind what so long as I eat,” Cadence said, shrugging while licking her dry lips. She picked up the sandwiches and lemon with her magic, and began to eat just as greedily and hastily as Fluttershy did. She stopped when she briefly noticed everypony’s eyes bore onto her, and looked up just to confirm that. “What? You look as though you’ve never seen a Princess eat before?”

“We’ve all seen a Princess eat before, Cadence,” Fluttershy said politely, not sure how to say what was on her mind.

“Just haven’t seen a Princess eating without proper manners before,” Spike finished for her. Fluttershy glared at him, while Cadence just chuckled.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Cadence said comfortingly. “I know I don’t eat with the etiquette of the ponies of Canterlot, but I don’t care. I am still a pony that was raised by earth ponies; they were the family I’d always had, and nothing, not even growing this horn, is going to change that.”

The five went silent as they ate their meals, and listened to the trickle of the stream that flowed beside the campsite down towards the lake, and the hoots and screeches of owls as they set off in search of prey.

“So,” Cadence spoke once more, ruining the silence, “What have you all been up to whilst I was having a bath?”

“Me and Fluttershy were having a practice duel on how to fight,” Trixie replied. She looked to the Dragonlord with a small smile. “She said I fight like a pro; shame I couldn’t beat her, though.”

‘And you probably never will, Trixie. I am a warrior by blood,’ Fluttershy wanted to say, but quickly shut her mouth when she saw how rude that sounded. She saw many moments where Trixie could have beaten her in their last fight, and the only reason she saw that Trixie didn’t win was that Fluttershy was too quick for her. ‘Maybe I should have gone easier on her. I should have let her win at least once.’

“Fluttershy!” Cadence shouted, making the pegasus jump in fright. “I’ve been shouting at you for a while now.”

“Oh, so-sorry, Cadence,” Fluttershy said. “I went into my own world for a moment. What was it you were going to say?”

Cadence looked to the ground worriedly and stroked it with a hoof, as though she was afraid the pegasus would not comply with whatever she wanted to request. “I was just wondering if… well, you know, if you’re up to it, of course, if you and I have a duel?” she asked. “It’s been ages since I picked up a sword last, and I want to go up against somepony who is a master of it.”

Fluttershy looked at her flatly for a long time, before letting a warm smile crawl across her face. “I wouldn’t mind at all,” she replied kindly.

Cadence’s lips parted in surprise. “Really? Yo-you don’t mind?”

Fluttershy shook her head, smiling kindly. “Oh, no, of course not. Besides, it might be quite interesting to face somepony trained by Celestia herself.”

Cadence grinned in delight, and with a burst of magic strapped her sword back to her side. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get fighting!” Fluttershy jumped off her log, and walked over to the opposite side of the campsite, while Cadence moved to the other side, and Luna being in the middle.

“When was the last time you practiced with a weapon, Cadence?” Fluttershy queried.

“Before I was married, I think,” Cadence replied as she stretched her forelegs out. “Oh, and another time after the changeling invasion.” She gestured with her head at Fluttershy. “What about you? When was the last time you practiced?”

Fluttershy looked up at the darkening sky in thought. “Well… not exactly too long ago,” she replied. She remembered briefly a few months ago that she used straw built statues of different creatures as opponents when she felt in a bad mood one day – the same day Discord was released from stone once more to be reformed. Applejack had come by to ask for her aid in removing some beavers that had constructed a dam on a river running through one of her orchards, and had watched as Fluttershy destroyed all the statues nearly effortlessly.

Fluttershy sighed when she broke out of her memories. That morning with Applejack showed her the reason why she missed her honest, hard-working friend so much. Her honesty was always welcome in whatever Fluttershy did, as it helped her when she realised she was getting out of hoof, like the one time in Horsca when she nearly killed a horse in psychotic rage for hurting Rarity.

Despite Applejack’s good points, there were a few things about the earth pony that Fluttershy was glad she didn’t have to put up with. Her stubbornness was the main one, for when she said no to something, she stuck to it, even if it was the wrong decision, like running to Dodge Junction to hide from everyone. As well as that, and as much as Fluttershy hated herself for it, sometimes Applejack’s strong southern accent made her difficult to understand. Yet worse of all, when Applejack lied, it was painfully obvious. ‘Like that day,’ she thought sadly. ‘She said they would all be there for me when I take up arms again. And yet, they’re not here.’

“Fluttershy?” Cadence called, waving a hoof across her face. “Are you all right? You looked like you just zoned out for a moment… again.”

Fluttershy rapidly shook her head to clear her thoughts on Applejack, and remembered she was about to face Cadence in a duel. “I’m fine,” she said, nodding. “Just remembering something, that’s all.” ‘You have to concentrate on this, Fluttershy,’ she told herself. ‘You’re up against a Princess who had been trained to fight by Princess Celestia herself.’ “Um, can I ask a question before we do this: can I use both my swords, or just the one?”

Cadence looked to Luna for an answer, to which the nightly coloured alicorn responded back with a nod. “Whatever you think is easier for you,” Cadence said with a smile.

“Oh, good, because I prefer using both of my swords,” Fluttershy said. She reared up and with a flick of her hooves, Drage Bane and Firewing shot out of their long bracelets. She pointed both swords to the ground, making them glitter in the lowering sunlight.

“Nice swords,” Cadence remarked, her loving smile giving way to a contesting smirk. “I do like a good challenge.” She drew out her own sword from its sheath, prompting Fluttershy to step back in surprise, for she had not seen the weapon drawn out before.

The sword was about four foot in length, and had a bright blue blade with a crystal shine, much like the place it was strangely forged from. Its cross-guard was forged to look like the heads of a pick-axe, and its dark green hilt was bejewelled with red hexagonal crystals. Its head, however, made Fluttershy feel fearful, for just below the narrow point was a flat circle with about a dozen or so small spikes sticking out from the edges, almost like the head of a mace. ‘Note to self, avoid that head at all cost,’ she told herself.

Fluttershy suddenly felt a tingling sensation flow across her body, making her shake as though a cold gale had swept through her. When she felt it pass, she looked towards her opponent and her eyes widened as a dark blue flow of magic enveloped Cadence in a ball, making the Princess shudder, and then disappeared.

Both ponies looked to the caster: Luna. “What I have given to you are magical shields that would protect your body from even the most fatal blow,” Luna explained as she looked to both of them. “The first pony to destroy your opponent’s shield will be the winner. There will be no holding back in this duel; fight as though you are enemies. Though I don’t want to see any kicking or biting; just use your swords.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, Cadence, but I don’t mind being kicked in this,” Fluttershy said. When Cadence looked at her in shock, the pegasus explained, “I’m a big girl, Cadence, I can take being kicked about, though if you don’t want to then that’s fine.”

Cadence’s shocked look turned into a respective smile. “If you want to be kicked, then it would only be fair if you kick me as well,” she added kindly. She turned to Luna. “We agree with the rules but for one.”

Luna nodded, seemingly surprised both ponies were up for that. “Very well, then the rules are now set in stone.” Having stated the rules, Luna lifted a leg high in the air, prompting both ponies to tense up and prepare with their opening moves.

After a moment to be sure the combatants were ready, Luna swooped her hoof down quickly. “Begin!” she declared.

Cadence began with a straight-on charge at the pegasus, swinging her sword low to knock Fluttershy off her hind-legs. Fluttershy jumped back, missing the swing, and fell onto three of her legs, while keeping Drage Bane poised above her head. Cadence tried swinging it again, this time aiming for her neck. Fluttershy lowered her sword and ducked at the last instant; she could feel the blade sweep over just inches from her head.

Cadence swung her sword back over her head, and then brought it down in one fell swoop. Fluttershy rolled away from the sword, allowing it to harmlessly hit the ground. Fluttershy saw then that was the moment to strike. She got up and leaped forward, thrusting Drage Bane into the Princess’s side.

Cadence picked up her sword and spun her body away from the attack, so Fluttershy could only stab the air. Cadence then thrust her sword to hit Fluttershy’s back, which was now exposed to the Princess’s sword. Fluttershy shot out her wing and parried the sword with her wing blades. She pushed it away, and spun back and thrust Firewing forward to strike the alicorn’s chest.

Cadence used the lower blade and hilt of her sword to deflect the strike, and then kicked Fluttershy in the chest. With a startled squeak, the Dragonlord flew through the air and landed on her back. She shook her head to clear her dizzy senses, and then looked to see Cadence standing idle, waiting to see if she was okay. Fluttershy rolled onto her stomach and shot back onto her hooves, grinning eagerly for the next strike.

Cadence smiled happily upon seeing Fluttershy was okay, and then leaped at her like a deer, swinging her sword down onto the pegasus. Grinning, Fluttershy jumped forward, spun around and lightly kicked with her hind legs into Cadence’s stomach, sending her spiralling forward. She landed on her head and rolled around before finally coming to a stop against one of the empty logs.

Fluttershy backed up a bit, her face heavy with concern as she watched the alicorn carefully. ‘Oh, I hope I didn’t hurt her too badly,’ she thought, biting her lower lip. She glanced at the others watching, and saw they too were concerned about Cadence. “Cadence?”

At once, the alicorn jumped up and brought her sword back to her face, grinning madly. “That was pretty good, Fluttershy,” she commented. “Though I’m not sure if you used your legs or your muzzle for that; I just felt a light tap, that’s all.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the light insult. “Oh, those were my legs, certainly. And as for your kick, well, was it a kick? Felt more like a tickle.”

Cadence giggled playfully after a brief but tense silence. “You know, I think I can safely say we are both terrible at throwing insults at each other.”

Fluttershy giggled also, nodding in agreement. “Oh yes. I don’t like insulting ponies anyway, so I don’t mind.” She lifted up her right leg and let Drage Bane emerge once more. “Let’s settle this the only way warriors know how: fight.”

“Ladies first,” Cadence replied, before charging the Dragonlord with her head low and her horn pointing at her chest like a spear.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise from the sudden use of a horn, but quickly recovered and rolled away from the charging pony. Cadence stormed past her, but managed to control herself and was able stop and turn around before she ran into a log. “Can you use a horn as a weapon?” Fluttershy asked as she got to her hooves.

“Mmm hmm,” Cadence replied, nodding. “In the past, unicorns placed steel points over their horns so when they charged, they could break a line up and disorganise the enemy’s ranks. It worked quite often, according to what I have read.”

Fluttershy nodded in interest, and then charged forward, her eyes darting from left to right and back again as she tried to think of an exact place to attack. Her eyes finally settled on Cadence’s long legs, and prepared herself.

She stopped just short of barrelling into the Princess, and then dived low and swung Drage Bane at her legs. Cadence caught it and deflected the strike with her sword. Fluttershy then used Firewing to strike at the alicorn’s exposed side, but before her sword could hit Cadence used the lower end of her sword to deflect the sword down. Cadence pushed Fluttershy back with her whole body, and then swung her sword at an angle.

Fluttershy spun away from the attack, and then kicked out with her hind legs. Cadence jumped up in the air and missed the legs completely, sending Fluttershy tumbling backwards and falling onto her bottom. Cadence brought her sword up and over her head, and then swung it down to strike Fluttershy’s head.

The pegasus jumped up, went low and quickly spun around and parried the attack with Firewing, while stabbing Drage Bane at Cadence’s exposed chest. The alicorn hastily recovered from the attack and parried Drage Bane down to the ground, and then swung upward to hit Fluttershy’s lower jaw.

Fluttershy brought her head back and reared up just to miss the head of the sword. ‘That was close,’ Fluttershy thought as she watched it fly into the air. She pushed the blade further upwards with Firewing, and then swung with Drage Bane at Cadence’s neck. The alicorn reared her head back and missed the swing by millimetres, and then spun away from the corner she had placed herself in, missing Fluttershy’s next attack. She backed away from her opponent and took a few deep breaths, her sword close to her chest and looking at Fluttershy with a small, almost evil grin.

Fluttershy grinned back at her as she planned her next move, her eyes wandering over Cadence’s body to look for a weakness. ‘She tends to keep her sword resting against her right shoulder,’ she observed thoughtfully. ‘That would mean she’s more comfortable with her right hoof, so it would mean her whole left side would be more exposed, and – Oh, goodness, she’s coming at me!’

Fluttershy reared up quickly and blocked the swoop of Cadence’s sword with Firewing. Before she could strike with Drage Bane, however, Cadence stepped back, swung her sword above her head, and then brought it low, aiming for Fluttershy’s crotch.

The pegasus rolled away from the attack, allowing it to only hit the wailing air. “Do you mind? That area is private, Cadence,” Fluttershy said breathlessly when she got back up on her hooves, blushing when she realised how exposed she was.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Cadence replied. She giggled at something. “If you’d like, I could tell you some rather embarrassing tales involving Twilight as a foal later on.”

Though she felt it wrong to know such things, the images of a younger Twilight in her head sounded too cute to pass by. “I’ll think about it,” Fluttershy replied, as she got ready to fight once again.

Noticing Fluttershy was ready to fight again, Cadence leaped forward and swung her sword over her shoulder and down on Fluttershy’s head. The pegasus brought up Drage Bane and blocked it; the force made the Dragonlord grimace in pain as she felt the power of Cadence’s strike run down her leg.

She thrust forward with Firewing, but the alicorn backed away and blocked that as well. Fluttershy charged forward, then swung Firewing, then Drage Bane, and then Firewing again, and Drage Bane once more, each attack aiming differently and to put Cadence off balance. But every attack Cadence managed to block without fuss.

Fluttershy reared up once more, and this time swung both of her swords over her head and brought them down towards each side of Cadence’s chest. Cadence blocked, yet she couldn’t bring her sword away from the two swords; Fluttershy was too strong. Cadence gritted her teeth and with all her strength tried to wrestle the swords away from her. Fluttershy felt her gain an inch, and gritted her teeth as well as she pushed back, hoping for Cadence to give way. ‘She has to give way, she just has to,’ Fluttershy thought as she looked into the Princess’s eyes.

Both ponies remained locked in place for a few long minutes, none of them daring to look away, talk, or even breathe as they fought for dominance. Their coats were dark with sweat, their eyes were fixed on each other’s, and despite using all their strength none of them could break through and hit the other. ‘I’m wasting time here,’ Fluttershy decided. It was time to break the stalemate.

She pushed with what little strength she had left, sending Cadence’s sword away from her, before spinning away from the Princess and taking a few steps back, Drage Bane held close to her chest. Cadence recovered, then charged forward and swung her sword at Fluttershy and then thrust it forward, but the pegasus managed to dodge it with a few flicks and ducks of her head. Cadence drew back her sword once more, and then swung it in a lightning fast strike that almost caught Fluttershy off guard.

Almost.

Fluttershy arched her body back so that the blade ran right beside her neck, too fast for Cadence to gain control of it and stab it forward. Fluttershy could hear it whistle her demise as it sped past her head. It was quickly away, and left the alicorn open once more. Fluttershy took that chance and dived forward, thrusting both her swords at the alicorn.

Princess Celestia, one of the finest sword wielders on Terra, however, had taught Cadence on everything she knew. She was prepared. She ducked her head and body low so that Fluttershy shot over her, and then used a foreleg to lightly kick Fluttershy in the chest and pushed the Dragonlord to the ground.

Fluttershy rolled about in the dirt for a moment, before coming to a sudden stop with a dazed and confused look on her face. She looked up and saw to her alarm Cadence charging at her once more, with her sword above her head and ready to bring it down and end the duel. Fluttershy rolled to her right, missing the sword head by an inch, and swung Drage Bane upwards to strike at Cadence’s leg.

The Princess flew her leg up, scarcely missing the attack, and then brought her hoof down and pressed it on Fluttershy’s right leg, pinning it to the ground. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she realised that she was about to lose. She tried to break it free, but Cadence’s hold on her leg was firm, and she knew the alicorn would not let go any time soon.

She looked up in horror to see Cadence drawing her sword back, ready to thrust it forward, finish the duel, and win a great victory as well as having plenty of boasting material for later.

Fluttershy acted fast.

Just as Cadence thrust her sword forward, Fluttershy swung Firewing left, deflecting Cadence’s blade. With her sword out of the way for the moment, Fluttershy reared up and head butted the alicorn in the chest, hard enough to push her back but not too hard to hurt her – or so Fluttershy hoped, she barely knew her own strength.

Cadence staggered backwards, unable to keep her balance and forcing her to drop her sword. Fluttershy saw her chance. She leaped forward and made a feint attack on Cadence’s left with Firewing. Cadence picked the sword up just in time and deflected it away from her.

She noticed too late that she was put out of position.

Fluttershy swung Drage Bane and slammed it into Cadence’s exposed shoulder. Instead of the sound of metal hitting the flesh of the Princess, however, it sounded like a ball smashing through a window. When the pegasus pulled the sword away, the area around Cadence’s shoulder fractured and splintered like glass.

The cracks around the small, nearly invisible hole where Drage Bane hit grew and grew, until they enveloped Cadence entirely. Fluttershy backed away in fright, fearing for a second what she had done.

She relaxed when the glass-like shield dispersed and turned into bubbles, which started popping one by one. Cadence stood unharmed, but stunned and breathless from a tiring and long fight. Fluttershy was breathing heavily as well, yet she couldn’t help herself but grin. ‘I did it,’ she thought. ‘I beat a Princess.’

She looked over to their spectators, who stared at them with wide eyes and open mouths for a long while, before suddenly exploding in a round of applause. Fluttershy and Cadence smiled at them, and then bowed their heads. Cadence lifted her head up, and then turned to Fluttershy with a wide smile. “That was brilliant,” she remarked, moving to stand in front of the pegasus. “You were brilliant.”

Fluttershy smiled bashfully and looked at the ground. “I-it was nothing, really,” she said modestly. “You did great yourself. For a moment I actually thought you were going to beat me.”

Cadence chuckled, and put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “So did I,” she said, earning a giggle from both of them.

The two turned around and walked slowly to the others. “I didn’t hurt you when I head butted you in the chest, did I?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. “I didn’t mean to if I did.”

Cadence shook her head. “Not to worry, Fluttershy, it would take far more than a head butt to put me down,” she said assuredly. “Nice trick, by the way.”

“It was nice trickery from both of you,” Luna commented, smiling as her eyes moved back and forth between the pair. “You both fought gallantly and nobly. I wish some of my guards or even my army were like the pair of you.”

“Yeah, that was so awesome!” Spike yelled excitedly. “The way you were like swinging your swords at each other and blocking and deflecting and rolling about it, it was all so awesome I felt like I was watching an action movie!” The little dragon jumped up onto the log to try to re-enact the fight, but instead lost his balance and fell off the log and onto his back. “I’m okay, guys, thanks for asking,” he called, making everypony laugh.

“Nice little re-enactment, Spike,” Cadence remarked as she settled onto her stomach, while magically setting her sword away. “Though I don’t remember being that clumsy on my hooves.”

Fluttershy giggled as she sat on her haunches, tucking her tail around her legs. “You were fine, Cadence,” she said. “A better fighter than most, I should say. Even better than Rainbow Dash was.”

The five travellers continued talking about the duel, as well as other things, long into the night, until their eyes grew heavy with fatigue. Fluttershy watched as the group fell asleep with blissful smiles, before setting down and using her hooves as a pillow. As she felt her body drift off, a smile grew on her face as she remembered the duel Cadence and herself had, and the time she had to get to know her companions better.

She did not know if they would have more time like that in the days to come, but she was happy that they did for just the one.

Chapter 10 (part 1)

The next morning, Luna awoke the others just as the first rays of the sun flew over the peaks of the mountains like beams of light at a stage show and basked the Unicorn Range in its light. The day looked set to be a bright one, with not a single cloud floating over them.

“Good morning, everyone,” Fluttershy said cheerfully as she sat up onto her haunches. She yawned loudly as she stretched out her forelegs, feeling pleasantly surprised by how good a mood she was in. ‘Supposed what happened yesterday helped.’ “How did everypony sleep?”

“Like a log, thanks,” Spike replied as he got up.

Cadence stopped stretching, and turned her head to stare at him strangely. “Like a log?”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Spike explained before letting out a yawn, spraying saliva onto the ground like a quick drizzle of rain.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of that,” Luna said as she checked their food bag.

“Me too,” Trixie agreed.

“And me,” Fluttershy said quietly. She slouched when she added in a whisper, “Sorry.”

Spike chuckled as he walked around. “Eh, it’s okay. Now you all know something new,” he said. He stopped for a second and had a look around and beyond the old campsite. “So, uh, which way do we have to go now?”

“Simple,” Trixie replied. She pointed to the west, between the two logs closest to Spike. “We go from there and find a dirt road. We then follow that road until we reach a village and from the–”

“Hold on a second, but did you just say, a village?” Luna demanded, interrupting the showmare. Trixie nervously nodded, prompting Luna to spin away and groan agitatedly. “I thought you said we won’t be going through any villages!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say this was a village; more of a hamlet, really,” Trixie explained, tilting her head to one side. “But the ponies there are kind enough and not exactly nosy. We could pass on by and they wouldn’t even interrupt except only to wish us good morning. Now I know I am not the most trusting pony around, but I believe that we can trust them.”

“But how can you be sure that you can trust them now?” Luna queried. “How do we know that they won’t turn on us when there is a price on our heads?” Luna sighed again. “We have to find another way around; we can’t risk passing through this hamlet.”

“There is no other way around it, Luna!” Trixie insisted. “We either go through, go back and head east, or don’t go anywhere at all. Your choice.”

Fluttershy watched nervously as Luna’s narrow eyes shifted in place around the ground. Finally, her eyes flicked up and settled on Fluttershy, who flinched back at the demanding tone she felt from her gaze. “We-well,” Fluttershy began, fidgeting in her spot, “I-it might be all right, Luna. If Trixie thinks those ponies are okay, then I believe her; she hasn’t let us down so far, has she?”

Luna did not respond, but Fluttershy could see from the look on her face that her words were having some affect. “Anyway, this hamlet might have no idea what’s going on outside the Unicorn Range, so we could be safe,” the Dragonlord added quickly, hopefully sealing what chance she briefly had to convince the alicorn.

After a tense moment of silence, Luna breathed deeply through her nose and out again. “Very well, we’ll do it your way,” she conceded, though the worry she felt was plain in her voice. She sharply turned and pointed a warning hoof at Trixie. “But this is all on you, Trixie Lulamoon. If it all goes wrong, then you are to blame.” Trixie swallowed as she nodded.

Once the air between them had grown warmer, Cadence sighed cheerfully as she got up from her place. “Well I’m glad that’s taken care of,” she said, smiling at everyone. Suddenly her horn came to life with magic, and soon their food bag was floating above her head. “Who’s up for some breakfast? I’m cooking.”

Luna groaned jokingly. “Hey!” Cadence snorted as she set up. “Just so you all know, I cook some of the best specialties in all of Equestria. And a lot of ponies agree with me.”

“Mmm hmm, did they tell you this the moment you gave this special of yours to these ponies, or the first time you saw them weeks later?” Luna teased. Cadence snorted and ignored her, muttering something about getting her back later. Luna only laughed.

Fluttershy looked away and snickered, biting her lower lip to keep the howling laughter crawling up her throat in place. ‘Apply water to the burn,’ she thought, while Spike and Trixie chuckled. The group slowly fell silent as Cadence began to make their breakfast.

The breakfast Cadence created – an oat porridge with a special seasoning that only the younger alicorn knew what it was – was simply delightful, Fluttershy thought as she ate her share. The sweet taste sparkled across her taste buds like candyfloss, which was a strange thing to compare with, but Fluttershy couldn’t think of anything else. She devoured the rest very quickly. “My compliments to the chef,” she remarked, licking her lips and rubbing her hooves clean of the remains.

“Why thank you, Fluttershy. At least somepony appreciates my cooking,” Cadence said, glancing at Luna with a very big eye. The other Princess dutifully ignored it with a cheeky grin and ate in silence.

After breakfast, the five companions packed up their things, went to the loo if they needed to, put out the fire and made sure no trace of their presence was left. Once they were certain they couldn’t be tracked, they followed Trixie between the logs she pointed out earlier, through the thin confines of the bushes until finally emerging at a dirt road that disappeared into the distance. The giant mountain shadowing them on the right flanked it with a thin stream running alongside of it, and another steep cliff on the left linked to the ridge they had taken yesterday.

Fluttershy looked up every now and then across the caps and peaks as they walked, praying to herself that she was just imagining things, that nothing was following them – nothing nasty anyway. But the thought would not go away. Sometimes she thought she saw eyes spewing out hatred from the cliff edge above them, and was about to call out and point it to the others, but before she could, it was gone. ‘Something is not right.’

As a filly, Fluttershy had read a book that said the Unicorn Range was named due to the vast amount of magic energy that spilled out from a tear somewhere in the Range and covered the whole area with magic. What if the things she was seeing was an illusion conjured by her own fears and hates? ‘Twilight would know,’ she told herself, her ears falling flat at the memory of her other unicorn friend.

If Twilight were here, she figured, she would be able to fix everything with a flick of her horn, and everypony would be happy and smiling together once more. Twilight might be a bookworm, but she did have wits on her that made the Dragonlord laugh sometimes, and she was always optimistic in any situation, and good-hearted all around.

Even so, there were times where she just couldn’t stand her. Twilight had a tendency to break into lecture mode and start to inform them all about something only a few of them had any real interest in. Fluttershy tended to lose track before the unicorn even stopped to pause. Even then, Twilight was sometimes really dense; oblivious to things that everypony could see that she couldn’t. It frustrated Fluttershy sometimes, even though she knew it shouldn’t. It was a part of Twilight, after all. Telling her to stop being who she was – telling any of her friends to stop being who they were – would be like telling Celestia to stop moving the sun.

She shook her head rapidly, clearing her thoughts on the unicorn, and looked towards Trixie, who was just ahead. “So, um, Trixie, what’s the Vale of the Lost like?”

The unicorn looked back with a warm smile. “One of the most beautiful places on Terra, Fluttershy Firewing,” she answered. “It is a vast place, easily the size of the Everfree Forest and Whitetail Woods combined. One large mountain dominates its centre, with a few trees growing around its base and its mid-section. And at the top is a giant ledge overlooking the whole Vale; Celestia knows how many times I have camped at its peak.

“Around the mountain, there’s cast circles of woodlands separated from each other by great meadows: some plains with very tall and edible grass, some with rivers running through its middle, and others with great lakes or ponds. Oh, and there are a few gorges as well, and even caves in the mountains penning it in like a fence; some aren’t that deep, but others feel as though you’re going to Marsapia. Oh, and don’t get me started on the wildlife there.”

Fluttershy shot over to Trixie’s side in an instant, grinning like a filly about to be told a surprise. “Really? Wh-what kind of wildlife?” she asked eagerly, her walk close to a prance.

Trixie smiled and tapped her nose. “Ah, now that would be spoiling it now, wouldn’t it? You’ll find out when we get there,” she promised.

Fluttershy’s grin vanished, but she still felt incredibly excited about what she might see in the Vale. ‘Even if I don’t see anything this time, I could always come back and look later,’ she thought.

“Sounds nice, but what about getting into the Vale? Is that a problem?” Luna asked curiously.

Fluttershy turned back to Trixie with her own curious gaze. “No, not much of a problem, really,” Trixie replied thoughtfully, looking up at the sky as she tried to remember. “We have to follow a path that nestles right up against an enormous lake and some trees, and after that we follow it into a tunnel that goes right through the mountain and out onto a small ledge on the other side. From there we go down and we’re in the Vale.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Cadence said, nodding in understanding. “So what about getting out of the Vale?”

“Again, not a problem,” Trixie replied with a flick of her hoof. “We just head north-west from the starting position and follow one of the roads until we come across a naturally built bridge of stone, which hangs over a black chasm where nothing lives.” Fluttershy felt herself shiver at the thought. “After we have crossed that bridge, we enter the mountain on the other side and follow the cave right out to the other end, where we will be welcomed by the Great Equestrian Plain and its massive fields and small lakes.”

Cadence nodded satisfactorily, followed swiftly by the others. “Well it seems as if we’ll be all right, after all,” Spike said, though his tone revealed how he actually thought that would not be the case. The group fell silent and trundled on.

Eventually, after half an hour or so, they came across a fork in the road leading three ways. The left path went south through a thick cluster of trees and another thin valley, the centre one continued through the valley and around a corner leading to Celestia knows where, and the right path headed north up a slow slope covered in trees and bushes.

“Are you sure we turn right?” Cadence asked, looking all three ways inquisitively.

Trixie looked up at her and nodded. “Of course. That path leads up to a high plain where the hamlet is. Now come on, follow me.” Seeing no other option, the four followed Trixie along the right path and up the hill, sauntering cautiously through the trees with their eyes and ears on alert.

Fluttershy’s wings twitched in their anxiety as she walked behind Luna, her mind flicking through the various possibilities of what could happen on the other side. ‘Will they greet us openly with warm embrace? Or clenched sword?’ she wondered, feeling herself begin to shake as the earth levelled out beneath them, and she could see the first signs of non-obscured light on the other side, as well as signs of houses. ‘Time to find out, I suppose.’

They finally emerged into the light of the sun and the heavy wind brushing against their coats once more, only to stop and stare in horror at the scene before them. “Wha… what happened?” Spike rasped.

The small hamlet was composed of around a dozen buildings; the majority of the buildings were large rectangular bungalows made of dark, rectangular-shaped timber fastened together with two chimneys placed at either end of their thatched roofs. The largest building was a two-storey rectangular structure of white and black with a tall clock tower at its centre. In the far right corner was a small barn with a large field of crops beside it, and on the far left corner was a large timber mill, which sat beside a thin river that flowed south westward; the mill had a large wheel rolling through the river, and a large number of recently-chopped logs on the other. It looked like a lovely place to live.

The hamlet was dead.

Fluttershy could see pieces of the bungalows’ windows scattered across the ground, tattered parts of doors hung from their hinges where they had been kicked in, and one or two houses showed signs of being on fire. She swallowed down her nervousness as she moved forward, her fear overshadowed by her curiosity to find out what happened, and if there were any ponies that needed help.

“Spread out but keep in close contact!” Luna commanded, drawing Nightbringer from her side. “Whoever attacked this place may not be too far away. And search for any sign of life!”

The others complied and began to advance towards the hamlet in a loose formation; Spike opted to stick close to Fluttershy’s side, his body noticeably shaking in fright as they neared the abandoned hamlet. Fluttershy would be lying if she said she did not feel the same way.

Fluttershy kept her eyes on the broken windows, searching for any movement that would tell her this place still has somepony left to explain what had happened here. She stopped when she felt something crack beneath her hooves. The pegasus looked down and saw to her alarm that she had stepped on to a piece of glass. She lifted her hoof up and looked for blood, but found to her surprise she had not suffered a scratch.

“Are you all right?” Spike whispered, watching her as she observed her hoof.

Fluttershy glanced at him and smiled assuredly. “I’m okay, thank you,” she said. She lightly gestured with her head to her back. “Hop onto my back; it would be safer for you if you did.”

Spike instantly took the offer and hopped onto Fluttershy’s back fluidly. With her passenger safe, Fluttershy walked on, her eyes going back and forth between the houses in her search for life. “What do you think happened here, Fluttershy?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy shook her head, her eyes never leaving the buildings and street corners, while her ears twitched occasionally to the sound of glass being smashed beneath her hooves. “I think this place was attacked at some point,” she said quietly. She shivered in thought as she envisioned the cries of the ponies as their attackers bore down on them, and the smell of smoke and fear as the inhabitants fled for their lives. “But what on Terra could have caused this?” she wondered aloud.

She stopped when she came to the centre of the hamlet, which was a large crossroads with one road leading from the main hall to the farm and another around the houses, and looked at the ground around her. The dirt road was churned out by so many hoof-prints going in every direction possible, and… Fluttershy bent over and looked closer at one print in particular, one she was not familiar with.

The footprint resembled closely to that of a large cat’s. ‘Possibly a mountain lion,’ Fluttershy figured as she analysed it from different angles. ‘But that’s not possible, surely. Mountain lions have never been seen around here.’ She raised her head and called out, “Trixie!”

The unicorn came running at the sound of her voice, and skidded to a halt when she made it in front of the pegasus. “What is it, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy pointed to the paw print beside her. “Have you ever seen or had an encounter with a mountain lion around here?”

Trixie stared at the print for a long time, before clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “Nope. Haven’t seen a wild cat around here ever,” she replied, much to Fluttershy’s confusion. “I haven’t even heard of any wild predators around here.” she tapped her chin in thought. “Could some have escaped from a zoo somewhere?”

“Think logically, you two,” Luna said flatly as she landed roughly to the ground. “How could mountain lions start fires or chase away an entire hamlet of ponies?”

“They could have killed and eaten them,” Trixie muttered under her breath. Fluttershy glared at her into keeping that thought to herself.

Luna continued regardless. “We might be considered prey to mountains lions, but they are certainly not stupid. They know we can defend ourselves with weapons and use flight and magic to our advantage. Neither would they attack such a compact hamlet such as this one.”

“Nor could they start fires, no matter how hard they try,” Cadence added as she glided down to join them. “Besides, mountain lions have never been sighted around here. Whatever attacked this place came without warning, and left very few clues as to where they came from and where they went afterwards.”

“So where did they come from?” Spike asked.

“And where did they go?” Fluttershy finished.

Cadence twisted her head away and looked all around them. “They came from everywhere,” she replied grimly, then added sourly, “and then disappeared without a trace.”

Luna’s ears flicked upwards. “What?” she yelled, causing Fluttershy to flinch back in shock. “How could the attackers have disappeared?”

“I don’t know, aunt, but I found no tracks other than pony hooves on the boundaries around the hamlet,” Cadence replied. She took a deep breath and shrugged. “I cannot understand how a creature could just disappear like that.”

“Not any ordinary creature, at least,” Luna said thoughtfully, turning away from the group.

Fluttershy took a step towards her, and lifted a hoof up in a hesitant meaning of comfort. “Luna? Is everything all right?” she asked gently.

Luna spun around in an instant and addressed Cadence, ignoring Fluttershy’s question; whether she meant to or didn’t hear her, the Dragonlord did not know. “What about the inhabitants of this quaint little hamlet? Did you find any blood or anything to reveal their whereabouts?”

Cadence shook her head sullenly. “Nothing. It was as though they were taken from the surface of this planet,” she responded.

Spike suddenly froze in fright. “Could… aliens have taken them?” he asked shakily.

It took all of Fluttershy’s willpower not to slam her hoof into her head and shake it. “I firmly believe that if aliens existed that they would not be capable of space travel,” Luna objected. “They would be more like us, wondering if they’re not alone in this universe.” She looked absently up at the sky, a pondering smile on her face as she thought about something the pegasus could not know.

Fluttershy looked perplexedly to Cadence and Trixie, who simply shrugged in response. “Um, auntie?” Cadence called, waving a hoof in her face. “What shall we do about this place?”

Luna shuddered out of her blank staring, and immediately retained composure. “Yes, well, uh,” she stammered, prompting the group to snicker. “I suppose we should move on and get out of here as soon as we can,” she eventually said.

“Or, we could wait here until tomorrow and see if the ponies come back here and find out what happened,” Fluttershy added, much to Luna’s apparent horror. “I won’t feel right if we leave here without knowing what happened to this place or its inhabitants,” she explained, gesturing with a sweep of her hoof at the ruined hamlet.

Luna looked set to say no, but then looked around at the faces of the others. Fluttershy looked, too, and saw that they wanted to stay for the night as well. With a heavy, drawn-out sigh, Luna hung her head in defeat. “Very well. Then we shall camp here and set off at first light,” she said regretfully.

Fluttershy beamed brightly at the idea. “Brilliant!” she squeaked. She pointed to the large sawmill. “Then we shall camp up there and fill up what canteens we have left and look for some leftover food; I’m sure they won’t notice if a teeny tiny bit is missing.”

The ponies and dragon agreed, and then split off and began searching for food and other supplies they could use. As she searched, Fluttershy began to feel as though she and the rest of the group were being toyed with. ‘Whatever caused all this is still out there,’ she thought as she crept into one of the bungalows, glancing behind her and towards the woods bordering the meadow. ‘And right now, they are watching us.’ Feeling more insecure every minute outside, she jumped inside the bungalow and began looking for food for spare.

The sun began to set by the time the group – their supplies doubled by their efforts – settled down and fell asleep for the night, with Luna watching over them and her sword half-drawn and ready to swing at any foe.

The day started much colder than Fluttershy thought it would, and was a grey gloomy morning with the sun but a dull yellow orb amongst the solemn clouds. ‘The days are growing darker,’ she thought, as she leaned against a pillar supporting the roof of the sawmill, overlooking the small hamlet.

The tiny village looked serenely peaceful, despite the broken glass and torn down doors and its missing inhabitants. It was the kind of place Fluttershy would love to live in, and the thought of waking up every morning with a mountain to see and the lovely farm animals to look after and help when necessary brought a pleasing smile to her face.

It was a peaceful place with no importance whatsoever, which gave Fluttershy a mild headache just thinking about it. ‘What could have attacked this place?’ she wondered, the question running on repeat in her head. ‘What could have scared or killed all the ponies that lived here?’

“You’re up early.” Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder when she heard Luna’s voice, then looked back to the hamlet as the Lunar Princess approached.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Fluttershy said grimly. She looked back at the hamlet again, lightly shaking her head. “I don’t sleep well these days.”

“Because of what has happened to Equestria? Or what happened to this place?” Luna enquired, nodding her head towards the deserted settlement.

Fluttershy pressed her lips together and glanced at Luna. “Usually it’s about what happened to Equestria, but last night it was both,” she answered. She shook her head again as she breathed through her nose. “I just don’t understand what could have happened here. Why? Why attack such an unimportant little place? None of the separated states would have done it; too small for starters.”

“That we can both agree on,” Luna said, nodding faintly in agreement. “And Celestia wouldn’t as well, less she wishes to lose more of her little ponies. No. This was the work of some external force.”

Fluttershy turned her gaze fully on Luna. “Like what? Griffons?”

Luna shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, but I have a hunch; I just pray that I am wrong.”

Though she knew she was not meant to, Fluttershy could clearly see fear in Luna’s eyes; a decade of living in fear had made her adept at seeing fear in others. “Do you think all the ponies of this place got out of here safely?”

Luna sighed as she leaned against the opposite pillar. “We didn’t see any blood yesterday, so it’s possible they all got out alive,” she assumed.

“I hope so,” Fluttershy continued, rubbing her left foreleg worriedly. “I like to think that they all reached another village in the Range, but then I get images of finding their mangled and bloodied corpses later on, like what we saw in the…” She shuddered as she allowed herself to trail off.

Luna stared at her oddly. “Why do you care so much about ponies that you haven’t even met?”

Fluttershy shot her head around to glare harshly at Luna. “How could you say that? You? You are a Princess of Equestria; you’re supposed to care about everypony in this country!”

Luna snorted quietly yet disdainfully. “I did once – I loved everypony in this country. But why should I now? Why should I care about these ponies?”

“Because they love you!” Fluttershy hissed, glancing over to the sleeping ponies and one dragon on the far side of the sawmill to make sure she hadn’t awoken them. “I know I was scared of you when we first met, but overtime, my view on you changed, and so did many others. We have all come to love you since then, and you have done so much good for us all.”

Luna scowled at Fluttershy. “Then clearly you don’t read the newspaper,” she said. She looked back at the ruined hamlet, tears in her eyes. “I guess then that you didn’t see that half of the country begged for my public execution; mine and Cadence’s. One of the guards threw the paper in on Thursday I believe, laughing.”

Fluttershy stood dazed and shocked. ‘I should really read the paper more.’ She shook her head slowly as her wide eyes stayed fixed on Luna. “Y-you know that’s not true, Luna,” she said as firmly as she could. She took a step towards the Princess. “You know now most of those votes are from states that have risen up against the kingdom to depose your sister and yourself, don’t you? Most of us loved you, like I do, and they still do; we just need to remind them, to make them remember.”

She stepped forward a bit more. “Remember what you said to me back at the castle, before we met Trixie? You promised you would help me find out what is going on around here and help me put it right. Please, Luna, please don’t back down on that promise now.”

Luna turned to face her. “I am not breaking any promises. I will help you with your quest, that’s for sure. But that does not mean I have to care for them; I am done with caring for others outside of my family,” she said bitterly. Her features turned gentler all of a sudden, as though remembering something.

“How comes you never said anything about this earlier?” Fluttershy asked.

“I thought you would have known,” Luna replied.

“If I did know, I wouldn’t have been so surprised when we met,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Ah, that’s true. I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight,” Luna conceded. She glanced at the Dragonlord. “You still haven’t answered my question, you know: why do you care so much about ponies that you haven’t met, or never will meet?”

Fluttershy leaned her head against the pillar again, sighing softly. “I have no reason to care about them. I just do,” she replied. “Judging from this place, they were as close as family, and probably cared for one another when one of them needed it. Even though many of them were probably not related, they stood by the traditions this country was founded on. If that’s not reason enough to care, then I don’t know what is.”

Luna didn’t reply to Fluttershy, but instead looked back at the hamlet, and the rising sun. Fluttershy followed her gaze to see the sun was now above the tallest mountains in the range, and shooting its rays gracefully across the world. “You’re a better pony than I am,” Luna admitted quietly.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘Why does everypony say that?’ she asked herself. “No, Luna,” she said kindly, turning her head to face her with a smile. “You are a good pony; you’re good to your niece and though blunt, you are pleasant enough to the others. I have always believed that everyone has a bit of good in them, and that means you as well.”

“Hmph,” Luna huffed, yet her eyes revealed a new bout of respect for the young Dragonlord. She glanced behind her. “I guess we should awake the others and get moving; we can’t afford to stay here for so long.”

Fluttershy sighed, and then reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Yes, I guess we have little choice but to move on now,” she said. She got up and moved away. “I’ll wake them up. You stay there and keep watch, make sure our path stays clear.”

Luna nodded, and then looked ahead again as Fluttershy moved away to awaken the others.

A quarter of an hour later, the group groggily made their way out of the hamlet and continued to follow the road northwest. Fluttershy marched sombrely behind, watching Trixie, Spike and Cadence rub their tired eyes after being awoken so suddenly. They were all still upset upon being told they had to move without a decent breakfast, and the pegasus could not blame them.

Before they went around a bend and out of sight, Fluttershy took a good look at the hamlet one last time. Though she felt relieved she didn’t find any bodies within, she was terribly confused about how this came about. ‘Luna seems to know,’ she thought, ‘yet she won’t tell us what it could have been.’ Was she afraid that if she said it, her theory might turn out true? Or was she denying to herself what it might have been?

“Be on your guard,” Luna said as she led the group along. “If we move quickly enough, we might let our presence here go unnoticed.”

Fluttershy breathed through slightly parted lips. “I think our presence here has already been noticed,” she whispered to herself. “But by what?”

She turned away and trotted after the group, glancing over her shoulder as the hamlet disappeared from sight.

After another hour, the group finally made it through the winding and hilly forest, and stopped and stared at the road before them.

The road they needed to take weaved its way through a wide valley that looked like it was four miles long. Trees as tall as houses lined up on the left side of the road, and went right back and halfway up the mountains. The right side of the path was as bare as a newborn foal, with thin, brown grass covering it.

Fluttershy smiled thinly at the sight, beckoning her hooves to start moving again. ‘Not much longer, and we’ll soon be out of here and in Horsca,’ she thought. She would hop excitedly for joy at the thought of seeing Freya and the city of Castilian again if she could, but the reason as to why she was heading there gave the pegasus pause. She was not going there for a friendly visit, even though she had promised the Queen the last time she had seen her she would come to Horsca, but to seek sanctuary there and wait until Vidarr brings news from his dragons and a place where they could come up with a plan to save Equestria from ripping itself asunder.

Even then, and it was a thought that made the Dragonlord pale, there was a chance Horsca was suffering the same calamity as Equestria was. Fluttershy mentally shook her head to dismiss the idea. ‘Horsca is fine; you’re just making yourself paranoid. It will be fine, and we will be safe.’ Yet her words did little to keep her paranoia down.

Even as she thought that, another reason to worry sprang to her mind. ‘Will Freya still be Queen?’ she wondered as they started to follow the path. The last time she had seen the old horse was in Canterlot nearly a year ago, when Celestia summoned her to help with negotiations with Horsca on trade rights and such. Freya had looked old then, and she would almost certainly have aged more since. ‘Will she even remember me? Will she even be alive after all this time?’ She hoped, no, she prayed she was still around, or else that would make things difficult for all of them.

“Are you all right, Fluttershy?” Spike asked, looking at her weirdly.

Fluttershy quickly realised she was making a funny face as she pondered. ‘Oh, no wonder so many ponies ask me if I’m all right whilst I’m thinking.’ The Dragonlord looked at him for a few seconds in silence, and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, thanks. I was just thinking about Freya in Horsca. I hope she’s still the Queen of the country, or that would make things harder for us.”

“I’m sure she will be,” Spike said assuredly. “I might not have met her, but you make her sound pretty awesome. Is she really the Queen of Horsca?”

“Oh yes, and one of the best friends I have,” Fluttershy replied, nodding. “She even named me a Thane of Horsca the last time I was there, the highest award for an equine in Horsca to receive. The others were named as Horsecarls, the second highest position to be anointed.” She sighed at the memory as the six of them stood proudly together with their crowns on their heads.

Spike just nodded, and then went silent. They didn’t talk again until they made it halfway across the valley. “So, um, mind if I ask you something?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy tilted her head and smiled. “You don’t ever have to ask permission to ask me something, Spike,” she said softly. “What is it you want to know?”

Spike rubbed his left arm with a claw. “I was wondering what other things Dragonlords can do,” he said. His eyes lit up with hope. “Can you guys fly into space, or shoot lasers from your eyes?”

One of Fluttershy’s eyebrows raised itself upon her forehead. “I… I don’t think I can fly into space, nor do I think I could shoot lasers from my eyes. Sorry.”

“Ah, that’s fine, at least I tried. So what other things can Dragonlords do?”

Fluttershy giggled at another memory, which coursed through her mind. “I said the same thing to my father once. Do you know what he said to me?” Spike shook his head. “He said that Dragonlords could walk on water.” She paused to laugh. “Of course, being the gullible fool I am, I believed him, even if it was only briefly. What he did say I can do now was fascinating. He said our bones are now like iron, so they cannot break as easily. Our muscles are bigger as well, which makes us stronger; strong enough to even smash stone apart.”

“Really! You are strong enough to smash apart stone?” Spike asked disbelievingly.

Fluttershy nodded, and then looked around for a small rock to demonstrate on. She quickly saw a small pebble on the ground, and then stopped and stomped on it with a grunt escaping through her gritted teeth. When she pulled it away, Spike could only gasp at the remains of the pebble. “Okay, so you can smash apart stone,” Spike said, now fully convinced. “What else can you do?”

“Oh, our wounds tend to heal quicker than usual, so they just become pink scars after a few minutes or so, and then much later are covered over by our coats.” Fluttershy paused to grimace. “Well, most of them, at least.”

Spike nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I was gonna ask about those actually. If most of your scars go over time, how comes those two haven’t?” He pointed to the scar under her eye and the one on her back.

Fluttershy absently ran a hoof along the scar under her eye. She sometimes forgot she had it. “Heimdallr’s claw sank too deep into the skin for this one to go away. While the one on my back was because a sword cut too deep, so the hair couldn’t grow back.”

Spike looked at her in horror. “You mean… a sword slashed down your back and did that?”

Fluttershy nodded sadly. “It was one of the most painful things to have ever happened to me. But that wasn’t the worst wound.”

“No? Then what was?”

Fluttershy shot her wings up, exposing her sides more. “Run a claw along my side,” she said, meekly adding, “If you want to, of course.”

Spike nodded, and then gently stroked Fluttershy’s side with a claw. When he reached a certain point along Fluttershy’s stomach, he pulled the claw back in alarm. “It just suddenly went down like a bowl! What the heck happened to your side?”

“Heimdallr hit me with a flail there, Spike. He didn’t break my ribs, but dented them badly as well as damaging both of my wings. That was the most painful moment of that entire fight. I would have died from all of these wounds, had it not been for Vidarr and his magic.”

Spike looked mortified. “I can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’m amazed you aren’t an emotional wreck on the ground after all that, suffering nightmares and such. I know I would be.”

“Oh, but I do suffer nightmares. Constantly,” Fluttershy said glumly. “I always dream that I’m back down there, watching my friends getting butchered by Heimdallr, while I’m being torn apart limb by limb.”

She shuddered violently at the thought. “But I’ve learnt to live with what I have done, and carry on with my life as best as I can, and with my friends keeping me up and running, I know I could do that.” She looked ahead and smiled thinly at the memories that passed through her mind, reminding her of times when life was simpler and tranquil. Spike kept his silence and walked beside her, looking at the mountains around them and the tall grass, where some grass snakes watched them curiously.

Another hour later, after a quick bite to eat and such, they left the valley behind them via a gap between the mountains and moved into another one, with a huge lake making up one entire side. The lake was easily the size of Ponyville, with a small island in its centre and what appeared to be an old castle ruin on top; what was left of its tallest tower was just a collapsed heap running down the hill like stairs to the end of the island and into deep water.

The path itself ran alongside the lake, with only a steep drop like a cliff separating them from the very cold-looking water. On the other side of the path, pine trees clustered together closely as though huddling together like penguins from the cold, their gangly branches thick with leaves reaching out and creating lines of shadow across the path. And in the distance, which was just a black spot in the mountain face at the moment, was the entrance to the Vale of the Lost.

“There it is!” Trixie announced, pointing to the cave entrance on the other side of the lake. “Just a few minutes more and we should be in the Valley, then another hour or so and we’ll be out of the Range and on the Great Equestria Plain.”

“Then after that, a long walk to Strutford and through Detrots,” Luna added.

“And finally, Horsca,” Fluttershy said delightfully, grinning once more at the thought of seeing the country again. “Thank you for getting us through here, Trixie. You’ve done brilliantly.”

Trixie looked back and smiled. “It is the least I can do for what you have done for me, Fluttershy. What you have all done for me.” She looked ahead once more, humming cheerfully as she trotted, and looking exceptionally pleased with herself.

Fluttershy knew Trixie had a right to be proud of herself. She cantered past Luna and Cadence, who were discussing something or other she failed to notice, and slowed down upon coming alongside the unicorn. “I’m glad you’re proud of yourself, Trixie. Even after hearing all the others express their doubts, you ignored them and carried on.”

Trixie shrugged. “It’s part of being a showmare, I suppose. You hear some nasty things thrown at you, but you just ignore all of that and carry on. It’s something I know I wasn’t good at when you first saw me, especially after what I did to your friends.”

“Um, actually,” Fluttershy said, looking at the ground. “And please don’t tell anypony else this, but I thought what you did to them was right.”

Trixie looked shocked. “Really?”

Fluttershy nodded, though she knew her face revealed how ashamed she was of herself for thinking it. “They said that boasting and bragging is wrong, yet they went up on your stage and showed off just as much as you did, if not worse. If they wanted to prove that they were better than you, then they should have stayed put and ignored you like Twilight did. But when they went up there one by one, they became hypocrites in that regard and, if I’m honest, deserved everything they got. Besides, you’re a showmare, you’re supposed to show off.”

Trixie’s jaw was hanging loosely. “I’m… I’m surprised you think that way.”

“I hate hypocrisy, Trixie,” Fluttershy explained, her head high and proud of herself.

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she asked.

Fluttershy fixed her gaze back on Trixie when she uncovered the disbelief in her friend’s voice. “Yes, I do. What do you mean? You make it sound like I’m a hypocrite.”

Trixie stared at Fluttershy for a long moment, before looking away in shame. “Well, uh…” she stammered. “You see… um, a few nights ago, after you fought me and Cadence, I remembered hearing what you said to Luna back in the castle. I remember you saying how much you hate fighting and violence to her, but then that day, you looked as though you were enjoying it fully.” She flinched in place. “Sorry.”

Fluttershy stared at the unicorn as though Trixie had just slapped her in the face. “But… but that was all just practice,” she defended herself meekly. “I didn’t hurt Cadence or you when we fought, and it was all just one big exercise.”

“Yes, but you had one large grin across your face when you were fighting,” Trixie pointed out. “If you didn’t enjoy fighting so much, then you wouldn’t have been smiling throughout. In fact, I don’t think you would have offered at all to fight Cadence or me.” Trixie stopped talking when she noticed the look of horror on Fluttershy’s face, and reached out with a hoof. “Are you all right?”

Fluttershy stepped hastily back from the hoof, making Trixie wince. “I, um… I’m fine, I think,” she said, her breathing quickening. She turned away from the mare. “I just need a minute. Keep going. I’ll catch up.”

She barely took notice of Trixie continuing to walk ahead, or Cadence and Luna’s looks of concern as she moved to the edge of the lake and sat on her haunches, staring sullenly into the water as Trixie’s words forged into her head. ‘Am I a hypocrite?’ she wondered.

She knew she shouldn’t be, especially about fighting. She hated fighting since she was a child, and hated it even more when she first started her new life as a Dragonlord. But the more she thought about it, the more of what Trixie said made sense. She never smiled when she fought Star in Detrots, or Heimdallr for the final time. But with Cadence and Trixie, she was grinning like a madmare. ‘But that was practice, though! It wasn’t real; there was no threat to any of us and though it was a good fight I…’ Her thoughts trailed off in mortification when the truth dawned on her.

She did not loathe fighting. She loved it.

She loved the thrill of the opponent’s sword coming towards her with her death written in its voice. She adored ducking and diving and weaving her way from danger, play fighting or otherwise. She loved the sound of swords clashing against one another, and most of all, she found immense pleasure in the feeling of victory.

Fluttershy buried her head in her hooves, feeling how cold she was. ‘Trixie’s right; I am a hypocrite,’ she thought solemnly. She felt like crying, but could not find the strength to release any tears. She felt false, too, like she had been wearing a mask over the times she had protested against fighting to hide the manic, lying grin on her face.

‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ She couldn’t deny she loved fighting, but she wanted to stop herself from loving it. It went against everything she was taught and went against her own morals. How could she do that, when she was expected to fight if she was needed to do so?

She looked left to see Cadence and Luna walking slowly away from her, speaking in low whispers about something or other. Fluttershy did not pry further, and looked away; she considered it would be rude to listen in on their conversation. She looked right to see Spike plodding along the cliff-line, throwing what stones he could find into the water.

Fluttershy looked back at the water again and… ‘Wait, what?’ She swung her head around in horror to see Spike throw another pebble across the water. It bounced along the top of the water, before disappearing under it with a plop. The ripples carried themselves across the water like a wave.

He picked up another, and got ready to throw it, but Fluttershy quickly galloped up to him, yanked the stone out of his claws and threw it out of reach. “Do not disturb the water,” she whispered, looking at the vast lake. “We do not know what’s down there.”

Spike looked at Fluttershy for a moment, before his ears fell flat. “Sorry,” he whispered, sounding upset.

Fluttershy wrapped a leg around him and nuzzled him gently. “That’s okay, and I’m sorry I ruined your fun. I just don’t trust that lake.” She looked at it warily for a long time, before looking at the path again. “Let’s keep moving.”

Spike nodded, and began to jog after Fluttershy, who broke into a trot to catch up to the others. As she walked, she wondered if Spike thought the same thing as Trixie. ‘Does he think I’m a hypocrite?’ She resolved to ask him. ‘Spike might be young, but he is certainly wiser than many of us.’

“Spike?” she asked as she turned her head to face him. “Do you think I’m a… LOOK OUT!” she screamed, as she watched a large, crab-like pincer attached to the end of a long, ocean-coloured tentacle lunge at Spike.

Spike turned around just in time to see the pincer, and fell to the ground at the last second. The claw missed the dragon by inches and crashed into the ground before him, showering up mud and dirt. Fluttershy wasted no time in watching and galloped to Spike’s aid. She swerved past the struggling to get out pincer, and made it to Spike’s side. “Are you all right?”

Spike looked up at her to reply, but instead jumped up and pushed her down. “Get down!” he yelled. Fluttershy felt herself fall onto her stomach, confused as to why Spike pushed her down so hard, but screamed as another pincer rocketed over her head and smashed into one of the pine trees with a booming crack. With a groan, the tree fell apart and collapsed to the ground.

“Run!” Fluttershy yelled as she picked up Spike and chucked him onto her back. With him secure, she galloped away from the pincers and raced towards the others, who were coming to their aid.

“Fluttershy! Spike!” Cadence cried, as she unsheathed her bow and prepped her arrows ready. “Look out!”

Fluttershy looked to the lake, and gasped in horror as she saw about eight more tentacles writhing above the water, with three more coming straight for her. The first claw shot down to land in front of her. Fluttershy swerved away and ran past it as it slammed into the ground, showering her and Spike with dirt. The second one swung widely at her, intending to throw her into the tree. The pegasus leapt forward and ducked under, dragging her belly across the dirt and leaving it feeling sore as she got up and galloped for Spike’s life and her own.

The third one grabbed Fluttershy’s right hind leg and pulled.

Fluttershy fell to her stomach with a yell on her lips, and screamed as she felt herself being pulled towards the water by the nipper. “Help!” she yelled.

Cadence aimed her bow at the pincer, but another appeared from the water and punched her with the strength of a speeding train, sending her spinning through the air and landing on her side with a thud. Luna tried to charge to her side, but another pincer smashed into the ground like a meteor before the alicorn, blocking her path. Trixie remained frozen in horror of what was happening.

Seeing no aid was coming, Fluttershy tried to dig her hooves into the ground, but it did nothing to stop her from getting closer. She glanced behind her and saw the edge was getting closer, and her digging became more frantic. Spike turned around, took a deep breath, and blew a large bout of green flame at the pincer holding the Dragonlord’s leg.

The creature wielding the claw screamed in agony as the flames tore into the skin of the beast, and it let Fluttershy go with her hind legs dangling over the edge. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, then leapt away from the edge and looked back at Spike. “Thank you,” she said, smiling gratefully at him.

Spike didn’t have time to reply before another pincer grabbed him around the stomach and hauled him into the air.

“NO!” Fluttershy screamed as she watched Spike disappear among the dozen other tentacles writhing about the place. She spread her wings and prepared to go after him, when she saw another pincer move to strike her down. She yelped in alarm as she rolled out of the way, closing her eyes as the pincer crashed into the ground, kicking up dirt.

“Fluttershy!” Cadence cried, sounding a bit winded from being pushed to the ground. Fluttershy looked around to see Cadence and Luna coming towards her, looks of alarm on their faces as they watched Spike cry for help. “I can get him down,” Cadence announced, getting an arrow notched to her bow.

Fluttershy pushed her bow to point to the ground. “You can’t! You might hit Spike!”

“I won’t. Promise,” Cadence said. “Just be sure you’re there to catch him when he falls.”

Luna slashed at another pincer as it tried to tackle Cadence. “I’ll cover you two!” she cried, as she reflectively slashed at another, ripping open its tentacle and spilling out blood.

Fluttershy and Cadence nodded, and the alicorn brought her bow up so that the arrow point was by her eye. After a moment to follow her target’s movements, Cadence drew back the string, waited another second, and then released. Fluttershy watched with wide eyes as the arrow flew through the air like a hawk, missing any strike to take it down, and hit perfectly on the pincer holding the baby dragon.

The creature groaned in pain, and the claw let go of its captive. Fluttershy instantly shot into the air and charged headlong towards Spike, who screamed as he fell to the water. Fluttershy looked right and saw another pincer charge her, and immediately dived. The pincer shot over her like a jet, missing her easily. Fluttershy smirked, and then quickly dived forward again, her wings beating faster than her heartbeat as she closed in on the falling dragon.

With a final push of her wings, she found herself under Spike and went, “Ooph!” as he landed heavily on her back. Spike didn’t have time to hold on for as soon as he was on her back Fluttershy sped off again, weaving this way and that through the air to avoid the attacking pincers.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Spike shouted, just as they shot up to miss a pincer rising from the water.

“It’s all right, Spike, I am not blaming you for this,” Fluttershy said, veering left to dodge another. “This could have happened to anypony.” The pair fell silent as they concentrated on living and getting away from the lunging tentacles.

They made it to the other side of the lake, with the cave just ahead of them and the others galloping to reach them. As soon as she landed, Fluttershy turned to Spike and said, “Get off my back and run into the cave!” She squeaked and jumped to the side as another nipper slammed into the ground beside her.

“What about you?”

“I have to help the others,” Fluttershy explained. She instinctively ducked as another pincer crashed into the mountainside before them. She got up, shook her head and looked back at Spike. “Don’t hesitate, just go!”

Spike hesitantly jumped off and ran into the cave as though a ghost was right behind him. Fluttershy’s heart jumped when a claw tried to swing at him, but Spike ducked just in time and missed the strike. He stood back up and ran into the darkness of the cave.

Fluttershy sighed in relief. “At least he’s safe,” she said to herself. She turned away and looked to where the others were, and saw them weaving this way and that as more pincers tried to take them down, but the ponies were too quick for them to keep up and hit. “Trixie, behind you!” Fluttershy yelled. Trixie heard the warning, looked behind her, and veered away just as a nipper shot towards her in an attempt to crush her. The claw missed and smashed into the ground.

“Quickly, all of you, into the cave!” Fluttershy shouted. The three ponies complied and ran into the cave, with Luna going slow and waiting for Fluttershy. The Dragonlord took a step forward to go after them, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain against her side, sending her spinning across the air and landing with a shriek against the mountainside.

It took a second later for her to realise that she had been hit. “Fluttershy, no!” Luna yelled. Fluttershy looked up to see Luna spin about and attempt to get to her aid, when another pincer pushed her inside the cave, while three more started hammering the rock above the cave entrance.

‘It’s going to collapse the cave!’ Fluttershy realised in horror.

Fluttershy tried to get up, but found that she couldn’t move. She looked left and saw to her horror that she was pinned to the rock by a pincer, which tried to push forward and crush her bones but found her body to be like ripping through a crab shell. She rolled onto her back until it was against the mountainside, then wrestled her forehooves free and began to push hard in an attempt to loosen the pincer’s hold. The creature owning it realised Fluttershy was trying to escape, and doubled its efforts to keep her pinned. Fluttershy felt her hold weaken, and thought of an alternative.

It didn’t take her long to think of one, and she sighed sadly because of it. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “But you brought this on yourself.”

She pushed with all her might, sending the pincer back a few feet, and then drew Drage Bane and Firewing and thrust them into the pincer, cutting through its flesh as though it were made of paper. The creature hollered in agony and pulled away, giving the pegasus a moment of respite. She looked down at her bloodied swords and nearly gagged at the stench of the blood now staining them. ‘It might be the first time they have drawn blood on this adventure, but it won’t be the last,’ she thought sadly.

She flicked her hooves up, sheathing the swords back into their bracelets, and turned to face the cave entrance. Her jaw fell and her eyes widened in horror when she saw that the cave entrance had disappeared under a few tons of rock.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” she screamed as she galloped to the entrance, her heartbeat frantic in fear. She made it to the cave and began to claw at the rocks like a cat would claw at a scratching post. “Luna, Cadence, Spike, Trixie, can you hear me? Oh, please tell me that you’re all okay!”

“We’re fine!” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Luna’s muffled voice from the other side. She heard grunts from the other side, as well as attempts to remove the rubble. “Just hold on, we’ll get you away from there in a bit!”

A mix between a roar and a whinny echoed across the valley, forcing the pegasus to look behind her in fright. She looked down at the piles of rock that blocked her from her friends, and sighed as she saw the truth. “There’s no time,” she said quietly, yet loud enough to be heard by the others. “Whatever that thing is, it’s coming back in a bit. While you’re back there you are in danger from further collapses and have no way of helping me.” She turned around, her tail swishing with nervousness. “Go. All of you. Get into the Vale as quick as you can.”

“You’re joking, right? I’m not leaving without you!” Spike yelled. The Dragonlord could hear them attempting to move the rocks faster, but she knew it would do no good.

“You’ll have to!” she persisted. “You cannot help me with this. Not now. Please, just get into the Vale and get to safety; I’ll join when I can.” ‘If I can.’

“No, Fluttershy! I’m not leaving! Please, help us!” Spike pleaded.

Fluttershy clenched her eyes closed to hold back tears as she heard Spike’s futile attempts to remove the rubble. “I’m not arguing about this, Spike! Just go, now! GO!”

She heard an aura of magic take form from the other side of the rubble, followed swiftly by Spike’s screams of defiance. “Let me go, Cadence! Please let go now! No! NOOOO!” he yelled as Cadence picked him up and took him away. Fluttershy smiled faintly as she heard the clopping of hooves as the others ran, too.

“We’ll wait for you in the Vale!” Luna shouted. Her voice grew quieter. “Good luck, dear Fluttershy,” she added, before galloping after the group.

Fluttershy blew a rush of air out from her lungs, relieved that her friends, especially Spike, were safe. She looked up at the lake to see more pincers were rising from the lake, and the sound of water being swept aside as the beast itself was about to emerge. ‘Time to face this beast, and make sure it will never hurt anypony else again,’ she thought, her eyes narrowing in determination as the pincers and the tentacles waited for their owner.

She took a few steps forward, her body bent like a predator stalking its prey, and spread her metallic wings to make her look more threatening, pumping her up with courage. When her eyes came onto the rising beast itself, however, that courage drained away from her body like blood would leak from a wound. “Oh… bleep,” she breathed, paling.

It was a kraken. But it was not just any typical kraken, Fluttershy realised, it was a poseidon eel kraken.

Its head resembled closely to a horse’s with huge, circular fish-like eyes, two rows of sharp teeth like a piranha’s grinning threateningly at her, and a coat the colour of the ocean shimmering in the sunlight. A long, eel-like neck attached itself to the back of the head and went down under the water to where the main body was, which held the dozen or so pincers looking down at her.

Fluttershy’s legs quivered in fright as she stared at the horrific beast. ‘How is this possible?’ she wondered, taking a step back in fright. ‘Poseidon eel krakens live in the deep oceans, not in a lake.’ She looked at the lake again, and bit her lower lip in thought. ‘It must have come here by a river and used an underwater cave to move into the lake.’

She cleared her head of that thought. Whatever the reason, she didn’t have time to think about it. The kraken inched its head closer to her and roared. Its roar was long, and was louder than anything the Dragonlord had ever heard before. She also got a whiff of its breath, which smelt of decaying fish and other creatures that had met their end at its teeth. It was enough for the pegasus to throw up a little.

“You challenge me, pony?” the creature yelled. To another pony, the creature was just roaring, but to Fluttershy, she could understand exactly what it was saying. “A god of the ocean!”

Fluttershy resisted the urge to gag again, and merely rolled her eyes. ‘Great, a kraken that thinks itself a god. As if that lessens my problems,’ she thought. She took a step forward in defiance and spat back, “A true god does not bleed, kraken! Go back to the sea, and leave me!”

The kraken snorted in disgust. “You have disrespected your better for the last time, pegasus!” The kraken raised its pincers high into the air, ready to strike. “I will leave nothing of you in my wake!”

The kraken launched its pincers in one fell go. Fluttershy jumped to the right, missing the first, and then ducked at the second. She reared up and arched her back as the third charged her like a bull and missed. She spun away from the forth, slashing at the tentacle as she spun, and ducked again as the fifth and sixth sailed overhead.

She smiled to herself for a second, but that smile turned into a cry of pain as the tentacle directly above her dropped on top of her, crushing her under its weight. Fluttershy gritted her teeth together, pressed her hooves into the ground and lifted herself up, lifting the tentacle with it. When she felt secure enough to do so, she spread her wings out, stabbing the tentacle with her wing blades. The creature roared and reared the tentacle off of her, prompting the Dragonlord to move out of the way while swerving away from a seventh strike.

She stopped and reared up when an eighth attack sped right past her like a train, slamming into the rock of the mountain. She rammed Drage Bane and Firewing into the kraken’s scales, cutting open the appendage like a griffon would cut open a fish. The kraken roared in pain then pulled the tentacle back into the water, and then launched a few more at the Dragonlord.

Fluttershy began to gallop back along the path, missing a couple of them as they rammed into the rock face, the dirt and a pine tree. She skidded to a halt when a pincer slammed into the ground, blocking her path, and gasped as she realised she was trapped.

She squeaked in surprise as the kraken swung a tentacle like a sword at her, and ducked before it could strike her. She felt it pass over her head, her mane trying to follow it as the pincer moved away, and then got up. Just as she did, however, she felt a sharp pain in her side as another rammed her into the ground.

Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she felt some bleeding take place across her side, and she could feel her hips and shoulders throbbing with heavy bruising. She looked up, and saw to her alarm another tentacle falling from the sky, intending to pulverise her.

She rolled out of the way, missing the falling tentacle by inches, then got up, drew Firewing, and slashed open the appendage with a savage cry. The kraken roared in pain, then moved to strike her again with a few more pincers.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in fear, and she began to gallop towards the cave entrance again, missing another two charging pincers as they slammed into the ground. Just as she made it to the wider area, she felt a shadow loom over her. ‘What’s that?’ she wondered as she looked at the shadow appearing behind her.

She looked towards the lake, and cried out in alarm as the kraken charged her with its head, its mouth wide open as though ready to swallow her in one bite. Fluttershy lowered her body as though she was ready to accept her death by digestion, but at the last second she galloped to her left, missing the charging head, which crashed into the rock face with enough force to trigger a minor earthquake.

She didn’t have time to revel in her excellent timing, for another pincer punched her into the wall and tried to crush her with all its strength. The pegasus screamed in pain as she felt her back slam heavily into the wall, and the air in her lungs leave her thanks to the punch. She felt lucky her ribs and backbone were still intact from the attack, but she had other concerns.

She set all of her legs against the pincer and pushed hard, gritting her teeth together as she forced the pincer away from her. She felt it move just an inch, then another, and another, until it was as far as she could push it. She gave it one hard shove, pushing it back a bit more, and then brought out Drage Bane and stabbed the pincer.

The creature howled in pain as it hauled its head back to the safety of the water, and stared at Fluttershy vehemently. ‘I’m not going to win by just letting him keep striking me. And even if I wanted to, I would not be able to kill him on my own. I will have to use the Dragon Stare on him,’ she decided.

Then she saw a problem. The kraken’s eyes were too far apart for her to use it effectively; the stare can only work if the creature had two working eyes fixed on her own, not just one. ‘So, if I need to get it to work properly, I would have to…’ she concluded, though her body paled once more as she saw what she had to do. ‘Could I really do that? Could I do something like that?’

She looked up at the kraken again, which prepared for the second round, and bit her bottom lip in thought. What she knew she had to do was undoubtedly cruel. If she didn’t do what she had planned, however, then she would almost certainly lose to the kraken and die. And she had no intention to die just yet. ‘I have no choice. I must do this if I want to see my friends again.’ She took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and whispered, “I hope you can forgive me.”

The kraken thrust a pincer forward, roaring in determination as the pincer whistled against the wind. Fluttershy closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of contempt. Just as the pincer was about to smash into her, she spread her wings and jumped into the air, hovering over the pincer. As soon as it crashed into the ground, she tucked her wings back to the side and let herself drop onto the pincer.

As soon as she landed, she broke into a gallop and raced along the tentacle with all the strength she could muster. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this!’ she encouraged herself, galloping faster than usual. The kraken roared in horror and tried to shake her off, but the pegasus galloped firmly across the slippery tentacle as though it were a path, using her wings to balance herself.

The kraken roared once again in anger, and slammed another tentacle into its own. Fluttershy flapped her wings, taking her into the air, and continued to head straight towards the kraken, her eyes narrow and filled with tears as the wind attempted to push her back. Though she was certain the tears were there because of the regret she could already feel in her heart.

She went low as a pincer thrust itself towards, then went high as another attempted the same trick. Fluttershy saw her target and pushed herself forward, trying hard to keep her eyes open and on target as she flew, but it was getting harder to see with the amount of tears in her eyes.

The kraken growled and lunged its head forward, its mouth wide open to take her. Fluttershy stopped and waited for it to get close enough, and when it did, spun on the spot, slashing her wing blades across its muzzle.

The kraken threw its head back and screamed in pain. This was her moment. Fluttershy charged the beast, but before she could ram herself into the neck of the beast, she swerved right and up until she was level with the kraken’s eye.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, before drawing Drage Bane and then, with a half-hearted war cry, she charged forward and plunged the sword into the eye of the kraken.

The kraken howled in agony, and it hurt Fluttershy more to know that she was the one that caused such suffering. She pulled the blade out and flew back to avoid its swirling head as it roared in pain. Fluttershy’s ears fell over her head as she watched, her heart feeling as though it was being pulled apart by the beast’s agonised tones. ‘Why did it have to come to this?’ she thought sadly.

The tentacles began to withdraw, and so too did the long neck of the kraken, pulling the bloodied head down with it. Fluttershy watched with heavy eyes as the posiedon eel kraken disappeared under the water, its torturous cries of pain still echoing across the Unicorn Range.

Fluttershy flew back to the safety of land, and when she landed on the firm ground she collapsed on her rump, breathing steadily while waiting to see if the kraken came back to finish her off. She could barely make out the blood from the eye on her chest and mane.

After a few minutes, it became obvious to her that it would not be coming back, and she felt her eyes begin to brim with tears. “I’m so sorry,” she sniffed quietly, bowing her head in shame. “I didn’t want to do it, but you left me with no choice. I hope you can forgive me.” She knew it would never forgive her, though, as much as she could not forgive herself for it.

She continued to lament her actions for a long time, before finally bringing her head up and flicking her tears from her eyes with a hoof. ‘Okay. I can continue being a fool and stay here and cry over this, or join up with my friends. I think it is time to get back to the others,’ she decided. She turned around and plodded up to the huge pile of rock that blocked her path, and licked her dry lips as her eyes moved swiftly from rock to rock.

“If I find the weakest piece, then maybe the whole pile would collapse on itself,” she said to herself. With that idea, she took hold of a rock she thought was the weakest element, and pulled with all the strength she had left. After a moment, she let out a gasp of air and stopped, noticing that the rock had barely budged. ‘I thought I was strong enough to smash apart ston…’ A smirk dawned across her face when she came up with a better idea.

She jumped back, spun around, and bucked the rock with all her might. The rock was obliterated in an instant, causing others to tumble away from their holds and those on top fell forward.

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and jumped away from the collapsing rock pile, barely avoiding one from landing on her tail, and another from crushing her back. When the smoke cleared, the pegasus could see that some of the rock from the top of the pile had fallen away, given her a way to enter the cave.

She got up and shook her body to clear the dust off, her tail flicking like a whip to remove itself of dust. After she checked herself for wounds and consistent bleeding – thankfully, all of her wounds had sealed themselves – she took to the air and began removing what rocks she could remove. When she was sure she could fit through, she fell onto her belly and crawled through the gap left open to her.

It was a tight squeeze, definitely. Fluttershy felt her back scrape painfully against the ceiling, and slowed down her crawl to take it easier on herself. When she felt her torso go through, she pushed harder, only to stop as she could feel her rump bump against the top of the cave entrance. “Oh, curse these hips of mine,” she chided herself, looking back in slight dismay. “I shouldn’t have eaten all of those cookies Pinkie Pie made.” Undeterred, she began kicking away the rocks she was standing on, which she hoped would give her the right amount of space to get her through.

After a while, the rocks below finally gave way, and she realised she had enough space to squeeze through and leap into the tunnel. She fell onto her stomach and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the ground against her belly; it made her feel like taking a nap. She shook herself out of the thought. ‘Not yet. I need to find the others first.’

She got up and trotted through the tunnel as quickly as she could force herself to. Around her, the tunnel walls were a foreboding black with slight sparkles of white, making the walls look like she was observing space. She could make out some ancient paintings, from the architect who had carved into the rock face originally and from those that had travelled through, sprawled across parts of the wall, though they had faded over time. Some of them were quite interesting, and others were enough to make Fluttershy blush and turn away in embarrassment, hiding her face in her mane. ‘Why do ponies have such dirty minds?’ she wondered as she glanced at one.

Finally, after what had seemed like hours walking through the dark tunnels, using only her touch and the echoes of her hoofsteps to get through, she turned a bend and saw to her delight the bright white gaze of sunlight ahead. Without another thought, she broke into a gallop, not stopping until the white light blinded her and she was unable to see ahead.

Fluttershy quickly covered her eyes, and blinked rapidly to get used to the sunlight. When she did she pulled her hoof away and looked up, and saw she was standing on the ledge Trixie had said they would be on upon entering the Vale. She looked further up, and her eyes widened in awe as she stared beyond the ledge. “So this is the Vale of the Lost,” she whispered.

As Trixie had said, a great mountain, though it was smaller than the ones penning the Vale in, stood at its centre, with a pointy peak at its top and a wide ledge a few feet below it. Surrounding the mountain was a thick cluster of tall trees, and beyond them were a vast array of lush meadows, forests, lakes, and rivers, all of which were scattered distantly from each other. The Vale had many sharp drops, too, with a lot of hills and slopes leading up and down all over the place, giving ponies a sharp surprise if they were not too careful. And across the Vale, connecting it together like a jigsaw puzzle, were the hundreds of roads and crossings that were accidentally created.

Fluttershy’s eyes wandered across the whole Vale, hoping she would see her friends waiting for her to join them, but couldn’t see them even from her elevated height. “Oh, where are you all?” she asked aloud.

Then she heard a shrilling scream, followed swiftly by the screams and roars of some things that she had never heard of before.

“Watch out!”

“Behind you!”

“What the heck are those things?”

“Keep together!”

“Run!”

“Spike, this way!”

“Luna, help!”

Fluttershy felt her insides turn to water at the sounds of panic. She instantly broke into a fast gallop off the ledge and down the hillside, praying she would get to them in time. She heard the familiar sounds of swords swinging, the cries of ponies and a dragon and other noises that enveloped one another in a mix of horror, fear and pain.

By the time she was in the Vale proper and racing past the trees and through the meadows, the screams had gone silent. “Oh, no,” Fluttershy whispered as the echoes faded around her. “Oh, Vidarr, Celestia, gods, whoever is listening, please let nothing have happened to them.”

After a while, she emerged from the trees to find herself by a crossroads, and her jaw dropped at the sight. The path was a mess of kicked up dirt and hoofprints that ran in every direction. Fluttershy shot her head around in the hope they were hiding in the trees or bushes and breathing rapidly, but couldn’t see nor hear them.

Her heart rate began to quicken relentlessly. “No, no… Oh, please no,” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes turning watery. “Spike!” she called out. She heard her voice echo through the valley, yet Spike did not reply. “Luna!” The Princess did not reply either, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “Cadence!” Again, her cries were answered with silence. “Trixie!”

She waited for a long time, but only the wind answered her calls. She felt tears stream down her cheeks, and she put her hooves against her mouth to help her calm down. Yet she knew the calming techniques she had learnt over the years would not help her today.

She was alone once more. Alone, and lost.

Chapter 10 (part 2)

For the next few hours, Fluttershy wandered aimlessly across what part of the Vale she felt safe enough to travel around, calling out to her friends and living in the hope of finding them. However, despite all her searching, she found nothing; she was too tired and her strength waned after the battle with the kraken.

The sun was under the mountain by the time she gave up in her search for her missing friends, and ashamedly walked towards the mountain; she remembered Trixie saying she had camped up there during her stays here, so she hoped she would be there now. With that thought, she broke into a meandering trot, praying she would find them at the top so they could smile and cheer at their reunion together.

When she made it up to the lonely ledge via a long and gently slope that nestled against the mountainside, with a load of firewood she could find on her back, the sky was almost black with night and the stars began to appear to colour the sky. The top of the mountain itself was a large circular ledge with the tipped peak of the mountain walled behind it. It was perfect for defensible purposes, since there was only way up, but it barely mattered to the Dragonlord.

There was nopony, or any baby dragon, up there to greet her.

She threw the logs down, and began to start a fire using a method she had rarely demonstrated: rubbing two sticks together until one finally sparks. After ten minutes of stressful waiting, the two sticks came alight with a warming flame. She gently set them down into the rest of the firewood, and watched morosely as the greedy flames began to tear apart the bark on the sticks.

Having enough of staring at the fire and watching the twigs disappear, Fluttershy turned her gaze upwards to stare at the Vale around her with sullen eyes. The Vale was particularly calm and quiet, with not even a hoot of an owl or the evening songs of birds, or even the squeaks of bats shooting into the air to feed. It was as though that whatever scared her friends caused them to vanish; or that they were responsible for their disappearance.

She shook her head rapidly to rid herself of the thought. It was stupid. But then again, nothing about what happened made any sense to her. Fluttershy sighed once more and rested her head on her crossed forelegs, a thousand questions racing through her mind but only one stood out from the rest. What manner of creature could have given them reason to run blindly into the Vale, separate and alone from each other’s support?

Fluttershy sniffed back more tears. She could not answer those questions, and it broke her heart. “I should have been there for them,” she whispered to herself. “If I were just a little bit stronger and less hesitant in hurting that darn kraken, I would have been there for them all.” She slammed her hooves into the ground, screaming through gritted teeth. “Why couldn’t I be stronger? Why couldn’t I be more cold and ruthless when I needed to be?”

“Well, I would help you with that, but I prefer having to deal with kind you rather than cruel you,” a voice said from behind her – a voice Fluttershy was all too familiar with.

Fluttershy’s head shot up in shock, yet she did not dare turn around, in fear that if she did the person she hoped to see was not actually there. ‘Could it really be him?’ she wondered. She hesitantly turned her head around, and only saw a grey, dull wall of the mountain behind her.

She sighed sadly. ‘I guess I was only imagining it,’ she thought, her ears drooping across her head. She turned her head away, only to come face to face with a grinning Discord.

“Boo,” he said as soon as her eyes locked onto his.

Fluttershy screamed and fell backwards in surprise, making the draconequus burst into loud laughter. “Oh my stars, you should have seen your face just now!” Discord cried through his laughter as he fell to the ground. After a moment he got up and grinned at the fallen Dragonlord. “Absolutely the best “oh!” face I have ever seen.”

Fluttershy managed to calm herself down enough to raise her head, and confirm to herself that Discord was floating in front of her. She grinned delightfully. “Discord!” she squeaked.

She jumped to her hooves and tackled Discord in a hug. “Oh, easy with those new toys of yours,” Discord said as he wrapped his mismatched arms around the pegasus, taking care to avoid her extended wings and the wing blades attached to them. “We don’t want any accidents now, do we?”

Fluttershy pulled away, grinning from ear to ear. That grin suddenly disappeared, to be replaced with a look confusion. “Ho-how did you find me?”

Discord shrugged. “I’m the man,” he replied.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow amusedly. “You’ve been watching too much cinema, haven’t you?”

“I most certainly have,” Discord replied, his infectious grin working into Fluttershy’s soul. “If you ever become a creature of chaos like me, you get bored really quick with poking fun on Celestia and Luna and just enjoy some of the stuff you ponies have to offer. Gosh, cinema is certainly one of the best inventions I have ever seen you ponies create.”

He snapped his talons together, and a large, soft-looking yellow couch with pink trims suddenly appeared behind him. He snapped his fingers once more, and re-appeared spread-eagled along the couch. “But to answer your question, my dear Fluttershy, you were very hard to track down. I learned a few days ago from a reliable source of the Everfree Forest that you were last seen with Luna, Cadence, and a big dragon. I nearly gave up there as she said in her typical rhyming fashion that you had gone. Luckily, I remembered I had learnt a spell that could track down the simplest of magic uses, and after a while of searching through hundreds of magic castings I singled out the ones that were certainly the most powerful: namely that of Luna’s and Cadence’s.”

He paused for a moment as he shifted in place. “I followed such a trail into the Unicorn Range, which brought me to here. And then I waited until I saw your fire begin burning, and here we are now,” he finished, spreading his arms out wide. “And I must say, what a wondrous abode you have here. Good view, good seating, good company, and best of all, good drink.” Just as he finished speaking, he snapped his fingers together, and behind him a bar suddenly appeared with a copy of Discord cleaning a mug. He clicked his fingers once more and a tankard full of foaming chocolate appeared in his claw. “Want one?”

“You know I cannot drink, Discord,” Fluttershy said as she moved to sit in front of the couch.

“Ah, yes, because of your Dragonlord abilities. Well, at least you won’t be able to forget this night,” he said. He clicked his fingers again, and in her hoof, a mug of ale appeared. “Drink up; might make you seem a little less solemn.”

Fluttershy bowed her head, and threw away her mug. “I’m sorry, Discord, but I don’t feel like drinking anything,” she said sombrely. “I would feel better if I was with my friends.”

“Ah, yes, Luna and her not-exactly-her-niece, niece, where are they? I haven’t scared them off, have I?”

“Oh no, you haven’t done a thing,” Fluttershy assured him. “It’s just that…” She sighed as she bowed her head again. “It’s a long story.” She looked up at her friend. “Why are you here, Discord?”

Discord’s eyes widened, and he threw his arms up in the air. “Can’t I drop in to see the only friend that I have in this world?” he asked innocently.

Fluttershy nodded quickly. “Oh, of course you can. I always appreciate your company, no matter the circumstances. But um, I thought, given what’s going on, I thought you would be avoiding Equestria. I’m not blaming you or anything, but, um, others who know of your freedom and reformation might do... blame you, I mean.”

Discord tilted his head. “Blame me for what?”

Fluttershy could see the absolute sincerity in his tone, and tilted her own head. “You really don’t know what’s going on, do you?” she asked.

“Oh, you know what, I haven’t the faintest idea. Let me check and see what’s going on.” He clicked his fingers once more, and a large screen like one a cinema has appeared in front of them both. A small black rectangular object with many coloured buttons on its face appeared a second later in Discord’s hold, and he pushed one, the button making the sound of a squeaky toy as he did so. “Let’s see what’s on television,” he said. Fluttershy shifted about until she was comfortable once more, and set her eyes on the screen with dread in her heart.

The television came to life with images of what was going on across Equestria, and Fluttershy’s eyes widened in horror. Hearing about what was happening was bad, but to see it was terrifying. She saw houses and shops burn across a great town somewhere, with ponies screaming, raging, fighting, or crying as the world went mad around them. The scene changed again, this time in Canterlot, with soldiers of the Royal Guard marching across the streets, keeping the ponies of the city locked in their homes.

The view cut once more to the city of Strutford, with its streets and river ways deserted and covered in destruction, and its homes and shops broken into and wrecked. The view changed again, this time on Vanhoover and its giant steel wall that had been erected around it. It wasn’t the wall that made Fluttershy feel sick, however, it were the thousands of refuges camping outside it; all of them hungry, sick, in tears, bitter and angry not just at Vanhoover, but at each other.

Fluttershy turned her eyes away from it. “Turn it off,” Fluttershy ordered sullenly. “I can’t bear to look at it anymore.” She heard Discord snap his fingers, and a flash of something disappearing. She looked back around to see Discord staring at where the television had been in stunned silence, though she could see in his eyes he was disgusted by what was going on.

“Well, well, well,” Discord hummed. He fell back onto the couch and rubbed his chin. “What on earth brought this about?” He looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, which stared into his own with hope that he had nothing to do with it. “I have nothing to do with this, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he said, putting a claw against his chest where, Fluttershy presumed, his heart would be.

Fluttershy smiled at him disarmingly, yet she was relieved to say the least. “I wasn’t, actually, but I’m glad that you aren’t.”

“I had hoped so, or else I would seriously be questioning our friendship,” Discord said. “So is that why you, Luna and Cadence are out here?”

“Yes, well, more or less,” Fluttershy replied. She told him briefly about the events which saw her and her friends running for their freedoms, from how her friends betrayed her, to the present.

When she had finished, Discord sighed drearily and rubbed his head with a paw. “Oh dear. If your Ponyville friends and Celestia are under this influence, too, then only bad things can follow for everypony.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and then asked, “Who do you think could be behind all of this?

“I’m not sure, but it would have to be someone incredibly gifted with really dark magic,” Discord answered. “Someone with the power to manipulate minds on a country-wide scale and do far greater damage than I ever intend; I do have my own limits, you know.” He got up from his couch, and began to pace around the fireplace.

With the couch free, Fluttershy jumped up and made herself comfortable. “Could it be King Sombra back from the dead?”

Discord stopped pacing, and his face lit up with delight at a thought. The look quickly disappeared and he shook his head. “No, not that lunatic. He’s dead, I’m afraid. Very much so. Well, you have to be after being blasted into pieces like he was.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said, pouting. She looked up again as another potential candidate came into her head. “What about that changeling queen?”

Again, Discord shook his head. “Oh, no, not her. Chrysalis might be a deadly opponent, but she is a rubbish tactician. There is no way she would organise something as big as this.”

“She did make that plan to invade Canterlot,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Yes, but by sheer luck alone did it almost succeed,” Discord countered. The two fell silent once more as Discord thought of who could be behind Equestria’s sudden change.

“Oh, what about that Heimdallr fellow you defeated two years back?” Discord asked, pointing at her.

Fluttershy shook her head. “If it was him, then he would be out to only get me; not the rest of the country,” she replied. “He wasn’t one for biding his time, especially near the end.”

“Oh, well in that case, I can’t think of anyone at the moment,” Discord said disappointingly. He clicked his fingers; at once, the couch disappeared in a flash and sending Fluttershy to the ground and landing on her rump with a squeak of alarm. “Oh, sorry.”

Fluttershy smiled comfortingly as she got back up. “Oh, that’s okay. And I’m sure you will think of someone now that we’re together.”

Discord’s face fell, and with it Fluttershy’s heart began to drop. “What do you mean, my dear Fluttershy?” he asked.

“You’re going to help me now, right?” Fluttershy said, her tone hopeful, yet she dreaded what answer Discord was about to say. “Come on, you must do. Celestia freed you because she saw you had the chance to do some good to Equestria, and right now, Equestria needs your help to remain free. You can help, right?”

After a moment of listening to the fire burning, Discord sighed and looked away. “I’m afraid I cannot help you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy’s heart and ears fell. “Wh-what?” she squeaked.

Discord looked back, his eyes showing his sorrow and shame. “I won’t be any good to you, Fluttershy. My magic can’t fix this, no matter how hard I will try.”

“You managed to fix the flooding and the damage to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Yes, but that was done by my magic,” Discord reminded her. “My magic cannot disrupt whatever this magic is that’s affecting Equestria, or your friends. And even if I could, I won’t be able to without consequences.”

Fluttershy stepped forward. “What consequences?” she demanded.

Discord sighed once more. “When Celestia gave me this bit of land for me to do with as I please, I was sworn to only come to Equestria by her and Twilight’s summons and their summons alone. Only once a month am I allowed to break this rule, but only for a day. If Celestia discovers I am helping you in anyway at all, she will gladly order the Element Bearers to cast me into stone once more, which is something I would like to avoid.” He looked to the night sky, and saw the moon rising. “And I must be away soon.”

For the hundredth time in one month, Fluttershy felt her heart snap apart. She turned away from the draconequus and sighed, heaving back her sorrow for just a bit longer. “I… I understand, Discord,” she said firmly, yet she thought she could hear the cracks in her voice getting wider. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt because of my own troubles; that would be selfish of me.” She turned around, and smiled at him. “You best get going or else you might get us both into trouble.”

Discord’s eyes stayed fixed on her, and she could see the struggle going on within them. ‘Please stay,’ she pleaded in thought. ‘Please. I need you.’ She had already lost so many friends on this journey so far; she did not think she could bear to lose another.

Finally, Discord made up his mind. “I’m sorry,” he said, before disappearing in a flash of white light.

Fluttershy stared at where Discord stood a few moments ago unblinking, unmoving. When she finally realised he had really left her, she clenched her eyes shut and pressed her teeth together to hold back the tears of despair. “I can’t do this… I can’t do this anymore,” she whispered to herself, as she began to sob quietly.

First Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack, then Celestia, and now Spike, Luna, Cadence, Trixie and Discord. All the friends she had known and loved like her own family had gone – left her as if she were nothing to them anymore. It made her want to curl up into a ball and stay in one place, to only be found a thousand years later as a nameless skeleton with no real reason to be cared about. ‘Nopony will miss me. Nopony will even care if I’m gone,’ she thought sullenly.

She looked drearily behind her at the edge of the cliff, and knew all it took were a few dozen steps, and she could go over and end it all. She could be with her parents, the only ponies that would never betray her or leave her. She would be happy with them.

Slowly, she got up and crept to the edge. She stopped and stared at the abyss below her, breathing heavily as she saw how far up she was from the ground. Hesitantly, she brought a leg up and moved it so her hoof dangled over the edge. All she needed was to push herself forward, and then let gravity take care of the rest. Despite the wish, the want she could feel in her heart, she could feel hesitance flow through her, causing her leg to shake violently. “Please, Vidarr, give me the strength to do this,” she whispered through her tears. “I just don’t want to be alone anymore.”

“But you are never alone,” another voice said from behind her – a voice she had not heard in a long, long time.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock as she stepped back from the edge. ‘My ears are playing tricks on me, surely? He’s dead!’ Her chest began to rise and fall rapidly, her breathing increased, and she did not know whether to turn around or not to be sure she wasn’t actually hearing things. She didn’t want to give herself hope that it was actually him.

She felt something touch her right shoulder, making her flinch in place, but despite the calming affect of whatever it was she still would not turn. “Fluttershy? Sweetheart?” the voice said gently.

The voice flowing through her ears told her that she was indeed not hearing things. Gathering up her courage, Fluttershy slowly turned her head around, only to find herself looking straight into the eyes of her father. “D-dad?” she asked incredulously.

Firewing nodded, smiling thinly. “Hello, sweetie.”

Fluttershy backed away from him in fright. “H-h-how did you find me?” she asked the ghost of her father. Firewing was a ghostly pale, with a silver mane and tail that flowed in a breeze only the dead could feel, and his body was surrounded by a glow of silver, like magic from the horn of a unicorn. The only thing colourful about him was his haunting green eyes.

Eyes that Fluttershy had missed so much.

“I had some help,” Firewing replied, gazing at the peak of the mountain behind the living pegasus. He quickly looked back at his daughter with a smile. “I have missed you so much, Fluttershy.”

The living Dragonlord took a step forward and raised a hoof up to touch him. Disappointingly, the hoof just moved through him until it was dangling just behind his chest. ‘Okay, that is a bit creepy,’ she thought, as she pulled it back to her side. She looked sadly into his eyes again, and said, “Why can you touch me yet I can’t touch you? I just want to hug you like we used to.”

Firewing frowned. “I do not know entirely, but I think it is because you are living and I am dead – well, in this realm anyway.”

Fluttershy did not entirely understand what her father meant, so she moved on to the other question in her head. “How can you be here, dad?” she asked. “The last time I saw you, you said that if we were to meet like this the barriers between our realms would collapse and the dead would pour through.”

Firewing’s frown grew more fiercely than before. “That’s not important right now – well, it is, come to think of it, but I have others to discuss with you. I have come to you with a plea from everyone in Paradise – including your mother.” He inched closer to her, and set his forehooves on her shoulders. “Save us, Fluttershy. You must save us all.”

A sudden and terrible chill swept through Fluttershy as Firewing spoke, and she realised she had never felt more afraid than she did now. “Save you? What do you mean? Is mum all right? Is she safe?”

“She’s fine for the moment. We all are. But I fear it is only temporary,” Firewing answered grimly. “I do not know what is going on exactly, my dear, but I fear something is happening to the barriers of the Three Realms to weaken them and allow ghosts such as myself entry to this realm, when it should not happen at all.”

“Do you know what?” Fluttershy asked fearfully.

“No, I don’t, but I fear dark magic is involved; only negative magic can destroy such ancient and powerful defences. Anyway, you must help us, Fluttershy. With Celestia unable to act, the Elements turned against you and with the other Princesses now missing, only you now can find and destroy whatever is causing these ancient barriers to collapse.”

Fluttershy stared at her father blankly for a long minute, with only the howling wind to banish the silence, before sighing and tipping her head down. “You have faith in the wrong pony, dad,” she said as she turned away.

She walked away from him until she was on the opposite side of the campfire. “What makes you think that my faith in you is misplaced?” Firewing asked worriedly.

“Because I can’t do jack!” Fluttershy snapped, spinning around and glaring at him, while feeling the tears begin to fall again. “I can’t save my friends from whatever has happened to them, I can’t keep any of my friends that I have known and loved for four years, I can’t find other ways to get around things except violence and all I seem to do lately is hurt others even my own friends and I just can’t do it anymore, I just can’t!” She bowed her head and began to cry once more as the stress and tension as well as the heartbreak she had suffered came to the foreground of her mind.

After a moment of being allowed to weep, Fluttershy felt cold yet comforting hooves wrap around her neck and gently pull her close to her father’s chest. “Shh, shh, shh, it’s all right, it will all be okay,” he cooed softly.

“How?” Fluttershy sobbed quietly. “How can I do this when I have nothing to fight for? And nopony to help me? How can anything be okay after that?”

Firewing paused for a moment to think about his next words. “Now I know I am not good with words or speeches; in fact, if I was going to be judged on my speeches alone, then I would be considered the worst leader of the Dragonlord Order. Ever,” he joked, making Fluttershy smile a little but not enough to make her laugh. “But I know for certain that you are not alone. Never. Because even though your friends are not beside you, they are here,” he placed a hoof against Fluttershy’s chest, where her heart was, “in your heart.

“And not only there, but in your memories, too, giving you the reasons why you must fight and keep fighting: for them, for your family. And right now, my child, we all need you to keep fighting for us.”

Fluttershy’s ears flickered as she listened to her father’s words. “But how can I do this with what I have?”

Firewing shook his head softly, sighing as he caressed her cheek. “My beautiful daughter, I have watched with pride as you grew into a weapon of righteousness. Your skills in battle are next to unmatched, and your capacity for kindness to anything is unlimited. Right now, both are needed to combat this new threat, not just to Terra, but to all.”

The living Dragonlord felt a twinge of fear once more. ‘All? The Deer King said the same thing to me before he left,’ she realised. What he had said was not just the deer eating too many mushrooms; they had really seen the future and have seen the great war that is to come. Fluttershy knew she had to stop it before it could, but how?

“I’m scared, dad. I am really, really scared,” she said, her eyes wide and her voice cracking under the fear she could feel.

“I would consider you a fool if you weren’t, my love,” Firewing said. He rubbed his nose against hers. “But have faith in those around you and in yourself, and you will succeed. I am sure of it.”

Firewing sighed as he glanced at the moon. “Well it is getting late, and I must return to Paradise before the tear closes up once more,” he said as he turned away. Before he left, he looked back at Fluttershy, who watched him with imploring eyes to stay, and smiled. “I will watch over you, Fluttershy. I always have and always will. And if you have no reason to fight in this realm, then fight for us.”

Before the living Dragonlord could reply, Firewing turned away and began to trot down the mountain and into the darkness. “I’ll send your love to your mother!” he called, before vanishing out of sight.

Fluttershy blinked perplexedly as she watched her father disappear, this time forever. ‘Did I just see that? Was this me just dreaming?’ she thought. She quickly bit her leg to be sure, and yelped in pain. ‘Nope. That was real.’ Though she was sad that her father had to go, she knew he had to. Her mother would be waiting for him.

She shifted herself about until she faced the campfire once more, and stared deeply into the fire. If what her father’s ghost had said was true, then not just Equestria was facing oblivion, but Paradise as well. That would mean her mother, father, and anypony she knew that was up there were in terrible danger. And the war that was threatening Equestria and possibly all of Terra would spread into Paradise, and if successful would dominate the Three Realms.

She felt her hooves clench into the ground in an attempt to suppress her anger. Whoever or whatever was doing this was destroying everything that Fluttershy had ever loved: her home, her family, her freedom, her friends, and her world. Her father was right, her friends and family might not be with her physically but were with her spiritually, and this monster wanted to take them away.

She would rather go to war than let that happen.

Fluttershy looked upwards, gazing at the stars. “I will find you,” she whispered, her voice cracking no longer with sorrow and grief, but with the anger and fury of a Dragonlord. She stood up on all fours and spread her wings out wide. “I hope you can hear me, whoever or whatever you are!” she yelled to the stars. Whether it was magic or not, her voice carried across the air like the wind of a storm, and she hoped it would send this beast the message she wanted to deliver. “Because I want to inform you that you have made a grave mistake! The gravest mistake of your miserable life! Leaving! Me! Alive!

“You took my friends from me! You took my home, my own freedom, and now you threaten to take my family in Paradise!” She felt herself floating in the air, spreading her forelegs out wide. “I will not let that happen, not while I draw breath! I’m going to find you! I am going to hunt you down to the furthest reaches of this planet if I have to, and I’m going to make you pay for all of the ponies you have hurt in your sick and twisted little game!

“My name is Fluttershy Firewing! I am the last of the Dragonlord Order! And from this day onwards, I will not rest until you are defeated and my friends and Equestria are back to normal! I hope you are scared, because you should be!

“And if not, you will be!”

Discord shuddered as the last words of Fluttershy’s messages faded in the darkness. To hear her so mad was, if he was honest to himself, terrifying. Even though she couldn’t sound so serious with her sweet, angelic voice, he knew the sincerity of her words, and knew that only a fool would laugh at her.

From atop the peak of the mountain, he watched the only friend he felt he had fall back to the ground, and after a minute to calm down settled down by the fire and fell asleep. “I am sorry, Fluttershy,” he whispered. “I truly am.”

He wished he could stay and help her, but what good could he do? The only good he could do was lead the confused and concerned ghost of her father to her and do what he could not: give her a reason to keep living and fighting. He couldn’t fix the problems Equestria seemed to be suffering now, and neither could he go back on his promise to Celestia. He wished he could absolve himself from that particular promise, but he gave his word, and being friends with Fluttershy taught him to keep it.

With a heavy sigh, he clicked his fingers and vanished from the top of the mountain. The world seemed to blur for a moment, with swirling colours converging and colliding like galaxies smashing into each other, but before he could get bored of it the colours disappeared, and he was back in his own little world, just before his favourite cloud hammock.

Discord’s world was bright, and full of his chaos. The ground beneath his feet was made up of tiny little boxes of brown and white for one moment, but turned red and green another. Chocolate rain clouds danced across the sky like honeybees racing to the plants for pollen. Hills wobbled all over the place like jelly, and a single house – his own – shredded off an old room and grew another one.

Even with the familiar chaos around him, he couldn’t feel any joy from it. He had betrayed his best and only friend, and all for the price of staying out of stone.

“Is it done?” Twilight Sparkle demanded.

Discord sighed, and turned to face the five Element Bearers. All of them wore their Element of Harmony, and the ponies looked willing enough to use them. “Yes, it is done,” he replied sullenly.

“So the tracking spell has been cast on Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked.

Discord looked at her with narrow eyes, and nodded. “Yes.”

“Will she know that it exists?” Applejack asked.

Discord looked at her, and then shook his head. “The spell cannot be noticed by any powerful unicorn. Fluttershy, or anypony with her, will never know it is there.”

Twilight nodded, smirking. “Good, that’s very good. We’ll have the traitorous cow in stone in no time.”

Discord clenched his claw in anger, yet his face didn’t reveal the rage in him. “Yes, well, now that I have kept up my end of the bargain, I would like you all to leave immediately before I say or do something I will regret.”

Twilight’s smirk grew wider and she raised a hoof to stop him. “Ah, ah, ah, not yet. One more thing to settle first. When Princess Celestia told us to come to you, she said that you promised to stay out of Equestrian affairs. Will you keep that promise?”

‘Only when it suits her that I will break it,’ Discord thought. “Of course I will. I am a creature of my word. Now would you all kindly leave so I can make more chaos to wallow in?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course we will.” She looked to the others. “Come on, girls, let’s go and ‘re-unite’ with our ‘friend’.” Twilight led the way out, followed by Applejack, then Rarity, then Pinkie and finally Rainbow Dash.

Discord watched them walk over the hill and out of sight, looking glum and forlorn. That look gave way to a mischievous grin when he realised they were not coming back. When he was sure that they were gone, he began to laugh triumphantly. “Yes!” he cried, punching the air in victory and dancing with humble abandon. ‘Don’t say I don’t do anything for you, Fluttershy,’ he thought proudly to himself. He turned around and walked briskly to his cloud hammock, chuckling to himself as he jumped into the air and landed on his back right across the comfortable cloud, with his head resting on his arms and a triumphant grin on his face. “Those fools.”

“You seem awfully proud of yourself.”

Discord chuckled, clicking his fingers to create a glass of chocolate milk. “Why of course I am, my dear fellow. Those fools think I cast a spell on Fluttershy that will track and follow her movements while she is in Equestria. The thing is, though, I only put the spell in reverse, so when Fluttershy goes one way, the spell will say she went the opposite direction instead!” He laughed boomingly, his whole body tingling with his laughter.

“I see. So you have managed to keep your end of the bargain to Princess Celestia, while also aiding Fluttershy Firewing in her flight for freedom?”

“Of course,” Discord guffawed. He drank his glass of chocolate down, and then threw it away, which turned into chocolate flowers. “I may not be able to help Fluttershy by being at her side, not without the risk of being turned to stone once again. So why not work in the shadows and not be seen by those out to get me?” He laughed again. “Oh, I am a genius.”

“Indeed you are. You are a genius. A very clever being.”

Discord put a paw to his chest and said, “Why you are too kind, conscious, very ki… wait a moment?” The smile on his face disappeared. “My conscious doesn’t sound like that voice at all. Mine sounds like a mare, not a booming creature of some sort.”

“And a genius such as yourself, cannot be allowed to wander freely…”

Discord jumped out of his hammock, his eyes wide as he spun on the spot to look for the speaker. But he couldn’t see a thing. Somehow, without him noticing, fog had rolled into his territory and shrouded it completely in a soft, cloud-like embrace. “Who’s there?” he called. “Who or what are you?”

A low growling came from behind him as whatever was taunting him sailed silently past. “I am hunger.” Discord spun around to see him, but the creature disappeared from sight. Another trembling growl came from behind him again. “I am thirst.”

Discord spun back around, but the creature had already gone. “Speaking in riddles, now?” he enquired. “That’s my job as the Master of Chaos.”

“Oh? Is it now?” the voice questioned, as he saw a large, serpent-like shadow begin to encircle him. “You see, from what recent events I know of you, you are considered reformed by Equestria, and no longer seen as a threat to its security and ideals. You cannot be considered the Master of Chaos, if you cannot create true chaos like I can!”

Discord spun around repeatedly, hoping beyond hope he would see the fiend that was taunting him. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not catch sight of whatever it was. “Show yourself!” he yelled.

He stopped spinning when he saw five similar silhouettes before him. “Oh, come on now, Twilight Sparkle and friends,” he said as he strode towards them. “I have given you everything I could in my power to help you capture Fluttershy, and I have already said I don’t want to…” He trailed off when he saw their faces, and his mouth parted in shock as he saw the tears rush down their faces. “Hey, now, no need to cry. I may not be the easiest-going person to work with but–”

“They cannot hear you, old fool,” the voice bellowed from behind him.

Discord spun around to face the creature, only to feel himself pale as he stared in growing horror of the beast behind him. “Well aren’t you the biggest dragon I have ever seen,” he remarked quietly.

The dragon looked like a giant snake with four long and scaly legs. Two giant bat-like wings reached imposingly to the sky, and its scales were the colour of summer leaves with light green spikes running from the base of its neck to the tip of the tail. Its head was pointy like a dragon’s, with two black nostrils billowing smoke like a chimney and a crown of horns on the back of its head, but it also shared the resemblance of a snake with a non-existent forehead and its eyes on either side of its head. The dragon’s grin was like looking into the gates of Tartarus itself, for rows upon rows of curved, bloodied teeth adorned its mouth, with four longer snake-like fangs rested above and below its nose and chin.

But worst of all were its eyes: the left was the colour of twilight, and the right was a pulverised mess of dried blood and madness.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise,” Discord said as the dragon silently circled him to stand behind the five Element Bearers. “Five ponies and the young baby dragon all grown up. Suppose you’re all here for a party and came here to invite me? I have to say how deeply flattered I am, but I am afraid I cannot attend.”

“Oh, I am not that little pest,” the dragon spat, its tail wavering like a snake’s body. “But we are here for a party of sorts. Though it should be considered more of a wake we are organising than a party.”

Discord ignored the statement, and asked with a swift gesture of his head to the Element Bearers, “How comes they can’t hear me?”

“They cannot hear you because they are under my control,” the dragon said, sneering. The monster lowered his head and with a gentle claw, stroked the five crying mares’ heads. “They may not be able to hear you, but they can certainly see you.”

Discord felt something he had not felt since he was turned to stone the last time: fear. “Where are they? What have you done with them? Are they dead?” he asked.

“Oh, somewhere here,” the dragon replied, tapping heavily against Twilight’s skull. “Locked and trapped within the confines of their own mind, forced to watch the world burn around them while their bodies become my playthings. My little ponies.” His head shook rapidly for a second. “But they just won’t SHUT UP!”

Discord stepped back in fright as the dragon’s head swivelled and roared, which echoed across his land and blowing a lot of the fog away. “I can hear them,” the dragon said, its head freezing in place and staring at Discord with extreme hate. “I can hear every single one of them screaming at me, begging me to be let out and be free once more. But I will never let them go, oh no, not ever. They will be mine until they die, and even after that, I will continue to use their bodies as I please. And so with thousand of others across Terra. Even Princess Celestia Solaris’s.”

Discord’s eyes flickered between the ground and the dragon, trying to come up with something that would get rid of it. He flexed his claw and paw as he prepared to make it disappear with his magic.

A claw from the dragon snapped shut around him, choking him and locking his fingers together, preventing him from using magic. “Come now, did you really think the pathetic babies’ magic you can create could match my power?” the dragon asked. He tittered as he shook his head. “I thought you would have learnt your lessons by now, Discord. Especially after last time.”

Discord stopped struggling to escape, and stared at the dragon oddly. “Last time? What last time?”

The great dragon sneered. “Have you forgotten the first time we met?” The sneer vanished when he saw the confusion in Discord’s eyes. “Ah, I see you have forgotten about me. Maybe you just need some reminding!” he roared as he tightened his hold on Discord, unleashing a surge of purple-coloured lightning from his claw and through the draconequus.

Discord cried out in agony as he felt the dark magic flow through him, making him feel as though he were being electrocuted and set on fire at once. As well as that, he felt his body weaken, and worse, he could feel his magic being ripped out of him and fade away.

Finally, the torture came to an end, and the dragon dropped him to the ground. “Do you remember now, Discord? Do you remember how I destroyed your playground and left it open for the two sisters and their little rebellion?” the dragon asked as Discord hauled himself onto his mismatched feet.

“You…” Discord panted, clutching his lion leg, while trying to conjure magic by clicking the fingers on his claw; after several attempts, nothing happened. “You took away my magic.”

The dragon shook his head. “No, I only buried it within you, like sealing treasure within a chest,” he corrected him.

“But nothing has ever done that. Not since…” Discord’s eyes widened in horror as the memories came flooding back to him.

The cities, towns and villages burning, the monsters of hell itself roaming freely everywhere and slaughtering everything in sight, the numerous ponies trying to hold them back and failing with the cost of their lives, and amidst the smoke and ashes, the dragon behind it all and laughing maniacally as the world around the pair of them died.

“But you… you were defeated,” Discord whispered, his mist-matched eyes staring in dismay at the monster before him. “I heard about what happened. Celestia and Luna defeated you.”

“No, I was not defeated. A defeat would mean I was utterly destroyed with no chance of reprisals in the not too distant future. I was merely delayed.” The dragon began to slowly creep towards him. “But now I have returned to finish what I have started, and this time, the Elements, or anypony, cannot stop me from taking what I desire: this realm.”

Discord spun away and began to run in the hope he could outpace the monster, but the dragon managed to appear in front of him, blocking his only route of escape.

“You are not going anywhere,” the dragon said. With a slight snort of smoke, the five Element Bearers moved forward and stopped so that between them all they surrounded the former Master of Chaos. “And you won’t be going anywhere at all after this. Which is a shame, really, because I could have used you to advance my goals.”

“What makes you think that? How do you know I won’t help you so I can get a share of Equestria once you’re done with it?” Discord asked fearfully.

“Two reasons, really,” the dragon replied casually. “One, I don’t trust you. And two, I would never have allowed you to have a piece of Equestria, anyway. It will all be mine in the end.”

Discord knew his fate was now sealed in stone – quite literally, after what was about to happen. He looked up once more at the dragon, his eyes filled with loathing for him. “Fluttershy will stop you; she will save her friends and all of Equestria from you.”

The dragon laughed. “You overestimate her.”

“Whilst you underestimate her,” he replied. “She was the one who made me see I can be who I like and have a friend who loves me for who and what I am. On top of that, she defeated a dragon that asked my people to help him, and wiped us out as a reward.”

The creature cackled. “Heimdallr was nothing compared to me. I have already defeated Equestria. I have enslaved the Element Bearers and the Princess to my will, and I have an army poised to invade this land, destroy Equestria, and then all of Terra after it. Do you still think your precious Fluttershy Firewing has a chance?”

Discord grinned. “Yes,” he answered.

The dragon’s sneer remained. “We will see.” The dragon clicked his fingers, and at once Twilight bowed her head and lit up her horn, preparing the spell needed. “Any last words before your imprisonment, this time for good?”

Discord nodded instantly. “I have a few, to be honest.” He stretched his arms out wide, showing his defiance to the great dragon. “You should be scared, Apophis. For when a good mare goes to war, Celestia have mercy on those she goes against, for she will have none.” He closed his eyes, and braced himself for what was to come.

Apophis sneered vehemently, and with a snort gave the command. With a sudden burst of power from Twilight’s horn, the five Element Bearers were lifted into the air, their bodies glowing brightly as the Elements were activated and their bearers began to glow like lanterns.

“Armies will fall like leaves from a late autumn tree. Cities will burn to ashes like wood in a fire, and once I am through with it Equestria will cease to exist!” Apophis declared as the Elements grew more intense with power. “Then the world will fall and a new order will rise, an Order of Chaos!

“The suffering will be plenty, and the rewards ripe for those who have served me, but you will have no part to play in this!”

An explosion of light and colour rocked Discord’s ears, and he soon felt the familiar tingle of the Elements of Harmony around him. He peeped an eye open to see his legs form into stone, and then his torso until it reached his neck.

That was when he felt something different.

He could feel his legs feeling as though they were going to sleep, and could feel his hearts stopping along with his lungs. It did not take much longer for Discord to realise that he was not just being encased in a stone prison, but he was going to become stone, without being able to hear anything or even think. It would be as if he was dead.

Discord sighed as the stone crawled up to his mouth like a parasite, sealing it shut. There was nothing he could do to stop Apophis from doing this, and he couldn’t help Fluttershy’s friends from what was controlling them. It would be better to die and leave it at that than be useless to anyone and live. Still, at least it was painless. He closed his eyes for the last time, just as he felt the stone crawl across them.

‘Good luck, Fluttershy, and thank you,’ he thought, just before his body became completely frozen in stone, and he could think and feel no more.

Chapter 11

Fluttershy was awake by the time the sun rose over the mountains, hemming the Vale in. It appeared slowly, almost regretfully, as though it didn’t want to get up today. ‘That is like me sometimes,’ Fluttershy mused as she watched it rise from her place at the top of the mountain. The Unicorn Range, and in particular the Vale of the Lost, seemed to glow golden in its sunlight, making it all the more brighter and even more cheery.

Yet Fluttershy could not be dazzled or amazed by the land around her today. Her friends were out there, separated and as lost as she was. She needed to get moving and find them alive and well. If she didn’t… She shook her head quickly. She didn’t want to dwell on the possibility that they all might be dead now. ‘They are strong and determined. All of them are,’ Fluttershy thought to herself. ‘They can all survive a night out alone. I did, barely.’ She quickly hoped she could believe that.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, she set off from the top of the mountain back down the spiralling path. As she walked, her eyes focused on the ground below her in case she could see some or all of her friends. Her mind drifted back to yesterday evening when she had declared war on the creature or things responsible for the slow, but escalating, destruction of Equestria.

As she had finally settled down on her side and drifted off to sleep, it quickly dawned on her about how selfish she had sounded. She didn’t see herself as selfish; a bit clingy in places and greedy when faced with a monstrous appetite and a beautiful dish before her, but that moment proved to her of just how selfish she could be. ‘I can’t go to war. Not yet,’ she had realised.

The reason was her friends.

If she dragged them with her across Equestria to find out for themselves what was going on, then she would be breaking the promise she made to Vidarr about getting them safely to Horsca. As a simple pony, she had always kept her promises, or at least had tried to keep them. As a Dragonlord, her promises were now more important than ever. “I need to find my friends, get them out of this place, see them to Horsca, and when they are asleep one night, quietly leave and make my way back into Equestria,” she whispered to herself. ‘I made a promise to get them to safety, and I promised my father that I would save them.’

She could not hide away in the land of the horses now, not if it meant condemning not just Equestria but Paradise as well to oblivion. Her father and mother, the very ponies who conceived her, would die for good if she did not do something; her father, her friends, everypony she knew would try something if she was the one living on the other side.

But what if she failed? The question sent a violent shudder down Fluttershy’s spine as she felt tiredness take her. She felt most vulnerable and afraid when alone, and without friends to help and support her, then she did not know if she could defeat her new foe.

She flicked her head up rapidly, clearing the thought from her head. ‘Try not to think like that,’ she chastised herself. ‘I will do my best, and I will find a way to defeat this new opponent, alone or otherwise.’ Her hooves gripped into the dirt as anger boiled its way forward again. “Besides, nopony threatens my parents and gets away with it,” she hissed.

She broke out of her reflection of last night when her mind told her that she should stop. She suddenly halted, and noticed that she had made it to the bottom of the mountain, with one path directly ahead of her, and two other paths angling away on either side.

She looked down all three roads quickly, and looked back when she saw a large hole in an otherwise lifeless tree – perfect size for a squirrel, grey or red. A sudden thought came to the front of her mind. ‘I wonder if any of the wildlife here have seen my friends, or anything strange, at least?’

She hesitantly walked closer to the tree, but stopped when a small part of her said that it would be rude to interfere; whoever’s in there might be eating their breakfast, or worse if there is a pair in there... mating. After a moment of hesitation, Fluttershy ignored the thought and carried on, her concern over her friends greater than any other worry.

She stopped just before the tree, craning her neck as far as it could go so she could whisper. “Um, excuse me?” she called tentatively. Her ears flicked up, hoping to hear a sound, but there was nothing. Not even a squeak. ‘They might be still asleep,’ she thought.

‘Asleep? Don’t be so daft. A squirrel would most likely be up and about by now and munching on a nut,’ her mind replied.

Fluttershy tilted her head a little, finding sense in her mind’s – or her own – logic. She took a step closer and said, “Um, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, and I am really sorry about that if I am, but this won’t take too long, I promise. I was just hoping if you could tell me whether you had seen any other ponies come through here?”

Again, there wasn’t a sound from the tree. Curious, and slightly, worried, Fluttershy took another step closer, and reared up and peered into the hole. “Hello?” she called.

The only thing in there was one dead grey squirrel.

Fluttershy flung her head out of the hole and away, her eyes staring at the ground in horror at what she had just seen. “What… what could have done that?” she asked aloud. She looked into the tree again, and brought her hooves in and delicately picked up the dead squirrel. Once she was sure it wouldn’t fall apart in her hooves, she carried it outside and gently set it onto the ground by the tree.

The Dragonlord gulped back the bile she could feel crawling up her throat as she stared at the two large wounds puncturing the poor thing’s chest and belly. She closed her eyes and tried to remember any animal with such teeth, yet nothing, not even a fox, came to mind. ‘Other than a fox, no other animal I know would kill and leave a squirrel, so that would mean this was… oh no. Why?’

Though she felt upset, she swallowed the anger she could feel rising in her chest as the truth showed itself to her. This attack was no mere kill and eat later hunt. This was just sport. No eagle or any predator she knew would just kill an animal like this and leave it in its home without eating some of it first.

Just as she figured out the truth, she remembered something else, sending her ears on high and sending shivers across her coat. ‘Whatever did this, it’s in the Vale with us,’ she realised, her eyes bulging at the thought. She picked up the squirrel once more, her eyes shooting from one corner to the next. ‘I have to find my friends now. If this thing is still out there, then it might not be long before we are on the menu.’

She daintily put the dead squirrel back into its home, and then backed away, bowing her head in respect. “I’m so sorry, little one. I hope you find a better place elsewhere,” she whispered, before turning away and following her tracks back to where she had seen her friends’ hoofprints last.

As she wandered down the road, she began to realise just how quiet it was; there was no morning bird song to greet the sun as it rose, and apart from the one dead squirrel, she thought she would see more of them by now.

She slowed down her trot, crouching frighteningly as she listened for any familiar sound. The last time it had gone this silent, a dragon, possessed by Heimdallr, had attacked her father and her, and chased them through the Horscan Highlands.

It was the same day her father died, too.

“No!” she hissed at herself. “That will not happen again. Not while I live!” She raised herself to full height and broke into a canter, her ears pinned up as high as they could, and her eyes wide and scrutinising for anything out of the ordinary.

This, in her mind, was not hard since everything was out of the ordinary.

Further down the road, she wondered what could have caused all the animals that lived in the Vale to either disappear, or run away. She froze as fear gripped her legs like shackles were attached to them, forbidding her to move. ‘If this creature was enough to send every animal here and two Princesses running for their lives, then what’s to stop me from running for the hills?’

Her answer was simple. Her friends. They were alone, possibly frightened and exhausted, and needed help in getting back together. Moreover, she had promised Vidarr to keep them safe, and she was not going to back down on that promise just because she was afraid. ‘Going back on that vow will be going against my honour as a Dragonlord,’ she thought to herself, just as that fear faded to the back of her mind, freeing her legs from their invisible shackles. ‘I will find them again.’

She moved into a graceful trot.

She continued to trot down the thin, dirty path, humming a little tune to calm her nerves, even though she found it to be barely working. She was scared, very much so, but her mind told her to keep going, reminding her that if she didn’t continue, her friends would almost surely die. ‘They could be dead already, for all I know,’ Fluttershy thought, looking at the cluster of trees around her.

She shook her head. ‘No. They are alive.’ She didn’t know why she thought they were, she just knew.

Her right ear twitched suddenly as the sound of a twig snapping entered her ears. She froze and turned on the spot to face the source of the noise, bringing up her right leg and drawing Drage Bane from its bracelet. ‘Should I call out?’ she pondered, her mouth open ready to neigh or shout a name. Yet something told her to stay silent and continue, for her sake.

Just as she considered moving on, her coat began to stick up as she felt an icy chill pass from the tip of her muzzle to her rump. It was a cold, unearthly chill, as though winter had come early and had frozen the world in its icy clutches.

She looked down at her muzzle, breathed out, and saw her breath turn to smoke. She spread her wings out in the hope that would keep her warmer, but it did no good. If anything, she could feel her feathers beginning to freeze up. ‘I’m not staying here anymore,’ she decided. Not daring to look back, Fluttershy galloped down the path as fast as her legs could take her, not noticing the eyes of hate emerging from the trees.

She ran for a few minutes, but it felt to her like hours. Her breathing was ragged; despite the chill she could feel chasing her like a shadow, she felt hotter than a furnace. Her mind told her to stop, but she kept on running, focused only on getting away from whatever was chasing her.

Once her legs started to ache and she could feel a mild stitch in her side, she slowed down until finally she was in a calming trot. She stopped for breath and looked around, panting heavily. By now the freezing temperature had gone, her coat had flattened itself once more, and her wings didn’t feel like large blocks of ice. She folded her wings back to her sides and looked up at the sky, only for her gaze to turn perplexed. ‘How was that possible?’

The weather was a bright blue with a ray of sunlight soaring over her and behind one of the mountains in this large Vale she was in, and there wasn’t a breath of wind whistling through the trees. If the day is supposed to be a normal summer’s day, then why did it turn so cold?

She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. ‘I will ask Luna about it when I find her.’ She fell into a brisk trot once more, continuing her humming to calm herself and spirit herself forward.

Eventually, much to the relief of the Dragonlord, she found herself back at the crossroads where she had last seen the tracks of her friends. She walked cautiously over to the centre of the crossroads, and sighed in relief when she saw the mesh of tracks still on the ground, undamaged and unhindering to her chances to track them down.

“Okay, time to see if my tracking skills haven’t diminished,” Fluttershy said to herself. With that, she slammed her nose to the ground and began to sniff at the tracks in front and around her carefully like a dog. She had always believed that dogs were the best trackers on Terra, and if anypony wanted to be a good a tracker as they were, then you would have to track like a dog.

After a moment sniffing at the ground, she raised her head a little as she looked at a particular hoofprint on the ground before her, then sniffed it again. The scent smelt much like a rose, which she perceived as belonging to Cadence. She followed the scent around the crossroads as the hoofprints went one way then another, until they straightened out and moved slowly northward.

She gingerly followed the prints until she reached just beyond the tree line, and stopped when saw them veer sharply to the left.

“Okay, so Cadence ran that way,” she said to herself, pointing. She backed out of the trees, picked up a stick from the ground and pointed it in the direction of Cadence’s trail, while using another stick bent into the shape of a C to mark it.

With Cadence’s direction marked out, she turned back to the other prints. She quickly found Spike’s footprints next to what she figured as hoofprints belonging to Trixie. She sniffed the footprints to be sure they were Spike’s, and though she couldn’t get a scent, she was almost certain they belonged to him; it’s not often you find a footprint belonging to a baby dragon.

Cautiously, she followed Spike and Trixie’s tracks from the crossroads and eastward into the trees. About halfway through the woods, the two had split up and had gone separate ways: Trixie heading left and north, and Spike running right and northeast.

Fluttershy felt anger course through her for just a brief moment. ‘Why did Trixie leave Spike alone? I know those two don’t see eye to eye, but I thought she would have better sense then that! And Spike for that matter!’ she thought irately as she looked from one set of tracks to the next. ‘I hope she had a really good reason, or else.’

She set a few twigs down that spelled out S and T for each direction, and headed back to the crossroads to locate the tracks of the last member of their party – Luna. As soon as she was in the centre, she began sniffing the ground again, seeking any trace of where Luna went. When she got to the corner of the crossroads, she stopped suddenly, and sniffed at the ground once more to be sure. There was a faint smell of nightshade coming from the hoofprints.

“This must be Luna’s,” she said to herself.

She followed them slowly so she wouldn’t miss anything, and eventually stopped on the other side of the trees, on the edge of a long and wide clearing with a small pond full of water lilies and lily pads near her. She followed the tracks until they reached the edge of the pond, where they disappeared. “Luna must have jumped in and hid in there to lose her pursuers,” Fluttershy said to herself.

She marked the direction the tracks seemed to go with her hoof, spelling out L with an arrow mark next to it. Satisfied, she cantered back to the crossroads.

When she got there, she began to think deeply about the situation her friends had been put in. It appeared that all of them separated madly and went in different directions without much thought other than their own survival. There were no other prints on the ground for Fluttershy to suggest that there were things here. Neither was there any trace of blood or otherwise to tell her that there was an attack of some sort, for which she was slightly relieved about.

But it still didn’t give her any clue to figure out what happened to cause them to separate. She wanted something, anything, to tell her what had happened, to give her a peace of mind and let her know their reasons for separating was not too serious. No matter what it was, however, her mind always told her that it was serious. ‘They wouldn’t have all sounded so desperate to get away from each other if it wasn’t serious,’ she reminded herself.

As she tried to think about it, another question sprouted up in her mind like a flower. ‘Whose tracks do I follow?’ she wondered, looking at each of them. She knew she could follow any one of them, but the choice seemed a bit more difficult than that. Namely because they were her friends, and to her it felt wrong to treat one better than the other. Secondly, they were all smart; if they knew they were being pursued they would cover their tracks and avoid anything that would give their direction away. She knew if she followed the wrong one, she would get lost herself. The place she was in was not called the Vale of the Lost for nothing.

‘Oh,’ she moaned in thought. ‘I wish I had Rainbow Dash here. She could fly up high and find them all easily.’ She knew Rainbow Dash would also be able to fly around the entire Vale without breaking sweat, and would not stop until all her friends were safe and sound. Fluttershy loved that about her. Even though the rainbow-maned pegasus could be an annoying, stuck-up arrogant slob sometimes, she was always strong, loyal and brave.

She threw out her thoughts on Rainbow Dash, and quickly darted her head between the tracks as she tried to make up her mind on who’s to follow. After a moment, she decided to knock down her choices until she saw the most reasonable. She immediately ruled out Cadence and Luna. They were former Princesses of Equestria; they could easily manage themselves. Trixie was not as strong, weakened by the events happening across Equestria, but she was cunning, and certainly had a few tricks up her hooves to lose her pursues, so she was out. That only left Spike. He was just a baby dragon, and Fluttershy knew she needed to protect him if nopony else could.

With that in mind, she followed Spike and Trixie’s trail into the trees, and once she made it to their divide, split away from Trixie’s trail and followed Spike’s deeper into the woods.

The more she followed them, the more the tracks became sporadic. One minute they were straight, the next they were zigzagging this way and that as though trying to avoid something behind him. Fluttershy’s heart thumped loudly in her chest at the images she was thinking up. She tried not to imagine herself coming out of the woods and find herself gazing on Spike’s torn up corpse. She didn’t know what she would do if that happened. She didn’t know whether she would hold Spike’s body and scream, cry, rage, or find and beat the stuffing out of the creature that did it.

Thankfully, that choice was taken from her, as she emerged from the tree line and found herself at the edge of a thin dirt road situated in a thin cutting and leading downhill at a gentle slope, and with not a sign of Spike anywhere, save for his tracks. She saw Spike’s tracks follow the road downhill, and trotted cautiously after them, her eyes wide and her ears listening out for anything that could give the little dragon away.

When she arrived at the bottom, she found herself standing on a wide, circular ledge roughly the size of her chicken coop back home. To her left and right were two paths, with the one on the right flat and heading through the woods on that side, and the one on the left zigzagging its way up the hill and in a different direction, and directly ahead of her was the edge. She walked up to it, and looked down to see that it went down a sheer drop, before angling out at a steep grade to an open plateau with a set of large rocks decorating one end, and a steep slope leading away to another plain.

She looked around once more, wishing to continue with her search, but found to her horror that the tracks were gone. “Oh no,” she whispered. She spun around frantically to look for them, but saw nothing. “Where have they gone? How can they be gone?”

Before she could panic, she remembered the calming technique she had used a few days ago, and quickly took a deep breath in and after a few seconds, let it out again. “That feels a little bit better,” she said as she set her hoof back down. “Okay, Fluttershy, don’t panic, there’s probably a good explanation as to why Spike’s tracks disappeared like that, one that doesn’t end up with him in a predator’s belly.” She shuddered at the thought.

She looked around for anything that could help her track down Spike again, but before she could get any further, a faint hissing sound came from the trees behind her. Fluttershy stopped and listened, then looked up and around her. The day was quiet once more, with not even a bird song to grace her ears. She shrugged it off, and set her nose back down to the ground and sniffed, hoping she would pick up the trail once more.

The hissing sound whistled through her ears once again, forcing her to stop and turn around in fright. Her heart pounded rapidly, and she swore she felt her ribcage starting to break from where her heart had hit it enough times. “Hello?” she called out. She edged forward, hope coursing through her. “Spike? Is that you?”

The hissing sound came from the trees again, beckoning Fluttershy closer. She was now certain it was not Spike, but it could be some poor snake needing help. She started to walk closer to the trees. “It’s all right,” she said softly. “I won’t hurt you, whatever you are.” She stopped just at the edge of the trees, bent over and smiled calmingly. “You can come out now.”

The creature complied with her request, and strode menacingly out of the bushes, hissing threateningly at the Dragonlord. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in terror and she slowly backed from it, her heart thumping harder as if now trying to escape. ‘Wha… what is that thing?’ she thought, looking at it with fear and dread.

The creature was roughly the same height as the average pony, and its body shape looked roughly like a pony’s with a dark skin that looked rougher than bark, and unearthly. Two appendages that looked like arms stretched out from its sides like outstretched wings. Attached to the end of each were long, angular blades that looked like a scythe’s and were the same colour as the creature; both were held low and pointing at the increasingly terrified pegasus. Its head was that of a rotting rat’s with white, soulless eyes, with a silver mane that dangled from the back of its neck like ruined spider’s silk, and four ferocious fangs like a sabre’s teeth gnashed out hungrily at the pegasus. Its paws were that of a large cat’s with long, dagger-like claws, and its tail was as long as a lion’s but with a whip-like end.

Fluttershy tried looking through her memories like a book to know what the thing before her was. However, she could not think straight; her mind was fogged with terror, alerting her other senses to their full potential, and forcing her stomach to twist violently in fear.

She spun away when she heard something behind her, and saw to her horror that more of the creatures were behind her, each hissing threateningly at her or revealing their teeth. Fluttershy could see that some of them had their teeth stained with blood. ‘I seriously hope that blood didn’t come from one of my friends,’ she thought as she looked around her, only to see she was surrounded on all sides by at least twenty of these beasts. All of them looked similar in appearance, except some were shorter and others were slightly taller than her, but their dark colours separated each of them: dark grey, grey, black, dark brown, dark red, golden, silver, dark green, tan, dark purple and dark blue and several other foreboding colours.

Fluttershy noticed through her terror that the world went cold all of a sudden; the same was as it did an hour or so before. Her coat stood up on end, and she flared her wings out instinctively to keep her warm. Yet like before, she felt her wings freeze up again, causing her to shake as though she was standing in a blizzard. It made her feel as though these things that were now surrounding her were winter incarnate. ‘But that’s impossible. Surely windigoes are winter incarnate, and these aren’t windigoes.’

She didn’t know what they were, but she could easily guarantee that they were certainly not friendly. Their monstrous eyes yelled for her death, and their claws and other weapons were ready to subject her to many agonies. ‘Why, though?’ she wondered fearfully as she watched them crawl into positions around her. ‘Why would they want to kill me? I haven’t done anything to them.’ She straightened up as best she could, trying to keep her legs from trembling.

She didn’t want to fight them; she had no reason to fight them. They never threatened her as far as she knew, nor had she any hatred towards them. ‘If I fight these things, then that would show that Trixie was right and I am a hypocrite. What kind of a leader always turns to violence first?’ She decided to try to talk to them, and – she hoped – if she managed to show she meant them no harm, she could try to persuade them into helping her in find the others.

If they hadn’t found them already.

“Um… hello,” she said as warmly as she could manage, but to her it sounded strained. She looked through the hateful gazes, seeing which one looked to be the leader, yet not one of them appeared to be who she was looking for. “Um, which one of you is the leader here? Mind if I speak to her – or him, of course. I’m not sexist or anything, it’s just not normal where I come from for a male leader.”

Two of the creatures – a dark blue one and the black one that first surprised Fluttershy – looked at each other for a long second. They suddenly began talking to each other in a coarse language, ancient yet indescribable to her. Despite the terror she could feel in her chest and stomach, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by what was happening before her. ‘I wonder what they’re saying to each other. It’s a shame that I can’t understand all languages,’ she thought, her eyes flicking between the two creatures.

After a moment, the blue one said something, and nodded. The black one nodded in response then looked back to the trees behind it and screeched something that made Fluttershy’s ears ring with pain. She rubbed her ears soothingly until she could hear again, then looked around and felt herself pale as the leader of this group stepped out of the trees.

The creature looked much like the others, with only a few differences. It was a dark, earthly brown in colour, and was a lot taller than all of them, about the same height as a horse. A long, dark red mane dripped down the side of its long neck like blood, covering one of its white eyes. Teeth like a wolf’s grinned at her, and instead of scythe like weapons on its sides, it had two large minotaur-like arms sticking out from its shoulders. In its right hand was a long, two-ended glaive with slightly curved blades that seemed to be carved from icicles, while its left was clenched into an angry fist.

Fluttershy had to fight to keep herself from loosening her bladder. She was terrified of this thing, and the creatures around it, yet she knew she had to try and negotiate a more peaceful route. What good a leader would she be if she went down a route of violence every time, she reminded herself?

“Um… h-h-h-he-hello,” she stammered, feeling herself shrink as she gazed into the creature’s emotionless gaze. Fluttershy realised her nerves were getting the better of her, and decided to speak a bit quicker. “Um, I never knew there was anything living here,” she said as she looked around at all the threatening faces. “How did you all manage to hide yourselves out here for so long?”

The horse-like creature thrust its glaive into the ground, and hissed vehemently at her as it stepped forward. The other creatures followed suit, making Fluttershy cringe in on herself. “Please, I mean no disrespect,” she begged, holding her hooves up and bowing her head in the hope it would calm them down. “I have no quarrel with any of you; I just want to find my friends, and get out of here.” She looked up, stifling the urge to scream in fear as the beast was now directly in front of her, gazing down with malice and curiosity. “Ha… have you seen any other ponies around here, and a little baby dragon?” she asked shakily, trembling in terror.

The creature in front of her lowered its head so that its eyes were level with Fluttershy’s, and sniffed loudly, as though smelling the fear oozing from her body. The Dragonlord swallowed back the urge to gag at the smell of its breath, which smelt of ancient decay. The creature continued to stare at her silently, inspecting, judging, testing, as though seeing if she was ripe for the kill. Fluttershy turned her gaze away, trembling under the crippling fear that crawled across her. “Please… stop that,” she asked as politely as she could.

The beast snorted in distaste, then looked up at the black creature and spoke with it in the same language as before. Unlike the others, which spoke with a crackle, the larger creature had a sound of nobility to its voice, though it wasn’t any less coarse than the rest. After a minute, the two creatures nodded at each other, and the larger creature picked up its glaive once more and pointed the sharp end at Fluttershy, who backed away from it in fright. The other jumped around her silently; its scythes poised and ready to strike.

The creature said something to all of them around her, and although Fluttershy didn’t know what it said, she could tell by the tone of its voice that it did not say, “Give that adorable pony a hug.”

Fluttershy closed her eyes for a quick second, lowered her head and took a deep breath to calm her damaged nerves. She had tried talking to them, she couldn’t run away from them, and she knew they would catch her quickly if she flew away, as she had no clouds above her to hide on, and she would be almost certainly too tired to fight when they did find her again. There was only one option left open to her, and she hated herself and them for bringing her to this.

She had to fight her way through.

Silently, like an owl catching its prey in the setting sun, she spun around, Drage Bane shooting out from its bracelet, and thrust it deep through the mouth of the first one she had met as it came from behind her. The creature screamed like a pig in agony, before it suddenly exploded in a cloud of dust.

Fluttershy didn’t have time to rest, for another one – a dark red one – charged at her. It reached the flat and leapt into the air, intending to strike her down with its foreclaws. Fluttershy rolled out of the way, letting it slash at the air and slamming into the ground. She slashed out with Drage Bane, but the creature jumped, missing the strike. Fluttershy ducked when the creature pivoted and swung one of its scythe-like weapons at her, and reared and jumped back when it lashed with its claws. Both missed her by inches.

The creature jumped forward, reared up and made itself ready to slash its claws into her skin again. She lifted her left leg up, drew out Firewing, and blocked the attack while ripping the creature’s chest and back open with Drage Bane. The creature screamed as the contents of its insides spilled out – ash; the stuff came out of the thing like it was sprouting from the top of a volcano. The final screams of the creature died away as the rest of it broke up and disintegrated into dust.

Fluttershy looked stunned at the pile of ash for a moment, before she felt the air blown out of her lungs as something slammed into her side. She yelped as she felt herself hit the ground, and saw from the corner of her eye one of the creatures getting up after recovering from its strike. It jumped on top of her, snapping its teeth towards her neck. She hastily rolled onto her back and held the creature’s head back with a leg under its neck, fighting hard to keep its vicious fangs away from her face. The beast lunged a scythe at her, but Fluttershy shot her head to the side, missing the strike.

The beast let out a growl of frustration, and pushed its head forward in the hope its teeth could rip off Fluttershy’s face. The Dragonlord pushed back with all her might. She felt a drop of chilling drool fall from the creature’s lips and land on her cheek with a plop. Disgusted, she slowly moved her right leg into position, then, with a grunt, she thrust Drage Bane through the lower jaw and nose of the beast. It backed away, screaming in pain, giving Fluttershy the chance to finish it with a thrust through the chest from Firewing. The beast disappeared in a cloud of dusty fog, and became a pile of dust on the ground.

Another one coming up from behind jumped onto Fluttershy’s back, and bit hard into her exposed neck. Fluttershy shrieked in pain as she felt its teeth dig deep into her, and could feel the blood staining her mane and dripping down her neck. Before she subjected herself to panic and shock, she jumped into the air and threw herself onto the ground, throwing the creature off. She jumped up before it could recover and swung Firewing into its side, tearing it almost in half.

She pulled Firewing away, spun around and with Drage Bane slashed across the chest of another as it charged her. It tumbled over and went down, screaming and writhing even as it disintegrated into dust. Another came at her, thrusting it scythe-like weapons at her. She rolled around it and slashed off one scythe with Drage Bane, and then stabbed it with Firewing. Another one came from her side with its teeth bared, but she opened up her wing, and impaled the creature with her wing blades, cutting open its chest, face and destroying an eye. She pulled it out, and swung herself around to face the next one, positioning her hind-hooves apart and using her wings to keep her balance, as she had taught herself.

This one – a dark, glittery yellow – didn’t just charge at her; it circled her like a wolf, waiting for the right moment to strike. Fluttershy knew it was useless for it to think it could defeat her – she had already killed seven of them easily. These creatures were like predators, except that they didn’t work together as a group. They worked as individuals, where each one was vying for the kill, and they did not seem to care that a single pony had just slaughtered their comrades.

Such foolishness would be their downfall.

Fluttershy looked into the yellow beast’s eyes, and saw no fear of anything. She envied them for that. She shook herself out of her thoughts when the creature sensed her quick lapse in concentration and charged her with teeth, scythes and claws bared. Fluttershy missed the bite of its fangs by only a margin, and ducked low from its claws slashing at her. She wasn’t lucky to miss the scythes on its side, though, for one lunged a bit too far and grazed her left shoulder. She gritted her teeth to ignore the pain, and moved away before it could do anything else.

The beast lunged at her again with its fanged teeth, but this time she was ready. Fluttershy leapt forward and rolled herself into the air with her back to the ground, then slashed the beast’s chest and belly open with Drage Bane. The creature went down in a crumpled mess.

She rolled around, landed on three legs, and thrust Drage Bane into another creature’s neck before it could react. She reared up and slashed across the face of another coming from her left with Firewing. She pulled Drage Bane out of the first beast, spun around and slashed from the chest up to the top of the neck. She pulled out Firewing and slashed it across another creature that tried to come from behind her.

She thrust her wings out and impaled two more that came at her from the sides, thinking she was too busy with their dead comrades. They paid for that mistake with their lives. She yanked her wing blades out and let the creatures fall dead on their backs. She turned and looked around, gasping for air.

Fourteen of the creatures were dead, disintegrated into dust, while around six remained. There was no sign of where the large beast with the glaive was, but she knew it would emerge soon. ‘I’m ready for it,’ she thought, circling the remains of her attackers slowly, smirking to herself. ‘I can take on anything.’

Fluttershy’s blood was pumping around her body at a rate she had rarely felt before, increasing her senses, and dulling any pain she felt from the wounds she received from these monsters. She thought for a moment she was frightened, for the pain and for life as she faced these beasts, but she quickly saw the truth. She was excited. She was having the time of her life and, if she was honest to herself, she did not regret it. She didn’t want this fight, true, but this was what her Dragonlord blood wanted, no, needed.

With a cry leaving her lips, she charged the remaining monsters, which froze in uncertainty of what to do. ‘Probably used to their prey running from them, not charging at them.’ Their hesitance cost them two more of their comrades; ripped open by Fluttershy’s wing blades as she galloped past them. A dark lavender one charged her and swiped a claw at her. Fluttershy veered away from it, then slashed upwards and cut off one leg with Drage Bane. As the creature screamed into death, the Dragonlord spun around, taking a step back, and beheaded another as it tried to charge her from the side.

She spun around again and faced the two remaining creatures. This time, both started to move together, and started circling her with their heads low and mouths hissing with hunger and rage. Fluttershy’s eyes darted between each of them quickly. She knew their game. It was the same wolves as well as a few other predators played. They wanted her attention divided so she would have to take on one while the other killed her. Her Dragonlord mind thought fast, and quickly came up with a plan.

The one to the right of her sprung forward and leapt at her. Fluttershy turned to face it with her head raised high and her swords in a defence pose. She heard the other creature behind her leap into the air to bite into her neck and claw at her back, while the other aimed for her head.

The Dragonlord was ready for them both.

Just before the two creatures could sink their teeth into her, Fluttershy ducked at the last second. The two beasts’ faces smashed into each other, breaking teeth and jaws as they collided. Before they could hit the ground, Fluttershy stood up on her hind legs and impaled their jaws on her swords as they descended from the air. The creatures screamed in pain, which caused Fluttershy to wince regretfully at the sound. “I’m sorry, but you left me no choice,” she whispered, just as the last one crumpled up into dust.

As soon as the last echoes of the last of the creatures she had killed faded, the world returned to its eerie silence. Fluttershy set herself back on all fours, and took deep, heavy breaths to calm her nerves and excitement. The fight felt as though it had gone on for hours, yet it all took was only a matter of minutes. All that remained of the twenty or so creatures were piles of dust and ash that had poured out of their wounds.

A few splotches of red were dotted here and there, but were small and not very easy to spot to the untrained eye. Fluttershy, however, thanks to her dragon eyes, spotted them easily, and felt like panicking. ‘What did those things do to me?’

Fluttershy sat on her haunches and checked the back of her neck with a hoof. She felt the large wound had closed, thankfully, then put it back and saw her hoof was covered in dried blood from her wound. ‘My whole body must be covered,’ she thought. She glanced at her shoulder and saw the wound had sealed itself up as well, and had become a fleshy pink, but the blood that leaked from it now stained her chest and shoulder. When she felt calm once more, she got up on all fours and prepared herself to move and continue to find her friends.

She turned around to follow the path again and get away from this place, when she felt the air blasted out of her lungs again. Her mind barely had time to figure out what had happened as she felt herself fly through the air, and when she did, she cried out in alarm before landing in a crumpled heap against a tree. She yelped in pain as her back slammed into the tree, grinding against it as she fell onto her rump, and her mind went fuzzy and disorientated. ‘What did that? What the heck just happened?’ she thought erratically.

With her mind cleared, she looked to where she had stood previously, only for her eyes to widen in terror as the bigger creature had appeared, and was striding towards her with its glaive raised in both hands and pointing at her, ready to split open her belly.

At the last second before it could rip out her insides, Fluttershy leapt out of the way, missing the weapon by inches as it embedded itself deep into the tree. With the beast busy trying to pull it out, Fluttershy got up, lifted her left leg, drawing out Firewing, and walked slowly forward and prepared herself to kill this thing before it freed its weapon. ‘If I let that thing get its weapon out, then it will kill me,’ she reasoned to herself.

She knew she couldn’t run, for she would be chased down quickly, nor could she fly for she was tired after her fight, and her wings ached from what they had been made to do. It was a kill or be killed moment, and if she was ever to see her friends again, she had no choice but to go with the former.

Before she could land the killing blow, however, the creature tore its weapon free from the tree, and swung it around in a decapitating swing. Fluttershy widened her eyes in horror before she ducked and missed the attack. She could feel the blade take a few hairs of her mane, though.

The beast took the glaive with both hands, spun it over its head, and thrust the other end forward towards her chest. Fluttershy hastily stepped to the side, dodging the attack, and thrust Drage Bane forward. The creature deflected her attack with the other end of the glaive, and then pushed her backwards by a kick in the chest.

Fluttershy felt winded, but otherwise was okay. She looked up again, and quickly deflected another thrust from the glaive. Fluttershy pushed it away with Firewing, and then thrust Drage Bane forward once more. The beast saw it and caught it with the other end, frustrating Fluttershy. With the glaive busy, she pulled Drage Bane back, then thrust it forward once more and stabbed the thing in the shoulder.

The beast cried out, then shot its head down and bit into Fluttershy’s stretched out leg. Fluttershy screamed as she felt its teeth embed themselves into her leg. She punched the creature’s head with her free hoof, tearing off its hold on her leg, and she pulled it back and took a step back from it, examining the heavily bleeding leg. She wiggled it about a bit to make sure she could still use it, which she could. With that, she let out a war cry and furiously slashed, hacked and stabbed at the creature in rapid succession. But the creature was too strong, too quick, and too experienced, deflecting every blow with its glaive.

When she saw to her frustration that she wasn’t doing anything, she realised she needed to try a different tactic, and go on the defence. She spun away from the beast and took a few steps back from it. The beast saw she wasn’t planning to attack again, so with a scream of rage it attacked her with a savagery she hadn’t seen in her life. It hacked at her, slashed, stabbed, lashed out with its claws and tried to bite her with its teeth. Every time, though with a few minor scrapes, Fluttershy was able to avoid, duck, spin away, deflect, or block every attack.

Fluttershy ducked under another swing at her, but she was too slow for the second attack, which grazed her left shoulder. Fluttershy winced and screamed through gritted teeth at the pain she felt from her chest, shoulder, and leg. She screamed once more as the beast suddenly leapt forward and gripped her neck tightly with its teeth. She screamed even louder as she slowly felt her hooves leave the ground and send her into the air, all the while feeling the beast bite down harder into her neck, splitting open and widening the wound that had just closed before.

Quickly thinking, she thrust her right wing out and stabbed the beast in the face, taking out one of its eyes. The creature screamed, then hurled Fluttershy out of its hold and sent her down the hillside. Fluttershy felt her world spin for a long while, her vision between bright blue sky, rough, uneven dirt and pointy rocks before she came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. She groaned and hissed in pain and dizziness as she got up on shaky legs, and tried to move away from the hill as the beast came down the hill after her.

She staggered forward, and once she stopped she turned around to face it. She only saw the beast spin around and buck her hard in the chest with its hind legs, sending her flying back across the land. Her back smashed against the rock, forcing her to scream in pain as she slid back down to the earth. When she felt the ground beneath her hooves, she fell forward and landed on her stomach, exhausted, broken, and unable to fight on.

Fluttershy looked up, and her eyes widened in horror once more as the creature moved slowly towards her, its weapon in both hands, ready to bring down and finish her. At that moment, she felt the true terror of death. ‘No!’ she screamed in thought as she tried to push herself up and face this monster. ‘I don’t want to die! Oh gosh, I don’t want to die! Not yet! Not here! Please!’

She was halfway up on her hooves when she was savagely shoved down to the ground by one of the creature’s feet on her back. She looked up with terrified and pleading eyes at the beast, hoping it would have a sense of compassion. She saw nothing, only a lust for death in the creature’s eyes. Her death. “Please…” she begged, as tears streamed down her face.

The beast raised its other paw and shoved it down onto Fluttershy’s muzzle, silencing her pleas and cutting off her breathing. Her eyes bulged as she tried to free her head from its grip, but the beast was too strong. Fluttershy began to shake violently with terror and whimpered as the beast brought the point of its glaive to her bleeding neck, then slowly lifted it up, ready to thrust it down and end Fluttershy’s life.

The Dragonlord closed her eyes and prepared herself for the end.

She waited for the whistle of the blade as it swooped down and ripped through her bleeding neck, but all she heard was the faint whistle of an arrow soaring through the air, then the heavy impact against flesh. The creature screamed in agony, rearing up and snorting with rage as it tried to find its new attacker. Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up, and saw the large arrowhead pointing out from its left shoulder. Free from the beast’s hold, she instantly crawled away from the beast, her eyes wide as they fixed themselves onto her saviour.

“Hey!” Cadence cried out as she skidded down the slope as if she was on a snowboard, preparing to loosen another arrow. She leapt the rest of the jump, and walked along the plateau towards the beast, stopping to aim her bow at the beast’s head. “Why don’t you pick on somepony closer to your own size!”

The beast turned to face her entirely, and growled at her. It suddenly charged forward with its weapon lowered and pointing at Cadence. The former Princess loosed her arrow, and hit the beast in the chest, just below the neck. The beast yelped in pain, but stopped, pulled out the arrow, and threw it at her. Cadence didn’t flinch as the piece of arrow landed at her hooves. Her eyes narrow with hate, Cadence released the bow from her magic, letting it fall to the ground, and unsheathed her sword.

The beast grinned as if it knew she would be a worthy challenger, then burst forward and thrust its glaive at her. Cadence stepped to the side, blocked, pushed back, and countered with a swing of her own sword. The beast blocked it with the other end, spun round so he was behind her, and then thrust low in the hope to cut her open from groin to neck. Cadence spun away from the attack, then steadied herself and prepared for the next attack. She wasn’t left waiting for long.

The beast came forward and swung one end at her, making her block the first attack, and then it swung the other end low to cut her open. Cadence stepped back and blocked the attack easily. She swept the glaive away with her sword, then swung it right to go at its neck. The creature was quick and caught it with the other end of the glaive.

Cadence jumped back and began to stare and pace before the creature, waiting for it to make the next move. She didn’t have to wait too long, as the creature charged forward with its glaive raised above its head, and once he was in range swung it down towards her skull. Cadence raised her sword and blocked the blow, but it was so strong that it pushed her sword to the ground, forcing Cadence to back away a bit. The beast raised its glaive and swung it again, aiming for her shoulder.

Cadence deflected the strike and swung away, reeling in her sword once more and slashing it across the beast’s shoulder. The creature grunted in pain, then swung about to face her and thrust its weapon at her. Cadence stepped to the side, dodging the strike, and then thrust her own sword at the creature’s chest.

The creature dodged the strike with a graceful roll unbefitting of its kind. Once it was on its paws again it swung its glaive at a wide and rapid angle, forcing Cadence to duck at the last second. Cadence leapt forward and swung her sword down on the side of her opponent’s neck. The beast deflected it with its glaive, prompting Cadence to swing it back, and swing again, forcing the glaive out of the beast’s arms. Before it could pick the weapon up she pushed the creature back with her body, and then jumped back and thrust her sword at the creature’s chest.

The creature wailed in pain and pressed its arms right against its shoulders, collapsing onto its knees in its final moment. Cadence grinned with triumph, as did Fluttershy – albeit weakly – but that grin turned to a look of horror as the creature’s look of pain turned into a sneer as it stared up at her. It removed its arms from its sides, revealing that the blade had been tucked in between.

Before Cadence could react, the creature reached out and grabbed the alicorn by the neck with its large hand. Cadence gasped for air and used her magic to get her sword through the beast’s neck. The monster, however, simply grabbed hold of the sword’s hilt, breaking the alicorn’s magic hold of it, and threw it out of Cadence’s reach.

“You should work on your aim, equine filth,” the creature said in a very rough version of the equestrian language, before bringing up his free hand, clenching it into a fist, and thrust it into the Princess’s face.

Fluttershy turned away at the sound of Cadence’s cry of pain, and then winced as she was hit again, and again, and again, and again, with the alicorn’s cry of pain following every punch. ‘I need to get up,’ she thought to herself, wincing as another sickening sound of a fist meeting a boned cheek flew through her ears. ‘I need to help her.’ Grimacing and shaking violently, she tried to stand up and keep herself supported. Just as she made it halfway, her legs gave out once more and she collapsed onto her stomach, whimpering at her weakness. ‘I’m so sorry, Cadence,’ she thought despairingly.

The creature finally stopped punching Cadence, and threw her away from her sword and any help from Fluttershy if she could give any. The alicorn spat out some blood and stared at the beast with a bloodied mouth and a heavily bruised face. The beast turned away, picked up his glaive, then spun around and threw it at her like a javelin.

Cadence’s horn lit up before the glaive could find its mark and disappeared in a flash, appearing beside the creature. She kicked out with her hind legs, throwing the beast to the ground, before running to her fallen sword and reclaiming it. She stared with one good eye at the beast as it picked itself from the ground and retrieved its weapon. As the two stared each other down, Cadence’s eye looked at Fluttershy, who was watching the whole fight with fear.

“Fluttershy, I need your help!” Cadence called as the pair began to circle one another.

“I can’t, I don’t think I have the strength to get up!” Fluttershy replied regretfully, her eyes clenched shut as she could not bear to watch any longer.

“Sometimes I don’t either, but you know what I do when I feel like that? I push it all to the back of my mind and think on what I have to do! The pain and exhaustion comes later!” Cadence replied encouragingly. She stepped back as the creature feinted a lunge at her. “Please, Fluttershy, I need your help to kill this beast! I can’t take it alone!”

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut as she tried to clear the pain and exhaustion she felt to the back of her mind. She looked up again to see Cadence blocking another attack from the creature, though her face told the pegasus that she was struggling to keep it together. ‘She’s not going to last much longer,’ she realised.

The thought, the very possibility, of watching one of her friends dying seemed to do something to her, much like when she faced Heimdallr for the first time. It sent a fiery rage through her that pushed all thoughts of pain and exhaustion away from her like a pegasus pushing away a rain cloud.

“Fluttershy!” Cadence cried as the creature swung its glaive from over its head again, and again, and again, and the alicorn was almost powerless to stop it. “Help me!”

A plea of help was the final piece of medicine for the Dragonlord. Gritting her teeth together, Fluttershy slowly stood up on all fours and spread them out a bit until she felt stable on her hooves. ‘Alone, we can be defeated. Together, we are unstoppable.’

“Cadence! Take it from the air, I’ll take it from below!” Fluttershy called. With a defiant neigh leaving her lips, she charged forward with her head low.

Cadence nodded, then jumped back and quickly sheathed her sword and picked up her bow, before taking to the air. The beast was too busy looking at Cadence with incredulous eyes, it failed to notice Fluttershy charging at it.

Fluttershy leapt into the air, and smashed into its side; slamming it to the ground and making it drop its weapon. As it landed, Fluttershy rolled forward, then spun around and let Drage Bane shoot out of its bracelet.

The creature screamed in rage at her, then slowly got up. Before it made it halfway, Cadence loosed another arrow from her bow, embedding it into the creature’s back. The beast grunted in pain and briskly picked up its weapon, but that was all it could do before Fluttershy slashed its side with Firewing, and then spun around and stabbed it with Drage Bane.

The beast turned and swung its glaive with a claw, but Fluttershy danced away from it, allowing Cadence to loose another shot, hitting it at the back of the neck. The creature, however, was patient, and charged after Fluttershy, who had turned around and waited for it.

At the last second, Fluttershy rolled out of the way, using her wing blades to graze the side of the beast, and let it slam into a tree behind her. “That’s what you get for hurting my friends, you meanie!” Fluttershy yelled.

The monster heaved itself from the ground, and flung itself at the pegasus with bared teeth. Fluttershy swung about, crouched low and bucked it in the teeth, smashing them into pieces and sending the creature rolling through the air. Once it landed, Cadence sent another arrow soaring from her bow, and sent it into the back of the beast.

The beast cried out in pain, then reached up and ripped the arrow from its back. Fluttershy quickly looked up at Cadence and nodded to her. Cadence nodded confidently back, then sheathed her bow, drew her sword, and dived straight down towards the creature. The beast looked up and sneered with the remnants of its teeth, and prepared itself for Cadence’s attack.

Fluttershy smirked as she saw its gaze attach itself to Cadence, and charged towards it. The beast didn’t notice Fluttershy until it was too late. The pegasus leapt onto its back, and started stabbing it between the shoulder blades with both her swords. The creature howled in pain and reared up with its arms fraying about. Cadence swooped low, and slashed its stomach open with her sword, before heading back up into the sky and out of harm’s way.

The creature howled once more, and tried to grab Fluttershy, who stabbed it one more time, before jumping through the air and gliding towards the centre of the circle. The beast, in a spat of rage, tore across the ground, spewing up mud and blood as it hurtled towards Fluttershy.

The pegasus, however, was prepared. Just before the creature smashed into her, she surged forward and leapt over it, barely missing its remaining teeth, and slashed lightly across the back of the beast, while Cadence sent another arrow whizzing from her bow, and impaling one of its eyes.

The beast roared in frustration, then spun around and threw its glaive at Cadence. The Princess casually dodged it by swerving to the right. “Time to finish this!” Cadence declared. She shot to the ground, landed, then spun around and bucked the beast hard, sending it flying across the land before smashing into the rock where Fluttershy had previously fell.

Cadence holstered her bow back at her side, and drew her sword again as she walked casually to the downed beast. The thing tried to get back up, but before it could, Cadence brought her sword around till its point aimed at the ground then thrust it into the beast’s skull. The creature’s eyes went wide with pain, and the whole body shook violently as it died. Cadence pushed the sword even deeper, until the whole point was through the head and breaking out on the other side.

Eventually, the creature went entirely still, and the world went silent once more.

Cadence pulled the sword out, and then stepped back till she collapsed on her haunches, her teeth gritted together in pain as she set her wings back to her sides. Fluttershy breathed a heavy sigh of relief, then felt herself fall over and land on her side. She saw through her blurring vision Cadence look over to her. “Fluttershy?” she called. The Princess got up and staggered towards her. “Fluttershy, can you hear me?”

Fluttershy nodded wearily, her breathing heavy. “You came,” she whispered, smiling weakly at the sight of a friend. “You found me.”

Cadence grinned. “Of course I did.” She wrapped Fluttershy in her magic, and gently set the pegasus on her back. “Come, let’s get away from here,” she said. She turned around, picked up the arrows she could use from the dead beast, and walked away with her friend.

Cadence and Fluttershy eventually found a small lake a few minutes or so from where they had found each other. It was shaped as though two circles had collided together, with strips of land wedged between the two. Lilies and tall grass covered the banks of the lake, while trees taller then houses surrounded it and obscuring it from hostile eyes.

When Cadence arrived at the bank of the lake, she slowly set herself down on her stomach, and let Fluttershy crawl off and fall unceremoniously onto her side. The pegasus felt exhausted. Her right leg pained a bit from where the creature had bitten her, and her whole body ached from exhaustion. “I must look terrible,” she said, her voice strained and heavy with fatigue.

“Oh, believe me, I have seen much worse. Here, sit up and let me clean off the blood on you,” Cadence said gently. Fluttershy groaned and lifted herself onto her rump, too exhausted to move any more. Seeing she was not going to move anymore, Cadence dipped her hoof into the pond, took it out again, then turned around and began cleaning off the blood that stained Fluttershy’s back and neck.

“You know, you are very lucky to still be alive, especially with those marks on your neck – anypony else would be dead by now.” Cadence gently rubbed a hoof over the wounds, and was visibly shocked once she saw that they had closed. “They’ve sealed up.”

Fluttershy puffed a quiet sigh of relief. “Dragonlords have a faster healing rate than most ponies, Cadence. Wounds on us take seconds to close up, except the most fatal ones, of course. It is a relief that they have closed up, though. I really thought the one on my neck would be my end.”

“Heh, I doubt it. If a giant, lake-faring monster can’t kill you, then I doubt anything else could,” Cadence offered. The pair fell silent for a while as Cadence wiped off the blood staining Fluttershy’s back.

“There, all squeaky clean,” Cadence announced a few minutes later, staring at her hoof work like a mother would after cleaning their foal. “Turn around so I can clean your face and chest up.” Fluttershy did as she was told, and shifted about till she was facing Cadence. She looked down and saw her chest was stained with blood from her shoulder wounds. She nearly fainted from the amount she saw. She looked away as Cadence started wiping the blood off, wincing and flinching every time as Cadence wiped a bit off with her magic and her hoof. “You need to stop flinching, Fluttershy, or else I might miss a bit and this will take longer,” Cadence warned playfully.

Fluttershy smiled sheepishly, though she could feel it straining to stay in place. “Sorry. I just get really jumpy when being touched by another pony,” she said. She giggled when she heard Cadence’s tone. “You know, you would make a great mother someday.”

From the corner of Fluttershy’s eye, she could see Cadence smile wryly, though it was certainly pained. “Thanks, sweetie. I wish I could say the same about you, as well.”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s all right. I’ve accepted it long ago.” The two fell into a comfortable silence for a bit. “How did you find me?” she whispered after a while.

“I heard your screams,” Cadence replied grimly as she wiped off a trail of dried blood down the front of her neck. At Fluttershy’s imploring look, she explained. “I was making my way back along the road and towards the crossroads when I heard you cry out. I broke into a canter, but slowed down after thinking that I might have been hearing things, but I heard your screams again so I started galloping as fast as I could along the road to find you.”

She paused to start working on Fluttershy’s chest. “When it went quiet, I thought that I really had heard things, so I slowed down and continued to look for you and the others. When I picked up your screaming again, this time more pained, I galloped as hard and as fast as my legs could go. The rest I think you know.”

At that moment, Fluttershy realised just how close she was to death. There had been many times where she had nearly died, but those moments were with close friends, which made them seem more comforting. This time, however, she had been alone, with nopony to say goodbye to and a creature she had done no wrong to staring at her with the joy of her torment in its eyes.

Fluttershy felt tears begin to build up as the emotional toll of what had just happened began to come to the forefront. “Cadence, I don’t think I could ever thank you enough for saving my life.”

Cadence used a hoof to move Fluttershy’s face to stare at her in the eyes, a warm, kind smile on her face. “Hey, now, you would do the same for any of us,” she said gently, not slowing down on cleaning Fluttershy’s bloodied chest.

Fluttershy shook her head, just as the tears began to fall. “No, Cadence, I really mean it. Thank you.” She leapt forward and wrapped the alicorn in a tight hug. She could no longer control her emotions, so she let them out in her tears. “I thought I was going to die back there,” she sobbed as she held Cadence close. Cadence instantly wrapped her forelegs around the pegasus in comfort, obviously knowing where this was going. “I thought I wasn’t scared of dying, but when that creature was towering over me with death in its hands I was scared, so scared. I didn’t want to die like that, alone and without any friends beside me. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to die…”

“Shh, hey, now, shh, shh, shh, shh, it’ll be okay,” Cadence cooed softly, rubbing her back in gentle strokes. “It’s all right, now, Fluttershy. It’s gone.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed, her ears falling flat in dismay. “Well, that one, at least,” she added darkly.

Fluttershy abruptly stopped crying at Cadence’s words, and pulled her head away from the alicorn’s chest, her cheeks glistening in the low sunlight. “That one, at least?” she repeated fearfully. “You mean, there’s more of them out there?”

Cadence nodded, her head shifting as she looked around her for signs of more of them. “Yes. Many more, possibly hundreds, are out there right now hunting for our friends and us. Now, we might be re-united, but our friends and my auntie are not.”

She paused for breath, while using a hoof to dry Fluttershy’s wet cheeks. “Are you scared, Fluttershy?” she asked.

Fluttershy didn’t need long to answer the question; she thought it was pointless to be asked it in the first place. “Of course I am scared, Cadence. More scared than I have ever been.”

“Then you can imagine how scared the others must be,” Cadence said, breaking her hold on Fluttershy. “They are alone right now, with nopony beside them to keep them safe. We need to find them now, and fast, before those creatures find them or us. They thought separating us would break us, keep us from fighting and allowing us to fall into despair. But they were wrong. It has made me more determined to fight on and see us all out of here alive, and I am sure in that heart of yours you think the same.”

Cadence stood up, and held out a hoof for Fluttershy to take. “Are you with me, Dragonlord?”

Fluttershy looked at her for a long time, before she stared at her shaking hooves. She was terrified of these things and the death they promised to her should they catch her, yet she knew she could not let that fear hold her in place. Cadence was right. Her friends were out there and in a far worse position than she was. She had a friend to back her up, and as far as Cadence and herself knew, Luna, Trixie and Spike didn’t. She needed to toughen up, if not for herself but for them.

She wiped her eyes with her hooves, then looked up at Cadence and nodded determinedly while reaching out and taking Cadence’s outstretched hoof. “I’m with you, Cadence. Always.”

Cadence smiled. “I knew you would be.” She helped Fluttershy up on all fours, and then looked around. “Right then, how should we go about this?”

Fluttershy tapped her chin in thought, while her eyes constantly wandered about the clearing, searching for any sign of the creatures that had so mercilessly attacked them. She quickly looked to the air, then back at Cadence. “How are you for flying?” she asked.

Cadence nodded as she slowly spread her wings. “I think I can fly for a little whi– ah!” she hissed as her body seized up in pain. She suddenly set one wing back to her side and collapsed onto her rump, gritting her teeth.

Fluttershy rushed to her side in an instant, instantly regretting the thought of flying. “Oh gosh, I am so sorry, I didn’t know you were badly injured!” she cried as she looked to the wing in question. She brushed aside a few of the feathers upon seeing Cadence’s face contort further in pain, and saw to her horror a large bite wound along the wing’s ulna. She instantly set the feathers back the way they were, relieving Cadence of any further pain. “What happened?”

“One of those smaller beasts managed to latch onto my wing with its teeth when I tried to fly away yesterday,” Cadence replied, her breaths quick and shallow as the pain receded away from her face. “If I fly for longer than half an hour, then it starts to play up, and I’ve already used my wings to the point of death today. I don’t think I’ll be able to fly properly for a long time now.”

Fluttershy’s gaze fell in shame of herself. “I’m sorry, Cadence. I didn’t mean to–”

“Hey, it’s all right. You didn’t know I was injured,” Cadence said kindly, looking back at her with a smile. She flicked her head to throw some of her mane out of her face. “And the pain was worth it just to see that vile beast defeated.”

“But you must have been in agony,” Fluttershy pointed out, her gaze now fixed on the shoulder hidden by Cadence’s mane. ‘Cadence doesn’t usually have her mane like that. Unless she’s hiding something,’ she thought.

“Oh, yes, constantly,” Cadence replied, grinning assuredly, “but like I said before, I ignored the pain as best as I could and focused on seeing that thing dead and you safe and sound, and it worked.” She noticed Fluttershy staring at her shoulder, and her grin faded. “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy simply stepped forward, and briskly lifted a hoof and brushed Cadence’s mane off her shoulder. “No, Fluttershy, don–” The words died on Cadence’s lips as the Dragonlord stared in horror at the large gash running along Cadence’s shoulder and her upper chest, surrounded by a pool of dried blood.

Fluttershy swallowed, then stared at Cadence with narrow, yet concerned eyes. “Don’t you, ‘don’t look at it’, me, missy,” she said sternly, causing the Crystal Princess to wince on herself in shame. She rushed over to the pool, got hold of a lily pad, and raced back to Cadence’s side. “That wound needs to be cleared up before it gets infected.” With that, she began rubbing the wet lily pad over Cadence’s injury. Cadence flinched and hissed in pain, but other than that, she stayed still and made no moves to stop her from cleaning it up.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Cadence whispered.

Fluttershy briefly glanced at her, before attending to the wound once more. “I know I don’t, but I want to. You’re my friend, Cadence. It would be wrong of me to just leave this alone.”

Cadence stayed silent for a few seconds, allowing Fluttershy to continue, before asking, “Are we friends?”

Fluttershy stopped her work, and turned to face Cadence with a friendly smile. “Of course we are. We might barely know each other, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get to know each other better from now on. And we need one another for support, so that helps our friendship to grow.” She quickly returned to cleaning Cadence’s wound.

Cadence merely smiled. “Thank you, Fluttershy. And I see you as a friend, too,” she said quietly. Fluttershy did not reply but her smile simply grew wider.

After a while, Fluttershy pulled herself back from the wound, and threw her used lily pad back into the pool. “There. Clean as a whistle now,” she announced motherly.

Cadence smiled and threw her mane back over it to cover it up. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” she said as she stood up, rolling her shoulder to see how it felt. “That actually feels a lot better now. You are a natural when it comes to stuff like this.”

Fluttershy looked to the ground with a bashful gaze. “Ah, it was nothing, really. I just cleaned it up.”

Cadence giggled. “Nope, your hooves are miracle workers, I just know it.” She turned away from the pegasus to stare at the clearing around them, her smile turning to a frown. “Okay, so with flying out of the question, which way do we go from here?”

Fluttershy looked back the way they had come. “I wouldn’t go back that way–” She was cut off when screeches unlike anypony she had heard before reached her ears, paling her coat considerably.

Cadence spun around as the sounds grew closer, her eyes widening with fright. “More of those things!” she cried.

Fluttershy spun in place, looking for a place to hide, yet they were in the open, with no bushes close by to cover them. The Dragonlord began to sweat in fear. “Where can we go? Where can we hide?” she squeaked in terror.

“Fluttershy!” The pegasus stopped spinning around and turned to face Cadence, who gestured with her head to the pond. She nodded understandably, and as one, the pair jumped into the pond and dived till nothing of their bodies was visible above water. It was quite deep and clear with no fish to speak of, thankfully, and leaving enough space for the two to spread out and hide.

Fluttershy looked over to Cadence and gave her a look that said, “I hope this works.”

Cadence seemed to understand what she was saying, for her look was sympathetic and seemed to say, “Me too.”

The two stopped conversing with their eyes to look up and see one of the things standing before the waterline, gazing at the land before it with lidless eyes. Fluttershy felt her heart stop as the creature’s head lowered, staring not just at the water, but also into it, as though it was staring right at them. She felt something crawl along her hoof, and she looked down to see Cadence’s hoof on top of her own. Without looking up, the pegasus comfortingly brought her hoof up and wound it around Cadence’s so that they were holding hooves.

After a moment, bringing the Dragonlord to the conclusion that they had found them and were now waiting for them to come out to breathe, the creature turned away and disappeared from the bank. Carefully, so not to make to much noise, the two ponies lifted themselves past the waterline so that only the top of their heads and their nostrils were visible.

Quickly and quietly, Cadence lifted two lily pads over and covered their faces with them to make them more discreet. To Fluttershy, however, it just made their hiding place more obvious, especially with Cadence’s horn getting in the way. ‘What if they come back? What if they see two lumps sticking out the water and realise it is us? Oh, we’re going to be caught and killed fo–’ The dark yellow creature returned to view once again, cutting off Fluttershy’s thoughts as though she had been saying them aloud.

She lowered her head a bit more when seven more appeared, followed by another of the horse-like beasts. Unlike the other one, however, this one had a black mane and carried a long staff balancing across its shoulders. A few of the smaller creatures ran around it, sniffing at the ground, while those that weren’t doing anything were directed by the larger creature to go elsewhere. ‘It’s almost like that one is herding them, like a… shepherd,’ she figured, as the larger beast spun its staff around and pointed it to the south. At once, the smaller creatures leapt away from the pond and galloped into the direction of the pointing staff, the shepherd following them at a canter.

Fluttershy craned her neck to be sure that the creatures were leaving through the forest on the other side of the clearing, and sighed with relief as they disappeared through the trees, never coming back. She turned to Cadence, who stayed low and shivered in fear. “It’s all right, Cadence. They’ve gone,” she said calmly.

Cadence closed her eyes in relief, and quickly jumped out of the pond and shook off any excess water. “Phew, that was too close for comfort,” she said, gazing at the direction they had gone with concern.

“Yes, it was,” Fluttershy agreed flatly as she threw off her new hat. She staggered out of the lake and onto dry land once more, shaking her body and ridding it of any excess water that stained it. She looked over to Cadence, only to look away sheepishly to see Cadence was wet once more. “Sorry.”

Cadence shook off the water, smiling disarmingly at her. “It’s fine. It’s not easy for other ponies to make me wet.” She turned away from the pegasus, leaving Fluttershy confused and pondering deeply as to what she meant; when she did, her face contorted into disgust and embarrassment. “Now then, if those things went that way,” she pointed in the general direction their pursuers had gone, “then I suggest we take the opposite route instead.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “That would take us back the way we came, right to where we fought and killed all of those beasts,” the Dragonlord objected. She turned on the spot, her eyes narrow as she searched for way out, only to stop and grin when she saw a narrow space through the trees, on the other side of the lake. “We go that way,” she declared, pointing.

Cadence stared worriedly at the way Fluttershy was pointing. “Are you sure about this? We could be pushing ourselves deeper and deeper into a place we have no idea about, with these things everywhere.”

Fluttershy shrugged. “I’m not sure, no,” she admitted. “But we can’t stay here. We need to find our friends as soon as possible.” She looked ahead again, and gently rubbed the side of her face. “If we stick to the larger roads rather than the smaller ones, then we could make our way around the Vale better.”

Cadence sighed, as though the idea didn’t sit well with her. “I have to admit that it’s not the best plan in the world, walking around like headless chickens.” Fluttershy’s ears flopped as she briefly remembered watching poor Beaky running around headless for a few seconds before dying; to this day, she was still unsure how the chicken lost its head in the first place.

“However,” Cadence continued, drawing the pegasus back to reality, “I haven’t got any better ideas, so we’ll have to stick to that one. Lead on, please,” she said, gesturing with a hoof for the Dragonlord to start walking.

Fluttershy nodded her thanks for the support, and with Cadence close behind began trotting warily around the lake, through the woods, and towards wherever her road led.

‘We’re coming to find you, my friends,’ she thought as the pair broke into a gallop. ‘Just stay safe till we meet again.’

Chapter 12

The Vale of the Lost was not a flat place, Fluttershy realised as she gazed out from behind the cover of a rock at the top of a hill. The hills spread themselves out from the mountain that sat in the centre, creating lumps of varying size and shape that covered and dominated the Vale. It gave Fluttershy reason to remember an old willow she used to sit under when she was upset and wanted to be alone; its roots tended to dig upwards, created lumps and bumps in the ground like hills. ‘The mountain is the tree, and the hills are its roots,’ she mused.

A shriek echoing across the Vale forced Fluttershy to lower her head behind the rock once more, and another shriek, longer than the last, caught the pegasus’s attention. ‘That was close. Very close.’ She peeped over the rock and looked below to see a few dozen more of the creatures, led by a shepherd – as she now called the larger ones – with a round-headed mace in one hand, racing down the path with their weapons raised and ready to sink into pony flesh.

Their flesh.

The shepherd stopped for a moment, sniffed loudly, and abruptly looked up, forcing Fluttershy to duck, press herself against the rock and listen to her heartbeat pound itself to destruction. For a moment there was nothing but silence, prompting the Dragonlord to fear the worst. ‘He saw me! He saw me, I just know it! Oh, he is going to find us and he is going to kill us!’ she thought frantically, too scared to move. ‘I am sorry, Cadence. I failed you. I failed all of you.’ She drew a deep breath in and kept it between her lips, too scared to let it go.

Eventually, she heard a faint snort, followed closely by a bark of command, before the sound of heavy paws scratching into the dirt path reached her ears. Fluttershy quickly craned her neck up to watch as the creatures followed their shepherd down the path, behind the cover of the trees and out of sight.

‘If I am right, they’re heading northeast,’ she thought. She smiled thinly to herself. ‘Maybe Cadence’s fake trail worked, after all.’ She turned away from the rocky formation, and cantered down the slope, through the woods and back to where she had left Cadence to hide.

It had been nearly two hours since Cadence had found Fluttershy fighting for her life against a large creature she – and Cadence for that matter – had never seen before, and with her help had defeated the beast. Once the pair had cleaned up and recovered from their fight, they set off blindly through the Vale once more, intending to find their friends alive and well.

It hadn’t been long since the pair had started moving again from the pond, did the sound of the creatures’ screeches pick up from behind them, and they were gradually getting closer.

Without even saying a thing to one another, Cadence and Fluttershy broke into a speedy gallop down the path and through the woods, intent on losing their pursuers. As the minutes dragged on, however, and the trees gave way to large, open meadows, the screeches only seemed to be getting louder and louder.

Desperate, Cadence used her magic to create an imitation of their scents and sent it into the wind, which was heading northeast. The spell would not last long, so she knew the pair of them would have to be quick and get it right, or else those creatures would once again be on their tails.

As soon as Cadence had discharged her magic and sent it drifting into the wind, the pair jumped out of the meadow and galloped into the woods towards a group of hills clustered together to the north of them. Once they were there, Cadence crept into the bushes to lay low, while Fluttershy made sure the spell worked and they were free.

Sure enough, much to Fluttershy’s relief, Cadence’s magic had worked and they were finally rid of the monsters. However, the Dragonlord knew that it would only be a short reprieve. ‘They will soon realise that the scent was fake, and when they do they will be on the real one again. Our one.’

She blinked as her face came into contact with a large bush, throwing her out of her thoughts. Once she broke through, shaking her head to lose the twigs and leaves that had attached themselves to her mane, she found herself entering the small clearing with a small pond to the side hemmed in by rocks and gifted with water via a small waterfall flowing down the sides of a wall of rock.

She looked around for a bit, her ears twitching for any sign of the creatures relentlessly hunting them, and then called out in a whisper, “Cadence?”

As if she had been waiting for her cue, the alicorn emerged from a group of bushes. Her sword was gripped fiercely in her magic, and her one good eye was wide and searching for any threats; her other eye was half closed and surrounded by purple bruising. ‘I will never forgive myself for that,’ Fluttershy thought, staring ashamedly at the bruises staining one side of Cadence’s face. ‘I could have done something to stop that, but I was too cowardly to get up.’

“Did you see that pack?” Cadence asked, relaxing just a little but her shoulders looked as hard as stone. Fluttershy briskly nodded in answer. “How many were there, and how close are they?”

Fluttershy’s forehead scrunched up as she did a quick mental count. “There were about thirty, I think, including a shepherd,” she replied, nodding to herself. “And they weren’t too far behind, just beyond this hill.” She pointed to the hill next to them. “But I believe they picked up your fake trail and are going after it. I think you gave them the slip.”

For all the joy in her eyes, Cadence’s lips still stayed in the same sombre frown. “Only for a while,” she said grimly, looking into the direction the creatures had run in. “They will be back on our scents soon enough.”

Fluttershy nodded, and turned to move away. “All the more reason to take this chance and make as much distance between us as we can,” she said. She broke into a trot, lowering her head to move past a low branch. “We need to get to the northwest of here by nightfall, and find all of our friends before then.”

Cadence quickly caught up with her. “Why the northwest exactly?” she asked, her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

“Trixie said that the exit out of the Vale is in the northwest,” Fluttershy answered. “If there is any place in the Vale where we can find our friends again, it’s there.”

“But how can we be sure that Trixie can be trusted?” Cadence enquired, raising an eyebrow. “She said nothing vile lived in the Unicorn Range, and yet an evil sea creature tried to crush us, and now those horrible rat-faced creatures are trying to kill us. How can we be sure that they are not working for Trixie?”

Fluttershy stopped and glared at Cadence. “I don’t think Trixie could be capable of such a thing,” she said sternly.

“And how can you be sure she isn’t?” Cadence enquired persistently, lifting an eyebrow. “I have always believed ponies are capable of anything, Fluttershy. When we are desperate for whatever reason, or forced into a situation that we have only dreamed of, we can push ourselves to do things we would not normally do, because we felt that we had to. Maybe that’s what Trixie was thinking. Maybe she thought she could get her old life back if she brought us here to die.”

Fluttershy gritted her teeth together and flattened her ears. Yet, as much as she wanted some, no words flew from her tongue in retort. She didn’t want to believe that Trixie was behind the attempts on their life, that she was just a target as everypony else was. Yet, there was still a hint of doubt that was beginning to fester in her mind. ‘She did say there was some amazing wildlife that lived here, and she said I would have to wait to find out. What if she was hinting that these things and the kraken were here, and as a pact with them, lured ponies into the Range to be devoured by these creatures?’

She rapidly shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. Trixie was, though slightly arrogant, a kind pony that would not fall to such depths to survive. She was a good pony, right? Right? Fluttershy mentally sighed. ‘I just don’t know her well enough to trust her properly. I know I should, but it is harder to trust anypony now. Even my closest friends.’

Without a word spoken, she looked away from Cadence and continued to trot through the forest once more. Cadence followed close behind, searching the forests and trees for any sign of the creatures waiting to ambush them.

They soon made it out of the forest and beside a long stretch of narrow track that gently veered away into half a circle and disappeared around corners at each end. “Do you see any trace of those things coming along here?” Fluttershy asked, her eyes scanning the turns and aligning woodlands for signs of movement.

“I don’t see anything suspicious,” Cadence answered after a little while, her good eye squinting. She looked down at the path for paw prints. “And there are no prints on the ground to suggest that they were here. They either haven’t come through here yet, or…”

“They’re avoiding it,” Fluttershy finished. A small smile crawled across her face. ‘We’re in luck,’ she thought. She looked left, and after a moment to inspect the road, turned her head to look right. “Which way do we go?”

Cadence quickly broke into a trot, swerving right. “We should go this way. At least we might find ourselves meeting up with our friends and my auntie again,” she answered.

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “Keep your senses alert, though. Those things could be anywhere.” With that, they began walking along the path, looking at the woods and the hills around them suspiciously for any sign of sudden movement.

Yet, as the minutes slowly passed by, nothing jumped out of the forest to scare the coat off her, nor did the sound of savage screeches fill the air with terror and force the two ponies to run once again. It was a silent day, with no animals to break that silence with their continuous chatter, and little wind to cool their sweating bodies.

There were days that Fluttershy enjoyed the silence, and even found it calming and assuring. Today, however, it scared her more than ever. “Talk to me, Cadence,” she said shakily, her eyes flicking across the land around them.

Cadence stared at her oddly. “Talk to you about what?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Something. Anything. Anything to keep the silence away,” Fluttershy responded frighteningly.

Cadence nodded understandably. “Okay, then. Well, uh…?” She bit her bottom lip as she pondered. “Oh, I know what to ask. Something I’ve been meaning to ask since we met up. What happened yesterday, if you don’t mind telling me? What took you so long to get into the Vale? And what the heck was that creature that tried to turn us into paste?”

Fluttershy’s ears flattened in remembrance to what had happened the previous day, and what she had been forced to do to end the battle. “It was a poseidon eel kraken that tried to kill us yesterday, Cadence,” she said.

Cadence looked at her as if Fluttershy was pulling her leg. “A poseidon eel kraken?” she whispered incredulously. “A big, tentacle covered, horse-faced, breath-killing, poseidon eel kraken!” Fluttershy nodded. “How the hay did a deep sea creature find its way into a lake?” She quickly added, “Assuming it was fully-grown, of course.”

“Oh, it was fully-grown; I’ve seen enough pictures of dead krakens that have washed up onto the shore to know an adult one from a baby.” Fluttershy’s head bowed a little. “As to how it got there, I imagine it was pushed into a river by a storm as a child. In the hope it would join up with its mother again, and not thinking any better, it followed the river up to here and settled down, passing through underwater caves to get around,” she theorised.

Cadence chewed on her bottom lip in thought. “That sounds credible enough,” she said, nodding thoughtfully. “But I still want to know what happened after the cave-in.”

Fluttershy’s head lowered even further, and told Cadence in brief of how she fought the great kraken, how she was nearly crushed by its tentacles, and how she ripped out one of its eyes with Drage Bane, forcing it back into the deep water.

Once she had finished, Cadence stared at her in shock. “Whoa…” she whispered.

Fluttershy winced at her tone. “You must think I am a monster now,” she said.

Cadence quickly slung a leg over her shoulders. “No, no, not at all,” she said, nuzzling the Dragonlord’s face in comfort. “You did the only thing you could to stop that kraken from killing you. You forced it to retreat, and that is what matters in the end.”

Fluttershy’s nose twitched. “So you don’t think I… killed it?”

Cadence chuckled, shaking her head. “Oh, no, I don’t think losing an eye would be enough to kill such a creature. Just don’t come this far into the Unicorn Range again, though, cause I don’t think it would end well for you if you ever decide to come back and face him again.”

Fluttershy brought herself to chuckle, though to her it sounded like she was coughing. “Oh, trust me, I don’t think I will ever set a hoof into the Unicorn Range again after this,” she said, bringing Cadence to laugh as well. The pair paused for a moment as they saw the path split into two, with one veering left, and the other heading straight on.

Silently, the two agreed to head left. A bit further down the path, the forests gradually disappeared to be replaced by an open plain, with few trees dotted here and there, and a few rocks set up for ponies to sit on and have a picnic. It was beside a set of rocks, that Fluttershy had enough of the silence once more and spoke up. “Um, Cadence, mind if I ask you something?”

Cadence looked at her quickly, and smiled. “Of course you can. What did you want to ask?”

“I was wondering if you would tell me what happened yesterday. What drove you all to split off like that?” Fluttershy asked worriedly, not because she dreaded the answer, but because she didn’t want Cadence to feel uncomfortable.

Cadence’s smile fractured little by little until it formed into a frown. She sighed heavily and looked away. Fluttershy stopped, prompting Cadence to do the same, and raised a hoof in the hope to calm her. “Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything if it makes you un–”

“No, Fluttershy, it’s fine,” Cadence said quietly, waving her hoof assuredly. “I want to tell you how we split off like that. It’s just the events leading before our separation leave me ashamed of myself.”

Ashamed? Fluttershy tilted her head as she stared at Cadence oddly. “What happened?”

Cadence’s eyes drifted upwards and towards the pegasus, revealing sorrow and shame to the Dragonlord. “We had an argument, Fluttershy. One that nearly divided us for good…”

Cadence felt the sweat pour down her face and body as she ran, knowing that the excessive amount of sweat was from a mix of exhaustion and terror. She could hear the monster’s roars following her like a fierce gale threatening to throw her off her hooves, but she ignored it to the best of her ability. ‘Keep running, Cadence. Don’t stop, and you will make it,’ she thought as she raced down the tunnel and leaving that beast behind.

She just hoped everypony else would make it as well.

She looked over her shoulder quickly to be sure everypony – and dragon – was accounted for. Spike was on her back still and gripped in her magic, screaming and demanding that she would release him. Trixie was just behind, followed closely by Luna, her sword Nightbringer gripped in her magic and glancing over her shoulder.

That were nearly all of them. All of them except for Fluttershy.

Cadence sighed sullenly as she looked ahead once more. Between Luna and herself, the pair had tried to remove as much rubble as they could with their magic, as well as using blasts of magic to destroy the pieces of rock, but it was still taking too long. And like Fluttershy had said, the creature was coming back up, ready for the next round. If they had stayed close to the rubble blocking the entrance, that creature could have caused more cave-ins and crushed them all faster than they could retreat.

It was a terrible choice to leave Fluttershy behind to face that monster alone, Cadence knew. However, and as much as she hated to admit it, the decision was the right one to make.

Cadence squinted her eyes as they came into direct contact with the sun, and slowed down as she found herself staring at the Vale of the Lost from a long ledge sticking out of the mountainside. She found her breath taken away from her as she stared at the vast number of woodlands, hills, roadways and meadows filling the Vale. “What an incredible place,” she whispered.

Trixie didn’t stop to enjoy the scenery, but kept on galloping. “Why are you stopping?” she demanded. “Come on, keep running!” Before she could give Cadence a time to reply, she leapt off the side of the ledge and galloped ever faster down the hillside.

Cadence gawped hesitantly as she watched Trixie make it to the flats below and disappear under the trees. “But, what about Flutter–?”

“We’ll think about her when we get to wherever Trixie’s going!” Luna explained as she raced past Cadence. When she made it to the edge, she spread her wings and glided down the hill. “Come on!”

After a moment of hesitance, Cadence nodded and spread her wings as well. She briefly looked back at her passenger, who stayed silent and stared at the tunnel behind them. “Hold on tight,” she said, before leaping off the ledge and gliding down after her auntie. Spike didn’t move an inch, but simply stared at the tunnel with unblinking eyes.

When she made it to the flats just below, she tucked her wings to her sides and broke into a gallop once more, intending to catch up to her aunt. ‘But what about your friend Fluttershy?’ her mind asked her. ‘Are you just going to abandon her?’

Cadence flicked her head in disagreement to her troublesome and ever doubting mind. ‘Fluttershy is a strong pony. She is capable of looking after herself. She will come back to us, you’ll see, Cadence,’ she retorted. She just hoped Fluttershy would not be too long; she wasn’t sure Luna and Trixie would want to wait ages for her.

She slowed down to a walk as she saw her auntie and Trixie resting on opposite sides of a large dirt patch with four different paths heading north, south, east and west. Around the roads were a heavy array of trees and bushes. ‘A crossroads of sorts,’ Cadence considered, inspecting the large area. ‘A good place as any to rest, I suppose.’ She looked back at where they had come from, only to see that the trees blocked the tunnel from where they had entered. ‘Probably for the best. Otherwise I’ll keep watching that spot for her to appear and kill myself with worry every passing minute when she doesn’t.’

She set herself down on her stomach, and shut off her magic, letting go of Spike. As soon as he was free, however, he jumped off Cadence’s back and attempted to run back the way they came. “Spike, no!” Cadence cried as she channelled her magic once more and caught Spike in her grip.

“Let me go, Cadence, LET ME GO!” Spike yelled, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to free himself, but to no avail. “I have to go back, I need to help her!”

“Look, Spike!” Cadence shouted, spinning him around to face her and glaring the little dragon into silence. “I’m not happy about leaving Fluttershy behind, either. Far from it, in fact. But I know that the only good we can be to her right now is to get in her way and become live bait! So sit down and wait!”

She hated giving such commands to children, but sometimes it was necessary; she might adore children, but right now, she wasn’t in the mood to put up with Spike’s stubbornness. She looked at the ground and sighed. “Look, if it’s any consolation, I strongly believe Fluttershy will join us pretty soon, looking as if nothing had ever come out of that lake and tried to turn us all into filler for a sea sandwich. In a few minutes, she will be back here smiling, and after a brief chat and hug we can all be on our merry way again.”

Seeing that he had calmed a lot, Cadence gently set Spike down onto his backside, and smiled at him caringly. A smile that, she hoped, would make Spike consider and approve of her words. “You really think Fluttershy will be all right?” he asked.

Cadence nodded, her smile staying the same. “I don’t think so, brave Spike. I know so,” she replied. She looked in the direction that they had came, and discreetly nodded to herself. ‘Yes, she will be fine.’

She looked around when she heard heavy hoofsteps pacing around, and saw Luna sheathing her sword back to her side and looking at the surrounding area. “Is everypony okay?” she asked, looking to each member of their group.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Trixie replied, her tone indicating that she was still with them.

Cadence lifted herself onto her hooves, smiling assuredly. “I’m okay, thank you, aunt,” she answered.

Luna looked sceptical. “Are you sure? You took a nasty punch to the side,” she reminded her.

Cadence looked at her side where she had been hit. Luckily, her wing hadn’t been damaged, but a faint purple colour began to sprout around the wing and her lower stomach. “I’ll live,” she declared confidently. She looked back at her aunt. “What about you?”

Luna shrugged. “A few scrapes here and there, but nothing too serious,” she answered. She leaned on the right side of her body, the look of concern on her face changing to a frown as she was about to change the subject. “Now, we must take a moment to consider what our options are from here.”

“Well, isn’t that obvious? We wait here and let Fluttershy catch us up,” Spike said, getting up and dusting himself off.

“That may be a good idea, but what if–” Before she could finish her emotionless statement, Cadence sent a hoof straight through her open mouth.

“Don’t. You even. Dare,” she growled quietly, glaring at her aunt. She spoke louder so that Trixie and Spike could hear her. “I for one agree with Spike. We should wait here until Fluttershy rejoins us and then find a place to shelter for the night. She would do the same for any of us, so why shouldn’t we?”

Luna pushed Cadence’s hoof out of her mouth, then gestured for Cadence to follow her for a bit. The younger alicorn complied and followed Luna to the edge of the crossroads. Once they were out of earshot, Luna leaned her head forward and said quietly, “I know she would, Cadence. She has a good heart, and is loyal to her friends no matter what. But you cannot deny the fact that there is a large chance she may never return to us. Whatever that beast is, it was big, and I fear Fluttershy is too little to take it on alone. We could be stuck here for an awfully long time waiting for her, and I don’t think we could afford to stay in one place for so long.”

Spike huffed loudly, his face revealing how much he had heard – all of it. “Well I’m going to wait here for her!” he declared, falling onto his rump and crossing his arms. Luna and Cadence looked back at him in shock. “You can all go on without me,” he continued, waving his claws at them. “I don’t mind. I won’t miss ya.”

Luna looked perplexed at the situation, while Cadence gently smiled at the baby dragon. ‘Such loyalty, young Spike,’ she thought. ‘Such bravery.’

Trixie silently approached, stopping to stand between the two alicorns and the baby dragon. “Either way, I think we should find a more suitable place to rest–”

Spike spun around so fast that Cadence jumped back in shock. “Don’t you even think about telling anypony what to do, you dumb witch!” he yelled, glaring at the unicorn with a raging fire in his eyes. “You have no right to tell anypony what to do after what you’ve brought us into, least of all me!”

Trixie took a step back in shock, her eyes bulging and her mouth hanging open. “Why are you taking this turn of events out on me?” she asked.

Spike pointed an accusing finger at her. “You said that the Unicorn Range was safe! You said that we could pass through here without getting into trouble! An- and that we will be out of the Range by this evening!” He thrust his finger at her. “You lied to us, Trixie! Just like you have always done and always will! You lied so you could… you could…”

“So I could, what?” Trixie demanded, her look of shock giving way to anger. “Have you all killed and take whatever values you all have on you?” She paused to chuckle. “Trixie may be many things, baby dragon, but she isn’t a murderer and a thief!” She paused to stare at the little dragon bemusedly. “Anyway, why are you blaming me for this attack?” She raised a hoof and pointed it towards Spike. “The blame lies more on you than it does on me!”

Spike got up and pressed his face against Trixie’s, gritting his teeth in anger. “And what is that supposed to mean?” he asked angrily; Cadence backed away, seeing where this was going easily, and wished to be no part of it.

“You were the one that was throwing those blasted pebbles into the lake!” Trixie recalled, throwing a foreleg into the general direction they had came from. “If you had not been that stupid, then maybe Fluttershy would still be here and we could be out of the Range before nightfall!”

“How was I supposed to know that a giant monster with wiggly tentacles was in there, huh?” Spike demanded. “The only pony that should have known such things were around here was you, the expert of the Range, as you had called yourself. Some expert you are. It would have been better for us if Fluttershy had left you to rot in that castle!”

Trixie’s eyes burned. “Well, it might have been better if you had been left behind in Canterlot!” she roared.

Cadence turned away as the shouting between the two escalated into insults and such. It was no secret that Spike harboured a strong hatred for Trixie, but Cadence didn’t realise it was that strong. ‘I should have helped Fluttershy in getting these two to work better together.’ Her ears twitched when she heard Luna’s voice suddenly thrown into the mix, either attempting to calm the pair down or she suddenly became part of the argument, she did not really know.

Not that it mattered, anyway. ‘What has happened to us?’ Cadence thought, sighing solemnly. She, along with Fluttershy, considered that they were all starting to get along and become the team they needed to be. Now, things were coming down faster than a falling tree, and Cadence could not think of any way to stop it.

She looked up at the place where the tunnel was, and pleaded in thought, ‘Fluttershy, come back soon and help us. Save us.’

Suddenly, the bushes beside her rustled loudly, drawing Cadence’s attention. Cadence turned her head around upon hearing the noise, then took a step closer and brought her head forward. The rustling was too quick to be made by the wind. ‘Could it be?’ she hoped. She stepped forward once more; her wings opened up as a welcoming smile spread across her face. “Fluttershy?”

A creature, too fast for Cadence to see what it actually was, leapt out of the bushes and fell upon her with a ravenous howl. Cadence didn’t have time to react and cry for help as the creature pushed her to the ground and bit tightly into her outstretched wing.

Cadence screamed in agony as she felt the creature’s teeth sink into her wing and her bone, shaking its head as if it was trying to rip her wing apart. She could feel her head spinning in shock from the massive amount of pain circling her body, and felt its claws digging into her side, pinning her down as it subjected her to agonies she thought were not possible. “Aunt!” she cried out, her legs kicking sporadically in an attempt to push the beast off her.

She heard a shrilling scream – obviously from Luna – and then the rush of galloping hooves as her aunt came to her aid. She heard a sword swing through the air; followed swiftly by the unnatural screech of a creature she had never heard before.

She felt herself passing to and from the world, the shock of the pain nearly overwhelming her. ‘Deep breaths, Cadence, deep breaths!’ her mind yelled. She did as she was told, and eventually felt her mind clear and keep her conscious. The agony she had felt before was gone, but only to be replaced by a throbbing pain that slowly started to recede.

She opened her eyes to find Luna standing above her, a look of worry for her niece across her face and her sword Nightbringer covered in ash. Yet there was something else in Luna’s eyes as well. Something Cadence had thought was impossible to see in the Nightly Princess’s eyes.

Terror.

“Come on, get up, Cadence!” she cried mortifyingly, looking around as the sounds of rustling bushes graced Cadence’s ears. “We’re under attack!”

‘Attack?’ her pained mind thought as she struggled to her hooves; she heard Trixie and Spike scream chillingly, whether in pain or in horror, she did not know. ‘Attacked by what?’ She shook her head to clear her senses, and when she felt conscious enough, looked around. What Cadence saw made her eyes go wide with horror and her mouth hang open.

The hundreds of creatures appearing from the woodlands around them resembled a multitude of animals. They had the head of a rat, the body of a pegasus pony with scythes instead of wings, the paws of a cat, and the tail of a lion. Yet their eyes were plain white, tatty manes of various dark colours ran down the side of their long necks, and fangs glistened with hunger from their mouths.

“What the heck are those things?” Spike yelled as he backed away from a few of them. One lunged forward and tried to rip open Spike’s chest, but the little dragon jumped back, bumping into Trixie, who was facing down her own monster.

Luna looked back, swinging Nightbringer in front of her. “It doesn’t matter, Spike! Fight them, all of you! Fight for your lives! Fight!” she bellowed, before charging into the many ranks of the beasts and swinging her sword left, right, up and down. The creatures that were hit by her blade dissipated into dust, while those around them surged forward, intending to kill the ponies and dragon.

Cadence looked around her and saw Trixie drawing her sword and swinging it madly at some of their new foes, while Spike began picking up any rocks he could find and hurling them at the monsters as they charged; one was hit square in the head and tumbled over, throwing a few more behind onto their backs.

Cadence looked ahead, and saw to her horror that more creatures were appearing from the bushes, the trees, everywhere they could possibly appear, and a few of them were charging towards her with hisses and screams leaving their lips. ‘Get it together, Cadence!’ her mind yelled. ‘Now get up, draw your sword and fight them!’

Once more, Cadence did as she was asked by her mind, and quickly sent a blast of magic at one of the creatures. In an instant, the beast exploded into dust. Before she had the chance to fire another beam of magic, the first of the beasts lunged forward and brought its scythes back, ready to strike. She stepped back from the first beast’s lung of its scythe-like weapons, drew her sword out, and swung it in a wide angle, slicing through the head of the beast as though it were made of butter.

She stepped forward, swung her sword around, and slammed the hilt of the sword into the head of another. She pulled it out, stepped to the side, and swung her blade into a beast coming at her from the side, ripping through its shoulder and chest and out the other side. Another tried to jump onto her back, but she saw it and ducked, swinging low to kill a few more charging her from the front, sending the creature rolling onto the ground. Before it could get up, Cadence leapt to its side and hacked off its raised scythe. The creature opened its mouth to scream, but was silenced by Cadence’s sword as it ran through its open maw.

She pulled it out, spun and slashed at another creature as it charged her. She slashed out at another as it came towards her, scythes drawn back and ready to strike. The blade tore through the creature’s chest, but it wasn’t enough to stop the creature’s forward momentum as the scythes came down towards her chest. She pulled her left shoulder back from the first, but was too slow to react to the second, which threw itself into her chest and right shoulder.

Cadence gritted her teeth together and buckled under the pain coming from her chest. She looked down and watched as the scythe that had lightly pierced her wither away into dust, allowing blood to flow freely out of the wound, along with the rest of the creature. She looked up when she heard the screech of another of the little creatures, and saw the beast charge her with its fangs bare. She pushed the pain to the back of her mind, and thrust her sword forward, spearing the beast between its jaws. She pulled the sword out and swung away.

The rest of the battle became a blur of flying dust, screeches and cries to her. She swung her sword left, right, down and up, felling one creature after the other as they tried to surround and kill her. She could hear from time to time Spike, Trixie and Luna’s cries of help or alarm as they tried to group together and fight as one, but the many creatures now swarming around them were too many for them to unite.

Cadence pulled her blade out of another creature, and looked around. The creatures were no longer attacking her, but merely circling her like wolves waiting for her to fall. Trixie and Spike were nowhere to be seen – and neither were the creatures that had been attacking them – but Luna was still swinging Nightbringer around her and killing more of the mysterious creatures, even as they progressively forced her further away from her niece.

“Luna, help!” Cadence called, throwing another away from her with a heavy swing of her blade.

Luna looked to her and, seeing the terror in her niece’s eyes, nodded. She tried to spread her wings and fly to Cadence’s side, but one of the creatures snapped at her wing, forcing her to tuck them back to side. She tried again, but another raised a scythe to try to cut it off. Quickly, Luna pulled it back and swung Nightbringer, cutting the scythe off. She finished off the howling creature by plunging the blade down its back.

She looked despairingly at her niece, which impaled Cadence’s heart. “I can’t! I’m sorry, but I can’t get to you!” she called, not stopping the swinging of her sword. She hastily looked around, seeing that the creatures had stopped their attacks and were now circling her, waiting for her to make a move. “There’s nothing more we can do for one another! You have to get out of here, Cadence! You have to save yourself!”

“No!” Cadence yelled, stepping back a bit more as the monsters formed a line that pushed her away from Luna. She tried to charge through, but, between the numbers forming up against her, and the rows of bared teeth ready to strike at her, she quickly changed her mind and shied back. “I don’t want to leave you!”

The Nightly Princess swung Nightbringer again, throwing another of the creatures into the air. “You’ll have to, my dear, but our separation will only be for a little while!” Luna promised, staggering a little as fatigue was obviously starting to show. “Run, Cadence! I promise, we will find each other again. RUN!”

Cadence felt her face contort into anguish. ‘I can’t leave her,’ she thought. ‘She’s my aunt! She’s my family! You don’t just abandon family!’ Then she looked again and saw more and more of the monsters, even bigger ones the size of horses with arms attached to their shoulders, appear from the forests and march menacingly towards the two remaining ponies with various weapons in their hands. ‘I’m sorry, Luna. I really am.’

With a cry of pain leaving her lips, she spun around and galloped for her life, throwing a few of the creatures off their feet and ignoring any that tried to snap at her. Before she broke through the bushes, she looked back to see the creatures starting to pursue her, and Luna nod at her with a hint of regret, before galloping out of sight. ‘Now I am all on my own.’

She looked ahead again and put all her strength, and her mind, into galloping to survive.

Cadence sniffed quietly as tears of shame rolled down her cheeks. “I am such a coward,” she whispered, bowing her head.

Fluttershy stopped once more – she had forgotten she had begun moving in the first place, or even the pair moving onto a road once more – and jumped up and hugged the poor alicorn. “Don’t you ever call yourself a coward,” she said gently, and yet sternly at the same time. “You are undoubtedly one of the bravest ponies I know. Even when you were in such agony, you stood and fought when anypony else would have given up and fallen. That took some bravery.”

“But what about my aunt?” Cadence pointed out, gripping onto Fluttershy as if she was a comforting teddy bear. “I could have pushed my way through and reached her side. I could have tried harder.” She stomped a hoof into the ground, throwing up dust into their faces. “I should have tried harder!”

Fluttershy winced at the pained tone in Cadence’s voice, and thought deeply of what she should say to comfort her. “To be honest, I don’t think anypony could have done any better. To try such a thing would have probably got you killed.”

“But wouldn’t you have tried to get to her?” Cadence enquired. When Fluttershy didn’t answer, she tilted her head. “Wouldn’t you have tried to get to Spike?”

“Of course I would. He’s the only friend from Ponyville that I have, and it’s up to me to look after him,” Fluttershy replied nodding. “But, as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think I could have reached him either, no matter how hard I tried. These creatures are relentless, Cadence, and strong when working together. We should not underestimate them.”

Cadence nodded understandably, and backed away from Fluttershy. “Do you think Luna might be upset with me? About leaving her, I mean?”

Fluttershy shook her head, smiling beneficially. “Of course not, sweetie. I don’t think she would care about what happened when we find her. She’ll just be over the moon to see you again. You’ll see.” With that, and a wink to finish her sentence, she turned away and continued to follow the path.

The pegasus’s ears twitched when she heard Cadence catch up to her, and when the alicorn was beside her again, looked up to see a brave smile across her face. “I hope you are right, Fluttershy. I really do.” Fluttershy smiled, but said nothing in response. “That was a terrible joke, by the way,” Cadence said a minute later.

“What joke?” Fluttershy asked, not bothering to look at her.

“The one about Luna being over the moon to see me. She is the Princess of the Night and the Bringer of the Moon after all,” Cadence replied.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she finally got it. “Oh,” she oozed. A light giggle escaped her lips. “Th-that wasn’t me being funny, Cadence. If you want to see me being funny, then I’ll show you at a more appropriate time.”

Cadence chuckled. “I look forward to it,” she said. The two kept silent as they walked through the woods once more, keeping their ears pinned up for any sounds that were not from their heavy hooves or their steady breathing.

After a while, the path gradually turned into grassland, which opened out into a large meadow that sloped upwards and was filled with tall grass and colourful plants of varying colours. Fluttershy’s eyes searched the meadow for traces of flattened grass – be it by hoof, claw or by paw. She thought her heart would sink when she saw no traces of prints, but it didn’t. She quickly knew why. ‘Our friends may not have come through here, but neither have those monsters,’ she thought in relief.

Abruptly, a gust of wind hit the meadow, forcing the taller blades of grass to sway at its touch. Fluttershy shivered at the touch, her tail swishing in shock. “Oh, it’s cold,” she remarked.

Cadence lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you were resistant to temperatures,” she pointed out.

“Just the hot temperatures I am resistant to, Cadence. Not the cold,” the Dragonlord replied. She looked at the ground, and briskly picked up and swallowed a tasty looking daisy. “Come to think of it, I did feel the icy chill of winter last year to be worse than the one before I was a Dragonlord; I had to wear a thick jacket while everypony else walked about like it was summer.”

“But you were sweating like we all were when we had to walk through the desert.”

“I think that’s because I am a baby Dragonlord still; I only became one two years ago, after all,” Fluttershy replied, though her tone revealed how unsure she was of her own answer. “Strange, really. Two years ago, I burnt my tongue on a bowl of soup when I first visited Horsca, and now I can eat it as soon as I take it out of the pan. I guess it develops through time like babies develop resistances to diseases and such.”

Cadence tilted her head a little, rubbing her lips together. “Hmm. I guess that makes sense.”

The two fell into silence for a little bit. It wasn’t until they left the meadow, and back onto another path veering left, surrounded by trees, that Fluttershy spoke up once more. “I-if this doesn’t make you more uncomfortable, Cadence, could you tell me what happened after you all separated?” she asked quietly.

Cadence closed her eyes and sighed, as though she was searching in herself for the right memories. “To be honest, the rest of the day became nothing more than a blur, with trees and other landmarks rushing past me. The only thing I distinctively remember is those creatures bellowing behind me, and hearing you call out to us.”

“But if you heard me, then why didn’t you respond back?” Fluttershy demanded. “I searched for hours for all of you. I called, cried, even yelled as loud as I could, and I didn’t even get a whisper in reply.”

Cadence closed her eyes and looked away. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t yell out to tell you where I was, nor could I race over to meet you. I tried calling out when I was running, but I was so out of breath that I had no voice loud enough for you to hear. I can imagine it was the same with the others.

“And every time I tried to turn back, or stop to call out, those beasts blocked my path and veered me away from you. They kept forcing me to run, sending me further and further away from anypony. I had no choice but to be chased through the Vale with those things constantly on my tail. I felt tired, miserable, exhausted, but most of all humiliated; I was being herded around here as if I was a sheep.

“It eventually ended, though. Night had begun to fall, and the first stars were starting to show when I saw the entrance of a cave at the base of a mountain to the east of here. I rushed inside and kept on galloping until I couldn’t see the entrance of the cave, and waited. I heard the screeches and harsh words of those things outside, but after a while, they eventually faded into the growing night. I realised that by a miracle I’d escaped, and I soon collapsed and fell asleep from exhaustion.”

Fluttershy looked at her friend in great sympathy, and her heart went out to her. ‘I wish I had been there to help her. I wish I could have helped them all,’ she thought. She veered closer to the alicorn and nuzzled Cadence’s shoulder. “I am sorry, Cadence. That must have been horrible for you.”

Cadence nodded, smiling softly at the pegasus. “Don’t be sorry, Fluttershy. It wasn’t your fault. And yes, it was hard, but I felt proud of myself to learn that I had the endurance to keep it up until then. Anyway, when I woke up and made my way back to the cave entrance, the moon was starting to set, and the sun was about to rise.

“I realised then that I had to find all of you before those creatures returned, so I cantered westward, hoping to make my way back to the crossroads. When I made it, I caught the scent of you and your tracks, and was simple ecstatic to know that you were all right. I followed your tracks, and that was when I heard your screams for the first time. The rest I’m sure you know.”

Fluttershy nodded thoughtfully, though she was unsure of what to say next. Therefore, she looked around her once more, hoping she wouldn’t see or feel those creatures’ presence. Thankfully, she could see and feel nothing, and relaxed a little, but she could feel a twitch in her legs, begging her to rear up and draw her swords. She ignored them to the best of her ability, but the more time that passed without seeing them, as well as every other sound like a branch breaking or the sound of her or Cadence’s hooves against the ground, that twitch began to turn into an irritable itch.

A few minutes later, the path went through a large meadow with a single oak tree sitting to one side, its branches creaking against the light breeze that had appeared and its leaves whistling like birds singing.

Fluttershy squinted her eyes to take a better look at the bark of the tree, and saw to her horror various scratch marks right across, along with tiny splotches of red dotted across it. ‘Those things must have killed and eaten whatever was living in there, and scratched at the tree just to get them down,’ she thought, imagining the scenario that took place there.

She shivered violently at the thought of those… things, and what they could do with everything they had. They were literally weapons of war, and if trained and organised properly they could be a terrible threat for all of Equestria – maybe even the whole of Terra.

But what in the name of the stars were they?

“What do you think those things were, Fluttershy?” Cadence asked, looking down at Fluttershy expectantly and patiently for an answer.

‘She must be reading my thoughts,’ the Dragonlord thought. Fluttershy regrettably shrugged in response. “I have no idea, I’m afraid. I tried remembering all those books I had read about the different animals that I knew I would have to treat and look after if I become an animal caretaker, but so far nothing that fits their description has come to mind.” She groaned as a light headache started coming on. “It’s getting so frustrating just thinking about it, that I feel like my head is about to explode.”

Cadence smiled comfortingly. “Oh, we don’t want to make a mess now, do we?” she joked, bringing a giggle out of Fluttershy. Once the two had stopped laughing, Cadence smiled warmly at her. “It’s okay, Fluttershy, don’t feel like you have to find out what those things are and where they come from.”

“But how else are we going to know what these creatures are and how to fight them?”

Cadence looked at the sky with a contemplating gaze. “I can think of one pony who might know what they are.”

Fluttershy’s head shot up, her eyes sparkling with interest. “Who?”

Cadence looked back at her, smirking. “Auntie Luna,” she replied. Fluttershy tilted her head, prompting Cadence to explain. “Yesterday, when those things emerged, Luna looked terrified of them, and I mean really terrified of them. Aunt Celestia told me of how Luna had stood up to gigantic monsters, bigger and more terrifying than those things, and had a confident grin across her face the entire time. I cannot begin to imagine what Luna must have been thinking when she saw them again, but it was obvious to me that she has seen and faced them before.”

At that moment, a chilling thought crept into Fluttershy’s mind, one that brought her to a stop. “Those creatures… they must have been the ones that attacked that hamlet two days ago,” she said. Cadence’s eyes widened in shock, yet she did not voice her disagreement of the claim. “Luna said she had an idea of whatever caused the attack, but she dearly hoped she was wrong and that it was something else.” The thought of a creature existing that genuinely terrified the two thousand year old Princess of the Night sent a wave of painful knots through her stomach. “Oh, now I hope she was wrong.”

“As do I,” Cadence grimly agreed. “But the only way we’re going to find out is to find her, Spike and Trixie before those things do.” With that, the alicorn broke into a brisk trot. Fluttershy nodded, and trotted after her.

An hour later, the pair came across a T-junction with a path heading right, and another heading straight on and disappeared behind a group of trees. Fluttershy moved to follow the straight path, but stopped when she realised Cadence wasn’t beside her.

She turned around to address her, and felt her face frown in confusion when she saw the befuddled look on Cadence’s face; the alicorn was slowly looking around her, like a deer searching for predators. “Cadence?” she called concernedly. “Are you all right?”

Cadence shot her head around to look at the pegasus, and after a moment smiled assuredly. “I’m fine, thanks. I just, uh… have a feeling.”

Fluttershy cocked her head. “What kind of feeling?”

“It’s a weird one, really, but um… okay, it’s like this. Do you ever get that feeling that you’ve seen something or somepony before?”

Fluttershy turned around and walked up to her. “You mean déjà vu?”

“Yeah, that,” Cadence replied, pointing at her with a hoof. “I don’t know why I feel it, but for some reason I just think we’ve been this way before.”

Fluttershy stared wide-eyed at Cadence for a moment, blinked, then slowly allowed her eyes wander around the area. The junction was a neat little set-up. A couple of rocks sat in a circle on a patch of grass, shaped like a triangle, which she imagined where placed so ponies could rest their hooves and have a picnic. A small stream trickled alongside the road, heading south, while on the other side sat a wall of trees of varying heights and number of branches. Between the roads and the rocks were the forests, which rested around two hills: one was short and lumpy, while the other was tall and thin.

Fluttershy licked her dry lips, and turned to look at Cadence with a warm smile. “I don’t think we’ve been walking in circles, Cadence,” she said assuredly. “I certainly don’t recognise this place, and we’ve been following the path west so we can’t have gone back.”

Cadence chuckled half-heartedly. “You’re right. Of course we’re not going around in circles. How silly of me.” Chuckling to herself, she continued trotting along the path. Fluttershy chuckled as well, and then cantered after her.

A moment later, after passing through another set of woods, Fluttershy realised with horror that they had been going in circles after all.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Cadence exclaimed as they emerged from the woods to find themselves gazing at the pond where they had started.

“How is this possible?” Fluttershy asked incredulously, her eyes wide as they wandered across the clearing and the pond, making sure it was the same one the two had started from. Her heart sunk when she saw the lily pad she had thrown aside when she had emerged, as well as the one she had used to clean up Cadence’s wound, confirming her fears that this was the same one. “We were going in a straight line, weren’t we?” She looked to Cadence for answers. “We were following the path west, right?”

“We must have accidentally turned a corner while we were talking,” Cadence replied, her eyes wide and making her look as though she was on the verge of panicking. The alicorn collapsed onto her haunches, and groaned sombrely. “Oh, how are we going to find our friends if we can’t walk in one straight line?” She slammed a hoof to the ground in frustration. “Darn it!”

Fluttershy sat down, and rubbed her temples gently to calm her nerves, even though she felt like freaking out as much as Cadence seemed to be. ‘Okay, Fluttershy, stay calm, and for goodness sake think!’ she yelled at herself in thought. Yet she knew she couldn’t think for long. Every moment stopping to think was another wasted on finding their friends alive and in one piece.

“Oh, what are we going to do?” Cadence moaned, shaking her head in despair. “What can we do? Let’s face it, Fluttershy, we’re lost. We’ve failed. If we can’t stay in one straight line, how are we expected to find out friends?”

Fluttershy grumbled lowly as she pushed her mane behind her left ear. “Cadence, right now I’m trying to think, and hearing you whinge is not helping in the slightest,” she said agitatedly. “So could you please turn it down… a bit?” Her voiced faded away as she realised what Cadence just said, and her eyes widened in realisation. She whisked her head around to face Cadence, pointing a hoof at her. “Hold on. What did you just say again?”

Cadence looked at Fluttershy oddly. “The part where I said we’re total failures and that we will never find our friends again?”

“No, not that bit, the other bit.”

“The bit where I said we are lost?”

“Yes, that part,” Fluttershy replied, nodding. She tapped her chin in thought, and after a bit, felt a gasp leave her mouth and a bright grin grow across her face. “Cadence, you’re a genius!”

Cadence cocked her head. “Um… I’m not sure how I can be a genius if I’m whinging?”

“Do you remember what Luna said when we encountered those wisps back at the Dotted Wall?”

Cadence’s brow creased in thought. After a moment to think about it, she replied with a nod, “Yeah, I remember that… I think.”

“Luna said that whenever we are lost, alone or looking for help, the wisps will come to our aid,” Fluttershy recalled. She turned around, and gestured to the woodland beyond the pond. “Let’s head back to the path we started from.” Cadence nodded in agreement, and together they set off around the pond and back through the trees.

When they arrived at the path, they quickly looked both ways and in front of them to make sure none of those things were waiting for them. “I think it’s clear,” Cadence said, looking around.

“Yes, it’s clear,” Fluttershy confirmed, her ears flicking for any sound other than them. She sighed in relief, and then looked up at the Princess. “Do you know how to summon wisps?”

Cadence shook her head morosely. “I’m not sure if I can, to be honest.” She took a deep breath, and puffed out her chest a bit. “But for our friends and my aunt, I will do my best and try to summon them.”

Fluttershy smiled encouragingly, and put a comforting hoof on Cadence’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if you fail, Cadence. You will do your best, and that’s what matters.” Fluttershy took a step back from the mare, giving her some space. “Good luck.”

Cadence nodded gratefully for her support, then presented her back to Fluttershy, lowered her head, and closed her eyes in concentration. Fluttershy walked around until she stood to Cadence’s side, just so that she could see better. While she knew it wouldn’t be the alicorn’s fault if the plan failed, she also knew she would still be upset; without the aid of the wisps, it will be harder to find and rescue their friends. ‘All our hopes are with you, Cadence,’ Fluttershy thought.

Her heart leapt out of its place when she saw Cadence’s horn light up, and the summoning spell began to be cast. She didn’t notice she began nipping at the edge of her hooves in nervousness. She wanted to look away, in case her stare alone would break the spell and end any hope of finding their friends, yet couldn’t bring herself to do that. She needed to see.

Then suddenly, making Fluttershy jump a foot into the air, a wisp shot out of the ground, humming faintly and pulsing with a faint, blue glow. Fluttershy gasped ecstatically. “You did it, Cadence, you did it!” she cheered, jogging on the spot in joy.

Cadence opened her eyes, and grinned in delight as a line of wisps began to form along the path. “Well let’s not waste anymore time here. Let’s go find our friends!” With that, Cadence began to chase after the wisps as they appeared along the path.

Fluttershy stopped grinning and her eyes opened in shock when she heard Cadence’s hooves, and watched as she became a pink dot in the distance. “Oh my,” she said, before taking off after her with her wings flapping to gain speed. ‘She can run when she wants to,’ she remarked, as the wisps behind her returned to the ground whence they came.

She soon made it back to Cadence’s side, just as the wisps took a path heading left and around a hill. Cadence smiled at her, which Fluttershy returned. “Do you think they’ll lead us to our friends, or to the exit?” she asked concernedly, watching briefly as trees and pathways leading to fields and meadows fly past.

Cadence shrugged. “Possibly… to the exit, since they’re supposed to tell us which way to go,” she replied, sounding out of breath.

Fluttershy nodded, reprimanding herself for thinking it would locate their friends first and the way out second. The wisps were creatures merely meant to guide, not to be a tracking device for everything. “I hope then… that we run into our friends first,” she said, beginning to show the fatigue in her own voice.

“I hope so… too,” Cadence responded, before turning her eyes to the path ahead. Fluttershy followed her lead, though she kept her eyes open for any movement in the trees, pony, dragon, or otherwise.

The wisps suddenly veered off from the path and disappeared into the trees. Fluttershy and Cadence looked at each other in surprise before galloping after them, disappearing like ghosts into the forest. They swerved around the trees as quick as they could before they could collide with them, both of them knowing that slowing down was not an option. The spell, while having a long duration period, would eventually end and they would be stuck in the middle of nowhere once more.

They emerged from the forest to find themselves racing through a meadow dotted with large bushes covered in large white flowers, and surrounded by towering pine trees. Fluttershy slowed down to catch her breath, and looked ahead to see the wisps disappear into the wall of trees at the far end of the field. She picked up her hooves again and galloped hard, feeling her mane and tail trying to break away from her head and rump and fly with the wind. She heard Cadence’s ragged breath behind her, and she smiled, pleased Cadence was able to keep up and persist after a hectic two days. ‘The poor mare must be tired,’ she thought.

Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of screaming.

Fluttershy screeched to a halt, the wisps almost completely forgotten at the new sound. She looked back to be sure it wasn’t Cadence, and was slightly relieved that she looked almost as confused as she was.

“Where did that come from?” Cadence called, swinging her head back and forth. Fluttershy merely shook her head in response and, silencing out Cadence’s breathing, she pricked her ears up and listened.

That was when she heard the familiar cry of, “Help!”

“SPIKE!” Fluttershy screamed, half in delight and half in terror. She closed her eyes and concentrated. “Come on, darn it, where did he shout from?” she asked herself.

“Fluttershy, this way!” Cadence cried. Fluttershy looked up and watched as Cadence galloped into the trees to their left. “Come on, hurry!” she added a second later.

Fluttershy leapt up and galloped after her, throwing her legs forward and back to the point she felt as though she were leaping off the ground trying to fly for the first time. She quickly caught up with Cadence and fell in beside her, hoping that the alicorn was right and Spike really was in this direction.

Sure enough, they made it to the edge of the trees, and what they saw on the other side brought them to a stop in horror.

Spike and Trixie were far on the other side, standing against a wall of rock forming the edge of a hill, while seven of the small creatures penned them against it, their mouths watering and hissing in hunger and their scythes poised to strike.

Trixie fell onto her stomach and buried her head in her hooves, whimpering and crying for them to have mercy. One of the creatures – a tall, dark orange beast with a black mane formed into a ponytail – leapt forward and tried to impale her with its scythes. Spike suddenly leapt forward and, with a large stick in his claws held at one end like a sword, deflected the two weapons before they could sink into her flesh.

The creature reared back in surprise, while the others stood dazed by the attack. “Leave her alone!” Spike yelled, swinging his ‘weapon’ wildly and dangerously. “I’m warning you, you don’t want to mess with me when I am angry! Now back off!”

The creature started creating with its mouth something akin to a cat beginning to throw up a hairball, which Fluttershy perceived that it was chuckling. Then, without warning it leapt forward and grabbed Spike’s arm with its teeth, throwing the other arm off the stick. Spike tried to pull his arm out of the creature’s hold, but the creature wouldn’t let go; it tugged at his arm like a dog would play tug of war with its owner.

Fluttershy could not bear to watch any longer, and charged out of the forest at a full gallop, her wings spread wide, revealing her shimmering wing blades, and her face formed into a mask of rage. “HEY! Leave! Him! Alone!” she yelled.

The other creatures turned their heads to stare at her in shock. Taking this chance, Spike huffed a spout of green flame at the creature, making the beast’s leg come alight with green fire. The creature screamed in agony as it let go of Spike’s arm, which pushed him back against the rock alongside Trixie, and began running wild among its kin as the fire started to fester around its body like a pox, until the whole of the creature’s body was alight with green dragon flame.

The other creatures danced away from the blazing beast as it wheeled about like a bucking pony and screamed as it tried to douse the flames, but they only grew fiercer, as if the beast was flammable. With a final wheeze of breath, the beast keeled over and lay motionless on the ground.

The six remaining beasts turned to the little dragon with looks of rage, and began to advance on him. They seemed so set on ripping Spike apart, that they failed and forgot to remember Fluttershy charging into them.

Fluttershy raised her right leg, drawing Drage Bane, to strike at the closest one, but an arrow whisked rapidly past her head and into the back of the creature’s head. The beast jarred suddenly, howling in pain, before exploding into a cloud of dust. She looked back to see Cadence walking forward whilst prepping her bow for another shot, and nodded gratefully her.

She looked ahead when she galloped between two more of the creatures, ripping their sides and necks apart with her wing blades. The remaining three looked behind upon hearing their friends’ demise, and immediately, one charged her while the other two charged towards Cadence.

Fluttershy rolled out of the way as the beast swung its scythes down on her, the strikes creating two holes in the ground. She got up and reared onto her hind legs, drawing Firewing and Drage Bane with their songs of death. The creature pulled out one scythe and swung it towards her at a wide arc, aiming for her neck. Fluttershy ducked, missing the blow, and stepped forward and thrust her blade towards the creature’s flank.

The beast swung its body away from the attack, then reared up and swung a paw at her face. Fluttershy reared her head back, watching in surprise as it flew over her face, then straightened and launched a feint attack to its right with Firewing while readying the real attack with Drage Bane against the creature’s neck.

The creature pushed Firewing away from it, and launched a sudden attack with its open mouth, its teeth flashing in the sunlight. Fluttershy quickly spun her head away from the blinding light and thrust Drage Bane into the side of the creature’s head.

She rapidly shook her head to clear her vision, blinking as she could see a spectrum of colours in the corners of her eyes. She ignored them as best as she could, and looked down to see the remains of the creature she had taken out disintegrate into dust.

“Fluttershy, look out!” Spike cried, pointing behind her. Fluttershy’s ears twitched as she heard one of the creatures charge at her, thinking she couldn’t hear its approach.

It was dead wrong.

Once it was close enough, she reared up and spun, slashing the creature across the face and chest with one set of wing blades, then Drage Bane, then Firewing, and finally her second set. She was back facing Spike before the creature had fallen to its side, melting into dust like the others.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Cadence finish off the last one by impaling it through its belly with her sword and raising it high into the air. Fluttershy set herself back onto all fours as the last of the beasts was dropped to the ground by Cadence like a rag doll, and looked up to stare at Spike, who stared back at her in shock.

For a moment, none of them moved, or so much as said as a word. The only sounds between them were their gradually calming breathing. Finally, Fluttershy felt a large grin tug at the smile of her face, and tears of joy sprang across her eyes. “Oh, thank the stars that you’re safe!” she cried joyously as she ran up to him.

Spike seemed to break out of the shock of seeing her again, for a large grin formed across his face and tears formed in his eyes. Before Fluttershy was close enough to reach him, he leapt forward and wrapped his arms around her, sending her into a spin of joy. “For now I am, at least,” he said. He pulled his head back to look at her, as if he needed to be sure he was holding her, then buried his head in Fluttershy’s mane and shoulder, sniffing back tears of relief. “I thought I would never see you again.”

“Trust me, Spike, it would take a lot more than a few of these beasts to keep me from reaching you,” she replied, grinning ecstatically. She pulled back to look him in the eye and make sure he really was okay.

Spike looked as though he was at the point of exhaustion: his eyes looked heavy, his back was slouched forward, and he could barely keep his head upright. The arm that had been in the beast’s hold wasn’t bleeding, but Fluttershy could make out the bite marks left behind.

Without a word, Fluttershy flung him onto her back. “But, Fluttershy, I–” Spike protested, but the Dragonlord cut him off quickly with a raised hoof.

“No buts from you, mister,” she said adamantly, smiling all the while. “You’re tired, and we may have to run again soon. And there is no way on this earth I am leaving you behind – not again.”

Spike stayed silent and just curled up across her back, resting and hugging her around the neck as if he was scared of her disappearing again. ‘Even though he sometimes talks with the wisdom of an older pony, his age sometimes shows through,’ she thought, smiling softly. With Spike taken care of, she turned to look where Trixie was. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the unicorn wasn’t there.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Cadence cried from behind her. Fluttershy spun around to see Cadence holding Trixie in her magic, who was flailing about and whimpering in fear. “Spike was right about you. You set us up!” Fluttershy took a step closer, and could make out through Cadence’s mane the mare’s snarling teeth gritted together. “You brought us here to be a feast!”

“NO!” Trixie screamed, cringing and crying at the harshness in Cadence’s tone. “I… please, I didn’t know these things were even here, honestly. I… I’m so sorry!” She began sobbing loudly.

“Then why did you start running to get away from us, if only to escape the consequences of your guilt?” Cadence demanded angrily.

“Because I was so scared that you would blame me for this happening!” Trixie yelled. “I was terrified of what you would do to me if I stayed.” She seemed to cringe further on herself. “Please don’t hurt me.”

Fluttershy walked up to Cadence and threw her a harsh glare. “Put her down, Cadence,” she said softly, yet the demand was still evident in her voice.

“But what if she tries to run again?” Cadence whispered.

Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, then looked at the terrified unicorn. “She won’t. I know she won’t. So please, put her down.”

Cadence regretfully nodded, and in an instant, the aura of her magic faded away. At once, Trixie screamed and fell onto her rump, wincing in pain. Fluttershy nodded to Cadence in thanks, and slowly walked up to Trixie, trying to keep her anger from boiling over.

Trixie saw her coming, then fell onto her side and crawled away from her, shaking with fright. “Please… Fluttershy, I beg you, please don’t hurt me. I had nothing to do with any of this, I swear.”

“And I believe you,” Fluttershy replied, smiling assuredly at her. Trixie stopped, and her eyes widened as a look of relief washed across her face. Just as she was about to get up, Fluttershy’s smile disappeared into a frown. “But I want to know why you abandoned Spike yesterday.” Trixie’s look turned to greater horror. “I saw your tracks and Spike’s follow each other, and noticed that they separated from Spike. I’m not mad, Trixie, just curious.”

Trixie’s eyes clenched themselves shut in a bid to hold back tears. “I’m so sorry,” she cried hastily, cringing at Fluttershy’s blank expression. “I was going to protect Spike, I really was, but when one of those things tried to pounce him and push him to the ground, I pushed it away from him.

“Once I did that, though, another leapt in and forced me away from Spike. I tried to get back to him, but there were too many of those things. I had no choice but to run. I was only lucky that I found him again this morning, and we headed off towards the exit in the hope we would meet you all there.”

Fluttershy stared at Trixie in sympathy, before turning her head to look at Spike for his side of the story. “She’s telling the truth, Fluttershy,” he confirmed, nodding. “Those things forced us away from each other, and once they had pushed me as far away as they could without me finding my way back to you all, they stopped chasing me and headed back. I tried to follow them, but I lost them after a while, so I was forced to walk around the Vale until I was too tired to walk on anymore. When I woke up, I had to run again when those things started chasing me once more. After an hour or so, I bumped into Trixie.”

Fluttershy nodded, feeling relieved that Trixie had not actually betrayed them, and then looked back at the cowering unicorn with a warm smile. “It’s okay, Trixie. I don’t hate you, but I don’t forgive you, for there is nothing to forgive.” She leaned forward and nuzzled Trixie’s face. “I imagine you did all you could to stay with Spike, and more.” She pulled back and helped Trixie up onto her hooves. “Thank you, for at least trying to protect him.”

Trixie smiled through her tears, even though Fluttershy could see it strained. “You’re welcome… I guess.”

Fluttershy smiled and patted her on the shoulder, then turned around to stare at a Cadence, who stared warily at Trixie. “What do you have to say to her, Cadence?” she asked, raising an eyebrow bemusedly at the alicorn.

Cadence gave her a look that asked if she had to do this. Fluttershy gave a simple nod in response, and then sharply flicked her head towards Trixie in gesture. Cadence simply sighed, and walked up to the unicorn, her head bowed and her ears flat. “I’m… I’m sorry I accused you of setting us up,” she said, genuinely sounding like she was sorry, much to Fluttershy’s delight. “I should have known better than to jump to conclusions like that, especially to you after everything we have been through together. Could you ever forgive me?”

Trixie looked to Fluttershy, like a young child would do with their mother when unsure of something. The Dragonlord smiled at her and nodded. Trixie looked back at Cadence and smiled. “It’s all right, Cadence,” the unicorn said, waving her apology away with a hoof. “I imagine I would have said the same things to anypony if they had tried to run instead of me.”

Cadence looked up and smiled gratefully. “Thank you.” She lifted her head once more, looking around. “So tell me, how did you two meet up again?”

Fluttershy looked back at Trixie, her face expressing her interest on the subject. “I was making my way west to the exit, when I saw a load of those creatures marching up the road towards me; hundreds of them, led by those bigger brutes with weapons,” Trixie explained. “I fled from them and headed south, hoping that they would be around the northern area of the Vale and not around the southern. I heard screeches of those creatures behind me, so I kept on going, swerving this way and that. An hour or so later, I bumped into Spike.”

“I was making my way back and forth across the Vale in the hope that I would eventually run into any of you,” Spike continued. “Although, after an hour or so, I started to give up; this place is so huge and I am so little that I thought I would never find any of you, that I would have to become a hermit living in a cave somewhere. At that point, when I was sitting by a rock and staring into a pond, thinking about my new life, Trixie showed up with a horde of those beasts running after her.”

Trixie looked away, her eyes revealing her shame. “I’m sorry about that, too, Spike,” she said sullenly. “I should have been more careful about where I went. But instead, I let you down – I let you all down.” With a heavy sigh, Trixie fell onto her stomach, looking morbid.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, to say that it wasn’t her fault, but the faint cries of more of the beasts echoed across the Vale, paralysing them all in place. Just as the first series of shrieks faded away, another series echoed, followed swiftly by another. “Oh, gosh, no,” Trixie whispered, shaking her head in disbelief as her entire coat went pale.

It didn’t take the Dragonlord long to realise with horror that they were not too far behind, and were getting closer. “Run!” she yelled. With that, she broke into a heavy gallop towards the road, with Spike clinging around her neck for dear life.

“No, Fluttershy, they’ll catch you if you go that way!” Trixie cried.

The pegasus stopped instantly and turned to face her. “Then which way do we go?” she asked hastily.

Trixie pointed to the cluster of trees closest to them. “That way! All of you, start running!” The unicorn jumped up as if she had a new purpose in life, and broke into a sprint towards the woods.

Cadence looked unsure of following her. ‘Probably fears it could be a trap,’ Fluttershy thought. The former Princess looked to her for guidance, which Fluttershy responded with a flick of her head into the direction Trixie went. Cadence nodded, and galloped towards the forest, just as Trixie disappeared into the trees.

Fluttershy watched as Cadence disappeared behind the trees, then looked behind her and saw the first of the smaller monsters emerge at a charge from the woods. The Dragonlord squeaked in horror and galloped after her friends, glancing over her shoulder to watch as dozens more of the beasts – followed by at least two shepherds – appear from the forest as well, sprinting after them.

‘Concentrate, Dragonlord!’ she yelled at herself. ‘Look ahead and pay no attention to them!’ She broke her gaze away from the monsters and looked ahead, just as she rushed past the first trees of the woodland. She swerved past one tree, then another, and another, until she was swerving about the many trees as if she was drunk, concentrating on her hoof work.

She briefly glimpsed back to see if she was being followed. She couldn’t see them, but she knew that they were back there somewhere. “Fluttershy, look out!” Spike exclaimed. She looked ahead to see a large oak tree in the way, and quickly screeched to a halt, nearly throwing Spike off her back as she did so.

Fluttershy blushed and grinned sheepishly in embarrassment. “Sorry,” she whispered before breaking into trot around the tree and back into a gallop once more.

She looked ahead and briefly grinned in delight when she saw the silver tail of Trixie ahead of her, and willed herself into galloping faster. “Trixie!” she called, prompting the unicorn to look over her shoulder. “Why through the forest?”

“They seem to run faster when out on the open plain,” Trixie explained, sounding out of breath. “If we go through the forests, it might slow them down and give us more time to escape.”

“I don’t think that will do much good for us now, Trixie,” Cadence objected. Fluttershy looked to her to see she was staring ahead. “Look.”

Fluttershy followed her gaze, only to gasp in horror. Beyond the trees was a wide clearing, easily the size of Ponyville’s park, with a cluster of rocks in the middle, and trees scattered widely around the edges, leaving no hiding place for them to cower in and pray that the beasts would pass them by.

Fluttershy felt her heart sink slowly into despair. She abruptly felt Spike’s arms around her neck tighten like the coils of a snake, reminding her why she shouldn’t just give up. ‘I need to be strong. For Spike. For my friends,’ she reminded herself, her eyes narrowing in determination. “Come on, everypony, keep running!” she yelled encouragingly.

Trixie and Cadence responded by lowering their heads and putting their all into running for the clearing in the hope they could get through it before the monsters could even pass the forest. Fluttershy smiled at their determination, and then narrowed her eyes further as the group flew out of the woods and into the bright sunlight beaming across the clearing.

Once her eyes recovered from the sunlight, she looked around for anything that could hide them and give them a chance to escape from the monsters running after them. The Dragonlord figured despairingly that the trees to the east and west were too far away for them to get to before the monsters appeared from behind to chase them down. ‘I guess we have to keep on running.’

She heard a gasp of horror from Spike, and looked over her shoulder to see three of the smaller creatures leap out of the trees and race after them. Just as Trixie had said, their strides were like watching a cheetah run after its prey with the relentlessness of a wolf added for good measure.

Fluttershy heard a squeak of fright from Trixie to the side of her. “They’re gaining!” she wailed in horror. The unicorn looked ahead again and galloped for her life, her legs moving faster than the rods on a steam locomotive going at full speed. Fluttershy followed suit and put her all into running.

Her ears managed to pick up the lack of four hooves running, and looked back to see where Cadence was. She stopped and gasped in horror as she watched Cadence face the monsters charging towards her. “CADENCE, NO!”

The alicorn ignored her pleas, and with narrow eyes pulled out an arrow from her quiver, spun it around and notched it to her string. The nearest creature was almost forty feet away and rapidly gaining. In one fluid motion, Cadence lifted her bow, drew the arrow back until the end was past her ear, and loosed.

The first one went down with an arrow embedded through its head. Before it had stopped rolling, Cadence loosed another shot, this one hitting the neck of the second beast. The final beast leapt the last few feet at the alicorn, its mouth wide open and ready to gorge its teeth into her. Cadence spun away from the attack, letting the creature roll to the ground. The beast immediately recovered and spun to leap at her. Cadence set an arrow to her bow, drew back her third shot, loosed, and hit the final beast through its open mouth. It went down and disintegrated into dust without a sound.

Cadence breathed deeply and lowered her bow, watching as the final pieces of dust left from the creatures fell to the ground like snow. The Princess secured her bow to her back, and spun around and back towards the waiting Dragonlord.

Fluttershy watched the whole spectacle with admiration, and a small amount of fear. “Have I ever asked you on how you became the Princess of Love?” she asked as Cadence made it to her side. “Because, um, I swear from that, being a Princess of Love is just a hobby.”

Cadence turned around and grinned as she made sure her bow was secure. “You’re right. Being the Princess of Love is more of a hobby. I prefer archery. More exciting.” Both ponies cringed at the sounds of screeches, and looked back to see more of the beasts leaping out of the forest and bearing down on them. “Enough chit-chat! Run!” Cadence yelled, pivoting on the spot and galloping for her life. Fluttershy watched the alicorn charge with fear, before spinning around and galloping after Cadence.

Trixie was waiting for them at the far end, fidgeting on the spot in nervousness. “Come on, follow me!” she yelled, beckoning them to follow her. With that, she took off into the forest without looking behind.

Cadence threw a nervous look towards Fluttershy, showing some measure of distrust towards the showmare. Fluttershy noticed from the corner of her eye, and turned her head to give Cadence a brave nod. The Princess swallowed, and looked ahead again as the pair disappeared from the clearing and into the woods once more, the screeches of the monsters louder than ever and making Fluttershy feel like they were just behind them.

Suddenly, she emerged from the forest to find herself standing on a small dirt path that ran around the forest boundaries, and ahead of her was a wide river with a small island in the centre and surrounded by small rocks that broke up the water and turned into white foam.

“Come on, Fluttershy! Cadence!” Trixie yelled, waving a hoof from the top of the island.

Fluttershy nodded, and took a step forward to get across, when she felt something heavy push into her backside and force her to the ground. She looked over her shoulder to see a creature rear up with its scythes poised to pierce her hide. Fluttershy jumped up and kicked out with her hind legs, throwing the creature across the air and into a tree, then turned to Cadence, who stared at the monster in horror. “Let’s go!” she yelled.

Cadence briefly shook her head to bring herself out of her shock, and leapt onto one large rock, then another, and so on until she reached the other side in one mighty leap Fluttershy only thought was possible from a deer. ‘Maybe Cadence is half deer,’ she wondered, smiling wryly at the idea.

She was thrown out of her thought when she heard a faint hissing from behind her. Fluttershy turned around, and gasped in horror when she saw the creature she had kicked earlier was slowly getting up, snarling at her with glistening fangs wet with hunger and blood. Behind it, other creatures were slowly emerging from the darkness of the woods, their white eyes staring at her intensely and filling the pegasus with terror.

‘Time to move,’ she thought, feeling her knees shake with terror. “Spike, get off and jump to the rock, now!” Fluttershy ordered. Spike nodded without saying a word, and leapt from Fluttershy’s back, ran a few feet, then jumped onto the first rock, then made it to the other, then another until he jumped onto the other side, where Cadence was waiting to catch him.

With Spike safe, Fluttershy bent her legs and prepared to jump. A screech similar to an eagle’s cry before taking its prey forced her to turn her head around. She gasped in shock when she saw the beast charge at her, scythes poised high and mouth wide open. Fluttershy looked back towards the river, then closed her eyes, and jumped.

She felt her hooves land on something solid, and opened her eyes to see she had landed on the rock as she had hoped. She jumped again, eager to get to the other side. Halfway through the air she felt herself stop and was pushed back, as if she had charged into a shield she could not pass through, and landed on her stomach with an “Oomph!” leaving her lips. She looked back, and her eyes widened in terror to see the creature had the end of her tail between its lips, and was using it to drag her back over the river.

“Let go!” Fluttershy screamed. She stretched out her forelegs and attempted to grab hold of something to keep her safe, but every time she thought she had a hold of something, her hoof slipped, and she was dragged an inch further backwards by the monster. “Help! Somepony!”

Cadence’s head appeared from the other side of the bump, her eyes wide with horror as she saw Fluttershy being slowly dragged from the rock to the monster’s teeth. “Hold on!” Cadence yelled, prepping her bow to shoot.

Spike emerged from behind with a rock in his claws. “Let her go!” he yelled, before throwing it at the creature. The rock sailed through the air as if it was flung by a trebuchet, and slammed into the head of the beast holding Fluttershy’s tail, tearing the tip of her tail off as the creature was thrown back by the shot.

At once, Fluttershy spread her wings and glided to the island. Once she had landed, she put a hoof to her heart and began rubbing the area in circles. ‘I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay,’ she repeated to herself, feeling her heart beat frantically. She took another deep breath to calm her nerves, and then looked up at Spike with a grateful smile. “Thank you, Spike.”

“That was some pretty good aiming,” Cadence remarked, her eyebrows raised and her eyes expressing her amazement.

Spike blushed. “Uh, thanks, I guess. I just had a lot of practice when I was with Twilight in Canterlot,” he said. “A pile of books always makes good target practice.”

Screeches of rage from the creature Spike had hit drew Fluttershy’s attention back to the danger they were in. She spun around and backed away to see the creature, bleeding dust from the wound on its head, and staring at the baby dragon with a look of wanton murder.

Such a look was a bad move to make in Fluttershy’s eyes, especially if it was towards her best friend. “Hey!” she yelled, rearing up and showing the beast Drage Bane, which sang its approval of being drawn. “If you want Spike, then you will have to go through me first!”

“Now that’s cheesy,” Spike muttered, quiet enough for nopony else yet loud enough for Fluttershy to hear.

It had the right effect, however, as the creature’s gaze turned towards Fluttershy, and its eyes narrowed venomously. At once, it leapt towards the rock, but as soon as it landed, it slipped and tumbled off the rock.

As soon as its body made contact with the river, it screamed and writhed in agony. Fluttershy looked away and jumped up to the top of the small hill, joining her friends’ sides, even as they watched the creature writhe about as though it were being tortured. The beast began to sink into the water, its flesh disintegrating into nothingness. First its scythes, then its legs, then its body began to wither away till only the neck and head remained. By then, any movements had stopped and any sounds it had made faded into echoes, with its white eyes staring at the group of travellers.

“What’s happening to it?” Cadence asked, her tone not bothering to hide her horror.

“The water,” Trixie explained, her head bowed and breathing hard. “It kills them like that. I saw one or two fall in this morning when I crossed. I’m not sure why, though.”

Fluttershy shook her head “It doesn’t matter now.” Her eyes widened in horror as the creatures hiding within the forest emerged in an orderly battle line, with a shepherd armed with a long two-headed battle axe and dressed in a long cloak of various animal skins stitched together walking in front of them. ‘Well at least it shows they are intelligent of sorts,’ she thought, despite the bile of disgust she could feel crawl up from her stomach at the sight of so many animal skins.

The shepherd looked down at the smaller beast’s head, just as it disappeared into nothingness. The beast snorted with anger, a faint trail of smoke bellowing from its nostrils, before turning its hate-filled gaze towards Fluttershy and her friends. Despite being a short yet safe distance from it, Fluttershy felt herself take a step back in fright.

“Enjoy your reprieve for now, Equestrian scum,” the shepherd growled in a rough version of the Terran language, bearing its teeth. “It will not last long. The kakos always take their prize, no matter how slippery the prey is.”

With that, the shepherd turned around and walked back into the forest, forcing itself through its minions as it did so. Once it was through the woods, the other creatures followed their shepherd and retreated from sight.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, come over here and say that to our faces!” Spike yelled as the last of the creatures – or kakos, as the shepherd had called them – had disappeared from view. Once they had gone, Spike began to laugh. “Big, fast, scary monsters, defeated by a bit of water. Not even a Power Ponies’ villain could be defeated by that!” he laughed, falling onto his rump and clutching his sides as he struggled to regain his breath.

Fluttershy tilted her head and raised a bemused eyebrow at him, shutting him up. “It is strange, though, that a living creature is killed by water like that,” Cadence pointed out. “That would mean that these things could live and even thrive in places without water.” Cadence paused to shiver. “By Orion’s belt, what are they?”

Fluttershy shrugged. “They called themselves the kakos, but I don’t recall ever seeing that name pop up in one of my animal books.” She turned to look at Cadence, Trixie and Spike. “Have any of you heard of that name from anything?”

The three companions shook their heads and shrugged. “Sorry, Fluttershy,” Spike said, looking ashamed of himself for some reason.

Fluttershy walked up to him and nuzzled the side of his face. “Don’t be, silly.” She pulled away, and turned to Trixie. “How far is the nearest crossing from here?”

“About a mile east of here,” Trixie replied, pointing behind her. A shiver crawled up the unicorn’s back. “Do you think those things know about it?”

Fluttershy nodded sharply. “They’ve been here long enough to know the whole Vale by now, Trixie,” she answered. She turned around to see a small path running alongside a long stretch of grassland. “Come on,” she ordered, allowing Spike to jump onto her back, “let’s take this path and keep heading west. Hopefully we will run into Luna before we run into more of those things.”

The others nodded in agreement, and together they jumped off the top of the island, waded through the shallow river, and began to follow the path westward, with Fluttershy in the lead. The Dragonlord looked back at her friends, and though she felt joy in her heart at the sight of Trixie, Spike and Cadence once more, she knew it needed one more before she could feel really elated.

‘I hope you’re okay, Luna,’ she prayed. ‘Please be okay, for your niece. For us.’

Chapter 13 (part 1)

The silence now lingering across the Vale of the Lost hadn’t changed much compared to the other times it had reigned. Strictly speaking, each bout of silence was the same. But to the young Dragonlord, each reign of silence was just as horrible as the one before it. Yet, even as she tried to figure it out why she felt that way, Fluttershy felt the same, unearthly chill crawl like a spider along her back because of it.

‘Why does it have to be so quiet? I think I would take the cries of those beasts more than this,’ she wondered frustratingly, looking around for anything but a rat-faced creature with fangs and scythe-like weapons at the end of gangly limbs springing out from its back. But all she saw was bushes, trees, and old, worn paths that split off from the road they were currently on, and disappeared into the forests and the Vale as if they were on a quest of their own.

Yet none of it was any comfort to the pegasus.

Fluttershy fixed her eyes down a small path running through the forest at her side, praying nothing was waiting to pounce on them. Thankfully, there was no sign of the monsters that had her scared half-witless. As soon as she had passed it, Fluttershy let out a deep sigh of relief and bowed her head, slumping. ‘I can’t keep doing this,’ she thought, frowning at herself. She looked ahead once more, sighing wearily as the path continued for what seemed like miles. ‘We must be nearly there now, surely.’

She looked back at Trixie, who looked exactly like she felt; exhausted to the point any resting place – even the grave – was welcome. Fluttershy shook her head rapidly at the thought of that. ‘Okay, wouldn’t mind the grave elsewhere, but being ripped to tiny bits by monsters would not be the kind of grave I’m looking for.’ Still, it was great to see them again.

It had been almost half an hour since Cadence and herself rescued and reunited with Spike and Trixie, and around twenty-five minutes since they had last seen the creatures, or ‘kakos’ as they liked to call themselves. Since then, the only thing they have heard of the beasts hunting them were the harsh screeches that echoed across the Vale, calling to one another like wolves moving in for the kill.

That’s what Fluttershy originally thought, anyway.

Fortunately for them, the screeches sounded like they were miles away from the group, given a sense of ease across the ponies and dragon as they followed the river along the way. Spike was able to relax on Fluttershy’s back, and Trixie and Cadence were able to chat amongst themselves.

But those calls were only the first.

As the minutes dragged on, the screeches seemed to get louder and more sudden every second; one moment the world was quiet and tranquil, the next, the world was alive with screeches of hate and pain. And every time the screeches sounded across the Vale of the Lost, the more Fluttershy felt her nerves frazzle and break open like an egg.

Now, her nerves were tingling all over her body, making her jump at any sound made, from hooves stomping heavily onto the ground behind her, to Spike sniffing his nose. Hoping for some kind of aid, she looked to the trees at her side in the hope she could find a bird of any sort that she could sing with. Sadly, nothing fluffy and avian appeared in the many branches sticking out over the path.

“Why did all the birds and animals that live here have to run away?”

“What was that?” Spike asked suddenly, bringing his head up from Fluttershy’s neck.

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise at the sudden loudness of Spike’s voice, and spun her head around to find the little dragon staring at her oddly. “Oh my, did I say that out loud?” Spike nodded. “Oh, I’m sorry, Spike, I was just talking to myself. I didn’t mean to wake you up if I did.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Spike responded, waving a claw assuredly. “I wasn’t asleep, anyway. Just resting my eyes.” As if to prove the statement, Spike allowed his head to fall back to rest on Fluttershy’s neck, and with a content sigh closed his eyes.

Fluttershy smiled as she listened to his calm breathing, then looked around her once more with wary eyes. To her right, a huge row of trees followed along the path like a wall, and continued going along and over the horizon; the woodland itself went right back to the mountains themselves, over hills both small and tall that were scattered across the woodlands. To her left was the river, which flowed gently alongside of them, and followed the path around the bend and continued until it was out of sight.

Seeing there was a large group of rocks sticking out of the river, creating foam and a loud slapping noise that was like music to her ears, Fluttershy inched a little closer, closed her eyes and smiled at the trickling sounds of the river. Before she knew it, she was humming to the relaxing and comforting sounds that now seemed to echo across the Vale. After a few minutes, she didn’t feel as scared anymore; if anything, she felt as if she was just taking a stroll through Ponyville Park like she used to before her world came crashing down.

“Enjoying yourself?” Cadence called.

Fluttershy stopped humming instantly, and opened her eyes in shock. ‘Goodness. Was I humming so loud?’ She looked over her shoulder, and sheepishly blushed in embarrassment at Cadence and Trixie, who walked one after the other just behind her; Cadence had a raised eyebrow and one side of her lips was raised in a small smile. “Sorry,” she said, lowering her head a little. “I just wanted to say or at least do something; this silence is putting me on edge.”

“It’s putting us all on edge, Fluttershy,” Cadence replied. “Don’t think for a second that you’re not alone in that regard. Sorry I stopped you.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget. Thank you, Cadence.” The pegasus looked back at the river again, watching as a fish suddenly appeared in the deepest part of the water. She did a double take when she realised what she was staring at. ‘Oh my goodness!’ she gasped. She immediately and mentally slapped herself across the face. ‘Of course fish would still live here. Those things can’t even touch the water without dying.’ Before she could say something the fish shot ahead and vanished. Fluttershy sighed ruefully. ‘It would have been nice to know how long those things have been here,’ she thought.

If there was anything that knew about them more than they did, it was the fish.

“Did anypony see that fish?” she asked aloud, pointing to the river.

Cadence was immediately at Fluttershy’s side, and rapidly searched the river bed for any sign of swimmable creatures. Fluttershy looked, too, her eyes wide as she prayed to the Zodiacs that there were more.

Eventually, Cadence’s ears fell flat in disappointment. “Sorry, sweet, but it looks like that was the only one.”

“But there must be more out there,” Fluttershy persisted, continuing to stare at the river out of desperate hope more than anything else. “If those things can’t even touch water without dying, then some had to have survived this… whatever happened to them.”

She felt a warm, loving hoof touch her shoulder, and she looked up to see Cadence staring down at her with a comforting smile. “Perhaps they did survive. And if they were smart, they would be swimming for their lives out of this place before those beasts mean to block the river and drain it.”

The thought turned Fluttershy’s coat a lighter yellow. “Do you think those creatures are capable of doing that?”

Cadence shrugged as the group continued along the path. “Might do. They are smart, for certain. Give them a while, they might learn a way. Hunting creatures are surprisingly intelligent, Fluttershy. They learn new ways of luring prey slowly but efficiently.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, knowing more than most that Cadence’s words were the case for many parts of the world.

“And you know this, how?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cadence sighed, closing her eyes and flattening her ears. “Because it was the first time I had ever killed something,” she replied, tilting her head towards the ground.

Fluttershy’s mouth opened in shock. “What happened?”

Cadence opened her eyes and looked to the sky, as though finding a way to explain the story – or a way to get out of it. Eventually, she spoke. “A few months ago, in fact, just before the Equestria Games were announced to be taking place in the Crystal Empire. A few groups of crystal-wool sheep were going missing on several of the farms on the outskirts to the west of the Capital.

“With Shining Armor focusing on other matters, I decided to investigate the matter myself, and flew off towards the farms. When I got there, I learnt that somehow, they had broken out of their paddocks and were making their way north, towards the mountains; the footprints they left behind enough evidence to back that up. I followed the trail to the mountains. Halfway there the sheep tracks had stopped, but something bigger had taken their place. So I followed them, albeit cautiously. When I reached the base of the mountain range, I discovered what was taking them – or rather, what had been luring them away from the farms: a Mountain Troll.

“Savage beasts, trolls. However, a Mountain Troll is the worst one to encounter by miles. Intelligent, cunning, massive, and can both heal wounds rapidly and repel magic.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise; she never knew some creatures of the world were resistant to the powers of magic. “It had somehow learnt to make itself smell like a ram, luring the ewes away from the farms to the prospect of mating. Anyway, I fought the beast for an entire day, throwing everything I had at it; magic, arrows, daggers, rocks, anything I could throw at it. But nothing worked. If anything, the troll was just growing stronger.”

Fluttershy and Spike couldn’t say a word, for they were too enraptured by her tale. Trixie, however, scrunched up her forehead in wonderment. “So how did you kill it in the end?” Trixie asked, tilting her head away.

“I crushed it by collapsing the cave it lived in,” Cadence answered solemnly, as though she regretted killing it in the first place. “And after that, I set the whole cave on fire, just to be safe and not sorry.”

Fluttershy frowned, feeling rather sympathetic to the former Princess. She slowed herself down until Cadence was alongside, and then affectionately nuzzled the mare’s chest. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Cadence. You did what you had to do; if you hadn’t, it might have started luring ponies… or worse, fillies and colts. If it helps, I know I would do anything to save critters like those cute little ewes.”

Cadence smiled warmly at her, then turned away to stare at the woodland around them, her smile slowly falling. “I bet you feel terrible about not being able to help any of the critters here, then.”

Fluttershy’s comforting smile turned into a frown in a flash. She looked around as well, staring grimly at the woods and hills they could see. “You would never believe it. I just don’t understand where would all the land and air animals that lived in here have gone? I would have thought we would have seen at least one of the natural inhabitants of this place by now, or even one that had encountered those beasts and survived.”

Trixie let out a little whimper as she shyly lowered her head, prompting Fluttershy to twist her head around to look at her. The longer she stared at Trixie’s worried face, the longer she could feel her own frown growing. “You know where they’ve gone, don’t you?” The unicorn nodded, though going by the look of her face, and from what she had seen so far across the Vale so far, it wasn’t hard for Fluttershy realise what had happened to them, as well.

She looked away again, clenching her jaws together to suppress both her anger and sorrow. ‘How could they do that to so many animals?’

She could not argue with nature’s laws – carnivores and omnivores killed and ate prey; they had to for survival, after all – but none of these creature’s habits made any sense to her. A predator knew by instinct that to survive it would have to let the many go and prey on only the old, the young and the weak, to keep that supply of food coming. Yet, if these creatures had killed nearly every living thing in the Vale, how could they survive without that precious food supply?

She was thrown out of her thoughts when a mighty screech echoed across the Vale, putting her nerves – and her coat, considering she could feel it sticking up – on edge for what felt like the millionth time today. She stopped and looked behind her to see Spike scanning the land around him, his eyes wide with fright, while Cadence and Trixie had also stopped and unknowingly inched closer together, their magic gripped around the hilts of their swords.

For a moment, silence reigned once more, but suddenly that silence died as more shrieks followed in quick succession. “How far do you think they were?” Trixie asked, looking to Cadence, then to Fluttershy for answers.

“Not that far, possibly a few miles away,” Fluttershy replied, though she wasn’t entirely sure herself. But they needed a confident answer, and she was the only one that could give it to them. ‘They need a pony to guide them, and if Cadence is unable to do so, then it falls to me,’ she reminded herself, pulling her sloping shoulders back, lifting her head and puffing out her chest. ‘I need to be strong, for them.’

She flicked her ears up at their highest, hoping she could pinpoint the exact positions those shrieks came from. But nothing, not even a squeak from the monsters hunting them, echoed across the Vale. It was if they had all disappeared like they did last night. “I think it is best we move on,” Fluttershy suggested.

The others nodded in agreement, and pretty quickly, the company was on the move once more, going down the path at a trot.

“So, um… does anypony actually know what those things are?” Trixie asked, breaking the silence once more.

“Beats me,” Spike replied, shrugging his arms. “I lived in a library with a nerdy unicorn that had hundreds of books on strange and wonderful creatures. I read them all when I was bored out of my wits or on a rainy day, and I still don’t know what those things are.”

“When I was Princess there, I’ve been through every book in the library of the Crystal Empire, and I don’t recall seeing a history or nature book with so much as a paragraph with the word ‘kakos’ in it,” Cadence said.

Trixie tapped her chin in thought. “Okay,” she said, nodding thoughtfully, “so these things aren’t creatures that have been seen before and confirmed to exist anywhere in history, right?”

“Right? So?” Spike said, tilting his head in confusion and doubt. Fluttershy turned her head as well, curious as to where the unicorn was leading with this.

“So,” Trixie oozed, her face confirming her disbelief at how the ponies and dragon around her haven’t got it yet, “why don’t we think outside the box and think of creatures that have been reputedly seen, but widely believed to be made up?”

“You mean like myths and legends?” Cadence ventured.

“Yes, exactly!” Trixie exclaimed, pointing at her. “So come on, everybody, think of some creatures you have only heard about but have never been discovered.”

“But have you ever heard of any creatures that have only been seen as merely a myth?” Spike asked.

“Nope. Trixie doesn’t deal with myths and legends; only history,” Trixie said, grinning. Her three companions rolled their eyes. “You all seem to be the bigger history and creature experts and all, so if we lock our heads together, mortals and immortal alike, we are bound to remember something soon.”

“Um, I’m not actually immortal,” Cadence said quietly, adding with a mumble, “thankfully.”

“And I don’t usually pay attention to myths and legends,” Fluttershy said, bowing her head. “I avoid them, actually.”

Trixie’s jaw suddenly dropped. “But, you’re an animal expert! You’re supposed to know about all the mythological creatures that reputedly exist, right?”

“Well, I actually look to those kind of books when a creature I have never seen before comes into my care, otherwise I just look through nature books to find what I’m looking for,” Fluttershy explained. “I always believed I can sleep easier at night knowing those kinds of creatures that are in those books don’t exist.” She bowed her head upon seeing Trixie’s look of disappointment and squeaked, “Sorry.”

“Oh. Well that plan has just gone up in smoke, then,” Trixie said, hanging her head low. Cadence and Spike went silent as well as they listened to the river’s current flowing past them.

Fluttershy looked ahead again and sighed wearily. After a while of staring at the path ahead, and listening to the river sing its tune, she looked towards the sun, and saw to her surprise that it was halfway through its descent across the sky. ‘It’s mid-afternoon,’ she thought. She hastily swung her head round to look behind her, and stared confusedly at the path behind them. “Still no sign of those creatures from earlier,” she said aloud.

“We’re in luck, then,” Spike said, his smile growing as a result. “They must have gotten lost.”

Cadence, with a grim frown across her lips, shook her head, throwing that look on Spike’s face away. “No. Those things should have caught up to us by now,” she said. “If they were going as fast as they did on that plain, then we would be able to see them coming up from behind. Either they got lost, found another scent worth following, or…”

“They’re biding their time,” Fluttershy finished. Cadence looked to her and nodded. Fluttershy turned away and shook her head. “This is just weird.”

“What kind of game are they playing with us?” Trixie enquired, staring at the ground. “They split us up, chase each of us into the night, then retreat and wait until the next day to start chasing us again. They could have had us all last night, but instead gave up as soon as the moon came out. Why?”

Spike and Cadence looked elsewhere, uncertainty in their faces of what those creatures were actually doing. Fluttershy had a thought of what to say in reply, but a weight of fear held her tongue back, keeping her silent. ‘What if what I say damages their spirits even more?’ she thought. She looked back at them all, and felt her heart crumble at their solemn faces. ‘I don’t want to be the one to do that.’

“What do you think, Fluttershy?” Cadence called, turning everyone’s attention onto the Dragonlord. “You haven’t said anything yet.”

Fluttershy inwardly sighed. ‘Guess there’s no way out of it.’ “I think – well, it’s my opinion, so it might not be right – but, um, maybe those creatures don’t have a reason to be chasing us around the Vale. Maybe they’re just doing it because they like doing it? Perhaps they enjoy making ponies and little baby dragons suffer.”

The colour on Cadence and Trixie’s coats turned a considerable white very quickly. “So you’re saying that those things get a kick out of tormenting us?” Trixie simplified, her eyes wide in fear.

Fluttershy shrugged. “Well, like I said, I might not be right, but it’s the only thing I can think of that might make sense. Sorry if I am right.”

“Don’t be sorry about that,” Cadence said, smiling softly. “Let us just hope that you are wrong.”

Fluttershy nodded and looked ahead again, watching as they turned a corner to find herself staring at another long straight. At the far of the straight she could see the faint outline of a arched bridge made of stone going over the river; the ground appeared to go up at a gentle incline, either that or the river was getting shallower by the second, Fluttershy could not be sure. Along the rising riverbank, long blades of grass, some longer that Drage Bane, grew alongside and arched towards the path as though tired.

“Did anyone notice that creature Spike set on fire was still burning even as we were leaving?” Cadence asked suddenly, looking to each of her companions. “It just seemed strange to me that the others disintegrated as soon as they died, yet that one didn’t.”

Fluttershy felt a gasp of shock against the back of her neck, and glanced behind to see Spike staring at the river in horror. “I did that,” he whispered, beginning to tremble in fright. “I killed something. I set fire to it and let it die in agony.” He sat up on Fluttershy’s back and stared at his claws with disgusted eyes. Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut as she heard a strangled sob escape Spike’s mouth. “Oh, stars. What have I done?”

Fluttershy stopped and stared at him in great sympathy. “What you had to do, Spike,” she said gently. “If you hadn’t set that thing on fire, then it would have killed you and Trixie, and I would rather not think about what would have happened if I was a few seconds, or even a few minutes late.”

Spike’s mouth opened, but he kept his silence. Fluttershy continued to walk after Cadence and Trixie, who had trotted past her and were now quite far ahead. “I know how difficult it is for you, Spike, to know that you have taken a life. I have felt it before, remember. The guilt hanging over you, the regret, the hatred you could feel for yourself as well as the creature you killed for forcing your hoof to commit such an act. I felt it all. And sometimes, I still do.”

Spike simply stared at her, unblinking. “So how can you act like nothing happened?” he asked, as if he was disgusted by the notion of Fluttershy continuing like she did not care that she took a life.

Fluttershy grimaced at the tone, yet her eyes stayed sympathetic. “Because every time I remember what I did and feel the regret from doing it, I remind myself why I killed that reman. To save my father. To know him for a little bit longer. Remind yourself as to why you took that creature’s life, Spike, and though it won’t take most of the regret away, you will feel a little bit better.”

She turned away from Spike, leaving him to his thoughts, and looked ahead once more. As they continued to walk in unnerving silence, Fluttershy’s mind wandered dangerously. ‘Was what I said to Spike right?’ she thought, her eyes wandering back and forth. It seemed to her the right words to say at the time, but now, she feared it had only made things worse for him, and herself. Her mind started to drift back to that day, when she became a little less innocent. ‘Was I right to kill that reman?’

At that moment when she saw the reman towering over her unconscious father, she felt it was the right thing to do; her father lived for a while longer – enough to know what reason had he to leave her at the orphanage – that was justifiable enough. But her mind kept telling her that there were a few other ways she could have saved her father without resorting to the sword. She could have tripped him up, or called out to the reman, or even given herself wholly to…

Fluttershy shook her head rapidly, throwing out such thoughts and concentrating on other matters. ‘Try not to think of what could have happened, Fluttershy. What’s in the past is done,’ she thought. Strangely, that thought sounded like something Vidarr would say if he was with her.

A screech from above, unlike ones she had heard before, caught Fluttershy’s attention. ‘Oh my, what kind of bird was that?’ she wondered. She looked up, expecting to see a bird of prey or even a vulture of some sort.

What she saw was none of those birds. In fact, she was quite sure it wasn’t entirely a bird.

“Everypony, get under the trees, now!” Fluttershy hissed, leaping off the path and into a bush beside the road. Cadence and Trixie complied without question and jumped after her, huddling together in the bushes; Spike’s grip around her neck felt even tighter than before.

“Why are we hiding?” Trixie enquired fretfully, shivering out of fear.

“It’s not why we are hiding, Trixie,” Cadence answered, looking up at the sky in terror. “But it’s who we’re hiding from!” She pointed to the creature as it came into their view. “What under Terra’s sun is that thing?”

Fluttershy was unsure what it was, but she instantly knew it was a relative of the monsters that had been pursuing them all day. It had the head of a rat with long, pointed fangs and, like its kin, white eyes that spoke of hate and a savage lust for violence. Its forelegs were missing entirely, but instead had three fingers at the end of two large bat-like wings sprouting from its back. Its hind legs were tucked tight under its bony stomach, and its long, snake-like tail swayed about in the high wind like a snake slithering through the grass.

The flying creature stopped and began to hover over the forest like a kestrel on the other side of the river, and its head began to swivel from spot to spot, as though it was hunting for something. Or rather, Fluttershy realised, for some ponies. ‘It’s looking for us.’

She looked to her left to see how her friends were doing, and watched in shock as Cadence carefully brought her bow off her shoulders and readied an arrow. Instantly, Fluttershy reached out and pushed her bow towards the ground. Cadence looked stunned for a moment, before looking up at Fluttershy angrily. The pegasus shook her head warningly. “If you miss, then you’ll get its attention, and that’s the last thing we need,” she whispered, hoping Cadence would listen to reason and not her fear.

Thankfully, the anger in Cadence’s face melted away and she nodded, and with a slow reluctance dropped her bow and allowed the arrow in her magic to fall back into her quiver. Fluttershy nodded in thanks, then looked at the creature once more.

The more she stared at the monster as it started to circle the forest like a hawk, the more she felt her stomach tie itself into a painful knot. ‘What kind of creatures are these things?’ she thought, absently rubbing her pained belly with a soothing hoof. Were they shape shifters like changelings, capable of changing into a form according to their needs, or were they just three breeds of the same race, much similar to the pony race?

The sudden thought of them having a similarity to ponies sent a sudden chill down through Fluttershy’s head, through her spine and out through her hind legs. Now, she had another possibility to what those monsters were. ‘What if they all are cursed ponies, and they want us to become cursed as well?’

The number of possibilities running through her mind as to what the forces assailing them were was becoming too many for her to handle. She desperately needed answers, and the only pony that might know anything about them was somewhere out among the forests and hills of the Vale, seeking them, too. ‘Oh, Luna, I hope you are all right.’

She suddenly felt a few gentle pokes on her side, and turned her head in the direction the poke was coming from to see Cadence with her hoof halfway stretched out as though ready to poke her again. “That flying thing,” she whispered, swirling her hoof about to point to the trees. “It’s gone.”

Fluttershy shot her head around to see for herself, and sure enough, the only part she could see of the beast was its wide wings flapping against the light breeze and heading south rapidly, screeching for others to join the search or follow it. After quietly asking Spike to jump off for a bit – which he did – she stepped out of the bushes and back onto the path, looking up for any more of the flying creatures that might be hovering over them, waiting for them to appear.

Thankfully, there wasn’t.

She looked back at her hidden friends, and smiled soothingly and gestured with her head for them to come back out. “You can all come out now. There isn’t any others about,” she coaxed encouragingly.

After a few seconds to be sure, Cadence, Trixie and Spike crawled out of the bushes, their wide, fearful eyes locked to the sky instead of Fluttershy, and stood up and quickly brushed off any leaves or twigs that had decided to travel on their coats. “Right, now that’s perfect,” Spike grumbled, as he brushed off a few leaves from his shoulders. “Not only have we got to look out for tiny scary monsters and big scary monsters, we gotta look out for flying scary monsters as well.” He puffed out a lot of air and slumped. “Well, at least it can’t get any–”

Before he could finish, Cadence and Trixie shoved their hooves into Spike’s open mouth, silencing him; Fluttershy merely rolled her eyes at their superstitious nonsense. “Do you want the Fates to curse us any more?” Trixie growled, her eyes narrowing at the little dragon.

As Spike shook his head rapidly, Cadence turned to face Fluttershy, her hoof still in the dragon’s mouth. “What’s our next move, Fluttershy?” she asked. “Stick to the forests and hope we can keep out of sight, or keep following this path west and pray we don’t run into anything?”

Fluttershy looked to the ground and tapped her chin in thought. She then looked back at the forest on the other side of the river, and after a moment, her eyes widened in delight as an idea sprang into mind. “We cross this river and go into those woods there,” she said, pointing. “Then we keep going west.”

Spike spat out the hooves in his mouth, and after a moment to wipe his tongue clean of horsehair, stared at Fluttershy incredulously. “Is that the wisest thing to do, Fluttershy?” he asked. “I mean, that thing did just go over there.”

“Exactly, so it won’t come back over there for a long time, giving us a distinct advantage. Since they searched this bit before, they will think we haven’t come through yet or we are ahead. So, they’ll look in other places while we sneak through where they have been,” Fluttershy explained, grinning at the masterpiece that was her plan. She clapped her hooves together nervously. “Did that make sense to any of you?”

Cadence, Trixie and Spike stared at one another concernedly for a moment, then looked back at Fluttershy and slowly nodded as one. “Yeah,” Spike oozed. “That will work… uh… what word would fit?”

“Splendidly?” Trixie offered, looking at Spike.

Spike looked at her and nodded. “Yes. What Trixie just said. It will work just spenlidl… uh, splenduda… nah, it will work just fine.”

Cadence nodded with them. “We just have to be keep our eyes and ears open throughout,” she cautioned.

Spike hopped up onto Fluttershy’s back once more, as Fluttershy nodded to Cadence. “We are being cautious as it is, though,” she said. With her friends behind her, the Dragonlord broke into a trot across the low river and over to the other side.

As they crossed, Fluttershy spoke in a strong, commanding voice. “Now, the best way to get through this is a mix of stealth and speed. So I suggest that if we have to go through a meadow or a large plain, we do it at a run. While we walk through the trees and stick to the shadows. That should not attract any attention, don’t you think?”

Cadence nodded in agreement. “That could work,” she said.

Trixie nodded as well. “You’re the boss, Dragonlord,” she said.

‘The boss,’ Fluttershy thought, looking at her forehead in thought. It had a nice ring to it, really. ‘Fluttershy Firewing, the boss.’ “I’m the boss,” she whispered, giggling to herself. “I do many things, like a boss.”

“Fluttershy, for the sake of everypony else here, please don’t ever do any of that ever again,” Spike said sternly.

“Sorry,” Fluttershy squeaked in response, blushing in embarrassment of being caught. The silence that had been following them since they left the kakos behind took over once more as they entered the forest on the other side of the river.

For a next fifteen minutes or so, the three ponies and one dragon slowly navigated their way through the woods, hoping they wouldn’t run into any of the beasts hunting them. Even if they were close by, Fluttershy knew, they wouldn’t know about it unless they heard them first or they were right next to them.

The trees that made up this small forest had branches as long as the three ponies in a straight line, and they all pressed against one another as though trying to make contact. And the leaves upon these branches were so many they were shrouding many areas of the ground in complete darkness, leaving the ground below lifeless.

“This way.” Fluttershy looked back upon hearing the call, and saw Trixie pointing between two trees and turning to walk in that direction.

Fluttershy instantly turned around and followed the mare, with Cadence warily following behind. ‘She still doesn’t trust Trixie,’ the Dragonlord thought, sighing sadly to herself. ‘When will that trust be regained, or has it been too damaged to ever be repaired?’

After a moment of following Trixie through the woods, Fluttershy could see in the distance a large wall of light beyond the forest boundaries, telling the pegasus that a clearing is not too far ahead. “How far do you think it will take us to get out of the Vale, Trixie?” Fluttershy asked, looking back at the unicorn. “We must be getting close by now.”

Trixie’s ears fell flat. “I… I don’t know,” she admitted, bowing her head in shame.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Spike shouted, glaring at her. Fluttershy looked over her shoulder and glared at him into ridding his own glare off his face.

“I’ve… I’ve never been to this part of the Vale before,” Trixie admitted. “If we were by the crossroads then I would know where to go from there. But here, I’m as lost as you all are.” Her head seemed to go lower. “I am sorry I’m so useless.”

Fluttershy own frown deepened, feeling her heart crack at the sight of her sad friend. Without a word, she trotted forward and once she was close enough, leaned forward and nuzzled the side of Trixie’s face. “No, you’re not useless, and don’t you dare ever call yourself that,” she said kindly, smiling. She pulled away and stared at her, still smiling. “I know how you must feel a pain in your chest, telling you that you are useless. Believe me, I felt the same way many times, especially when things have gone wrong. But now I know different. I know that if things go wrong, your friends – your true friends – will accept you and love you, no matter what.” She quickly leaned forward and gave Trixie a friendly nuzzle. “Don’t think you’re useless, because you’re not. No one here is.”

Fluttershy blinked rapidly as a ray of sunlight hit her vision, forcing her to look away. She noticed that they had moved out onto a large, pear-shaped clearing, with it going gently downhill till it reached the very end.

Trixie looked up at her, her eyes sparkling with admiration. “I’ll try not to, for you,” she replied, a small smile on her lips. “You’re too kind, Fluttershy.”

“No, I’m just telling the truth,” Fluttershy said, looking away bashfully. “You just needed to be reminded about it.”

“And you need to be reminded of the truth, too. You are kind, even in your most violent moments,” Trixie said, smiling. That smile suddenly turned sad, and the unicorn looked away. “Listen, I am sorry I called you a hypocrite earlier. It wasn’t–”

“No,” Fluttershy said strictly, throwing her hoof up to silence. “Don’t ever be sorry about telling the truth.” She sighed and bowed her head. “You were right, Trixie; I am a hypocrite.”

She expected Trixie to reply with a few comforting words that would say she wasn’t a hypocrite and was the kindest pony she knew, but all she heard was a stretched out gasp of horror. She looked up to see Trixie staring ahead with wide, terrified eyes, and an open mouth. “By the stars…”

Fluttershy brought her head forward, and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her – it was all she could do to control herself.

Like a torrential flood, hundreds of the kakos creatures started to emerge from the trees on the far side, spreading themselves out across the opposite end of the plain, and hissing and screeching vehemently at the four ponies and one dragon set before them.

“I guess I was wrong. Things can get much worse,” Spike muttered flatly, trying to sound calm and collected, but his voice gave way to terror near the end.

“Back the other way! Quick!” Cadence cried, turning to gallop back into the forest.

Fluttershy stared in growing horror as the horde of monsters advanced, with shepherds, armed with swords, axes, spears, flails and other gleaming but deadly weapons, leading and herding literally hundreds of smaller creatures, their teeth bare, their scythe-like weapons stretched out and ready to slay, across the plain. Above the small army, about twenty of the flying creatures they had seen earlier were hovering above them like vultures awaiting a feast.

Even if it were just the flying creatures assailing them, the Dragonlord knew that this was a fight they could not win. ‘We need to get out of here,’ she thought urgently. She looked right, and could only watch as those on the far right were beginning to swerve towards them, cutting off the right flank

Feeling desperate, she looked left, and felt her soul sink further into despair as the ones on the left were, like their comrades on the right, herded forward and swerved around so they cut off the left, too. Just as they blocked off the left flank, a shepherd at the front raised his big axe into the air, and just like that the entire force halted, waiting for the order to attack.

Fluttershy quickly saw an opportunity, and decided to act against it. “Like Cadence said, back the other way! Quick!” she ordered.

She spun around and prepared to gallop back into the forest, but the sight of more creatures emerging from the way they had come brought her to a halt, and allowed her heart to sink into despair. She followed the edge of the forest, watching with solemn eyes as hundreds more began to encircle the group. She looked back to where the shepherd with the axe was, and narrowed her eyes in anger as she could spot a sneer stretched across its lips.

“It’s a trap,” Cadence said, swinging her bow off her shoulders and getting ready to shoot. “It has to be. There’s no way they could have all come here by sheer chance.” Wordlessly, Trixie drew her short sword and positioned herself into a fighting stance, staring mortifyingly at the horde around them while her blade trembled in her magical grasp.

“They’ve surrounded us!” Spike cried, standing on Fluttershy’s back with eyes wide as plates. “There’s no way out of here!”

Fluttershy couldn’t nod to agree, nor could she bring herself to disagree. At least just yet. She wasn’t good at math, but she could tell that over a hundred – maybe more, she couldn’t be too sure – had them completely surrounded, and were all standing well over twenty or thirty feet away, waiting to sink their fangs, scythes, and other nasty pointing things into their flesh.

Her Dragonlord mind quickly analysed the situation, and quickly concluded how hopeless it was for them. Cadence couldn’t fly away due to her damaged wing, and Trixie didn’t know how to teleport, leaving her and Spike the only ones who could possibly escape. But even then, she knew with Spike weighing her down and those flying creatures close by, she wouldn’t make it into the clouds above.

As far as she could tell, she was about to die here. And she was going to take Cadence, Trixie and Spike with her.

Fluttershy clenched her eyes shut to hold back tears, but they still managed to break free from her eyes and roll down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, everypony,” she whispered, bowing her head in shame as hot tears wetted her cheeks. “I… I led us here. And now I’ve doomed us all.”

She looked up when she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder, and saw Cadence looking back with a warm, yet strained smile. “This isn’t your fault, Fluttershy. None of us could have been prepared or have even anticipated this,” she said softly. She briefly looked up at the creatures flying overhead, then turned back to Fluttershy. “Listen, I can shoot a few of them down with a few arrows, and maybe cripple the others, too. That should give you enough time for you and Spike to get to safety. Once you’re in the trees, run for your life.”

Fluttershy simply stared at Cadence with solemn and resigned eyes. “Thank you for the offer, Cadence, but I don’t think there’s a hope for the both of us. Those creatures are too fast. They’ll catch us before we even make it above the treetops,” she said despairingly.

“How do you know that, though?” Cadence demanded, jabbing her with a hoof. Fluttershy didn’t offer a reply, but simply lowered her head slightly further. Cadence continued, however. “I know I’ve given you some advice on being a leader before, and it’s been nice to see you actually listening to it. So here’s some well-needed advice all leaders should know. When you see yourself in a situation that you feel you cannot walk away from, then take a risk and do something not even yourself would have anticipated.” She leaned her head forward and said quietly, “If you don’t, then you’re just dooming Spike. Think about him for a moment and ask yourself, ‘Is his fate mine to make?’”

The moment Cadence mentioned the little dragon shaking with terror on her back, Fluttershy felt utterly selfish for losing hope. She might have thought there wasn’t a way out of the trap, but like Cadence had said, she would be stupid not to try. For Spike’s sake more than her own.

‘After all,’ she thought, ‘what do I have to lose?'

She looked back at Trixie, who was swinging her head left and right, watching as their enemies positioned themselves. Sudden realisation dawned in her mind as she looked between Cadence and the unicorn, her mouth opening in horror. If there was an actual chance of getting Spike to safety, then that would mean... “But… if we leave, you will both surely die,” she said, finishing her thoughts aloud.

Cadence swallowed nervously, as though resigning herself to her fate, and then took a step back, drew an arrow from her quiver, and notched it to her bow. “Don’t worry about us,” she said, trying ever so hard to hide the fear in her voice. “Just get out of here while you still can.”

Fluttershy looked away from Cadence, her mind wrestling with itself. While a small part told her that she should run for her life, never looking back to those she’d left behind, another told her that it was wrong to just abandon them to a horrible fate such as this one. She loved her friends dearly and equally, even though she knew Spike the longest, and hated the idea of choosing one over the others. To abandon them would mean turning against her morals, her very perceptions on kindness and friendship.

She sighed inwardly to herself. ‘But then again,’ she realised, ‘my morals have all been thrown into question lately.’ And that was proved when her mind and her nerves screamed louder than ever before to ditch them, and take Spike and get out of the clearing before the monsters closed on them.

Reluctantly, Fluttershy nodded to Cadence, and rapidly spread her wings, turning away from her friends lest the guilt she could feel in belly build up to a breaking point. “Spike, grip on tight. We’re flying out of here,” she ordered, the disdain she could feel for herself evident in her voice.

“But, what about Cadence and Trixie?” Spike asked, looking back at them. “We’re just gonna leave them here to die?”

Fluttershy heaved back a sob, and looked back at the young dragon. “Please, Spike, don’t make this any harder for me than it is,” she pleaded. “Just, do as you’re told and hold on, or else none of us will make it out of here alive.” She set her wings firmly spread out, ready to fly, and then glanced to Cadence, who was ready to shoot, and nodded briskly.

Cadence nodded, and brought her bow up, aimed it at the closest flying creature, drew her arrow back, and loosed. The arrow soared upwards, spinning like a javelin as it launched itself towards one of the flying monsters. The flying beast watched as the arrow began to dive towards its chest, and simply flinched as the arrow simply bounced off the creature and fell like a rock back to the ground, just before the horde facing the group.

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped in shock, her eyes watching the arrow plummeting back to earth. ‘But, that’s impossible. Not even a dragon’s hide is as tough as that,’ she thought.

The flying monster snorted with amusement, and then squawked, its screech echoing across the Vale. Its cry was something Fluttershy imagined a re-animated corpse would emit, only much, much louder. She flattened her ears against her skull, and clenched her eyes closed as she tried to bear the horrible noise the monster was making.

When the creature’s screeching finally faded into the sky, Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked up. She took a step back and gasped in horror as her gaze wandered across the army now advancing towards them at a trot, while the flying creatures were now circling over their heads, just close enough to grab them should they attempt to fly above the trees, and close enough so they could chase after them should any of them try to make a getaway.

Fluttershy looked at the ground, clenched her eyes shut and stomped against the ground in frustration. ‘Fluttershy, you idiot!’ she berated herself. ‘You should have taken that moment and ran, and now we’re definitely trapped.’ “I’m so sorry, Spike,” she whispered. “I failed you.”

With enemies completely around them, and their chances of survival now gone down a drain, Fluttershy resigned herself to her fate. “Spike, get off my back and get behind me. I’ll protect you for as long as I can stand,” she said. Spike silently complied and slid off the Dragonlord’s back, taking cover under her tail. With Spike safe, for the moment, she lifted up her right leg and drew Drage Bane.

She looked up once more, her eyes narrow with concentration. The army before them broke into a canter, snorting, hissing and screeching loudly with bloodlust and hatred she had rarely ever seen. She glanced over her shoulder to watch Cadence and Trixie step back so that their backs were pretty much against one another’s. Trixie was trembling in fright, and Cadence looked prepared to fight once more, her bow replaced with her mace-sword.

She forced herself to smile a little. Though this would likely be her final death, at least this time she was not dying alone.

She looked up suddenly when the creatures coming towards them let out a vicious barrage of screeches and yells. ‘Battle cries,’ Fluttershy realised. As one, the horde broke from a canter into a charge, their heads low, and their scythe-like weapons stretched out and ready for them. Behind the rapidly approaching horde, the shepherds raised their own weapons to point to the group, as if eagerly anticipating their blood spread across their ice-like blades.

Fluttershy lowered her body, spread her wings, her wing blades glimmering in the sunlight, and thrust Drage Bane ahead of her, fully prepared for the charge.

The monsters were only a few feet away from her, and about to leap on them and bring about pain and agony she knew she could never endure, when suddenly a black spot appeared on the ground five feet from the Dragonlord. Fluttershy blinked and inched back, taken aback by the sudden shadow. ‘Where did that come from?’ she wondered. She looked to the sky to see what was making the shadow, and was baffled to see the flying beasts circling above were not the cause. ‘Okay. So what is…?’ Her thoughts disappeared when a growling sound began to emerge from the shadow, drawing Fluttershy’s attention.

Beyond the growling shadow, the creatures had stopped and were staring perplexedly at the shadow, which started to grow rapidly until it was an oval shape. The shadow began to bloat from the centre, until it was shaped like a small dome. But the dome didn’t stop growing. It continued to rise like a loaf of bread being baked, dragon-sized fingers clawing out from within, until it was slightly taller than Cadence.

‘Wait, hold on?’ Fluttershy thought, tilting her curiously as the dome began to spin, slow at first and then began to go faster and faster until she feared it was about to lift off the ground. The creatures surrounding them had stopped their charge and were now starting to back away from the mysterious object. ‘Just a bit bigger than Cadence? There’s only one pony I know that size.’ A smile threatened to crawl across her lips. ‘Could it really be?’

The dome continued to spin faster than Rainbow Dash could ever fly around a cloud, throwing air into Fluttershy’s face and forcing her to close her eyes. The low growling was gone, replaced by an ever-growing whining sound that was like nothing she had ever heard before, but was painful to her sensitive ears. She pressed her hooves against them, muffling the sound just a bit, but enough for her to not feel like she was in agony.

“What the heck is going on?” Cadence yelled over the noise.

“I don’t know, but as long as it’s keeping them away and we are alive for a bit longer, then I don’t care!” Trixie replied.

“Look, everypony!” Spike shouted.

Fluttershy peeped an eye open, and stared towards the spinning dome. It was starting to turn from a starless nightly black to a bright, moonlight silver, so bright Fluttershy felt compelled to shield her eyes with a hoof. The moment she lifted a hoof an inch from her ears, however, she had to endure an agonising pain. Crying out in agony, she quickly shielded her ears again, and wished through gritted teeth that whatever was happening would end soon.

After a few painful seconds, ones that the pegasus thought would blind her forever, a booming voice echoed out from within the dome, a voice very familiar to her and everyone around her, and one that had been dearly missed. “RETURN TO THE WASTELANDS FROM WHENCE YOU CAME, CREATURES OF SHADOW!” it bellowed.

With that, the dome exploded outwards. The creatures beyond, above, and around them screamed in fright before being obliterated by the light, while others further behind were thrown back by the blast. Yet Fluttershy didn’t see the rest, for as the wall of light came towards her, she threw her wings before her eyes and pressed her hooves into the ground.

She felt the blast ram into her like a wall of flame, threatening to throw her off her hooves. Amidst the roaring that surrounded her, she could hear Cadence and Trixie screaming at one another to hold on. Behind, she could feel claws holding onto her tail for dear life, causing her to wince and grit her teeth in pain as if her tail was being ripped out of her body.

Finally, the pressure being forced against her suddenly faded away, and the roaring faded into nothingness. Fluttershy took a deep breath, amazed that she was still alive, then quickly looked herself over. ‘Head, legs, wings, rump, tail, mane, ears, eyes, mouth, nose. Yes. Still all here,’ she thought, while checking each part of her body. She took another deep breath and rubbed her chest with a hoof to calm her frantic heartbeat. As she did so, the Dragonlord took a look at her surrounding, starting with her friends.

Spike was still alive, though his head was firmly entrenched in the ground and his claws clenching onto her tail. Cadence and Trixie were okay, too. The pair had their forelegs wrapped around one another and had their heads pressed against each other’s chests, trembling in fright. Trixie was the first to look around and, seeing that they were still alive, jumped out of Cadence’s hold and looked as though she hadn’t been holding onto her at all. Cadence followed Trixie’s example and quickly sat up, pawing at the ground with a hoof and blushing in embarrassment.

Fluttershy briefly smiled wryly at her, then turned to look around them. Out of the hundreds that had surrounded them, over fifty remained, mostly comprising the smaller beasts with just a few shepherds left to guide them. A majority of them were lying on the ground, surrounded by the dust of their comrades, and struggling to get back up. Two of the shepherds were the first up, however, and were already barking out orders for them to get up and kill the ponies and dragon.

And just standing before Fluttershy, her wings spread out, her horn shimmering with a blue aura, and her mane and tail flowing in an unnatural breeze, was Luna.

“Auntie!” Cadence cried joyfully. Fluttershy glanced behind to see the younger Princess had a wide smile on her face and her eyes were bigger than a plate. She couldn’t help but smile and share her delight at seeing the older Princess again. Trixie and Spike both shared looks of disbelief as they stared at Luna, yet the Dragonlord could see how pleased they were to see her.

She looked back at Luna again, and nearly jumped back in surprise when she saw the Princess was now staring at them with a faint smile across her lips and really tired eyes, something she had rarely seen in the old alicorn. “You all look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, her voice faint and gentle.

Cadence suddenly rushed forward to hug her, but stopped short when the remaining creatures let out a cry of rage and charged forward with nothing but death in their eyes and their snarling teeth. “No time for exchanging pleasantries, my friends,” Luna announced. “I thinned their ranks. Now is the time to take up arms. Fight them. Fight! Banish them back to the hell from where they came!”

With that, Luna charged forward, her sword Nightbringer drawn and held by her side. The closest of the kakos creatures to her leapt for her neck, but Luna quickly acted and swung her sword up, throwing one half of the beast away from her. She slashed right as another charged her, ripping open its chest and throwing it to the ground. Her scimitar flashed in the sunlight, and swung left, cleaving through two more of the beasts.

More and more of the beasts charged at Luna, and yet the Princess had no problem holding them back and avoiding their own attacks, some of which the Dragonlord had thought were impossible even for her to avoid. Fluttershy had heard tales of the fighting prowess of Princess Luna, Lady Knight of Equestria and Supreme Commander of all its forces, but she would never imagined that they were all completely true. She was like a painter, throwing her paintbrush across the canvas like she knew what she was doing the moment one was in her grip, yet had only one colour available. Red. Or in this case, light brown.

She heard Cadence and Trixie give out cries of their own, then the sound of their swords being picked up and heard their hooves hit the ground as they scattered across the field, preparing to face some of the creatures that were closing in on them. The Dragonlord looked back and watched as Trixie plunged her sword into one of the creature’s stomach before it could get back up. She pulled it out, then slashed left, then right, and then thrust it into the chest of a beast coming at her.

Cadence was doing just as good, if not better. She swung her mace-sword left, hewing through a kakos creature, before swinging it right and ripping another’s head off its shoulders. Seeing she was okay and coping on her own, Fluttershy looked back at Luna, whose sword began to glow a bright blue as a large group of beasts charged as one towards her. With a cry escaping her lips, she swung Nightbringer down, embedding the point into the ground. With a sound similar to a screech of an eagle, a shockwave of magic flew across the ground and threw the creatures back, disintegrating a few while throwing the others onto their backs.

Fluttershy glanced left and saw ten of the creatures – including a shepherd – charge for her and Spike, and sighed, regrettably knowing what she had to do. She flicked her tail, freeing it from Spike’s grip, and looked to him. “Spike, stay here, and don’t try anything. If you get into trouble, call me and I will come,” she said rapidly.

Spike faintly nodded, though he never lifted his head out of the ground. Fluttershy gave a firm nod at him, before turning towards the creatures charging at her, and broke into a trot. The creatures saw her moving towards them, and seemed to speed themselves up, as though they were eager to get into the fight. ‘Such eagerness will get them killed,’ Fluttershy thought, as she picked her trot up and broke straight into a gallop. The gallop turned into a charge as she got closer, and she gritted her teeth together to control her nerves. The creatures ahead broke into a full charge as well, and yelled cries that would break even the most fearless warrior.

Yet Fluttershy wasn’t a fearless warrior. She knew fear, having been its companion for most of her life, and knew what it was capable of. But she knew it could also be a useful friend as well, like now. She was terrified of the creatures already, so what else could they do that they haven’t done already?

She blanked out her thoughts and concentrated on the fight ahead as she was about to smash into them.

Just as she was about hit her first target, she spread her wings out, slashing open the faces and necks of the creatures at her sides. She leapt up and pushed the beast in front of her to the ground with Drage Bane and Firewing, and swiftly moved past. She continued to gallop, ripping open her opponents’ bodies as she passed by. She stopped and spun around, slashing open two more of the creatures’ necks open, and reared up and drew Drage Bane and Firewing once more. ‘Four down, six to go,’ she counted, as her enemies recovered from her attack and charged her again.

The first one swung its scythe-like weapons over its head and thrust them down towards her own. Fluttershy raised Drage Bane and Firewing up and blocked the attack. It was at that moment she noticed for the first time the metallic clang that came with two – or in this case three – opposing swords hitting one another. ‘They’re made of metal? Living metal? Is that even possible?’

She didn’t have time to answer that as another flanked her and leapt for her stomach. Fluttershy pushed her first attacker back, then jumped back to avoid the second attack. The right-sided scythe leapt out to strike at her, but Fluttershy swung around until it was in front of her. Before the creature could retract it, she grabbed hold of the weapon and thrust it into the head of a creature coming from her side. As the creature tried to pull its blade free from its screaming comrade, Fluttershy spun and slashed open its side with Drage Bane.

The shepherd charged her from her front, its spear lowered and aiming for her chest, while another kakos swung around her to take her from behind. Fluttershy immediately ducked the strike from the spear, which whisked over her head and into the neck and back of the kakos coming up from behind. Fluttershy rolled away from the creature’s claw, and then sat up and swung Firewing, cutting off the shepherd’s leg. The monster screamed in pain and went down onto its stomach, allowing the Dragonlord to jump onto its back and thrust Drage Bane and Firewing into the back of its neck.

As soon as she knew the creature was dead – or ‘banished’ as Luna said they would be – Fluttershy jumped off and run her blades through the back and belly of another kakos waiting for her below. She pulled them out, and then thrust Firewing forward, spearing another through the chest and out its back. She ducked as another came at her from her right with a swipe of its paw, and slashed Drage Bane across its chest and then thrust it through its lower jaw.

She sighed regretfully as the screams of the creatures faded into echoes across the clearing, which then became nothing, and felt the creatures’ in her swords’ grip disintegrate into dust. ‘Why does it always have to come to this?’ she wondered sullenly. ‘Every time we face them, we either fight them or run away. Why can’t we talk to one another?’

Fluttershy set herself back onto all fours, and looked around the battlefield and to see how her friends were doing. Luna was facing off two shepherds at once, deflecting their attacks with relative ease and trying to strike at them in turn. Yet always the shepherds were able to dodge and parry her attacks. ‘I could give her a helping hoof,’ she thought, tilting her head a little.

She looked left of Luna, and watched as Cadence brought her mace-sword over her head and swung it down onto the head a charging kakos creature. ‘She’s okay.’ Her eyes wandered across the clearing until she came onto Trixie, who slashed open the side of a kakos, then spun and blocked the strike of another coming up from behind. ‘She’s getting good,’ Fluttershy thought, watching impressively as Trixie rolled away from the charging beast, then cut off one its scythes, then diving her sword into the creatures back.

All her pony friends were accounted for. That only left Spike. ‘But where is he?’ she looked all around the clearing for any sign of the little baby dragon, worry growing in her stomach. She stopped looking, and felt the worry in her stomach turn into full-grown panic when she saw Spike running across the field, chased by the only flying beast remaining. “I’m coming, Spike!” she yelled.

Fluttershy spread her wings and took to the air in a flash, heading straight for the flying creature. She narrowed her eyes and streamlined her body together to go faster, the determination to save Spike the only thing she could think about. She soon made it above the creature, and visibly paled at how big it was. ‘This thing has to be the size of those teenage dragons Twilight mentioned to me about,’ she thought. She shook the thought from her head, fearing that having the thought lodged in her head would weaken her chances, and then veered down into a dive, straight for the creature’s back. “HEY!” she bellowed, getting hold of the creature’s attention. “Leave! My! Friend! Alone!”

The flying beast stopped its pursuit of Spike and turned towards her. Just as it did so, Fluttershy slammed her hooves into its stomach, pushing it out of the sky and into the ground, throwing up dirt and grass around it as it skidded across the clearing. The Dragonlord felt herself tumble and roll off the creature, before coming to a stop on her back.

Fluttershy groaned, feeling the soreness in her back and in her hooves flowing across her legs and her body like water coming from a shower. ‘Note to self, never do something like that again,’ she noted. A pained cry from the flying beast she had felled forced the pegasus up onto her hooves, watching as the creature tried to get on its feet, its wings swaying like flags at a parade. The Dragonlord lowered her body and prepared to fight the creature.

The beast suddenly jumped up, rolled around and landed on its feet once more, glaring vehemently at Fluttershy. With a mighty roar, it clumsily charged the mare, its mouth open and its bloodied teeth visible for all to see.

‘Three,’ Fluttershy thought, crouching further. The beast’s charge seemed to be going faster the closer it came. ‘Two.’ The creature let out a roar that would cower any other pony, yet despite her fear’s best efforts, Fluttershy held her ground. ‘One.’ The creature was about five feet from her. ‘Now!’

Just as the creature’s head leaned forward to snap the mare in half, Fluttershy spread her wings once more and shot up into the air, missing the strike. The creature, confused as her sudden whereabouts, stopped and looked around. It was the perfect moment to strike. Fluttershy swung her body around, tucked her wings in, and fell straight towards its head, Drage Bane and Firewing drawn.

The creature looked up, and with a shriek of alarm batted her with a wing, throwing Fluttershy to the ground. The pegasus let out a shriek of alarm when she felt the wing hit her side, and cried out in pain when she hit the ground hard, feeling a few new bruises appearing across her side. She shook her head to clear her dizziness, and looked up just in time to see the flying creature gliding towards her, talons spread out and ready to impale her.

Fluttershy rolled out of the way, then sat up and slashed at one of the creature’s legs with Firewing. The creature let out a shriek of pain, and looked back at her with a hateful gaze. The Dragonlord felt a nasty shiver crawl up her spine at the gaze, and briefly shook her head to clear the thought. ‘Concentrate, Fluttershy. This thing needs to die… or be banished, like Luna said they should be,’ she thought, confusion temporarily in her mind at the wording Luna used.

The creature hollered and began to veer around for another attack. Fluttershy spread her wings, took flight, and began to charge the creature, Drage Bane drawn in front of her. The creature saw the blade and veered right, trying to miss the strike. Fluttershy swung about and slashed at its wing, hoping the strike would be enough to send it falling to the ground. She silently cursed her aim when it only hit the air.

The creature turned back towards her and attempted another attack, positioning itself like an owl about to snatch its prey. Fluttershy raised herself into the air and swung her body around, using her wing blades to slash across the creature’s eyes and face. The beast screamed in agony as the blades pushed themselves deeper into its face. It tried to turn and catch Fluttershy, but began to fall. Before it could, however, the beast flapped its gigantic wings one more and kept itself in to the air.

Fluttershy silently cursed. ‘How can I take this thing down?’ she wondered.

“Fluttershy!” The pegasus looked to the ground to find Luna looking up at her, her face straining as Nightbringer was locked against an axe of a shepherd. “Aim for the harpy’s wings! Once you’ve crippled one, the harpy cannot stay in the air!”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the name. ‘A harpy? Like an actual harpy? But those things don–' She cried out in shock when the harpy rammed into her, throwing her across the sky like a tennis ball. Fluttershy’s world spun for a moment, before she spread her wings and flapped rapidly, stopping her spinning, and setting herself upright.

Just in time to see the harpy was charging her with its talons bared.

Fluttershy screamed and shot upwards, slashing her wing blades across the harpy’s face. The strike caused the harpy to scream out and throw it off balance. Fluttershy noticed this, watching as the beast shook its head to clear it of ash as it poured across its face. ‘Right. Let’s do this. Um… I need a war cry of my own,’ she thought.

She spun around till she was facing the ground, and with a thrust of her wings she flung herself at the harpy. The beast didn’t notice her, or acknowledge she was even close by. ‘I must have stunned it,’ she thought, grinning at her luck. She angled her charge so that she aimed for the wings, then noticed the tilt of the harpy’s head. Her eyes widened in horror.

Before she could alter her path, the harpy swung around and lunged it head at her. Fluttershy turned, only to cry out in shock when she felt the beast’s mouth close onto her back, pinning her wings in. The harpy began to shake its head violently, hoping it would distort and maybe kill her, but Fluttershy only screamed, her eyes closed as she felt the jaws of the beast tighten and the wind rushing back and forth across her body.

She drew Drage Bane, praying it would be long enough to reach, then stretched the front half of her body around and stabbed the very end into the harpy’s face. The beast screamed in agony, throwing its jaws wide open. Fluttershy ignored the pain in her back and flew out, then spun around and slashed the edge of the harpy’s right wing. The harpy lunged forward but missed, giving Fluttershy the chance to slash Firewing and Drage Bane into the wing, ripping it apart. The harpy began to about turn and face her again, but cried out when it noticed it had started to fall.

Seeing the opportunity to end it, Fluttershy drew her blades once again, shot into the air till she flew above it, then dived and thrust her blades through the monster’s neck. The creature’s screams faded into gurgling croaks of pain as the pair smashed into the ground once more, dirt and grass flying everywhere.

Fluttershy took a few heavy breaths to calm herself down, and slowly opened her eyes. Below her, the flying creature was dead and disintegrating into dust, its wings spread out and twitching. She breathed a final sigh of relief, and hauled herself to her hooves. A screech from behind forced the pegasus to turn around, and she gasped in fright as a small kakos creature leapt towards her. Before it could hit, an arrow shot through into its neck, throwing it away from her like a doll being thrown away by a filly in a tantrum.

Fluttershy looked to where the shot came from, and bowed her head in respect to Cadence, who nodded in return, then set her bow back in place, drew her sword and swung it around, decapitating another creature as it came for her. Fluttershy moved to turn around, watching Luna as she moved towards the Dragonlord, striking down some more of the creatures that assailed them, and looked towards Spike. Her eyes widened in horror and she leapt off the fallen beast when she saw four kakos beasts were hurriedly closing in on him.

“Hold on, Spike, I’m coming!” Fluttershy yelled as she pushed her exhausted legs to their limits, and galloped harder than she had ever forced herself to go. She looked between the four beasts, seeing which pair were closer to him, and realised the ones on the left were quicker and were merely seconds from him. She lowered her head, and charged towards them.

Spike, however, was prepared.

Before the kakos creatures could get to him, the baby dragon took a deep breath, then let out a deluge of hot, dragon flame around him, creating a circular wall of flame high enough for even the greatest jumper to have second thoughts.

The four monsters instantly stopped their charge and backed away in horror, a foreleg covering their faces from the heat of the flames. Fluttershy seized her chance. She pounced on the closest creature, pinning it to the ground with her blades, which pierced its chest and side.

The second beast heard its dying comrade’s cries and turned in time to see the Dragonlord coming towards it. The creature raised its scythes and brought them forward, intending to strike at her shoulders. Fluttershy rolled out of the way, then sat up and slashed at its hind leg, severing it from the body. The kakos screamed in agony, but even that was cut off by Drage Bane being plunged through the back of its neck.

The other two creatures charged their way around the dragon flames, straight towards Fluttershy. The pegasus spun around and broke one’s muzzle with her hind hooves, and blocked the other’s attack with her wing blades. She then pushed the creature back with a mighty shove of her wings, then thrust forward with Firewing. The creature recovered, and blocked the attack with one paw, refusing to budge. The creature sneered, and with the other claw slashed at Fluttershy’s neck, trimming a bit of her mane away and drawing blood, while sending the pegasus to the ground with a yelp.

Fluttershy heard the other creature get up and move towards her, and heard the other bark out something akin to a command. She set a hoof to her neck, feeling blood run around her hoof, and looked up. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the two beasts making their way towards her, their eyes sealed with hatred. The pegasus, ignoring the pain as best she could, tried to get back up and face them, but her left foreleg gave way under her and she fell back onto her stomach. ‘I can’t keep this up. I really can’t,’ she thought, exhaustion from the day’s events beginning to kick in.

She looked up again when she felt a hot breath against her face, and trembled in fright as the beast before her opened its mouth, revealing its fangs; the other creature manoeuvred itself around her, sneering in delight at an easy kill.

Just as the beast was about to thrust its head forward and bit into her face, a cry from the creature behind stopped and brought its head up, staring in shock. Fluttershy looked around as well. Her eyes widened in horror as Spike had jumped onto the creature’s back, riding it like a cowpony would ride a bull. The creature leapt and hopped around, trying its hardest to get the baby dragon off its back, but to no avail; Spike stayed where he was as if he had been glued on the thing’s back.

Wasting no time, Fluttershy jumped up and thrust Drage Bane through the chest of the creature in front of her. She pulled the blade out and turned around, just in time to watch Spike fly into the air, screaming.

The beast, free of the dragon on its back, looked towards Fluttershy with a hateful gaze, and raised its scythes to pounce. It leapt forward, but didn’t make it far as an arrow shot through the top of its head, sending the body to the ground like a rock. The Dragonlord looked to where the arrow came from, and nodded to Cadence as the mare released another arrow from her bow and sending it into a shepherd’s heart as it came at her. ‘That’s twice now,’ she hastily noted.

Fluttershy turned her attention to Spike, who had just landed on his stomach with a very loud thump – or at least it was in Fluttershy’s ears. “Oh my goodness!” she shouted. She galloped through the flames Spike created, and when she reached him, picked him up and looked him over for serious injuries. She let out a sigh of relief to know that he was all right.

A few hisses close by forced her to look away from the little dragon, only to move so she stood above him as four more kakos beasts stalked closer to her and Spike. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, think, think, think! You can’t face these creatures all of the time, you need another solution!’ her mind yelled.

The beasts broke into a trot. ‘Oh, but I already tried talking to them, and they seemed to ignore everything I say,’ she protested.

If her mind had a body of its own, Fluttershy imagined, it would be raising an eyebrow at her. ‘Really? Yes, you tried talking to them in Terran, and Equestrian. But you haven’t tried in your ‘other’ language, have you?’

Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the thought, even as the kakos creatures broke into a canter. ‘Of course!’ She spread out her legs, setting herself in a defensive pose, then shouted as loud as her voice could go, “Du skal ikke komme lenger (You will not come any further)!”

The beasts instantly stopped in their tracks, and stared at the young Dragonlord with terror. “Jeg har bare vært i denne delen av Rangen i noen timer, og jeg har allerede begynt å hate deg og dine. Du har ikke vært noe annet enn dyr som vil terrorisere oss. Vel, du har plukket opp en gal tid å irritere meg og mine venner, og jeg er ikke så snill når jeg er sint (I have only been in this part of the range for a few hours, and I already hate you and all your kind. You have all been nothing but animals out to terrorise us. Well, you picked a wrong time to mess with me and my friends, and I’m not so kind when I am angry)!” she yelled, walking slowly forward.

The creatures began to cower at her sight and her voice, which seemed to her that it had been amplified by her anger. “Men nå er jeg nådeful. Mange av ditt slag har falt for mitt sverd, og jeg ønsker ingen andre å møte samme sjebne. Du vil dra nå, dra dit du kaller hjem, og tenke på hva du har gjort. Og hvis jeg noe gang ser deg igjen, will våres neste møte ende godt... for deg, mener jeg (However, this time I will be merciful. Many of your kind have burned away at my swords, and I desire to see no others share the same fate. You will leave now, go back to whatever you call home, and think about what you have done. And if I ever see you again, then our next meeting will not end so well… for you, I mean),” she said.

The creatures seemed to understand her this time, for the four of them nearly tripped one another up just to get away from the mare with the voice of a dragon. Once they had disappeared into the trees, Fluttershy took a deep breath and fell back onto her rump, shaken by what happened, and at the same time surprised. She briefly remembered Spike was behind her, and turned around to see if he had moved. To her worry, however, he hadn’t.

She briefly looked around once more, hoping there wasn’t any more opponents to deal with, and gave a silent thanks to Vidarr the First when she saw none; they were all fighting Luna, Cadence and Trixie. She looked back at Spike, and gave him a gentle shake. “Spike?” she asked. When only a tilt of the head came as response, she shook him again. “Spike, wake up.”

Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long for a reply. Spike let out a pained groan and opened his eyes, which flickered closed again as sunlight hit his face. “Urgh…” he groaned once more, shaking his head lightly. “Did you use the Mirror Pool, Fluttershy? Cause I swear there was only one of you the last time I saw you.”

Fluttershy’s face scrunched up in confusion. ‘Oh dear, he sees more of me,’ she thought, grimacing at the thought. She rubbed his head soothingly and smiled. “You’ll be okay,” she whispered. She lowered him to the ground. “Just stay there and get some rest. And don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

She turned around to look towards the field once more, keeping Spike safely tucked under her tail, to see how the rest of the battle was going on. To her surprise, however, the few remaining kakos creatures left were starting to flee into the forests, giving the raging Princess of the Night a look of fear before disappearing within the trees. A few were crawling out of a cloud of smoke – obviously caused by Trixie, who suddenly appeared and struck down another as it tried to get away. The rest fled for their lives.

Cadence, on the other hoof, was slowly making her way towards Fluttershy, her strides heavy with fatigue and her coat covered in sweat and ash.

Fluttershy nodded to her as the former Crystal Princess finally stopped before her, and collapsed onto her rump, gasping for air. “I thought… they would never… ever… give up,” she remarked, glancing behind her to see the large piles of ash that were now the only evidence of them ever being in the clearing. Cadence looked back at Fluttershy, then nodded towards Spike. “Is he going to be all right?”

Fluttershy smiled at her, and looked back at Spike. “He’ll be fine, I think. A dragon hide is tough; tougher than any armour. I’m sure he’ll be back on his feet in no time, fresh as a daisy.”

“Did somepony say daisy sandwich?” Trixie asked as she trotted up to them, a large smile across her face. “Cause I could kill for one right about now.” She stopped as if she had just realised what she had said, then looked back at the remains of the creatures behind her. “On second thoughts, I think I killed enough for that daisy sandwich.”

Cadence and Fluttershy shook their heads. “Sorry, but no. Just talking about Spike here,” Fluttershy answered, pointing behind her to the little dragon.

Trixie shrugged it off. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m sure I can have one later.” The unicorn looked back towards the field covered in ash once more, and let out an impressed whistle. “Wow. We certainly kicked some rump today, didn’t we? To be outnumbered a hundred to one, only to come out the victors. If I ever have grandkids, I’ll be telling them this tale until I am on my deathbed. Hey, did you see the moves I pulled? I was like, ‘wham!’” she yelled as she thrust a hoof out at an invisible enemy. “And they were all like, ‘Arrgh!’ And I was like, ‘oh yeah!’”

“I’m sure you were, young unicorn. You all fought valiantly,” Luna called as she slowly moved towards them, her horn glowing with her dark blue aura. Cadence jumped up and moved to hug her, but stopped herself short when she saw why Luna was moving slowly. Fluttershy craned her neck to look beyond Cadence, and let out a loud gasp at the sight.

Luna let out a gasp of air as she dragged a captured creature towards her companions. Its two hind legs were missing, with ash and dust pouring out of what was left, while its forelegs were trying to grip into the ground to escape its fate. The beast screeched and cried for help – or was cursing them colourfully, Fluttershy could not really know – for its comrades nearby, but none of them replied; they had abandoned it to its fate.

Once she was close enough, Luna hurled the beast onto the ground the group circled, then pressed her hoof against its head, pinning it. At that moment, Spike woke up with a heavy groan. “Wha… what’s going on?” He noticed the creature trailing behind Luna, and his eyes widened. “Why have you brought that thing–?”

“All in good time, dragon youngling,” Luna said wearily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She set the creature down in front of her, binding its forelegs with magic, then gestured for them to gather around. “Quickly now, gather round in a tight circle, tight as possible if we are going to do this.”

Cadence, Trixie and Spike quickly complied, and inched together until their noses were touching. Fluttershy was the only one hesitant to do so, feeling fear binding her to her place at the sight of the monster before her. “Trust me, dear Fluttershy, it is safe,” Luna said encouragingly. The others looked back and smiled bravely, showing they were not afraid. For the most part.

Fluttershy licked her lips, then nodded, seeing that she was outspoken by the majority. She got up and moved to stand between Trixie and Cadence. “All right. Is everypony set?” Luna enquired. Four heads nodded in her direction. “Okay, then brace yourselves.” She bowed her head and powered up her horn.

Fluttershy heard a gasp of horror from Cadence, and looked up to see the young alicorn staring in horror at her aunt. “Wait a second. Isn’t that a teleporta–?”

There was a bright flash shrouding Fluttershy’s eyes, followed by nothing but darkness as the five companions and their one captive departed the ash-covered field.

Chapter 13 (part 2)

For a split second, though it felt like an eternity flashed past her eyes, there was nothing but darkness. No sounds of breathing graced her hearing, not even her own. Her sight failed to give her any clue as to her whereabouts, neither could she feel the presence of her friends beside her. It was as if she had been thrown away from them, and left drifting in this strange plain of reality.

But before Fluttershy could start to question any of it, another flash of light appeared before her eyes, and just as quickly disappeared again, and when her sight – albeit blurry and disjointed – sound, smell and touch returned, she felt something hard against the ground and her coat tingling with numbness.

It didn’t take long for her to realise that she had arrived at their destination on her side.

‘I hate teleportation,’ she reminded herself, closing her eyes and shaking her head rapidly to clear her senses. As the numbness of the aftermath of teleportation gradually faded across her coat, she opened her eyes to find herself on her side – as she suspected – in a small circular clearing covered in small blades of grass and surrounded by trees and bushes, which were neatly arranged as if they were too afraid to step into the woodland before them.

At both ends of the clearing, two dirt paths wormed their way along the Vale, one heading west, and the other heading south and up a hill. Beside the path heading west was a small boulder, looking more like a model of a mountain than a rock. And above the trees, the mountains that hemmed the Vale of the Lost in dominated the skyline and the crests of the hills that gave the Vale its bumpy appearance.

“How could you be so stupid, Luna?” Fluttershy brought her head up and watched as Cadence, walking sloppily and glaring angrily, towards an exhausted Luna, whose head was bowed and sweat glimmered down her neck. To the right, Trixie and Spike sat back to back, clearly exhausted from the day’s ordeals.

While right behind Cadence and close to her – too close for comfort – was the creature. Its white eyes were open yet its body stayed motionless. Fluttershy sprang to her hooves and backed away from it, too scared to even be close to the creature. She stopped when she felt the leaves of a bush brush against her flanks.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Cadence,” Luna countered, breathing heavily and staring up at her niece. “I got us away from that place, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Cadence agreed, “But at the same time you gave away our positions to Celestia! She will gather as many troops as she can to surround the Vale and capture as we make our way out!”

“Be thankful I didn’t teleport us out of the Vale, then we would have been found and taken prisoner,” Luna countered, sounding angry but having got the energy to show it at her niece.

“But you teleported us!” Cadence persisted. “You warned us that we couldn’t use the teleportation spell in fear of our positions being discovered by Celestia!”

Luna sighed. “I know, I know,” she said, nodding. “I simply did it in the hope that Celestia might send scouts to find us, only for them to run into them.” She gestured with her head to the creature lying in the middle of the road. She looked back at Cadence warmly. “I am sorry about what I did. Really. But I only did it to protect you and the others.”

Cadence’s glare stayed fixed on Luna for a short moment, before gradually softening to a more kindly stare. “I guess I shouldn’t be mad at you, really.” The younger alicorn looked away. “I used the teleportation spell to dodge an attack a few hours ago.”

“Yes, I felt it echo through my mind,” Luna said. Before Cadence could utter an apology, Luna shook her hoof. “You have no reason to apologise for that, my sweet. I’m certain it was the only option you could take. I could never be cross with you for that.”

“Hold on,” Trixie butted in, much to Fluttershy’s surprise. “You felt Cadence teleport?”

Both alicorns nodded. “We have an ability to detect one another’s uses of the teleportation spell,” Luna explained. “As well as knowing the location of their teleportation, we can also feel what one another are thinking and feeling. It’s a psychic link between alicorns that nopony can ever truly explain.”

Trixie looked blankly at Cadence, then turned to stare incredulously at the older Princess. “Then, if you sensed Cadence teleport, and felt how she was feeling, then why didn’t you teleport straight to her side? You can see on her face that she was in a lot of pain!”

Fluttershy sat up, reaching out to Trixie with a hoof. “Trixie, calm down, I’m sure Luna has a very good reason that she–”

“I was scared,” Luna answered.

The Vale suddenly went quiet. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock and her shoulders sagged. ‘Did Luna just say that she was… scared?’ The thought of the Princess, usually fearless against many terrible things Terra offered, was actually scared of something brought the Dragonlord to feel a little light-headed. She wiped her brow and then massaged her cheeks. ‘This is getting very interesting or very, very scary.’

“Scared?” Cadence asked. Luna nodded in shame, bowing her head further and further. “But Luna, I know you, and you are rarely scared of anyth–”

“But I am,” Luna replied, lifting her head to stare Cadence in the eye. “I’m scared. Really, really scared, Cadence. And it forced me to cower, to fall to the ground when I felt the pain running through you. The agony you must have received through this…” She paused to lightly caress the side of Cadence’s face, where heavy bruising remained. “Drove me to cower. By the time I was fit to move and teleported to your last position, I couldn’t trace you anymore.”

Luna sighed and looked away, closing her eyes. “I am so sorry, my sweet. I am so sorry I left you alone to face these monsters.” Luna’s ears fell flat. “Could you ever forgive me?”

Cadence simply stared at her aunt sympathetically, her lips moving yet no sound coming from between. Suddenly, she leapt forward and wrapped her legs around Luna’s neck, grinning. “I missed you, Luna,” she whispered, a word of forgiveness not needed, apparently. “I missed you so much, my silly auntie.”

Luna’s smile turned into a teary grin, and stepped forward. “I missed you too, my child,” she said quietly. She quietly wrapped her neck around the back of Cadence’s, and stood perfectly still, her face revealing her enjoyment of her niece’s affection.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at the sight, before looking away and turning her attention to Spike and Trixie; she felt that she was prying into their moment of reunion. Spike and Trixie had separated during Luna and Cadence’s talk, and were now on opposite sides of the path. Yet, their eyes wandered into the path of each other before drifting away once more. ‘They want to talk to one another, but they’re too afraid to say anything,’ she thought. She would have to find a way to get the two to talk later.

“But you must know, I wasn’t alone that hour,” Cadence finally said, killing the silence. She pulled away, smiled at Luna, and then turned to look at Fluttershy with a bright smile. “Had Fluttershy not the strength to fight, then I would almost surely be dead.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she realised they were looking and talking about her with praise, and she instantly felt heat in her cheeks. She bashfully put her head behind her ragged and dirty mane and took a step back. “Oh, well I didn’t really do anything for the first half. I- I was pretty beaten up by the beast that attacked us to do much. Cadence pretty much saved me and herself by not giving up. I-I-I w-was– eep!” she squeaked and closed her eyes in fright when she felt herself picked into the air and hugged like a filly would hug a new teddy bear.

She opened up a single, scared eye to see it was Luna, her eyes closed yet the widest grin was spread across her face. Luna must have realised what she was doing, for she quickly opened her eyes, wide with horror, looked up at Fluttershy, then grinned sheepishly and dropped the mare to the ground with an, “Oomph!”

Luna moved a hoof to her mouth and politely coughed. “Uh… it’s – it’s good to see you, dear Fluttershy,” she said, blushing in embarrassment. She rapidly shook her head and stared at the young Dragonlord questionably. “But I have to know. What happened yesterday at the lake? Why didn’t you join us sooner?”

Fluttershy’s ears flattened across her skull, and she lowered her eyes in shame. “I am sorry I didn’t get here sooner, Luna,” she said. “Really. I am. I was delayed, to cut a long story short.” She looked back up at Luna with bashful eyes, adding, “And, um, it’s good to see you are all right.”

Luna nodded understandably. “I will have to hear it some other time, then,” she said, smiling. “And don’t you ever apologise for not being there. I sincerely doubt things would have been much different had we the privilege of your presence.”

Fluttershy nodded mildly, though it was clearly obvious from Luna’s reaction the confusion she felt in her heart. ‘Why should she be privileged to have me by her side? Am I that important to her after all?’

“Luna?” Fluttershy craned her head passed Luna at the sound of Spike’s voice, and watched him cautiously approach the fallen creature. “Is this thing dead? Please tell me it’s dead.”

The beast suddenly brought its head up and screeched deafeningly at the young dragon. Spike staggered backwards, falling onto his backside in his haste to get away. Fluttershy leapt around and stood between the little dragon and the beast, her wing blades shining in the late afternoon sunlight. “Just who do you think you are, snapping at a child like that!” she yelled, anger in her eyes at the sight of it. The creature drew its head back, stared at the Dragonlord emotionlessly for a bit, then its eyes wandered to its left.

Fluttershy looked to her right to see Trixie and Cadence moving around it, watching it as though staring at a sleeping bear. The creature stared at them, hissing under its breath and baring its dented fangs. The pair had expressions of disgust and hatred for it, their auras of magic wrapped around the hilt of their swords as though they were prepared to put an end to its life.

Fluttershy felt hate for the creature, too, but at the same time, as she stared at the place its hindlegs would be, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for it. It was broken, wounded, probably dying, and without any of its comrades by its side to help. It was alone, like she had been, and would most likely be killed by them, like she would have been if Cadence hadn’t turned up. ‘I have to try and spare it,’ she decided. ‘It wouldn’t be right killing a defenceless beast, no matter how evil they are.’ Whether the others would be convinced by her attempts would be another matter.

“Now then… let us see what we can learn from this one,” Luna said, though Fluttershy could see that it was more to herself than anyone else; she could even sense a touch of fear in her voice. The Princess walked up to the beast, and before it could bare its fangs at her and hiss, she shoved its head to the ground with a hoof. The beast squirmed, trying to escape, but Luna’s grip on the beast was like iron. As far as Fluttershy could tell, there was no escape for it.

“It would be wise not to try and escape,” Luna growled venomously. “Just a bit more pressure, and there wouldn’t be a head worth seeing.”

The creature snorted. “What difference would it make, Princess?” it asked spitefully, much to the visible shock of everypony – and dragon – around it.

‘So they can all talk Terran. Maybe they can all talk Equestrian, too,’ Fluttershy thought, staring at the beast in awe. Before she could ask it if it could speak several languages, the beast snorted again and continued.

“My death here will only be a minor delay. If you do bash my head in, be assured that I will return to repay the favour. Mark my words,” it declared, grinning wickedly.

In response, Luna pressed her hoof even tighter. “How did you come into this realm, filth?” she snarled. “One of you, let alone a thousand of you, should be impossible.”

Fluttershy looked back at Luna with growing confusion, and dread. The creature below her hoof grinned. “It seems ‘Princess’ Luna has turned simple in her time on her moon,” it cackled. Luna’s teeth gritted together; Fluttershy could see she was close to smashing the beast’s head apart, and inched closer to stop her. “How else do you think we could come into this realm, dog?” it answered a moment not too soon. “We found the tear at the heart of this place and swarmed the Vale in a day. The second day we grew more adventurous and scouted out the Unicorn Range. The seventh we began razing the small villages we came across. So far, this is the eleventh day we have occupied the Vale.”

“Yes, we saw your dirty work on a hamlet two days ago,” Cadence said. She strode up to the beast, her sword half-drawn in its scabbard. “What happened to the ponies that lived there?”

The beast sneered at her. “They fled, Mi Amora Cadenza. Ran like frightened chickens from a fox. They ran this way, that way, and any other way. What happened to them after that, I don’t really care. I just wish I had the chance to sink my fangs into one of those ponies’ necks.”

Cadence made a move to draw her sword and kill the creature. Luna raised her eyes, flicked her head at Cadence’s sword, and with her magic slammed the weapon back into its place. The younger alicorn looked to Luna with bewilderment, which the elder replied with a sharp shake of the head.

Reluctantly, Cadence took a few steps back and bowed her head in submission. Before Luna could ask the creature another question, Fluttershy took a step forward, clearing her throat with a light cough. “Um, excuse me, mister evil creature?”

Both the creature and Luna looked towards her with curious eyes. The look in Luna’s eyes were warm and encouraging, yet the creature’s eyes, like it counterparts, were cold and spiteful. It was the gaze coming from the creature that forced Fluttershy to take a step back in fright. ‘No, Fluttershy, don’t you dare back down! You need to know this, you have to find out, no matter how much the answer will hurt!’ her mind yelled at her.

Fluttershy knew her mind was telling her truth, yet her heart didn’t feel ready for the truth just yet, even though she knew the answer already. Willing the courage, she looked the creature dead in the eye, showing no fear or anger, and asked, “Wha-what about the critters that live in the Vale? Wh-where did they all go?”

Rather than reply straight away, the creature merely grinned. “Don’t you mean, ‘lived’ in the Vale, pony freak?” it said, its grin stretching further at the heartbreak Fluttershy felt in her chest and across her face.

The pegasus knew she shouldn’t be shocked at the answer. Her mind knew the answer before the beast had even uttered a word. Nevertheless, her heart wasn’t ready for the truth. ‘So many innocent creatures. So many families. All of them… gone,’ she lamented, choking back a sob. She felt something run along her back, and looked around to see Spike staring back her in sympathy, his claw running smoothly down her lined back. Fluttershy sniffed back a few tears, and set a leg around Spike’s shoulders. ‘He is such a sweetheart,’ she thought. She gently nudged him a little closer, feeling his chest press against hers in a comforting hug, and turned to stare at the creature once more.

All traces of sympathy in her eyes for the beast were now gone.

“Do not think that this act of barbarism will go unpunished, beast,” Luna snarled, pressing her hoof down. “That teleportation spell I cast would have been traced by my sister to this location. Soon, she will gather a group of ponies that will make their way here to find and apprehend us. When they get here, they will find you first, and once Celestia knows your vile kind has returned, you will have the whole Equestrian army on you doorstep.”

Luna’s words were not as fear-inducing as Fluttershy had thought, for the creature merely chuckled. “Let them come. We are ready for them,” it said, its grin stretching disturbingly wide. “We have the supplies to feed our numbers, and soon we will have the provisions to arm them.” Its eyes narrowed. “Do you think of us as a mere raiding force? Here to cause a nuisance then flee back into the void?” The creature cackled. “Oh, and we all thought you would remember our promise.”

Luna’s eyes widened ever so slightly that it wasn’t very noticeable, yet Fluttershy noticed it, and she could feel her heart chill at its sight. “What are you talking about?” the Princess enquired, her anger slowly growing. “Tell me.” The beast simply began to laugh. “TELL ME!”

The beast looked up once more, its grin never shifting. “It has been a long time, hasn’t it? Thousands of years must have passed here, and yet time has been quick in ours. While you ponies and other races have moved on and forgotten what happened, we have been looking to our bleak skies, plotting our revenge. Biding our time for the right moment. Building up in strength that hasn’t been seen since the cataclysm.”

Luna began to shake her head, her eyes now wide with horror. “No… you… you can’t be…”

“Oh, but now our time has come. Equestria is weak. Terra is weak. It has been a long time since this world has felt the flames of war consume its cities, its lands, its continents. Soon, though, my master will ignite the furnace once more, and he will herald a new era of chaos for us. He has been waiting for a long time, you know? He looks forward to seeing you again, Princess Luna Nocturnus Sola–”

With a scream cascading from her mouth, Luna swiftly brought a hoof down hard on the beast’s skull before the Dragonlord could stop her. Fluttershy looked away, covering Spike’s eyes with a wing, with only a thick crunching sound giving her an indication of what just happened. She could hear Trixie trying to hold back the contents of her stomach, while Cadence only gasped in horror.

Yet Luna continued to smash her hooves into the creature, even as it withered away. Fluttershy looked up in growing fear as the Princess screamed through gritted teeth, punching what was left of the beast. “LUNA, STOP!” Cadence screamed, throwing herself at Luna. She pushed the older alicorn away, throwing Luna backwards a few steps and onto her rump, breathing heavily, her lust for violence seemingly dissipated. Cadence was breathing heavily, too, though it was from fear more than fatigue.

Luna stared at the ash pile before her, then peered down at her trembling hoof. After a moment, she stared at Cadence in regret. “I… I’m so sorry. I… I never…”

Cadence wrapped her hooves around Luna’s neck in a comforting embrace, rubbing the side of her face against her aunt’s. Luna continued to stare at the remains of the creature with wide eyes and an open mouth. For a long moment, there was no sound other than the heavy breathing coming from the five companions. Eventually, Fluttershy patted Spike on the shoulders, silently telling him to pull away from her. Spike nodded, and pulled away, staring in horror at the Princess.

Fluttershy took a step forward, feeling she needed to ask the question what was likely on everypony’s mind. “Luna?” The Princess’s eyes turned on her, wide and afraid – yet also shame of showing such fear. Fluttershy gave her a comforting look, hoping it would be enough to soothe her into answering what needed to be answered. “Luna? Tell us, please? What was the creature talking about? What did it mean, ‘The flames of war’?”

Luna looked away, then after a moment, pushed herself out of Cadence’s hold and walked to the end of the clearing, staring into the distance. “Luna?” Cadence asked, her ears flat and her features solemn. Fluttershy looked at her expectantly, and with a great deal of concern.

Eventually, Luna sighed. “It meant that the daimons of Tartarus, are preparing for war,” she stated. She turned to face them, taking in all of their looks of horror with a quick look of her eyes. “And it will begin here, in the Vale, where nopony will be able to find them until it is too late. Unless my sister acts upon my teleportation spell and sends troops to find us. What they will find instead, are creatures from hell.”

Fluttershy felt the chill in her heart turn even colder. “Daimons?” she stuttered. She pointed to the ash pile. “You mean to tell us that those… creatures, are d-d-d-daimons?” Luna simply nodded in response. Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak in terror, shivering as if an early winter cold had come in and gripped the Vale in its frozen embrace.

“Wait, you mean the prowlers of Tartarus who would mercilessly hunt the souls of those that had evil in their hearts and pursue them till the end of time?” Spike asked incredulously.

Luna looked towards him with narrow eyes. “Yes, and at the same time no, youngling,” she answered sullenly. “Daimons are hunters and predators, true. Easily the most fearsome hunters the three realms have ever seen. But they wouldn’t care if you were a bad person or a good one; they would hunt you down and rip you asunder all the same. What you know was a fairy tale made up to scare the fillies and colts into being good.”

“Oh. Well it certainly fooled me,” Spike said, looking away from Luna and to the ground, crossing his arms. “Don’t judge me.” Fluttershy walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder, smiling assuredly.

“But how on Terra have daimons managed to come this far into Equestria?” Cadence asked, turning back to her aunt. “Wouldn’t they have had to pass Cerberus to get out of Tartarus?”

Luna shook her head. “I am afraid it is a bit complicated to discuss now, but I will try and keep it short. You see–” A train of screeches echoing across the Vale sent Luna spinning in their direction. The alicorn’s coat suddenly paled. “Oh no.”

Fluttershy turned, too, wondering where they came from, and saw at the top of a hill in the distance, a lone shepherd standing tall, with two teethed longswords in its hands. It reared up, raised the blades high into the air, and roared, “SLAUGHTER THEM!” A thousand screeches followed in its wake, and were getting louder with every passing second.

“Here they come,” Spike muttered, his eyes wide with terror.

“I’ll explain if we survive this. Quickly, all of you, follow me to the bridge!” Luna yelled, and before she could give the others time to reply she was galloping down the road, her head low in the hope it would give her greater speed.

Cadence nodded rapidly, and with her magic swung Spike onto her back. “Hold on tight,” she said, and raced after Luna and Trixie, who was but a dust cloud in her haste to get away. “Come on, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy glanced back at the three as they began to gallop away, then looked south again as the screeches became louder and louder. Her eyes slowly grew in horror as far ahead, at the top of a hill that the path climbed up, an army of daimons descended and charged towards her like a huge wave about to crash onto land.

It was a wave that had no end.

Fluttershy took one good look at the army coming towards her once more, terror written across her face, before spinning around and galloping after her friends. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, big strides!’ she yelled at herself. She quickly caught up with her friends, and was beginning to overtake them. She quickly noticed and slowed down, not wishing to part from her friends’ sides once more.

She looked back at Luna, who gave her an encouraging smile, then looked beyond at the army chasing them. A shepherd daimon was in front of the group, and with waves of his staff and a few barks of command, the smaller daimons were splitting off and heading into the forests. “They’re trying to get ahead of us!” Fluttershy warned quickly.

Luna looked back, too, and smirked. “They will have to do more than that to catch us,” she said, and turned to look ahead once more.

Fluttershy nodded and followed her example, but couldn’t help but look back from time to time to see the daimons were catching up, and fast. “Cadence!” Luna barked, picking up Spike with her magic and floating him onto hers.

Cadence nodded, and with swift movements, brought her bow up, nocked an arrow to its string, drew back and loosed. The arrow flew straight and true, smashing into the shepherd’s head as he barked one more command, throwing the beast to the ground. The daimons behind tried to avoid the falling corpse but were too late, with one crushed by the falling shepherd, and the others smashing into it and tripping up over it as they tried to jump the bigger daimon’s remains.

Fluttershy looked ahead, and let out a gasp of shock. Before them the path suddenly turned left from a sharp drop, and descended gently down the cliff side to the flats below, where a path ran through more trees and over a small gorge further ahead. After that, she couldn’t see where the path went, but the mountains that Trixie said were the way out of the Vale were close now, so close that she could make out where the rocks on the mountains formed small ridges.

The Dragonlord stopped at the edge of the drop, and looked down. Her eyes widened in horror when she made out daimons making their way towards the path leading up towards them. “Luna!” she yelled, before the alicorn could pass her.

Luna stopped upon hearing Fluttershy, and looked down to see more daimons following the hillside and turning to follow the path up. “Keep the daimons behind us busy,” she said.

Fluttershy nodded, gulping when she realised what Luna meant by ‘busy’. She turned back to the daimon horde charging at them, paying particular attention to the seven or eight daimons that were ahead. ‘They really don’t know a thing called a break, do they?’ she wondered. She locked her gaze to one of them, which seemed to run even faster at her stare. ‘Do they have holidays in Tartarus?’

She was thrown out of her thoughts when the sound of an arrow flying off a string, given her a chance to see the arrow in question fly straight through the neck of a shepherd leading the charge. The beast cried out in sudden pain, before tumbling to the ground. The remaining seven kakos daimons swerved around it and continued to charge.

Fluttershy raised her right leg and drew Drage Bane, the blade singing in anticipation. In the corner of her eye she could see Trixie draw her sword, and watched as Cadence launched another arrow, which slammed into another daimon going for Spike. Trixie leapt forward and swung her sword into the neck of another as it charged for her, throwing the daimon to the side like a ragdoll.

Fluttershy looked ahead when she heard the cries of daimons a bit louder than normal, and saw one heading for her. She reared up onto her hind legs and prepared to charge. ‘Time to send these beasts back to hell!’ she yelled in thought. She gulped and her ears flattened as her first target charged towards her. ‘I hope.’

The first daimon charged forward, then turned and swung a scythe at her chest. Fluttershy spun away from the attack, around the beast, dodging a swing of its claw, and slashed across its back and into its side with Drage Bane. She spun back around and parried as another kakos daimon swung a claw at her. She pushed the offending leg away, leapt forward and swung Firewing at the beast’s arm, severing it from its body. The beast screamed out, but was quietly drowned out by Drage Bane’s point running across its neck.

Fluttershy pushed the dying creature to the side and walked on, watching as a shepherd advanced slowly towards her, twirling its two short swords around its hands like it was an acrobat in the circus. When the Dragonlord was close enough, the beast stopped its show and thrust one sword forward. Fluttershy deflected the strike with Drage Bane, then lunged forward with Firewing. The beast brought its second sword low, then swung it upwards, throwing Firewing pointing towards the air and throwing Fluttershy off guard.

The pegasus squeaked in alarm as she felt gravity pull her to the ground, landing on her back. The shepherd daimon stepped forward and prepared to deliver the killing blow, snorting with amusement. It plunged both blades down, one aiming at her throat and the other at her belly.

The Dragonlord spread her wings out and caught the swords between her wing blades. The shepherd daimon’s eyes widened in shock, which was all Fluttershy needed. With a grunt of strength, she pushed the blades up and away from the daimon, then slashed at the daimon’s forelegs with her wing blades.

The beast cried out in pain as it fell to its knees, crippled. Fluttershy jumped up onto her hindlegs, drew Drage Bane and Firewing, and then thrust Firewing forward. The beast caught it with both of its swords, then its eyes widened, realising too late what it did. With a cry, Fluttershy sliced Drage Bane into and through the daimon’s neck.

As the beast’s dying sounds faded into nothing, Fluttershy pulled her sword out and looked ahead for more to banish. To her confusion, however, the daimon force chasing them not too long ago decided to stay put and wait. ‘Probably waiting for those coming from below,’ she guessed. But when they did get up the hill, then they would be surrounded, and trapped between two forces.

“All of you, on me, now!” Fluttershy spun around at Luna’s command, and saw to her surprise a large, nicely rounded tree trunk lying across the path, surrounded in the dark blue glow of Luna’s magic.

“Oh, please don’t say you’re gonna do what I think you’re going to do with that?” Cadence asked as she took up position at Luna’s side.

Luna pouted. “Oh, don’t spoil the surprise, dear niece,” she said, smirking. She turned to the others. “Right, all of you, push on my command, and keep it even!”

Fluttershy nodded, and moved to the centre of the fallen tree; she glanced back at the path behind to see the daimons had realised what was about to happen and sprinted forward, bellowing cries of rage.

“Push!” Luna commanded, and pressed her hooves into the log and pushed with all her strength. Cadence, Spike and Trixie followed Luna’s call and began pushing as well. Fluttershy set her good shoulder to the log and pushed, using all four legs to help with her momentum. She could see with the corner of her eye that the daimon force behind was only a few seconds away. ‘Come on, keep pushing!’ she thought, putting her all into it.

Suddenly, the tree she was pushing felt very light. She pulled her head back and watched as the tree began to roll on its own accord. She instantly stopped pushing, stepped back and began to follow it. “Stop pushing, let it go!” she ordered.

The ponies and dragon around her complied with her request, and took a step back, letting the log roll faster and faster down the hillside. “Keep up with it!” Luna ordered once the tree was a few feet away, and began to gallop after the tree, picking up Spike and setting him on her back. Fluttershy and Trixie galloped after her, while Cadence galloped behind them, keeping the daimons behind them at a distance – any that came closer than they liked was shot through the head with an arrow.

She turned her head forward, just in time to watch the tree smash into the first of the daimons coming up the hill. The creatures in its path were crushed utterly, leaving nothing but dust in their wake. The daimon force behind stopped in their tracks and tried to get away from the falling monstrosity, but the densely packed creatures had no room to manoeuvre through the crowd, affectively trapping them in the path of the rolling tree.

Fluttershy could only look away as the panicked screams of the daimons echoed across the Vale, wincing every moment the sound of bodies being crushed filled her ears. She looked back to find the daimons chasing them had stopped at the top of the hill, in awe of the tree annihilating their comrades below. ‘That won’t keep them frozen for long,’ she thought.

The tree made it to the bottom of the hill, crushing a shepherd between the rock behind it and the tree in front. At least ten kakos out of the many were left, and clambered over the fallen tree to get to them. Luna’s horn lit up, and before the daimons could charge into them, launched a small ball of blue light towards them. The ball hit one daimon square the chest, before exploding and claiming all but two of the daimons.

Luna drew Nightbringer from her side and swung, cutting off the forelegs of her first attacker. She turned and parried a scythe that came from her sword, allowing Trixie to draw her own sword and stab it through the daimon’s side. The pair had pulled their swords out and were past the fallen tree before the creature had even turned into dust.

Before they reached the tree line, Fluttershy looked back at the hill behind them, and saw a group of shepherds line up along the path heading down, their hand occupied with longbows. She did a double take when she realised what she was seeing, and cried out, “Luna, they’ve got bows!”

Luna looked back with wide eyes, and came to a stop as the shepherds drew back their strings. “Everyone, take cover!” she yelled, and dived behind the nearest tree she could find.

Fluttershy watched as Cadence, Trixie and Spike followed suit and jumped behind other trees, just as the shepherds loosed their arrows and sent them sailing into the air. Fluttershy squeaked in fright and veered off the path and squeezed into a small hole she noticed at the bottom of a tree. She turned around and saw the arrows land across the path, some exactly where they stood, others landing where they would have been running, but most slammed into the trees her friends sheltered behind, ripping off chunks of the trees’ trunk. She could hear some slam into the tree she was hiding in, but kept her cool for the most part.

Finally, after a long minute of arrows tearing through trees and digging into the ground, the volley stopped. As soon as it had stopped, Luna jumped out from behind her tree and began at a trot. “Come on, all of you, get up and get moving!” she yelled.

Cadence, Trixie and Spike followed her, eager to get away. Fluttershy crawled on her belly through the hole, feeling the fresh air on her face once more, before suddenly coming to a stop. She looked back in fright to find that while one half was out, the other half was stuck. Her ears flicked at the sound of the daimons advancing. She began to wiggle her body desperately, inching bit by bit out of the tree. Screeches of the daimons forced her to struggle faster, but she knew she would never get out on her own. “Help!” she called.

Spike looked back at her plea, and raced over to help her. “Give me your hooves,” he ordered upon reaching her, stretching out his claws.

Fluttershy complied and set her hooves into his claws. With a grunt, Spike began to walk back, inching the Dragonlord out of the tree. Fluttershy felt the tree rub heavily against her sides, bruising them badly. ‘Ignore it for now,’ she thought, pressing her teeth together to endure the pain.

She suddenly felt the cold air against her flanks, and instantly knew that she was free. She leapt forward, wrapping Spike in her embrace before throwing him onto her back and jumping up onto all fours. “Let’s go,” she said, and charged forward as if she was being chased by a hydra. Behind her, the daimons surged forward, eager to sink their scythes into their flesh.

Fluttershy caught up with Luna, Cadence and Trixie, and looked back once more at their pursuers. The daimon host were once again splitting up, with several of the shepherds armed with bows moving into the trees, while the smaller creatures were racing down the hill as if it were a waterfall. Trees and bushes rushed by, throwing her giant world into the path in front and behind her. Nothing else mattered.

The sound of heavy feet slamming into the ground beside drew her attention to the trees, and her eyes widened at the sight of a shepherd racing beside them, bow drawn and an arrow ready to loose. “Everypony, to the right!” she called, just as the beast launched its arrow straight at her. Fluttershy reflectively swung her wing up and swatted the arrow away. “Cadence!”

Cadence looked around, drew her bow, and launched an arrow. The arrow punctured the beast’s neck before it could launch another shot, sending it tumbling to the ground and smashing into a tree. “More on the left!” Luna cried. Cadence responded by picking up another arrow, turning to look the other way, and loosed without bothering to aim. The arrow smashed through the leg of another shepherd, throwing it to the ground which tripped up another that ran directly behind it.

Unfortunately, more daimon shepherds followed in their wake, all of them ducking shots thrown at them and swerving around trees, firing crack shots at the group – most of them missed, much to Fluttershy’s delight, but a lot were too close for comfort. “I don’t have enough arrows to take them all down!” Cadence stated, looking back at her quiver to see the dozen or so she had left.

“Then keep on running!” Luna yelled in reply, her strides appearing to make her move even faster.

Fluttershy followed suit, hoping beyond hope that the barrage of arrows would stop and the beasts would come at them with blades. ‘At least then I could be of some use,’ she thought.

“Wait a second, why aren’t we using our magic?” Luna asked herself, pulling a face as the thought came to her. She looked left, tilted her head forward, and blasted a beam of blue light at a shepherd. The daimon took the beam to the side, throwing it into a tree. Cadence followed suit, looking right to the other side, and sent a blast of pink light into another daimon, hitting it in the leg and sending it rolling into another tree. The two alicorns continued their volley of magic, hitting any of the daimons that came close to the group or put themselves into the open. Fluttershy’s ears rang with the pained cries of the daimons the two former Princesses had hit, but she dared not look back and watch; she was too transfixed on getting out of the Vale alive.

The Dragonlord noticed the path suddenly whirled around a corner, and veered towards the trees in the hope to cut time. “Everypony, follow me!” she ordered. She glanced back to see if she had been heard, and was relieved to see Luna, Cadence and Trixie following her; the unicorn turned her head around and with a flick of her horn, fired a cloud of smoke across the path, blinding the daimons chasing them. “Nice one, Trixie!” Fluttershy called encouragingly, before looking ahead to see the path at the far end of the woods.

Once she had made it to the other side, Fluttershy looked ahead. Before her was a long, wooden bridge, suspended above a gorge by old, worn ropes. Beyond the bridge, the path disappeared into the tree, but the pegasus could see the mountains were growing larger by the minute. ‘We must be getting close to the exit,’ she thought, a feeling of relief glowing across her chest.

“What are you staring at, Fluttershy? Get across!” Spike yelled into her ear.

Fluttershy jumped out of her thoughts, and shook her head. “Oh right, sorry,” she said, and galloped over to the bridge, then slowed to a trot as she walked across the bridge. It was old and worn, with many of the planks showing signs of aging and even the bite marks of woodlice. She broke into a canter, knowing she needed to get to the other side. Fluttershy looked back to see if she was being followed, and sighed in relief to know Cadence had started crossing and Trixie was waiting on the other side.

Luna, on the other hoof, was busy fighting daimons that had rushed forward and had caught up. She lowered Nightbringer and skewered a daimon through before it could run around her and try to attack Trixie and Cadence. She picked up the banishing daimon and threw its remains into another. The daimon spluttered as its comrade’s remains were flung into its face, blinded by the dust. Luna stepped forward and swung, cutting open its chest and throwing it back into a tree. She spun and deflected an axe from a shepherd as it came from behind her. She then pulled Nightbringer back and swung for its chest. The daimon parried, then pushed forward and with its free arm swung a punch at Luna.

The alicorn ducked at the last second and rolled away, before getting up and keeping Nightbringer raised at a high guard. The Shepherd snarled and swung its axe in its hand, before charging forward and swinging for her leg. Luna deflected it away, raised Nightbringer up and struck down. The daimon brought the axe back up and parried the blow, then stepped to the side and swung for the alicorn’s side. Luna parried, pushed the daimon back and swung for the neck. The daimon deflected the strike and swung for Luna’s neck, but the mare ducked once again and jumped back. The daimon snarled and charged, bellowing.

Fluttershy watched in dismay at the two engaged in a duel, with daimons moving about to cut off any possible escape should Luna triumph. “We need to help her,” she whispered to herself. She looked to the bridge to find Trixie was still crossing, and was still in range to use her magic. “Trixie, help Luna!” she called.

The unicorn stopped and looked to Fluttershy, then nodded and turned around. “Cadence, cover her,” Fluttershy ordered, then looked to Spike. “Find some rocks or something to throw, and cover our backs.”

“What are you doing?” Spike asked.

Fluttershy looked back towards Luna, and spread her wings. “Oh, right. Just be careful then,” Spike said.

Fluttershy looked back, and grinned. “It’s me, isn’t it?” she said, before taking off and flying straight towards the shepherd assaulting Luna.

The daimon swung its axe down on Luna’s sword, throwing its point to the ground and putting the alicorn off guard. The beast brought its axe back up, but before it could, Fluttershy jumped onto its back, and yanked the axe free of the daimon’s arms. “Excuse me? Would you mind if I borrowed this for a minute?” she asked. She jumped off the daimon’s back and spun, swinging the head of the axe into the shepherd’s skull. The daimon was thrown back by the blow, landing on its back and quickly dissolving into dust.

She brought her head up to look into Luna’s eyes, who stared at her with awe. “That was pretty impressive, dear Fluttershy,” she said. Screeches from the daimons surrounding them tore her gaze away to settle on several of the beasts. “But now the daimons have no reason to hold back.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Fluttershy said, grinning. She turned to Trixie, and raised her hoof into the air. “NOW!” she yelled.

At once, a small ball of magic shot out of Trixie’s horn and spiralled towards the cluster of daimons that now charged the two ponies. The ball slammed into a daimon and exploded, showering the daimons around it with smoke. Fluttershy grinned to herself, amazed her plan had worked. Another ball of magic rocketed from the tip of Trixie’s horn and slammed into the daimon group on the other side of the ponies, shrouding them in smoke.

Once the smoke had grown large and thick enough, Fluttershy spread her wings once more. “Luna, follow me!” she commanded, before taking to the air. The alicorn spread her wings and followed the Dragonlord out of the smoke and into the air, before heading over the bridge and to the other side.

Fluttershy landed with a thud, turning to see Trixie cantering over the bridge to them. “Trixie, once you get across, cut the ropes!” she yelled.

Trixie, whose eyes were wider than saucers out of fright, nodded blankly. “Ropes. Cut them. Got it.” She made it to the end just as the smoke began to clear and the first daimons began to cross the bridge. Trixie then turned around, drew her sword, and swung it down on one knot. The rope snapped with a loud, “twang!” sending the bridge onto its side and throwing the daimons on it into the river below. Trixie swung her blade down onto the other rope and cut it.

The bridge dropped suddenly, the remaining daimons that had managed to hold on screaming, and swung back onto the wall of rock on the other side. The bridge slammed into the rock like a cannonball smashing into a wooden wall, throwing the daimons that were clinging on to it for dear life into the water below. Fluttershy flattened her ears to dull the sound of their screams and looked behind, at the long road ahead of her and her friends.

“Do you think the daimons will stop now?” Trixie asked, looking towards Luna.

Luna, unsurprisingly to Fluttershy, shook her head. “Daimons are stubborn beasts that don’t easily give up. They will try to jump across,” she answered grimly, slowly stepping back from the edge. “Unless they’re too scared of the water below.”

“Why would they be scared of the water?” Fluttershy asked.

Luna looked back to the Dragonlord. “Because water in its purest form can permanently kill a daimon. That, and the fires of a dragon.”

Fluttershy looked back at Spike in shock, who simply stared at Luna with wide, disbelieving eyes. He unintentionally clenched his claws into fists, shocked beyond words of what he had heard. She moved forward to comfort him, but the shrieks of rage from the daimons forced her to look back at reality. ‘I will have to comfort him later. Right now, we need to leave,’ she thought determinedly.

She gently set the frozen and haunted baby dragon on her back, then turned to the others, who continued to stare at the daimons on the other side. “Come on, everypony, let’s go while they are on the other side,” she ordered.

Cadence, Luna and Trixie looked back upon hearing her command, and nodded in agreement. They turned away from the daimons and galloped along the road with Fluttershy, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy and her friends found themselves moving onto a large road, big enough for two carts to move past one another. ‘We must have hit the main road,’ she realised, smiling to herself, though her mind was clouded with worry. She wanted to know that this would soon be over. That they would be clear of the range and the beasts that now inhabited it. That they would be free.

Suddenly, Trixie squealed in delight. “Oh, I know where we are! I know where we are!”

“Then where are we?” Cadence asked, her voice heavy with fatigue.

“About a few minutes or so away from the main bridge leading into the cave that is the exit to the Vale,” Trixie answered, grinning. Somehow, her strides were quicker as the news entered her own head. “Come on, we’re almost there!”

Cadence and Luna both grinned at one another, and together galloped after Trixie. Fluttershy could feel the grin of relief on Spike’s face as well as her own. In only a few minutes, it will soon be over. They will be free and they could continue on their journey to Horsca together. She put all her strength into her legs and galloped after her friends.

Ahead of her, the road bent into a tight corner, disappearing behind a row of tall foliage and large oak trees. ‘Beyond that, the bridge out of here, I expect,’ she hoped, grinning to herself. She rounded the corner, then like her companions skidded to a halt at the sight before her.

The road suddenly fell down the steep slope of a hill, then flattened out as it came to a crossroads, a large, featureless plain covered in dirt. Beyond the road, the bridge beckoned them like a lighthouse. It was made of stone, probably carved from the rock of the mountains themselves, and was wide enough for nine ponies to stand across and long enough for maybe a hundred. Both ends clung to the edges of the earth as though they were holding on for dear life, knowing that to let go was to fall a thirty foot drop into the river below. And on the other side of the bridge, the dark mouth of a cave was laid bare before them, inviting them to cross and enter into safety.

Fluttershy sighed at the thought of safety. ‘If only there wasn’t an army of daimons blocking the bridge,’ she thought, staring at the occupants of the bridge in dismay.

The daimons were compacted tightly across the bridge, kakos daimons and shepherds alike shifting uncomfortably close to one another as they tried to keep themselves from falling into the ravine below. Spread out across the road, many more were waiting for them, hissing vehemently for their blood, while the shepherds ran a hand over the edges of their weapons to be sure that they were sharp and able to kill brutally and efficiently.

“Wha- what are we going to do now?” Cadence asked, staring in growing horror as the monsters prepared to charge.

Luna said nothing for the moment, and instead drew Nightbringer from her side. “We fight. Fight until they are all banished, or we are dead,” she answered grimly.

Fluttershy looked away and sighed sadly, disheartened by the numbers against them. She could see by the numbers that they could not possibly win, unless… “Can’t you just blast them all off with that spell you used earlier?” Fluttershy asked.

Luna nodded. “I could use the spell again, but I am worried the spell may damage or even destroy the bridge. If I do that, then I will surely doom us to die here.” She shook her head. “No, I cannot risk that happening. We will have to do this the old fashioned way.” She looked down the hill, and then glanced back. “Keep in a circle here. We have the high ground at the moment. Whittle them down to the point where we could make a break for the crossing.”

Fluttershy nodded, then lowered herself onto her belly. “Spike, guard the back with Trixie. I’ll go in front,” she commanded.

Spike grumbled something yet nodded nonetheless. He jumped off her back and moved to stand next to Trixie – a bit too close than the Dragonlord thought possible when he concerned himself with Trixie. Fluttershy decided to push it to one side for the moment – there were greater things to worry about. Particularly the daimon army ahead of them preparing to charge.

She set herself next to Cadence, then lifted her right leg and drew Drage Bane. Cadence drew her own sword and lowered its point at chest level. Luna moved to stand beside Cadence and lowered her head, as if she was about to use her horn to banish daimons. “All of you, stay in line, and do not leave this hill,” the nightly Princess said, her eyes fixed on the horde before them.

At the sight of their weapons, the daimons screeched to the skies, and then charged forward with reckless abandon; those that were too slow were crushed by those behind them, and many were shoved out of the way by some who wanted to get to the ponies first. ‘Wow,’ Fluttershy thought as she watched a daimon pushed away from a shepherd daimon, only to be shoved to the ground and crushed underfoot by another shepherd behind it. ‘Those poor little things.’ Despite her dislike for the daimons, she could easily sympathise for the smaller ones.

Just as the daimons reached the bottom of the short hill and began the climb up, a dark blue screen suddenly appeared across Fluttershy’s vision, as tall as Cadence. The pegasus jumped back a bit in surprise. ‘Am I seeing things?’ She blinked rapidly in the hope that it would get rid of the thing in front of her, but the screen stood stoically in place. The screen suddenly thickened out, and took the shape of a great stone wall, similar to the wall one of her old neighbours built months before he died. She followed the wall right around, watching in awe.

Wherever there was a spot for daimons to run through and take them, a piece of the wall was formed. Between every tree, every bush, a blue coloured wall stretched out and formed from mid-air and create a formidable blockade that – Fluttershy hoped – would stop the daimon charge. The pegasus followed the wall right around as it encircled them. Straight back at the caster, Princess Luna.

Luna saw her looking, and offered a brave smile. “A bit of protection for us. A standard shield for most military unicorns, yet with me it’s thicker and stronger. It should stall them for a while, but whether it should hold them indefinitely, I… I don’t know,” Luna explained, her ears drooping as she finished. She looked ahead as the first of the daimons made it to the top, and raised Nightbringer. “If we can hold them off until nightfall, then we will make it. Fight until the darkness comes, one way or another!”

Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat back down, knowing what the alicorn had meant, and looked back at the daimons just as they charged at full speed at Luna’s magic wall. To her surprise, though, the daimons didn’t come through as she had – admittedly – expected, but crashed into it as if they had charged into an actual stone wall screaming wordless battle cries. Those behind crashed into the ones in front, falling onto their stomachs or knocking themselves out. Behind them, confusion and disorder ran rampant as daimons clambered over their fallen comrades, and the shepherds tried to restore what could be considered order.

Fluttershy lightly shook her head at the display. ‘If they are going to act like that, we might as well wait until they’re finished banishing each other, and then fight those that are left,’ she thought. She let out a sad sigh, knowing that was wishful thinking. ‘But, I might as well give them a hoof at banishing themselves for us.’

She stepped towards the shield wall and thrust Drage Bane forward. To her surprise once more, the sword went through the shield and into the chest of the daimon opposite her. The daimon groaned for a long time, before withering away into dust, giving the one behind a chance to move forward and thrust its scythes at the wall. The scythes, however, simply bounced back upon impact, throwing the daimon onto its hind legs. Fluttershy thrust forward and skewered the daimon with Drage Bane as it brought its scythes back for another go.

Another daimon tried to climb over another as if it was a step ladder conveniently placed to allow it to leap over the wall. Fluttershy looked up too late as the daimon spread it scythes and moved to jump down. Before it could move an inch, a rock flew over Fluttershy and smashed into the daimon, throwing the creature back off the wall and into the daimons below it. The pegasus looked back in shock, and watched as Spike picked up another, and flung into the ranks of the daimons. Fluttershy was aghast to see him taking part, fearing for his safety, but quickly thought reprimanding him would be pointless. ‘We all have to take part if we want to survive,’ she reasoned to herself. With a small sigh, she nodded in acknowledgement of him, and turned back to the battle.

A shepherd came next, trampling over some of the daimons before, and raised a mighty battle axe to bring the wall down. Fluttershy quickly looked to the left and noticed Cadence was too busy wiping out half a dozen at a time with the swings of her sword, while Luna was slashing, cutting, and stabbing the daimons coming at her part of the line. ‘Guess it’s up to me, then.’

Just as the daimon began to bring its axe towards the wall, Fluttershy spread her wings and shot forward with a speed she only used when saving animals from mortal peril. She perched herself on top of the wall and used Drage Bane to parry the axe, and her free hoof to roughly push the daimon back. The force of the push nearly threw her back onto the ground on the wrong side of the wall, but she quickly pulled herself back and prepared for the counter attack.

The daimon snarled in rage at the push, then charged forward and swung its axe from over its shoulder at her side. Fluttershy jumped into the air, missing the axe’s sharp edges by an inch. She set herself back onto the wall and thrust Drage Bane forward. The daimon deflected it with its axe, then swung it around and thrust it forward. Fluttershy leaned to the side, missing the strike, and then jumped up and landed on top of the axe, severing it in half. The daimon’s eyes widened in horror, and began to walk back through the lines and away from the fighting. Fluttershy looked at it with narrow eyes and snarling teeth. Abruptly, she leapt her head forward as though she was snapping at it. The daimon jumped back in fright, before spinning around and galloping back to safety. Fluttershy jumped off the wall and nodded firmly to herself. ‘Let it go. It’s of no threat anymore,’ she told herself.

She looked across the wall that was probably considered her area to defend. The wall was holding the daimons back, but like Luna said, she didn’t know for how long. Some were even starting to use others to climb over the wall and overwhelm the defenders on the other side. ‘If they all started that, then this wall wouldn’t hold them back for five minutes,’ she thought. With that realisation in her head, she leapt forward and stabbed a daimon with Drage Bane.

Before the creature had fallen, she pulled the sword back, then thrust forward again, stabbing another daimon. She pulled out, and thrust forward again. Back, then forward. Back, then forward. Fluttershy began to lose all sense of the world around her, even the cries of her friends fighting for their lives was but an echo to her ears. To her, the world was in front of her, a single nightly blue wall holding the forces of Tartarus at bay, and her sword stabbing anything within leg’s reach.

Suddenly, a sharp, throbbing ache echoed across her leg, forcing her to cry out and step back in shock. ‘Have I been hit?’ she wondered. She looked at her right leg and twisted it this way and that to know if she had been wounded by a daimon that had managed to get a strike in while her mind was away. To her surprise, there wasn’t even a scratch on her leg. She leaned her leg forward, and hissed as the pain came in full force. Fluttershy set it back down and leaned on her left leg, taking a deep breath. ‘I must have been doing that for so long my leg has worn itself out,’ she realised, grimacing as the pain receded once more.

She looked across the line to see how the others were getting on. Luna was still cutting, slicing and chopping at the daimons on her side of the shield, but her attacks seemed more cumbersome than before. Cadence slashed across the chest of three daimons, then set her sword down for a quick breather, only to take it back up again and slash across the chest of several more daimons and thrust it through the heart of a shepherd daimon. Trixie had joined the fight at some point, and was busy stabbing into the daimon ranks as they pressed against the barrier.

Fluttershy lifted her left leg and drew Firewing. Then, with a defiant cry escaping past her lips, she lunged forward and speared the sword through the chest of a daimon trying to climb over. She pulled Firewing out, then looked in front of her and stabbed forward, skewering another daimon. She pulled it out, then slashed through the legs of another as it moved to take its fallen comrade’s place. She suddenly noticed in the corner of her eye a spear moving in her direction, and quickly jumped away from it. She looked in the spear’s direction, and saw a shepherd pressed against the barrier, bringing its weapon back for another strike while three daimons leapt from its back to the other side.

Fluttershy only took a minute to realise what they were doing, and stepped away from the barrier in horror. “They’re jumping over the top!” she yelled, and prepared for the first attack from these creatures.

“Fluttershy!” The Dragonlord looked back at the sound of Spike’s cry, and her eyes widened in horror as several daimons, having waded through the trees and flanked the shield wall, had jumped over the wall and were now advancing on Spike.

“Luna, help him!” she commanded, pointing to the little dragon.

Luna looked back at the situation, then looked to Fluttershy and nodded. “Trixie, Cadence, hold them back for a little while longer! Come on, everypony, we can survive this!” she assured, before charging at the new foes coming from the rear.

‘I doubt we could now,’ Fluttershy thought hopelessly, before turning towards the daimons advancing on her. The first three were preparing to attack her – one from the front while the other two slowly made their way around her, keeping their distance – while others that had jumped off were now smashing their scythes against the barrier. With them breaking the barrier, and the others on the opposite side doing the same thing, it would only be a matter of time before it falls and they would be overrun. ‘We have to stop them,’ she thought.

She looked to Trixie. “Trixie, stop those daimons from breaking the barrier!” she ordered, using Firewing to point at them. Trixie looked back, saw the danger, and then charged at the daimons with a speed that showed the unicorn was using what strength she had left. Fluttershy watched with a gaping mouth as the mare sliced open the throat of one daimon, then stabbed the side of another, then finally slashed open the chest of a daimon that saw the danger and moved to take her down. ‘They would need a lot more than that to take down Trixie,’ Fluttershy reckoned, watching as the show mare ducked as a paw was swung her way, and then stabbed through the belly up.

A screech coming her way forced Fluttershy to look away from Trixie, and focus on the daimon charging her with scythes raised high. Fluttershy, rather than back away or roll away from the strike, reared up and drew both blades. She leaned to the side and missed the attack from the daimon’s scythe, and with Drage Bane chopped down on the daimon’s back, almost cutting the creature in half. She pulled it back and thrust Drage Bane forward at the second daimon.

The daimon jumped to the side, then reared up and tried to slash across the back of her neck with a claw. Fluttershy ducked and leaned to the side, dodging the blow, then swung Drage Bane at the outstretched claw. The daimon reeled it back in, and looked towards its companion. Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder to see the other daimon was directly behind her. She set herself back on all fours and kicked out with her hind legs, hitting the daimon in the face so hard its neck snapped. The daimon in front of the Dragonlord let out a cry of rage and lunged forward. Fluttershy cried out in surprise as the daimon rammed into her, pinning her to the ground with its bodyweight. The daimon opened its mouth, revealing its fangs, and then leaned forward to bit at her neck.

Fluttershy punched the creature back, throwing its head into the air. She then used her hind legs to kick it onto its side. The creature screeched with pain as it fell, and promptly tried to get back up and fight, but a quick swing of Drage Bane from high cut the beast’s belly open.

Fluttershy sighed in relief as it turned into ashes, then looked towards the barrier expecting Trixie to have cleared them up. To her horror, another group of daimons had made it over the side, and the part of the barrier they were smashing into with their scythes was beginning to crack apart like glass. “TRIXIE, BEHIND YO–!”

Her yell to the unicorn was drowned out by the barrier breaking like the sound of a thousand windows shattering, and the triumphant cries of hundreds of daimons.

Fluttershy could hear Luna and Cadence cry out in horror, while Trixie disappeared in the tidal wave of daimons that surged forward. “NO!” Fluttershy yelled, her eyes wide with sorrow, as all traces of the unicorn vanished under the tide that came before her. With a cry of rage, Fluttershy reared up and charged forward, her swords Drage Bane and Firewing singing their songs of steel for one last battle.

The Dragonlord ducked as the first daimon came at her, swiping a claw for her neck. She reared back up and slashed upwards, cutting the daimon’s head off. She spun and slashed back with Firewing, cutting down another, and used Drage Bane to stab forward as she tried to get to Trixie. She stabbed forward as another daimon tried to pin her down, ripping open its chest and belly. She slashed right with Drage Bane at one daimon, and slashed left at another with Firewing. She slashed with her swords at a shepherd with a spear – the same shepherd that changed the outcome of the entire battle, and cut off its forelegs. The shepherd screamed in fury, and as it fell it lunged its spear the pegasus, scraping its sharp edge along her shoulder.

Fluttershy cried in pain, and reared back while setting a hoof against the wound to stop the bleeding. She noticed too late that she had put herself in a weak position, and instantly removed her hoof to try and defend herself. Suddenly, a daimon leapt forward and with a claw slashed Fluttershy’s other shoulder, sending her to the ground with a cry of agony.

As she hit the ground, she could hear Cadence’s cry of help as she was pushed to the ground. Luna’s yell to her niece was cut short by a cry of pain as she too was felled. She opened her eyes when Spike’s yell for help hit her ears. ‘I must do something!’ she thought, tears running down her cheeks. She set herself on her knees, hastily getting up, but a sharp blow to the stomach from a daimon beside her forced the Dragonlord back to her side, her hooves clenched around her pained stomach. Another punch to the side of the head forced her head back down onto the hard ground. Spike’s cry for help was lost in the triumphant cries of the daimons.

Fluttershy groaned, half in the pain she felt around her stomach and her head, and half in despair. They had failed to get free of the Vale, and would die here together in possibly very painful ways. She would never see Horsca, and Vidarr ever again. Yet if any daimon ever saw it, there was a brief but faint smile on her lips. ‘At least I get to see my father again,’ she thought.

She suddenly felt a powerful hand lock around her neck, and weakly tried to free it with her hooves. With a grunt, she felt herself hoisted into the air, the breath of life being strangled out of her. Fluttershy weakly opened her eyes to find a daimon shepherd at the other end of the hand, grinning maniacally as it tightened its grip. The Dragonlord’s eyes widened in alarm and gasped for air, desperately trying to break free. Every second that passed, however, she felt her strength torn out of her, and her movements became weaker as her chest was thrown into agony by the lack of air.

She suddenly felt the hand around her neck changed, and whispered with her last breaths, “Goodbye,” then steeled herself for the quick pain to come.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhooooooooooooooooooo

At once, silence reigned across the Vale. Every daimon had stopped and stared towards the sound of the noise. Fluttershy felt her captor’s hold loosen, and she drew a few quick and quiet gasps of air, continuing the struggle to get free. The shepherd paid little attention to the pony in its hand, it just continued to stare confusedly to the west.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhoooooooooooooooooooo

The sound came again, this time louder and, seemingly, more urgent than the last. This time, Fluttershy’s ears picked them up. ‘A horn. Those have to be horn blasts,’ the Dragonlord thought. She could barely turn her head in the direction the daimons were staring, but a quick glance told her they were looking in the direction of the sun, which was three quarters of the way behind the mountains. ‘But why?’

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhoooooooooooooooooooo

At the sound of the third horn blast, the daimons grumbled to one another and began to follow the path back the way they came. Fluttershy was stunned. ‘They’re not just retreating like that, are they?’ She silently hoped that they were. She looked behind the daimon grasping onto her, and saw the daimons around the bridge hastily ran off the bridge and disappeared down the two paths leading over it. The pegasus couldn’t believe it. They were actually leaving.

“Don’t think this as your lucky day, pony freak.” Fluttershy looked back at the daimon hold her, and trembled in fear at the hate coming from its eyes. “We will meet again, and when we do, I will finish what I started and snap this tiny little neck of yours like a twig.”

‘So why don’t you do that now rather than do it later?’ she wanted to say, but bit her tongue between her teeth; she didn’t particularly want to give the daimon any ideas. With that, the daimon tossed her to the ground like a doll. Fluttershy cried out in pain as she rolled and landed on her pained shoulder, hissing through her teeth. She opened up an eye to see the daimon sneer at her, before breaking into a gallop after its comrades. She took another breath, and closed her eyes once more.

When she opened them next, the daimons were long gone.

The pegasus groaned as she blinked rapidly, her senses returning to her bit by bit. She brought her head up and looked around. She firstly noticed the sun was almost gone – just the very edge now remained, while the rest of the sky moved into twilight hours. Dust and small drops of dried blood surrounded her – her own, by the looks of it – some of the dust flying with the wind to places only the wind could take it. ‘But where did the daimons go?’

A groan of exhaustion and pain whipped Fluttershy’s head around, and she gasped as Trixie tried to get back up. “Trixie!” Fluttershy hissed, too scared to speak any louder in case the daimons were in the woods and waiting for them to begin moving again, yet at the same time, she was overjoyed to see the mare was alive.

The unicorn looked her way with wide eyes, and gasped in surprise. “You’re not dead!” she said happily.

“And neither are you!” Fluttershy responded, grinning tiredly. Trixie got up to move towards her, but collapsed onto one knee after a single step. “Trixie, stay where you are for the moment! Once we’re all fit to move, then we will.”

“But what about them?” Trixie asked, pointing behind Fluttershy. The Dragonlord turned around, and gasped in horror at the sight.

Luna was on her stomach, breathing weakly but cut and scarred in over a dozen places. Cadence was on her side, her exposed wing spread and lying along the ground. While Spike was on his back, and despite Fluttershy’s vision, she couldn’t make out any movement whatsoever.

“Spike!” Fluttershy yelled in horror. She jumped onto her hooves and moved towards him, but a sharp pain in her right hind leg forced her onto her stomach. Ignoring the pain, she crawled slowly to the young dragon, despite feeling her coat and skin being torn by the ground beneath her. But none of that mattered to her; she had to know if Spike was all right.

She soon made it to the baby dragon’s side, and roughly shook him by the chest. “Spike! Spike, can you hear me?” she called loudly. When she received no response, her heart felt like it was going to collapse onto itself. She shook him again. “Spike? Please… please wake up.”

Yet there was nothing. Fluttershy’s ears fell flat, and tears began to fill her eyes. She shook him again, though this time it was weaker than before. “Spike, please… yo-you can’t leave me. Not now.”

Suddenly, the dragon groaned and his eyes opened just a fraction. The young Dragonlord breathed a heavy sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness you’re all right,” she whispered.

Spike groaned once more, and rubbed his forehead with a shaking claw. “So am I, to be honest. Or are we actually dead and are both in Paradise now?”

“If we were in Paradise, I don’t think we would be in any pain, don’t you think?” Fluttershy asked, smiling warmly.

“Touché,” Spike said quietly, looking himself over. He wasn’t badly injured, Fluttershy noticed. His scales had managed to take the brunt of any attacks he might have suffered. It was his chest area, however, that was the worst affected. Small scratches zigzagged across the top of his chest, with patches of dried blood around them and running down his body like running paint recently applied to a wall. “Is it bad?” Spike asked, looking a little concerned.

Fluttershy frowned a little at the sight, but her smile quickly returned and she shook her head. “You’ll be fine,” she said assuredly. She set a hoof on Spike’s chest and gently pinned him down. “Just stay there and rest for a moment. Once you and the others have recovered, then we can move on.”

A groan – this one louder and more pained – coming from the left told Fluttershy to turn, and watched with concern as Cadence lifted herself to her knees. “What… just… happened,” she rasped, her eyes only half open.

Fluttershy slowly set herself up onto her hooves, spreading her hind hooves apart to support her weight, and took a moment to know how she felt. To her surprise, the pain she had felt in her hind legs only minutes ago had become a dull ache that was even now slowly dissipating like a minor headache. Feeling confident to walk, she slowly set one leg forward, followed shortly by another. When she set her left hind leg down, the pain returned, but it felt more like she had been stung by a bee than attacked by a creature from the ‘underworld’. She ignored it and walked slowly in a circle, getting used to walking once more, before moving to Cadence’s side.

“Many things happened, but don’t worry about that now. Just rest for a moment,” the Dragonlord said gently, setting a hoof on Cadence’s shoulder to delicately set her back down.

Cadence did as she was told and set herself back onto her stomach, but didn’t stop looking around fretfully. “But, where are the daimons?”

“It’s all right. They’ve gone now. We’re all safe,” Fluttershy replied, looking Cadence over. Like the rest of them, Cadence had been scratched and kicked in several places, but nothing save the alicorn’s damaged wing appeared to Fluttershy to be serious injuries. ‘She’ll recover. We all will,’ she thought.

“What?” Cadence asked incredulously, looking to Fluttershy with raised eyebrows. “Are you sure of this?”

“Oh yes,” Fluttershy answered, nodding vigorously. “There were these long horn blasts that were really loud and quite scary, but when the daimons heard them they stopped and left very quickly. It was as if they were scared of them.”

“They weren’t.” Fluttershy jumped and gasped in surprise at Luna’s voice, and instantly turned towards her. The older alicorn groaned and sat up, a foreleg clutching against her head – the pegasus could see a trickle of blood break free from under it. “It was a command. A command that no daimon could possibly refuse. Even if it meant you couldn’t kill those they had by the throat.”

‘Some quite literally,’ Fluttershy quipped in thought. She quickly traced a hoof along her neck, and though it felt sore, she couldn’t feel anything that was out of place. “What kind of command was it, Luna?”

Cadence silently crawled up to her aunt and traced a hoof all over her to be sure that she was all right. “Three blasts of the horn orders all daimons must return to the tear before it closes. For a daimon to exist in this realm, a magical connection must exist between the two realms, so magic from Tartarus must be pouring into this realm. If that connection broke with daimons on this side, however, then those daimons would simply cease to exist.” Luna let out a gasp of surprise when Cadence wrapped her legs around her neck in a tight hug, apparently finished checking over her.

‘Wow. I didn’t know magic could be so confusing,’ Fluttershy thought, scratching the side of her head in puzzlement. She set her hoof down, and looked around the Vale once more. “Okay, you might have to tell me about it later, and in more detail. If I’m honest, I’m not really in any mood for long explanations at the moment.”

To her surprise, Luna chuckled. “I don’t blame you. But I will tell you more at a later point, be assured. Right now, I suggest we take this window of opportunity and leap out of it, never looking back.” With a grunt, she lifted herself onto all fours, and hastily set Nightbringer back at her side.

Fluttershy stared at Luna in shock, aghast at the idea. “Leave? Now?” She looked at the others briefly, then turned back to the older alicorn. “Forgive me for saying so, but I don’t think the others are in any fit condition to–”

“I don’t mind leaving now,” Spike interjected, raising a claw. “I’m getting quite bored of this place, and have had enough of dodging death today.”

“I agree with Spike, to be honest,” Trixie said, throwing an apologetic look at Fluttershy. “I just want to get away from this horrible place.”

Cadence said nothing, but a quick nod in Luna’s direction told Fluttershy whose side she agreed to. The pegasus sighed. “Are you all sure of this?” she asked. Everybody nodded, each throwing an appreciative stare at her. Fluttershy smiled at each of them in turn. “All right, then. Let’s get out of the Vale and back into the rest of the range.”

Trixie sighed in relief, then picked up her sword, sheathed it, and began walking down the small hill towards the bridge. Cadence grinned at Fluttershy, then walked around her and picked up Spike before setting off after Trixie. “Well done, Fluttershy,” Luna said, smiling kindly at the Dragonlord. “You listened to others first and took their opinions into account rather than follow what you thought was best.”

“Well, it was a unanimous vote, Luna,” Fluttershy said. “I couldn’t just ignore all of your wishes even if I wanted to. What would that make me look like to the rest of you had I said no?”

“I would say a pony that’s highly arrogant and probably vain,” Luna answered, staring at the sky thoughtfully. She began walking, glancing back at the young Dragonlord. “But enough talk, let’s get away from here.”

Fluttershy nodded, and trotted after Luna and the others as they crossed the bridge and left the Vale of the Lost behind them.

If Fluttershy was a meaner pony, she would probably be chanting to the others of how right she was. She would have told them repeatedly that they should have camped out by the bridge and made their way out at the sight of the moon ending its cycle in the sky. But due to her kind heart, she kept quiet, and instead issued words of encouragement to the group as they slowly and tiredly followed the path down the gently-sloped mountainside.

By the time the group had made it through the mountains and out of the Vale and back into the Unicorn Range once more, the sun was gone and the stars and the moon had taken its place. The land was covered in darkness, with only the silhouettes of the mountains in the far west barely visible in the moonlight. This meant a harder time for the group to climb down the steeper elements as each of them had to check their footing and make sure they didn’t set a hoof down on the wrong place. Otherwise, they would all be coming down in a rather painful and awkward way.

But, somehow without any incidents, the travellers had made it off the mountainside and were making their way across a vast plain with but a single dirt road leading to and from the Vale. Trees were silhouetted in the moonlight, given them an appearance to the cardboard trees some fillies or colts used to be in a school play – something Fluttershy always wanted to play as, but was always tricked out of it and had to play nothing or only had a quick appearance before being pushed off stage by others with more important roles.

She shook her head of the thoughts coming into her mind, and concentrated on getting as far away as she could from the Vale. She looked left and right, and could see how high up they were. To the north, she could see the Equestrian Plain, or the Equussteppes as some ponies called them, and beyond that the Crystal Mountains. To the south, she could see the end of Whitetail Woods, and part of another woodland that ran right along the top of Las Pegasus.

“Fluttershy…” Trixie rasped, stumbling as she walked. “Can we please… stop now?”

The Dragonlord looked back at her friends, and could see how exhausted they all were. ‘Trixie’s right. We need to stop soon,’ she thought. She looked ahead, and could see something shimmering in the moonlight. ‘That has to be a river.’ She looked back and offered the most encouraging smile she could to the others. “All right. Just a teeny bit further and then we can rest for the night,” she said, walking forward once more. Her legs ached, and she felt herself swerve across the old track like a drunken sailor, but her determination to make it to the riverside drove her on.

At last they made it to the river bank, and Fluttershy thanked the stars that they had stopped beside a ford. It was about the size of a pond that was close to her cottage back in Ponyville, and was surrounded by long blades of grass. Small, pointy rocks reached out from the water, forcing the water to splash over it like tiny waves were it just a model, and combined they created a sound that was tranquil, and eased a lot of Fluttershy’s fears – for now, at least.

She stopped by the edge of the ford and dunked her head into the water. Her eyes widened as the freezing temperatures of the water caressed her face and hit her mind, but she ignored it for a second. It felt really good to feel just a bit cleaner. She threw her head out of the water, gasping for air, sending droplets of liquid down her neck and across her body, then fell unceremoniously to her stomach.

Her ear twitched at the sound of a pony falling beside her, and lifted her head up and glanced left to see Cadence, her breathing fast and heavy. After a minute to catch her breath, Cadence licked her lips, then leaned her head forward and stuck her mouth under the water, taking great gulps of the river. ‘You poor thing,’ she thought, watching sympathetically as Cadence continued to drink.

Beyond Cadence, she could see Trixie falling onto her rump, her ragged mane covering her face, though Fluttershy could make out the exhausted slump the mare possessed. Suddenly her head disappeared behind Cadence as she too began drinking from the river. Another loud thump of a tired sentient creature drew Fluttershy’s attention right, and saw Luna fall onto her side, her back facing the Dragonlord. That only left Spike, but where was he?

“Oh, that feels good!” Spike suddenly yelled amidst the splashing of water, much to the relief of the pegasus. She looked over Cadence to find him on his back, gasping for air, his scales dripping with water after a quick dip. “Oh, this is… I don’t know. I actually can’t think of what to say.” Spike went quiet for a moment, a slight hum coming from him as he thought. “Oh, I know! I’m not sure how we escaped, but I don’t really care. We made it, we’re free!”

‘Yes. Free. But for how long?’ Fluttershy wondered, her brow creasing in fear. She sat up and looked back the way they came. The mountains of the Vale were barely visible in the darkness, but to her, that darkness was a spell brought about by the monsters that now occupied the Vale.

A violent shudder crept up from her rump to the top of her head, though it wasn’t from the wind that chilled the night. She still couldn’t believe Luna when she said that those things were daimons, the prowlers of Tartarus. But though she tried to deny it, she couldn’t. Those creatures were daimons, despite them being vastly different in appearance from what Fluttershy had read as a filly. They were creatures that were reputed to be the manifestations of the most negative emotions a sentient being could possess: anger, hatred, malicious joy, sorrow, despair, every emotion save fear they felt and used to bring about pain and suffering the likes of which had never been seen.

And they were in Equestria. And they were preparing for war. It was a thought that caused Fluttershy to shudder in terror once more. From what Luna had said, they were forced to stay in the Vale for the time being, or else they would die. Once that limitation has been broken from them, however, then nothing would stop them from spreading across Equestria and setting it aflame.

She knew she had to stop them from ever doing that and starting a war that – at the moment – Equestria could not survive. But how? She couldn’t face the whole daimon army alone, and even with her companions at her side she knew they couldn’t face such a horde with their numbers. ‘I have to think of something. Fast,’ she thought.

Whether or not she would have the time to think of something before the daimons launch an assault was another matter.

“Fluttershy?” The Dragonlord jumped at the mention of her name, squeaking in shock. She quickly calmed when she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and glanced over to see Luna on the other end, staring at her concernedly. “Are you all right?”

Fluttershy sighed and nodded, staring at the ground. “I’m sorry, Luna. I guess the daimons have put me on edge. But I’m fine, I think.”

Luna’s frown deepened. “I shall be the judge of that. Turn around so I can see your face and your body. I want to check you for injuries.”

Fluttershy reluctantly nodded, and sat up and turned around so she was directly facing the elder alicorn. Luna stared silently for a moment, before closing her eyes and casting a single light, bright enough to illuminate the entire group. Fluttershy squinted her eyes, yet stopped short of throwing a hoof over her face. “Oh, sorry, I should have known that was too bright,” Luna said, grinning sheepishly. The light suddenly dulled a bit, bright enough to still see the group as a whole, but dull enough so it doesn’t feel like the sun was in her face. “Better?”

Fluttershy simply nodded, and lifted her chin so Luna could examine her. Luna clicked her teeth together as she looked over Fluttershy’s body. “You’ve got some nasty scars on your chest and your sides. But I think they’re not deep enough to leave a mark on your body. Your coat should grow over it in time. Now stay still. I’m going to wash off the blood.”

Fluttershy did as she was told, and stood as still as a statue. She heard Luna’s hoof dip into the water, and quickly come out again, water trickling off her hoof and back into the river from whence it came. Then, with the gentleness of a towel, Luna began washing off the blood that stained her coat.

“Tis strange to see that Dragonlords are merely ponies, after all,” Luna remarked, the tip of her tongue appearing from between her lips as she tried to remove a stubborn stain on the Dragonlords coat. “No offence, but the way you spoke of them, made them sound like they couldn’t bleed, or die in battle.”

Fluttershy lightly shook her head. “We are – or were – ponies as much as you are, Luna,” she quipped. She looked towards the mountains in the west with tired eyes. “How do you know that the daimons can’t leave the Unicorn Range at the moment?”

Luna stopped briefly, but quickly continued as if the lapse hadn’t happened. “I followed them to the mountain where the tear resides – once they had stopped chasing me, that is. They cannot venture too far from it, lest they be discovered or disintegrated by the magic that exists in this world. Tis also one of the reasons they abandoned their attack on us to get back to the tear; every second counts if they want to live.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I’m surprised I didn’t hear the horn the first night in the Vale,” she said.

“You might have done, but your mind paid little notice to it in your time of panic,” Luna stated, dipping her hoof back into the water and rubbing against Fluttershy’s side. “Don’t worry about it, it’s a thing many ponies do.” She wiped another stain of blood, and then said, “So what happened yesterday?”

Fluttershy sighed sadly, the images of what had happened running through her head. ‘I can’t avoid it. I guess I have to tell her,’ she thought. She proceeded to tell Luna what had happened with the Poseidon Eel Kraken, and how she had defeated it.

Luna stopped her cleaning when Fluttershy ended the story with one of her swords through its eye, but quickly continued cleaning. “You did what you had to do, Fluttershy. Everypony else would have done the same, believe me,” she said comfortingly.

Fluttershy smiled at her, but said nothing, and allowed Luna to continue scrubbing off the blood. As Luna continued, the Dragonlord’s ear twitched at the sound of little dragon claws walking, and glanced over her shoulder to see Spike walking hesitantly over to Trixie. Her eyes widened in wonderment. ‘Surely he isn’t…’

“Hey,” Spike said quietly, claws entwined around another nervously, and he stared at the ground before him. Trixie jumped at the sudden attention, but said nothing. “Do you… do ya want any help with anything?”

Trixie snorted. “The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need the help of any…” She stopped short when she realised she wasn’t fooling anypony, and sighed. “Okay, I have a wound on the back of my neck that can’t get to and it’s driving me crazy, happy?”

Rather than jump back and flinch at Trixie’s tone, Spike simply straightened up, then walked to Trixie’s side and inspected the wound. He grimaced at the sight. “Hold still,” he ordered, as he walked to the riverbank. He dipped his hand into the water, lifted it up and started rubbing into the wound.

Trixie sighed blissfully, closing her eyes. “Oh, that feels much better. Could… could you do that a bit more?”

Spike smiled. “Sure,” he said, and walked over to the riverbank once more.

Trixie’s eyes opened in shock upon hearing Spike’s words, and stared at him in wonder. “Why are doing this for me?” she whispered.

Spike said nothing at first, but simply worked his claw into Trixie’s wound once more. “I just want to thank you, I guess. You pushed me out of the way of that daimon when you could have just left me to my own fate. But you didn’t. Why?”

Trixie shrugged. “I couldn’t see that happen to anybody, not even to my worst enemies – not that I am saying you are, or were, one of my worst enemies, you weren’t at all, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Spike said, chuckling to himself. The smile on his face quickly disappeared. “But you had no reason to help me at all. I have been nothing but an a–”

“And I have to stop you there, young dragon,” Trixie interrupted, raising a hoof in objection. “Your reactions to my presence have been largely justified, considering the few times we have met before this catastrophe happened. I have been rude, conceited, arrogant, and angry at others for faults I alone am to blame for. Trust me this once, you are not the first to scorn me for what I have done. And for what I have done, I am sorry.” Trixie bowed her head in shame. “I am sorry for everything.”

Spike stared sympathetically at Trixie, before lifting her head up with a claw. “As long as you can forgive me for not giving you the second chance Fluttershy said I should.”

Trixie smiled widely, then licked her lips. “Listen, I cannot thank you enough for saving my life earlier, and for keeping me company in that foul place. If you hadn’t stayed like I thought you might, I… I’m not even sure that I would be here.”

Spike waved a claw. “Hey, it’s all right. I couldn’t just abandon you like, no matter what you have done.” He looked back at the ground, rubbing his claws together. “Hey, I was wondering if, you know, you would like to start over. Maybe we could, you know, try to be friends?”

For a moment, nothing gave away the feeling Trixie might have felt at that moment. But suddenly, a lovely smile crossed her face. “I would like that, Spike. I would like that a lot,” she said. Spike smiled, then slowly and awkwardly wrapped his arms around Trixie’s neck. The unicorn looked stunned by the move, but quickly relaxed and hugged him in return.

Fluttershy beamed as she watched the pair hug, a merry tune running through her head with trumpets booming and choir singing their joy to the sky. What was beginning to look impossible actually happened. A friendship once thought impossible had actually become reality. She wanted to jump up and hug them both, squealing of how proud she was of the both of them. Before she could, she quickly told herself, ‘Leave them to it. We are all tired and need a decent amount of rest. I’ll say something tomorrow.’

“I don’t get it,” Luna said suddenly, drawing Fluttershy’s attention back to her. “Those two have been more or less at each other’s throats since we met Trixie back at the castle, and now he wants to be friends with her?” She chuckled as she shook her head. “I don’t think I could ever understand how friendship works.”

“But that’s just the magic of it, Luna,” Fluttershy said quietly. She looked back at the pair, who had split off, walked a fair distance away and began talking – what about, the Dragonlord could not hear due to them talking in low whispers. And she was glad that she couldn't. “Two ponies who many would have thought they couldn’t get along actually can. And I think it’s wonderful.”

“I suppose,” Luna grunted, wiping another stain off. She set her hoof to the side and sat up. “All done, dear Fluttershy. You are now blood-free.”

Fluttershy looked herself over, and though there were tiny dots of red left along her coat, they were barely noticeable. ‘I will have a wash tomorrow morning, before dawn,’ she thought. “Thank you, Luna,” she said, looking up at her. She lifted a hoof. “Do you want me to look you over next?”

“Oh, it’s all right,” Luna said, gently setting Fluttershy’s hoof down. “I’m fine, really. I’ll have a wash later.”

Reluctantly, Fluttershy pulled her hoof back, and nodded. “If you’re sure,” she said. She looked up at Luna in sudden remembrance. “You know you said yesterday that you had a hunch as to who attacked that hamlet and you hoped you were wrong? Well, were you right? Did you think it was the daimons in the first place?”

Luna stared at Fluttershy as if she had not spoken, blinking once, then after a moment blinking again. “Yes,” she said, then hastily lifted herself onto her legs. “Now if you excuse me, I must attend to Cadence.”

Fluttershy nodded timidly, then watched her go in stunned silence. ‘That’s it? She had nothing else to say?’ She narrowed an eye as she watched Luna settle down beside the younger alicorn and look at the swelling on Cadence’s face. ‘Why did she wish that she was wrong? Why is she so afraid of them?’ The questions running through her head, and more besides, was starting to make her head hurt and her eyes heavy with fatigue. ‘I need to sleep.’ Silently, she lowered herself onto her belly, rested her head on her hooves and fell asleep.

She was suddenly awoken a few hours later by the sound of hooves hitting the ground in a poor attempt at sneaking away. She brought her head up to see Cadence following Luna away from their resting place and into the darkness. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and called out, “Where are you two going?”

Luna and Cadence stopped at the sound of her voice, and looked back at her with red faces, as though they had been caught doing something far worse. “We’re moving away so we can have a chat,” Luna explained. Cadence nodded in agreement. “Would you like to join us?”

‘This could be a chance to get some answers,’ Fluttershy believed. “If you don’t mind.” She scrambled to her hooves and started walking over to them. “Shouldn’t we ask Spike and Trixie if they wanted to join us, too? It would seem quite rude without them.”

Luna chuckled. “I would rather not wake them up,” she said, gesturing with her head to the pair.

Fluttershy looked back, and couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Spike and Trixie sleeping side by side. ‘They need the rest, the poor things.’ “All right. But I hope you will tell them what they will need to know. I don’t want any secrets left hidden between us.”

Luna bowed her head. “You have my word, dear Fluttershy. Now then, let’s go over here where we can talk freely.” With that, Luna led the way into the darkness. Fluttershy looked at Trixie and Spike one last time before disappearing into it with the two Princesses.

They stopped in a small space on a sloping field on the other side of the path that lead up towards the mountains of the Vale of the Lost. Sweet daisies with petals as white as snow and dandelions as yellow as Fluttershy’s coat covered the field, giving it a colour that even the night could not hide. The pegasus took a moment to admire the many flowers that covered the field, and took a quick bite out of a daisy close to her hooves. ‘Hmm. Tastes like custard,’ she thought, rolling the daisy across her tongue.

“All right, Luna, I think you have kept us in the dark for too long. Please tell us, how on Terra are daimons managing to come into Equestria this far from the Gates of Tartarus?” Cadence asked.

Fluttershy turned away from the field and the flowers, and set herself beside Cadence, who stared at Luna expectantly, almost questionably. Luna sighed, and sat on her rump, staring at the ground.

Fluttershy could see it was difficult for Luna, and whispered encouragingly, “Take your time. There’s no rush.”

Luna nodded her thanks, then bit her lip as she thought of her explanation. “Okay,” she said eventually. “I guess I should start at the beginning. Well, what is presumably the beginning.”

Fluttershy and Cadence stared at one another in puzzlement, then looked back at Luna. “What do you mean, presumably?” Cadence enquired, lifting an eyebrow.

“Well, my sister and I are old, but neither of us were there to see this world be born. So from what I know are tales passed down from generation to generation. I really can’t say that what I will tell you is entirely fact,” Luna explained.

Fluttershy smiled comfortingly. “That’s all right, Luna,” she said. “Just tell us what you know.”

Luna nodded, then took a deep breath and began to speak. “Long ago, before this world was moulded and formed, there was only the darkness and the great beings that dwelled in it: the Primordials. They shaped the universe the way it is, created every star and every planet, and once they created a planet each Primordial cared for a planet until the time came for the deity to move on, and create a new planet elsewhere.”

Cadence whistled. “Wow. How were they able to look after so many planets if there were so few of them? As far as I know about Primordials, there were at least a dozen of them.”

Luna shrugged. “I can only imagine time is different for them,” she replied. “Now, there were three of these Primordials that had something akin to a sibling rivalry going one: Uranus, Gaia, and Tartarus. The three were tasked by their mother to create a world unlike any other, one that would endure even after their passing and the ending of time was upon it. The three agreed rather joyously to their mother, but silently, they all grumbled about being put together.

“So they began putting this world together, with each agreeing to work on a continent each with the help of their other siblings that specialised in creating features like oceans, wind, sky, mountains and deserts. Most of this work went into Gaia and Uranus’s creations, yet Tartarus, due to his temper, was ostracised by his siblings and left to creating his own continent, which mimicked Gaia’s in every way but was simply a barren wasteland with a highland and a lowland, and that was it. Gaia decided to name her continent Terra, while Uranus named his Paradise. Tartarus, however, decided to name his after himself.”

“Wow, talk about an ego trip,” Cadence murmured to Fluttershy. The Dragonlord put a hoof over her mouth to stifle her giggles. She quickly calmed down when she noticed Luna staring at her, waiting for her to stop.

“Sorry,” she squeaked, blushing. She waved a hoof at Luna. “Carry on, if you want.”

“I will,” Luna said, and turned back to the story. “The three lived in harmony for a while, looking after their works and making sure everything was working perfectly. Little nations started to form on Terra, with prisoners sent to Tartarus, while those that lived long and accomplished lives were sent on a ship to Paradise, to live eternally and youthfully and live in a place that held your every whim. And before you ask, I mean every whim.”

“Fascinating,” Fluttershy quipped, her mouth hanging open like a cave.

“Yes, truly, but something must have happened to send it all crumbling,” Cadence pointed out.

“Correct, dear niece,” Luna said sadly, her ears falling flat. “Tartarus started to see how his siblings’ lands flourished and thrived, while his remained as lifeless as the day he created it, albeit a few monsters now roaming about its plains. Creatures so consumed with hatred and lust for sorrow that they were banished to his realm.”

“The first daimons,” Fluttershy said, staring at the alicorn in interest; nothing could pull her away from the story spilling out of Luna’s mouth, not even if the daimons themselves were right behind them.

“Yes, dear Fluttershy,” Luna said, nodding. “A sickness started to take him. But it wasn’t an illness anypony could catch, it was a sickness of the mind and the heart. Jealousy was created, and rage unlike any other. He knew he had to go to one of his siblings and force them to change his land, but he knew not which one. He eventually decided on Uranus, the one who created a beauty never before seen in the universe, and marched off the confront him.”

Luna paused to sigh. “The two fought like animals for years, punching, kicking, and biting at one another. The blood that was spilt between them drowned civilisations and started wars, the first Terra had seen. Gaia is said to have wept as she watched her brothers fight, yet did not intervene until the fifth year. When that day came, Gaia created an army out of the very forests that dominated her land and used them bind the fighting primordials’ feet, hands, and bodies together, so that they could not move. Gaia reprimanded them both for the destruction they have caused, then left them to think about what they did.

“Once the fighting had stopped, Gaia set about re-healing the world and everything on it. Years passed by, and once she had completed her task and the world was set to right, Gaia released her brothers from bondage, and ordered them both to apologise, to each other and to herself. Tartarus, unable to stare at either of his siblings, returned to his land. Uranus returned to his land without a word. In the wake of her brothers’ estrangement, Gaia turned miserable. And in her misery, the forests lost their leaves and the grass died, creating the first winter.

“Not long after their feud, Tartarus used powerful and dark magic to break his continent away from the others and placed it in a bubble, becoming a material plain outside of existence, free from the machinations of his two siblings. But in the process of using such magic, he had to give his body and soul to it. And so he was utterly destroyed in the act. Uranus, after learning of what Tartarus did, enacted the same ritual, separating Paradise from Gaia’s realm. The remaining Primordials had long since left existence, leaving Gaia as the only Primordial left in the cosmos.

“And so she wept. Oh, did she weep for her brothers and sisters that had gone. The continent she had created disappeared under water, such was the mass of Gaia’s tears, wiping out everything. Eventually, she slit her own throat and fell upon her creation, breaking it apart and began the creation of the continents as we know them today.”

Fluttershy didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt slightly depressed. “Um… I know it’s not my place to say how a story goes. But, couldn’t you have made that story sound a little bit more cheerful?” she queried.

“I’m afraid I cannot, dear Fluttershy, for such stories are categorised as ‘Tragedies’ for a reason,” Luna said solemnly. “But believe it or not, that is not the end of the story. It is a bit difficult to explain, but I will do my best. For the spell to work, Tartarus needed something like an anchor to keep it from being thrown into the Never. So he created bridges that broke out from Tartarus and bridged the gap into Terra, throwing dark magic into the realm as he did so.

“At the same time, Uranus worked out that he couldn’t lift Paradise away and let it become its own world; he would have to follow his brother’s example and created something that would anchor the world together. So he created tunnels of pure darkness, with only the light of Paradise at the far end, and set them across the continents of Terra.

“Though you both might think this is a good thing. Trust me when I say that it was not. The two types of magic were set in the same places, so both types began to fight over the dominance of the world. These magics’ struggle for power threw nature out of balance and created creatures and beasts like dragons, hydras, and worse; even the ponies, who before that point had no intelligence in them, began to learn and study. The sun and the moon no longer worked themselves, and were thrown about like toys by the magic that quarrelled over this place like children.

“But, the third kind of magic, Gaia’s earth magic, waited in the shadows, healed where the light and dark magic couldn’t find, and watched as its world burnt. Then, in a show of strength, the magic of Gaia surged out from the place the great Primordial died, and sealed the tears, as they became known, with her magic. With this act, the magic of Paradise and Tartarus calmed, and the world of Terra slowly began to heal.”

Luna paused, her ears flattening in sorrow. “But the damage had been done. Enough magic, good and evil, remained in Terra, and the natural order had been thrown out of place, too damaged to be repaired. Three types of magic now existed on Terra: Earth, Light and Dark. The only thing the Earth magic could do was keep the tears sealed to prevent more ‘untamed’ magic – that is, magic from the space between realms that hasn’t been shaped into the three types – to pour in and cause mass destruction. And her magic has continued to do so, over millions of years.”

Fluttershy was too engrossed into listening to Luna’s story, that it took her a few minutes to realise she had stopped talking. She rapidly shook her head and continued to stare at Luna in awe. “That was... quite a story.”

Cadence nodded in agreement. “Yes, quite a story, indeed, aunt. A few plot holes here and there, but it will do.”

Luna squinted an eye at her niece. “What plot holes?” she asked.

“Like why is the magic of Light, Dark and Earth spoken about as if they are sentient beings?” Cadence asked. “They don’t display such a power struggle anymore, so what brought them down to becoming things to be played with?”

Luna opened her mouth to respond, yet not a sound came out. She quickly closed it again and rubbed her chin. “Okay, you got me there. It’s just a story I was told when I was a filly, all right? I imagine mother changed it so that Light and Dark were bad guys and Earth was the good guy. I guess it went a lot differently than that.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Fair enough. So, um, why are the tears opening up now?” she asked.

Luna shrugged. “Though the magic holding them closed is powerful, there are times – once every millennia, if I’m precise – when the magic weakens and the tears split open. When that happens, new magic pours through from place between realms, injecting the world with new magic and creating opportunities for new magic spells, new monsters, new breeds, that sort of thing. But they only stay open for at least a few seconds before being closed again. It’s much like an earthquake occurring.” Luna paused to frown. “The fact that the tears are opening up now, and staying open for a long period, is troublesome.”

“Which means something else is forcing these tears early,” Cadence suggested. Luna nodded faintly. “But how could that be possible?”

“The only way the tears between here and Tartarus can be opened and kept open is if the magic from Tartarus – really dark magic – and magic from Terra are bound together and create something like a key, unlocking the doors sealing them off and keeping them open. But even if that were true, the way such a thing can be possible is if there are two highly powerful spell-casters, one on each side.” Luna jumped up to her hooves and turned, staring towards the Vale. “Which would mean something or someone got out of Tartarus.”

“But how is that possible?” Cadence asked, taking a step closer to her aunt. “Nothing, not even us, could get passed Cerberus.”

“Oh, I can believe that. He is such a good and well-trained doggy that I think nothing could escape his eyes,” Fluttershy agreed. She jumped when she noticed both of the Princesses were staring at her, intensely. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Is there something on me?”

“How do you know of Cerberus to know him in such light?” Luna asked, taking a step closer to her. Cadence eyed her, too, curious to know the answer.

“Yo-you mean, you both don’t know?” Luna and Cadence shook their heads, which Fluttershy found odd. ‘I thought Princess Celestia would tell them something as big as that. She probably didn’t want to alarm them.’ “About a year ago, Cerberus suddenly appeared in Ponyville and caused quite a panic. I managed to stop him of his rampage and gave him a nice belly-rub, while Twilight found a ball and took him back to Tartarus. That’s all I know.” Fluttershy shook her head when she realised that wasn’t all she knew. “But Twilight did say nothing got out!”

“Well, for Cerberus to make it to Ponyville and back, that would mean he had been away from his post for about two days,” Cadence said, staring at Luna worriedly.

“And in that time, any creature could have sneaked through the tear, through the gates and back into Equestria, some of which would be too small to ever be noticed missing.” Luna suddenly shook, and a hoof moved up to her belly, rubbing it smoothly.

Fluttershy watched in worry, then licked her lips and took a step closer to Luna. “Luna? Is everything all right?”

Luna opened her eyes, rapidly moved her hoof away from her belly as though she hadn’t done it in the first place, and put on a forced smile – that smile hurt Fluttershy more than it probably did Luna. “Of course. Everything’s fine. Really. I-I was just thinking, that’s all.” She stifled a yawn, which was obviously fake, and began to walk away. “Come on, everypony, let’s get some rest. At dawn we head north, leave the Unicorn Range, then make our way east towards Strutford, and finally Horsca.”

Fluttershy looked back at the Vale, then at Cadence, and finally at the retreating Luna. “But, what about the daimons? Should we do something to stop them?”

Luna stopped, yet did not turn around. “There is nothing we can do about them now. Alicorn magic has no power against the raw magic coming from the tear. Besides, it will probably close up after a week or so.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” Fluttershy persisted, taking to the air to bar Luna’s way. “What if- what if the tear stays open and the daimons are allowed to race across Equestria, pillaging and destroying everything in their way, and, uh, what–”

“Do you trust me, dear Fluttershy?” Luna asked, staring at her emotionlessly. Fluttershy stared at Luna, a large frown across her face as the question hit home. She knew the answer to the Princess’s question, but couldn’t Luna trust her or any of the others to speak the truth? She could tell that something was bothering Luna, and she knew that you can always talk about your problems to a good friend. To keep it hidden from her felt wrong to the pegasus, and if not tonight or tomorrow, but later she will find out what she’s hiding, and then help Luna with that pain.

With a heavy heart, Fluttershy nodded in response. ‘Guess I will just have to wait,’ she thought, feeling annoyed of herself for being too weak to push the questioning.

“Then trust me when I say that none of that will happen,” Luna continued. “Besides, the daimons are confined to the Unicorn Range; they cannot venture beyond its mountains without straying too far from the tear. Sleep easier, little pony, for tomorrow we continue our journey to Horsca.” With that, Luna spread her wings and took to the air. A few beats of her wings later and she was gone, blended into her domain.

Fluttershy set herself down and stomped on the ground in frustration. “That stubborn alicorn!” she hissed to herself. “It’s blatantly obvious she’s hiding something from us and yet she still won’t tell us! What will it take to get that–?” Her ranting stopped short when a hoof touched a shoulder, and in that instant, her anger and frustration faded away.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cadence said, smiling. “Luna is probably tired and a bit shocked. If she had something to say, she will tell us in time. Just be patient.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” The pair began to walk back to where Trixie and Spike were sleeping. “I know something has her scared and I want to know so I can help her. It’s always better to share your fears so you can get through them.”

“I’m sure she knows, and I’m certain she will tell us. You just have to be patient and wait for her to feel ready,” Cadence said, as the two of them arrived at their makeshift campsite. Cadence let out a heavy yawn, and quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Excuse me. I think that tells me it’s time to go to bed.” Cadence set herself down on her belly. “Goodnight, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy fell to her side, the exhaustion in her body finally felt by her mind. “Goodnight, Cadence. Oh, Cadence?”

For a moment, there was silence, but then Cadence’s voice crept out from the darkness. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I just wanted to say thank you. For saving my life today,” Fluttershy said. “A few times, actually.”

Cadence chuckled. “You already thanked me for that, but you are most welcome all the same. And thank you for saving mine. Sleep well.” Cadence let out a long yawn, before setting her head down on the ground and closing her eyes.

Fluttershy sighed. “You, too. Goodnight.” She covered her mouth to stifle a yawn built up at the back of her throat, and then set her head back onto the ground. As sleep started to take her, she quickly wondered what Luna was leaving out. She knew something had her worried, and wanted to know what it was so she could help. But how could she do that without sounding forceful?

Either way, she knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be the last she had heard of the daimons of Tartarus.

Chapter 14

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Chapter 15

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Chapter 1

Traitors. Everywhere she seemed to look there were traitors, and the news she had received in the past half hour from across Equestria only seemed to strengthen this thought. Hoofington, Trottingham, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, Vanhoover, and several other towns and cities were rioting violently. Las Pegasus and its neighbouring towns were separating themselves from the rest of the country to form their own. As was Appleloosa, Dodge Junction and the other towns that rested in the deserts, forming a new country, a “republic”, they called themselves. They were traitors, traitors all. And now her beloved sister and niece were among them.

“Princess Celestia.” Celestia turned from the window to look at her Captain of the Royal Guard. The Captain walked up to the steps leading to the throne, then took off his helmet and nimbly bowed his head. “The squad I sent to Ponyville to search for them has returned. We searched every place we thought they could hide, but somepony told us she saw them head south towards the desert about half an hour ago.”

Celestia walked down the steps to tower over the smaller unicorn. She gave him a warm smile. “You did well, Captain. You acted fast.” The smile quickly faded. “It’s just a pity that you weren’t fast enough. Are you sure they were heading south?”

“Myself and others asked several other ponies and they all said the same thing, your highness. They’re probably heading to join this southern republic and take the fight to us.”

Celestia shook her head. “They won’t find friends there, or anywhere in Equestria. They are just running blind, for they have nowhere else to go.”

“Send me with two battalions of the Royal Guard, your majesty, and they will come back within the week in chains.”

“Yes, and half of Equestria destroyed in the process, no thanks,” she said scornfully. “They might be traitors, Captain, but I want to re-unite my country without needless bloodshed. The Royal Guard will be deployed across Equestria to keep the peace in the loyal towns and cities, while diplomats will be trained and dispatched to deal with these separate states so they could try and bring them back to us.”

“But what of your sister and niece, and their accomplices?”

“I will send a smaller force of ponies that could find them, and stop them before they could fulfil whatever plans they have in mind.” She turned around and let out a small, sad sigh. “You have my permission to go.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” he replied, bowing his head once more. He spun around and galloped out the room, closing the door behind him.

Once he’d left, Celestia walked over to the window and looked out at her country with sorrowful eyes. ‘How could they all do this to me? Haven’t I been faithful to them? Have I been cruel?’ The throne room stayed silent for a long time, with Celestia gazing out the window, forgetting that her student and her friends were in the room.

Twilight looked at each of her friends for a moment, and then took a nervous step forward. “Princess?” The Princess turned towards them. “What about us?”

Celestia moved away from the window, and looked at her and her friends emotionlessly for a moment. “That depends on if you are with me or not, Twilight Sparkle. Are you with me?”

Twilight stepped forward once more, keeping her head held high. “You know I am always with you, Princess.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash moved to hover beside her. “You know you can count on us for anything, right girls?” She looked back at her friends.

“For Equestria!” they shouted in unison, stomping the ground with a hoof and their heads high and proud.

Celestia smiled. “Why did I even doubt you?” She walked up to the throne and sat on it. “Then I will give you and your friends this task. Do you think you can handle it?”

“We’ll get them back for you, Celestia,” Applejack said. “In stone or in body-bags.”

“Preferably in stone, Applejack. But your devotion has been noted.” Celestia powered up her horn to glow its bright golden colour. After a moment, the blue case containing the Elements of Harmony appeared in front of the ponies.

“Then, with the Elements of Harmony,” Celestia commanded, even as tears ran down her face, “I task you to hunt down the traitors, Princess Luna Nocturnus Solaris, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Spike the dragon, and Fluttershy Firewing, the Dragonlord.”

Last of the Dragonlords: A Good Mare Goes To War

Seven days earlier…

The sudden knocking on the door made Fluttershy shoot her head upright. The moment she did so, however, she regretted it. She thought something heavy had snuck its way inside and was tapping at her skull like it was a drum. Not to mention the rest of her head felt like it was on fire – which would be a miracle, considering what she was. She put a hoof on her forehead and groaned. The knocking on the door persisted, making Fluttershy groan as each knock made her head and ears ring. “The door’s unlocked,” she called as loud as she could. “You can come in… if you like.”

The door of her cottage swung open, and the smiling faces of Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie greeted her. “Hi, Fluttershy,” they chimed upon seeing her. The four ponies made their way towards her, closing the door behind them gently. Fluttershy wished she could get up and greet them properly, but felt like she couldn’t.

“Are you all right, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, her small smile fading to give her a look of concern. She immediately felt stupid for asking it, for everyone could see Fluttershy looked anything but all right.

Fluttershy was lying on her couch with a blanket covering her body, with bits of her mane sticking out like branches on a tree. Large black sacks were under her eyes, and when Twilight put a hoof on her forehead, it felt like she could boil an egg on it. “I just feel a little bit under the weather at the moment, Applejack,” Fluttershy replied. She smiled comfortingly. “I should be better by the morning.”

“Just a hot temperature,” Twilight said, pulling her hoof away from her friend’s head. “Something everypony has every now and then, so it should pass quickly. Although I’ll recommend you to stay here and rest.”

“Tell us something we don’t know, Twilight,” Rainbow chided, crossing her forelegs against her chest and giving Twilight a little glare. She then gestured with a hoof towards the door. “Come on, let’s leave her to rest. We’ve got a party to organise.” The four friends said their goodbyes and well wishes and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Fluttershy called with a raised hoof. The four ponies turned around to look at her. “What party?”

“Oh, you know… the one for Rarity,” Pinkie said, a little excited giggle escaping from her mouth just after.

Fluttershy’s ears pinned upright. “Oh,” she said, a little grin forming across her lips. She suddenly willed herself the strength to get up; not even feeling ill would make her miss this day. With a groan she lifted herself off the couch and groggily walked up to them, ignoring her friends’ protests for doing such a thing. “Oh, I would love to help out with this party if that’s what you wanted in the first place.”

The four ponies looked warily at each other. “Ya sure, Fluttershy? I mean I wouldn’t turn ya down if ya weren’t ill. But since ya are, would ya be all right?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “I think so. It might be nice to get out for a bit. I’ve been cooped up here all week without much fresh air, so it might help to be out for a while.” Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but was stopped by a firm but gentle hoof from the pegasus being placed on her mouth. “I would love to help, and no buts will keep me down.”

After a moment of silence, Twilight reluctantly agreed with a nod. Grinning, Fluttershy put her hoof down, and quickly made herself look presentable by brushing her mane and tail straight with a hoof. “Shall we?” Pinkie said with a gesture of her hoof towards the door, her tone not bothering to hide her excitement.

‘It’s Pinkie after all,’ Fluttershy thought, ‘so of course she would be excited about a party.’

Fluttershy smiled and nodded, then swiftly followed her four friends outside. ‘No, not my friends,’ she thought to herself. ‘They’re my family.’ The day was another typical midsummer’s day – warm with a nice breath of wind to allow ponies to walk about easier. The moment she stepped outside her house she wondered why she hadn’t done this before. She felt much better than she did inside, for the breath of wind hit her in the right places, making her feel like there was nothing wrong with her. Startled squeaks made her turn her head slowly towards the noise, only to find herself looking at Angel’s daughter.

She sighed sadly as she thought about Angel. It had been five months since Angel’s daughter was born, and three months since he’d passed on. She was upset that he had gone, but didn’t cry at his loss. The signs were coming for ages that he was getting old, and she kept expecting him to go to sleep one night and never wake up, which was the way he went in the end.

“It was going to happen eventually,” she had said to her friends as they crowded around her in comfort, after she had laid Angel to rest.

“You all right, Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, hovering just above her.

Fluttershy looked up at her and nodded assuredly. “I’m okay. I was just thinking about Angel. I do miss him sometimes.”

Rainbow gave her a small, sad smile. “Well of course you would. I mean you were with him since you first came to Ponyville. But hay, you have his daughter to remember him by.”

Fluttershy agreed with as sharp a nod as she could muster, and then looked back at Angel’s daughter. The little white bunny, named Rosemary, in her mother’s memory, was very different to what Angel was like. She was sweeter, kinder, and didn’t boss her around like her father did, mostly because she had brought up the little rabbit herself. But, admittedly, that’s what Fluttershy missed most about him. In some ways he was a little brat, but other times he was her backbone, the one that made her turn around and do what was necessary.

The small white doe tilted her head at the pony, her face expressing her concern. “I’ll be fine, Rosemary,” she said sweetly. “If I feel any worse I’ll just come back. See you later.” She waved to the little bunny, who waved back, and then walked with her friends over the bridge and towards Ponyville.

Pinkie let out a squeal of joy. “I can’t believe this is happening!” she squeaked, bouncing with delight as they walked between the first of Ponyville’s buildings. “I never expected it to last, to be honest, but those two go really well together and are a match made in Paradise!”

“Yeah, and from what I’ve heard, we have you to thank for givin’ her the courage to ask,” Applejack said, glancing at Fluttershy with a wry grin.

“Oh, I did nothing,” Fluttershy said modestly. “All I did was say it’s always okay to ask.” Another thing she omitted from saying was that she hid in a bush to lend support, giving Rarity the courage to speak her feelings.

That was nearly nine months ago that happened. In fact, so much has happened in the past two years since she had returned from Horsca after learning her family heritage and what she was, that it was hard to keep track of it all.

The five ponies were soon walking through Ponyville’s main street, stopping every now and then to say hello to a pony and friend. About halfway through, Fluttershy’s ears twitched at her name being called. “Fluttershy!” the voice called out again from her left. Fluttershy stopped and looked around to see Roseluck behind her flower stand, looking at her with a wide, amiable grin.

“Hello, Roseluck,” she greeted the earth pony with a warm smile as she walked up to her. Her eyes drifted to the white roses in front of her stand. “Gosh, those roses look lovely this year, as they always do.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy, you are too kind. Would you like one?” She tilted her head a little. “You look like you need one.”

“Oh, I would love to, but I don’t have any money with me to pay for them. Sorry,” she replied, lowering her head and rubbing her foreleg with her other hoof shyly. It was something that she had done for all her life, and she said to herself it would be something she would never be able to grow out of, even if she was a Dragonlord.

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Before Fluttershy could protest, Roseluck walked around her stand, and placed a bundle of roses on her back. “Here, these are on the house.”

Fluttershy looked shocked at the gesture. “I… I can’t take these, Roseluck. I don’t have anything to give in return.”

“And you will never have to, Fluttershy,” Roseluck said, smiling. “You saved my daughter’s life, and so many other ponies from that dragon attack two years ago, that anything I give to you would be nothing compared to what you saved for me; my family.” She reared up and hugged the pegasus. “So thanks again, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy lifted a hoof up and awkwardly patted the earth pony around the shoulders; she was still getting used to talking to everypony. “There’s no need to thank me anymore, Roseluck. Just be happy and loving with everypony and everything. That’s all the thanks I could ask for.” She looked back at the flowers on her back and smiled. “Thanks for these. I’m sure they would go quickly at the party, though.”

“Oh, as in Rarity’s party?” she enquired, her eyebrows flickering.

Fluttershy nodded. “You’re going to be there?”

Roseluck nodded. “Of course. How can I miss a party put on by Pinkie Pie?”

“Nopony can,” Fluttershy replied, grinning. “I’ll see you there.” She waved at Roseluck one last time, and then trotted after her friends, who were walking slowly so she could catch up with them.

Once she was alongside them, Rainbow fluttered back a bit, and then sneakily tried to grab a rose off her back. Fluttershy saw this in the corner of her eye and spun around just before the other pegasus could touch one. Fluttershy gently and playfully slapped Rainbow’s extended hoof. “Not yet. Wait until the party, missy.”

“Oh,” Rainbow sulked, her ears falling flat as she flew above her friends. “But they look so tasty, and I haven’t eaten yet.”

Fluttershy looked up at her and gave her a look of pity. Rainbow looked back at her with big, puppy dog eyes and trembling lips. Eventually, Fluttershy caved in. “Okay, just the one,” Fluttershy said. Rainbow grinned, and then took one off her back and stuck the whole thing in her mouth.

“Now that’s good,” Rainbow said, her voice muffled by the rose in her mouth. “Thanks, Fluttershy. You’re a good friend.”

Fluttershy smiled back. “And you’re a good friend as well.” Her ears suddenly pricked up when she heard a voice calling to her. She looked around and grinned to see a young filly and a young colt racing up to her. “Hello, Dinky. Hello, Rumble,” she greeted them. “What are you two up to?”

“We’re just going to Rarity’s to get our Nightmare Night costumes for this year,” Dinky replied. “Are you going to have that candy like you had last time, are you? Please say you are, please, please, please?” she asked, hopping on the spot. Rumble nodded eagerly as well, grinning sweetly at her.

“Of course I will,” Fluttershy replied. “How could I leave out the best candy for the best trick or treaters?” The two young ponies grinned at that. “Now go and get your costumes,” she added, indicating with her head towards the Carousel Boutique. “Best not keep Rarity waiting.”

“See you later, Fluttershy!” the two little ponies chimed, galloping away from them, leaving the five mares to continue towards the main hall. Years ago, Fluttershy never thought she would be able to enjoy Nightmare Night. However, thanks to a bit self-discovery, and the thought of, “only once can’t hurt,” she decided to go into town and see what it was like, with her friends close by her side. When it was over, she came back home merrier and regretting that she missed so much.

“Say, Twilight, do you know where it’s going to be yet?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not sure yet, Fluttershy, but I’ve been looking around for suitable places for the venue, and the after party, and I have a few in mind. I just have to ask Rarity what she thinks is best.” Twilight sniffed back a few joyous tears. “I just can’t believe this is going to happen.”

“I don’t think any of us can, sugarcube,” Applejack said comfortingly. “Like Pinkie said, I didn’t think it would last. Hay, I don’t think anyone thought it would last. But they surprised us all, and now they surprised us further by sayin’ they’re getting married.”

Fluttershy smiled at the memory of when Rarity told her the news.

“Fluttershy?” Rarity had started as she laid out on a flat table, awaiting a back massage, while Fluttershy was having hers. Rarity looked in her direction and just made her out in the large coal fire that the pegasus was lying prostrate in, seemingly asleep.

Not long after they had returned, Fluttershy made a ‘simple’ request for the spa twins in asking for a specially made table that would be able to withstand the affects and temperatures of fire. “Of course, if it’s a big problem, then don’t worry about it,” she had finished quietly.

The spa twins were confused, but found a table that matched Fluttershy’s odd request, and filled it with coal rather than wood, making it burn hotter, and longer. They asked why she wanted it, but the only thing Fluttershy said in response was, “You’ll see… if you want to.” When it was ready, she stepped into the fire and set herself on her stomach along it, breathing a heavy sigh of content. Upon witnessing this, the two ponies fainted.

In time, they had gotten used to it, but to them it still looked strange. It was even stranger to the other clients that used the Spa when they saw her in it. One pony dared to say that Fluttershy should be no longer allowed in the Spa, since the cackles of the flames were spoiling her relaxation time. When the Spa ponies considered, Rarity had stepped forward and told them, “If you ban her from this Spa, then you would lose not just one loyal customer, but two.” Afterwards, they had no more problems.

“Fluttershy?” Rarity called again.

This time the pegasus’s eyes shot open, and she looked up at Rarity in shock. “Oh my, did I fall asleep? Again?” Rarity nodded, a grin creeping across her lips. “Oh dear, I knew this would be relaxing, but I couldn’t have dreamed it would be this relaxing.” She shook her head again and looked at Rarity once more. “Sorry, Rarity. What was it you were going to say?”

Rarity looked around the room, looking for eavesdroppers and such. “Can you hear anypony close by? I don’t want anypony else to know what I am about to tell you yet.”

Fluttershy lifted herself into a sitting position, then flexed her ears about as she tried to see if there was anypony nearby. “I don’t think there’s anypony, Rarity. As far as I know we’re alone,” she announced a moment later.

Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. “Well… I don’t know how I’m going to say this, but you know Hugo and me have been in a rather happy relationship for a while now?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, he came up to me yesterday at dinner and… and he…” She trailed off into tiny murmurs that even Fluttershy’s hearing couldn’t pick up.

Fluttershy knew exactly where this was going; she had read enough romance novels and seen enough films to see what Rarity was trying to say. “Did Hugo propose to you?” Fluttershy enquired, her eyes going wide in excitement for her friend. Rarity nodded meekly in response. “And what did you say?” ‘Please tell me you said yes.’

The only response from Rarity was a few little nods of the head. What followed was the loudest and most joyous squeal the Spa – and most of Ponyville, if it is to be believed – had ever heard.

Fluttershy blushed pink in embarrassment and giggled as she remembered. “What are you laughing about?” Rainbow enquired.

“Just remembering that squeal I let out when Rarity told me she was getting married.”

“Oh, yeah,” Rainbow said, nodding her head and smirking in remembrance. “I remember Rarity telling me about it not long afterwards. Told me her ears kept ringing for hours.”

“I said I was sorry. I thought I didn’t have it in me.”

“Well there’s a lot of things we thought you didn’t have in ya, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “Defeating a burning dragon is one we never thought you could do.”

Fluttershy smiled at her. “Well that’s something I never thought I would do.” She looked ahead and saw the town hall, where Rarity and Hugo’s engagement party would take place.

At the sight of it, Pinkie disappeared in a cloud of pink and raced inside, too excited to wait any longer. The others followed quickly behind, excited as well by what was going to happen.

Fluttershy was the last to enter, having stopped and looked around in case Rarity suddenly appeared with her fiancée. After a moment, she slowly walked in and gawked at the decorations everywhere.

Half of the ceiling was covered in banners with the likeness of her friend and Hugo on them, staring into each other’s eyes, with love hearts dotted around them like stars in the night sky. Along the sides of the ground floor were tables full of food, courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres: apple tarts, apple fritters, apple pies and just plain apples. There were also a few jars of pickled onions and olives, as well as flowers of a wide variety, and especially the drinks: different types of punch, ciders and some red and white wine were scattered across the tables. In all it looked quite a feast, one that moistened Fluttershy’s lips and appetite just by looking at it all.

On the main stage at the back of the hall a few party games, thanks of course to Pinkie, were being stored for later. Bits of streamers that Pinkie already had sent off in her excitement were scattered across the floor, and she could just make out the tip of Pinkie’s most unique piece of party equipment; her party cannon.

“Gosh,” Fluttershy said, her eyes looking from place to place. “You’ve done a lot already.”

“Actually, Pinkie did a lot,” Twilight corrected her. “There was nothing here when we left.”

Fluttershy was about to ask how was that possible, but quickly shut her mouth when she realised she was about to ask about a pony that was impossible to explain. ‘Okay, fair point.’ “So what would you like me to do?”

Twilight gave her a look of concern. “Are you sure you’re up for this, Fluttershy?”

“I’m as certain as I could ever be, Twilight,” Fluttershy replied, smiling assuredly at her. “So what would you like me to do?” she asked again.

Twilight nodded, then gestured with her head to Rainbow Dash. “If you want, help Rainbow Dash with putting up some more banners. There's a few more we still need to put up.”

Fluttershy saluted, and then took to the air faster than she once used to. Ever since she was able to use her left wing again, Rainbow had been teaching her how to fly, and since then she had greatly improved; Rainbow said once that Fluttershy probably flies better than she ever used to at Flight Camp. She felt a bit dizzy for a moment for doing such a quick take-off, but Rainbow said it would pass over time once she continued practicing it – it was either that or the fact she was ill. She shook her head gently to clear her dizziness, and then levelled up to the other pegasus and her oldest friend.

Rainbow whistled, impressed by Fluttershy’s sudden take off. “Nice to see those lessons I’ve been giving you are paying off.”

Fluttershy stretched out her hooves, allowing Rainbow to throw the other end of the banner towards her. She caught it easily between her hooves. “Well it’s not like you’re going to teach me, and then I completely forget about it. I might need those flying lessons in the future,” she said, hammering her part of the banner into place gently with a hoof. She looked back at Rainbow Dash, and saw sadness in her eyes at what she just said.

Rainbow appeared to be taking it worse that Fluttershy was going to live longer than her or the rest of her friends. Since she came back, Rainbow had been spending more and more time with her, as if she was making up for the lack of time she spent with Fluttershy when they were fillies. Fluttershy loved spending time with her – she loved spending time with all her friends – but recently she began to fear she would never move on from Rainbow and the others when they do pass on. She feared she would be mourning them for the rest of her life, and that was something she didn’t want to do. ‘They wouldn’t want me to live in grief,’ she had thought repeatedly. ‘So I won’t.’ However, every time she said or thought those words, a flicker of doubt would cross her mind, keeping the fear stained in her head.

‘Now is not the time for thinking such things,’ Fluttershy thought. Her mind was right. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, so she needed to suck up her worries of the future and focus on the present.

Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow as if that was all that was needed. And in this case, it was. Rainbow perked back up to her self once more. “Say, do you want another flight lesson tomorrow?” she asked, quickly adding, “if you’re feeling better by then, of course.”

“Oh, I would love to. How can I turn down such an offer?” Fluttershy answered, grinning.

“Great! Tomorrow, if able, I’m going to make you just a touch more awesome, by seeing if you have what it takes to break the sound barrier.” She threw another banner towards her friend.

Fluttershy never caught it. She was glued in the air, with her forelegs at her sides, looking at Rainbow Dash as if she had just told her she loved her. “You mean… you’re going to teach me the s-so-Sonic Rainboom?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Of course not. I’m going to teach you to do an ordinary sonic boom. Boring by my standards, but it’s still a cool trick to pull off. No, the Sonic Rainboom is my move and no pony else’s. If I catch you doing it, I would congratulate you and then fine you for copyright.”

Fluttershy tilted her head like an overly confused puppy. “You don’t claim copyright to the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash.”

“I do, and I can prove it.” She took out from behind her back a long piece of parchment, stating her legal ownership of the move, and showed it to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy took it from her hooves and scanned it quickly. “‘This document states the claim of the possession of the Sonic Rainboom to the one and only Rainbow Dash. The most awesome pegasus known to ponykind,’” she uttered under her breath. It didn’t take too long for Fluttershy to recognise Rainbow’s mouth writing. She raised an eyebrow at it, and then gave it back to Rainbow. “Fair enough, I suppose. But how are you going to teach me a sonic boom?”

“Easy,” Rainbow said, although the term ‘easy’ was lost to Fluttershy, “we’ll start slow, and then go faster and faster until you can build up enough speed to smash that sound barrier to little pieces. And then you would do it all over again, and smash those pieces up into littler pieces. And then–”

“I think I get it, thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy interjected, smiling. She flew back down and picked up the other end of the banner, then put it in place next to the other one. They continued until the last of the banners were in place. Fluttershy hammered it into place then backed off, wiping the sweat off her brow with a hoof. With the banners set up and in place, the party was just about ready; all it needed now was the two main guests.

“Oh, yeah!” Rainbow cheered as she flew next to her, her eyes going over the whole setting. “We did good, Fluttershy.” The two hoof-bumped each other. “Bump–!”

“–Cha!” Fluttershy finished, grinning and pulling her hoof away.

She set herself back down to the ground and tucked her wings back to their sides. She was glad she was back on the ground, for her wings, especially her left wing, were beginning to ache from the heavy work. “Wow,” Twilight said, walking up next to the pegasi. “Great work, you two. Now, Fluttershy, do you think you could look out for Rarity and Hugo for us while we finish off?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly but eagerly. “Of course.” She took to the air once more and went through the high window to the balcony outside. She set herself down and rested her head and hooves on the railing, sighing in content as she watched the rest of Ponyville go about its business.

She glanced to the right and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders galloping past the town hall, giggling about something as another one of their schemes was about to be carried out. The three girls had certainly grown in the last two years: Scootaloo was taller than the three by a hoof, and was beginning to fly at last; Applebloom began to show some long, thick legs like her brother’s, and Sweetie Belle was the smallest, but she had begun to learn the simplest of magic spells. Yet despite their ages, they still lacked their cutie marks. ‘One day,’ Fluttershy thought with a giggle.

Fluttershy watched them go with a small smile, until she reached a spot that made her mind flash back to two years. The spot looked insignificant; it was just a patch of grass between the town hall and some buildings. But to Fluttershy and her friends, it was where the pegasus had died; killed by the fire of a large red dragon with burning eyes, only to rise up again and send the dragon packing. She shuddered at the memory that had burnt into her head, the agony she felt as her coat, skin, and mane was ripped off her and her whole body burned like a plank of wood.

As she looked at the spot where her old life ended and her new one began, she wondered how many ponies that lived in this town who were there that day, feared that a great evil was coming to claim them, and lay waste to their town and country. She wondered how many ponies predicted the apocalypse Heimdallr would create should he had escaped. She wondered how few ponies believed, or would ever believe, she was the only one that could stop him.

But she was, and she did. She wasn’t the pony that would whimper and cry over every little thing anymore, nor was she the pony that could be pushed around so easily. She might have a heart filled with kindness and love, but she had the blood and soul of a Dragonlord, a warrior without peer. She giggled to herself at the thought. ‘Me? A warrior? I’m just a pony that looks after animals and helps out my friends.’

She was a warrior, though. She had fought in battles – albeit reluctantly, if that made any difference – and had a little scar that ran from below her right eye to the corner of her nose, and the long pink scar that ran down her back where Heimdallr’s sword had slashed into her to prove that claim. She understood, and accepted, what she was now, but she didn’t have to like it. Moreover, she knew she couldn’t hide who she truly was, but she could keep it to one side and ignore it for a while. So that’s what she did; put her warrior blood aside and be who she wanted to be until she had need of being a Dragonlord again.

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING, MY DEAR?” an easily recognisable voice echoed across Ponyville, making Fluttershy giggle. Her ears pricked up as the voices got closer.

“I’m not joking, sweetheart. I just think that brown and purple could go really well together,” another voice, a stallion’s, said persistently.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Rarity said frantically. “That sounds like a dreadful mix! Brown should only be used for accents, and purple can only go well with pink. If you want to know, ask Twilight when we see her.”

“Of course I will. In fact, I was going to ask her to be the model for this little experiment of mine.” Fluttershy suddenly made out the two unicorns coming towards the town hall. Rarity was on the left, while a shorter, dark grey stallion with a light grey mane and tail with a cutie mark of a tie was on the right.

Fluttershy smiled sweetly as the two of them got closer. She couldn’t believe the first time she had heard of Hugo was in Horsca as the two of them climbed the steps of a great fortress under siege to find the fifth key that would open the doors of Heimdallr’s prison and allow her to face him in battle.

“How can you do such a thing to Twilight?” Rarity complained. “I’m certain she will not like it.”

“Well how about we have a bet? If Twilight does like it, then I win. And if she doesn’t like it, then you win. How does that sound?”

Rarity contemplated it. “Hmm, sounds tempting, but what are the stakes?” Hugo leaned over and whispered something that Fluttershy couldn’t make out, but from the look she could see on Rarity’s face, she was thankful her hearing wasn’t that good. “Oh…” Rarity giggled. “Okay, darling, you’re on. But be ready to lose.”

Hugo gave his fiancée a little nuzzle on the neck. “I don’t mind either way. Right, come on, there’s something I want to show you in the town hall.”

Taking that as her cue to warn the others, Fluttershy shot back through the door leading to the balcony, and flew down the stairs as fast as she could. She stopped on the landing and saw that her friends were finishing off with the last of the party preparations. “Twilight!” she called. Twilight didn’t hear her. She was too engrossed in the checklist hovering in front of her to notice, ticking off everything that had been done, and being sure they weren’t missing anything.

“Twilight!” she tried again. Again, to no avail. Despite her newly found courage, Fluttershy still had problems raising her voice to be heard from time to time, and everypony would act like she hadn’t said a word. Nevertheless, she kept on trying. “Twilight!” she called out.

This time, Twilight brought her nose out of the checklist, and looked up at the pegasus. “Sorry, Fluttershy, didn’t hear you there. What is it?”

“Rarity and Hugo are just coming down the road from Rarity’s house. They’ll be here in a minute.”

“Eek!” Twilight squeaked, throwing her list under a table and out of sight. “Come on, everypony, places! Rarity and Hugo are coming!” She began to jog on the spot in a building panic. “Oh, I do hope they like this party!”

“I think she will, Twi,” Applejack said comfortingly. She tugged Twilight’s tail, breaking the unicorn out of her panic. “Come on, under ‘ere!”

Rainbow shot up to one of the rafters and made herself comfortable. Fluttershy quickly flew up to join her. Pinkie dived onto the stage and pushed her party cannon behind the curtains, intending to fire it once the couple came in. While Applejack and Twilight hid under one of the tables, with their tales peeking out on the other side. Once everypony was in place, Twilight used her magic and killed the lights, shrouding the room in darkness.

Five pairs of eyes stared at the door; waiting anxiously for the door to open and Ponyville’s latest talked about couple to come in. But nothing happened. Seconds turned into minutes, and they still didn’t open the door. “O–kay,” Twilight said, crawling out of her hiding place. She flicked back on the lights. “I thought you said they were coming this way, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy fluttered out of her hiding place, a perplexed expression on her face. “I… I don’t understand. I saw them coming this way and heard Hugo say to Rarity to come to the town hall with him, so what happened?”

“I’ll go and look outside,” Rainbow said, darting off towards the higher windows to look outside. A minute passed, with everypony’s eyes on Rainbow Dash. “I can’t see them!” She called back. “They might have turned back at the last minute.”

At that, the sound of ponies moving came from behind them, and the lights suddenly turned off by themselves. The five ponies screamed out in shock. “Did ya just do that, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“Of course I didn’t. Did you see my horn glowing?” Twilight replied. They went silent once more as creepily placed hoofsteps came closer. “Who’s gonna check that out?”

“I vote Fluttershy,” Rainbow said. A few murmurs from the others agreed to this.

Fluttershy squeaked in response. “Why me?”

“Because you are the fearless warrior of the group,” Pinkie replied.

“Um, the fearless warrior’s not in today. Said something about having a day off… either that, or she’s ill.”

Fluttershy felt something press against her backside to nudge her forward. “Just go and check it out,” Rainbow whispered.

Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat. “Okay,” she whispered, and stepped forward.

She didn’t make it far, however, when the lights suddenly turned back on and the smug faces of Rarity and Hugo were looking down on them from the stage. “Surprise!” the two ponies chimed, trying not to laugh.

The tense breathing from four of the five ponies ceased. They gave the two unicorns sharp, but friendly glares. “Rarity!” Twilight yelled. “Don’t you ever do that to us again! You nearly gave us all a heart attack!”

Rainbow, however, was laughing hysterically. “That was brilliant, Rarity! I didn’t know you were capable of such a thing!”

“Well, that’s what happens when you hang around with the best prankster in Ponyville a bit too much,” Rarity said as she walked off the stage. “Oh, and I’m sorry but we just couldn’t help ourselves,” Rarity added, trying to sound apologetic and failing. “When I forced Hugo to tell me about this surprise party you planned for us we just had to turn it around. And by the way, it was all his idea.” She pointed accusingly at Hugo, who held his hooves up and gave them a look of innocence.

It didn’t matter to them who did it, they were just glad everypony was here. As one, the five ponies jumped up and hugged Rarity. Hugo’s ears flattened at being left out, but he was suddenly pulled in to the group hug by Pinkie.

“I am so happy for ya, sugarcube,” Applejack commented, once the ponies pulled away and dispersed to enjoy the party that had now officially begun according to Pinkie. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”

“Neither can I sometimes,” Rarity admitted. “Every day I think I’m about to wake up and find myself in my bed alone. It takes a while but then I have Hugo beside me to help me out.”

Fluttershy smiled, and was about to speak when two grey hooves covered her eyes. “Guess who,” Hugo whispered playfully.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy guessed teasingly, grinning.

“I don’t know whether to be feel flattered or insulted.” The hooves were taken away, giving Fluttershy the ability to see again. She turned around and jumped Hugo in a hug. “How’re you doing, Fluttershy? It’s been a while,” Hugo asked, pulling away.

“Not too bad, thanks,” Fluttershy replied. “Not feeling too good at the moment, though, but I’m sure it will pass.”

Hugo’s smile faded, giving him a look of concern, and he put a hoof to Fluttershy’s forehead. “My word, you’re burning up.” He pulled his hoof away, and gave her a wary stare. “You should be in bed resting, missy.”

Fluttershy pouted. “How can I miss the engagement party of one of my best friends?”

“One of your best friends? Don’t I count?” he teased, giving her a wry grin.

Fluttershy gave him a playful tap on the shoulder. “Of course you count as a friend, Hugo. But Rarity is one of my best friends.”

“Huuugo?” Rarity suddenly called in a singsong way before Hugo could reply.

Hugo grimaced at the sound of her tone. “Sorry, Fluttershy, looks like the future misses is calling. Talk to you later.” With that, he trotted over to his fiancée, who was next to Pinkie, who was welcoming ponies who had been invited by the party pony – which was everypony in Ponyville.

Fluttershy watched the events unfold with a small smile, then sat down and rubbed her forehead upon feeling a headache coming on. “So much is changing,” she muttered to herself.

“Yep,” Applejack agreed. Fluttershy jumped when Applejack spoke; she had forgotten the earth pony was right next to her. “First you become a warrior monk, then suddenly everything happens at once. My brother gets married, Twilight becomes a junior mage, Rainbow Dash is told she could be starting in the Wonderbolts soon, I’m put in charge of Sweet Apple Acres, Pinkie could be openin’ up her own shop soon and now Rarity’s getting married. So much is changin’ indeed. But these changes are definitely for the better.”

“Oh, I agree,” Fluttershy said, nodding. “I am just so happy for all my friends that everything is going right for them.” A smile crept across her lips. “How long do you think it’ll be until a foal comes along?”

“Uh, I-I don’t want to think about that,” Applejack replied nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “Thinkin’ about that sort of thing tends to give me really bad images.”

“I can’t stop thinking about it, though. Sure most of it isn’t pretty, but the smile on Rarity’s face when she has a foal wrapped in her forelegs is one I would love to see.”

“We all want to see that, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “But don’t get too excited for it. It may not last that long.”

Fluttershy glanced at Applejack for a moment, her smile fading slightly. “Even if it doesn’t last long, let’s try and enjoy the moment together while it lasts.”

Applejack gave a sharp nod in agreement. “That sounds like a good plan, Fluttershy.” The two ponies’ ears pricked up when they heard Rainbow calling in their direction.

“Hey, AJ!” Rainbow Dash called, waving her over. “Want to try bobbing more apples than me?”

“You’re on, RD!” Applejack called back, smirking. She turned back to Fluttershy. “Sorry, sugarcube, I gotta run. Duty calls for me to kick Rainbow’s flank.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Metaphorically speaking, I hope.”

Applejack looked confused at the word. “Uh… yeah, what ya just said. See you in a bit.” With that, Applejack turned away and trotted over to join Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy stayed where she was, watching everypony be happy as the party began in earnest.

An hour later, the party was in full swing. The centre of the hall had become a dance floor, which nearly everypony was dancing on. The tables had all been cleared out of food, save a few bits here and there, and the floor was a mess with confetti and spilt food. While everypony moved about and mingled, one pony sat in the far corner of the hall, content with just watching everypony be happy.

Fluttershy felt like she didn’t need to enjoy herself by dancing and chatting to the ponies in the room, for she felt happy where she was. Sure some ponies came and talked to her, and she talked back, but she never moved to mingle with other ponies, nor did she want to. She was content to just sit and watch her friends enjoy themselves. She felt happy because her friends were happy.

Ever since she and her friends had returned from Horsca, she had relished every chance she could have with her friends. She helped them out with their own problems when she could, and helped them forge new relationships, which unfortunately never lasted, save Rarity’s. She saw it as not just as trying to be a good friend, but also as her duty as a Dragonlord – a peacekeeper and protector of life – for she knew that this wouldn’t last, in more ways than one.

At that moment, her mind suddenly drifted back to nearly two years ago, just after she had defeated Heimdallr, and her last conversation with the dragon Vidarr.

“What will you do now?” Vidarr asked suddenly.

Fluttershy thought about it for a moment. “In my room there’re two bracelets and a pair of small blades that fit over my wings. When I get home I’m going to find a sack, put them in it and store it away so nopony could find them, and I never have to use them again.”

Vidarr frowned at her, then looked to the stars. “I wish I can share your optimism, Fluttershy Firewing. But I can’t. There will be a point where you will have to take up arms once again to defend your friends and their loved ones. I don’t know when, and I don’t exactly know why, but you will take up arms once more.”

Fluttershy looked up at the dragon with a look of confusion and fear. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet, Fluttershy Firewing. But I fear something dark and terrible is coming. A hammer fall so large and powerful it will split Equestria into chaos and violence it hasn’t seen in thousands of years. When that time comes your friends will need you, more than ever. Always be vigilant, Dragonlord. Always be ready.”

Fluttershy felt a great fear suddenly pass through her. Once was bad, but a second time…? But then she remembered her vow to Vidarr the first, the vow to defend her friends, and realised at some point they would be in trouble, and she would have to stand up for them. She looked back into his eyes, and grinned. “Then, if it’s to defend my friends.” Her eyes narrowed into determination. “Bring it on.”

They had felt like strong words then, as Vidarr had said, but now she felt utterly stupid for saying them. She didn’t want whatever Vidarr predicted to happen at all. She just wanted to enjoy her life with her friends while she could, for thanks to her dragon blood, she would live beyond the mortal age of all but a few ponies.

As well as that, every now and then she would find herself worrying about what Vidarr predicted, because from the sound of it, it sounded bad – really bad. She didn’t know if, when the time came, she could protect her friends, and help save Equestria as well.

She never wanted a life of war, adventure and death. She just wanted a life of peace and tranquillity. To be with her animal friends and her pony friends. To laugh, cheer, sing and cry with them when necessary. Never do the things she had to do two years ago. But she knew she had to, because she was the only one who could. And if Vidarr was correct, she would have to again.

She suddenly started to feel dizzy and hot again, and the room began to spin like a twister. ‘Since when were there two Twilights?’ she thought as the unicorn approached her.

“Hi, Twilights,” she said, smiling as she swayed about. “I didn’t know you mastered a duplication spell. When did you do that?”

Twilight’s smile faded instantly. She put a hoof on Fluttershy’s forehead and grimaced when she saw how hot she was now. “I knew this was a bad idea,” the unicorn muttered to herself. She picked up the sickly pegasus with her magic and levitated her to the exit. “Come on, I’m taking you home. You’re in no state to be here anymore.”

“I’ll be fine, once I get some air,” she said stubbornly.

“No, not just air for you. You’re going home, Fluttershy,” Twilight persisted.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ll take her home,” Hugo offered, appearing in front of them. “I wouldn’t mind the walk, and it is a bit stuffy in here now.”

Twilight studied him for a moment, and then gently set Fluttershy down to the ground. “All right,” Twilight agreed. She pointed a hoof at him. “But no detours. Get her home and make sure she’ll be all right.”

Hugo bowed his head. “You have my word, Twilight.” He gestured with his head to Fluttershy to follow him. “Come on, you poor thing. Let’s get you some rest.”

Fluttershy didn’t want to; she didn’t want to disappoint Rarity and leave early. However, she quickly realised if Rarity was here now she would be saying the same thing. With reluctance, she willed herself forward and headed towards the exit. “Tell Rarity I’m sorry I didn’t stay long, and I hope you and the others enjoy the meteor shower tonight.”

Twilight tilted her head slightly, looking at her in surprise. “You know about that?”

Fluttershy nodded weakly. “I heard you talking about it to Rainbow and Applejack and Pinkie,” she explained.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you have dragon hearing.” She gave Fluttershy a quick hug. “We’ll speak more in the morning. I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thanks, Twilight. Speak to you all later!” She turned around and, with Hugo, left the hall. Outside, the sun was finishing its day and was descending over the horizon, while the moon began to appear on the opposite side. The air had turned cooler, almost moist, with a fresh breath of wind.

It did no good for Fluttershy, though. She was in no fit state at all and certainly didn’t feel it. Almost as soon as they rounded a corner and lost sight of the hall, Fluttershy lost her balance and nearly collapsed. Hugo quickly saw this and caught her with his side. “Blimey, Fluttershy, it almost looks like you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

“I don’t drink, Hugo,” Fluttershy said weakly. “At least, not anymore.” Her mind suddenly drifted back to the last time she tried to drink. It was last cider season, and after much encouragement from her friends, Fluttershy agreed to a drinking contest with Rainbow Dash. She recalled drinking about twenty pints of apple cider, and was still able to walk herself home that day as though she only had juice, while taking an unconscious Rainbow to her home to sleep off the cider’s affects. She learnt that day Dragonlords are immune to the affects of alcohol, which was a good thing and a bad thing when she thought about it.

“You don’t have to worry about getting me home. Just go back to your fiancée before she misses you,” she said once she got out of reminiscing.

“You can forget about that, Fluttershy. I’m gonna see you home. Besides, Rarity would kill me if I leave you halfway there in your state.” Fluttershy wanted to protest, but felt like she didn’t have the strength to. Therefore, with reluctance, and using Hugo’s body as a walking stick, she staggered home.

They were leaving Ponyville proper and heading up the road towards her cottage when Hugo spoke again. “Fluttershy, I’m glad that we’re together at the moment, because I wanted to take this chance to say thank you for bringing Rarity into my life.”

Fluttershy lifted her head slowly to look at the stallion, knowing if she went any faster the headache she was feeling would get worse. “I didn’t do anything, Hugo. I just gave her some words of encouragement. That’s all.”

Hugo looked at her doubtfully. “No, Fluttershy. You’re wrong. You did do something. You made Rarity and me very happy by helping us both out.” He gave her a quick, friendly nuzzle on the cheek. “So thank you, for bringing us together.”

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. “It was a pleasure.” She looked up and could make out her home in the distance. “Hugo?” she said before she could stop herself.

“Hmm?”

She didn’t know if she should say what was on her mind, but now that she started she figured she might as well continue. “If I may ask… why are you marrying Rarity? Forgive me if I sound rude, but when Rarity told me you had proposed to her – oh, don’t get me wrong, I was really happy for the both of you – it just seemed too–”

“Sudden?” Hugo cut her off. Fluttershy lowered her gaze and nodded. Hugo chuckled, surprising Fluttershy. “Can I be brutally honest with you, Fluttershy?” Fluttershy nodded. “I don’t think Rarity and me have a long future together. She is my first marefriend and I’m her first coltfriend. I know for a fact that first relationships are never meant to last. I would be surprised if I do stay with her for the rest of my life, but I highly doubt it.”

Fluttershy looked at him in shock. “Then, why are you marrying her?”

Hugo smiled. “Because I love her. Simple as that. I was told once to enjoy all moments of life when I can, because I know it will not last forever. I want to enjoy all the time I have with Rarity while I can, and if that means marrying her, then so be it.”

Fluttershy could see some of the logic that she stood by in what Hugo just said. The two ponies stopped just by the bridge leading to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Okay,” Fluttershy said, nodding. She suddenly pressed her hoof against his chest, glaring at him threateningly. “But if you hurt her in any way at all, then so help me I will hunt you down into the farthest reaches of this planet if I have to, and make you wish you never came to Ponyville.”

She didn’t know if she would ever carry out that threat, but seeing the fleeting terror in Hugo’s eyes made it seem plausible. Hugo chuckled, glancing around nervously. “I promise I won’t do such a thing, Fluttershy. So there will be no need to call your dragon friend and get out your weapons to hunt me down.”

Fluttershy cocked her head to the side. “You know about… that?”

Hugo nodded. “Rarity thought it might be best to tell me about it. Said it would be better for her and you if I stopped staring at your back every time you appeared.”

Fluttershy looked at her back with sad eyes. The long pink scar that Heimdallr had left at his demise might have turned into a fleshly pink, but it was still there. Twilight had tried looking for a spell to cover it, but after a long search they found nothing between them. It wasn’t easy for the first few months after her adventure; many ponies could not stop staring at her back. As she walked by, many ponies whispered quietly to each other about how she got it. However, many ponies got used to it with the passing of time, and now nopony asks about it in fear of making Fluttershy uncomfortable.

It didn’t make things easier knowing she had it, though. “But you know, what you did two years ago – saving everyone and risking your own life to defend us all – I am so glad to count you as a friend,” Hugo finished.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at him, then reared up and hugged him. “And I’m glad to count you as a friend, too.” She pulled away, and then began the long walk over the bridge and to her door – provided she didn’t fall off the bridge first. “Are you going to watch the meteor shower with Rarity tonight?” she asked, turning back to face him.

The unicorn shook his head. “Afraid not. Busy day tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep. Will you be all right getting in?”

“I’ll be fine. Now get back to your fiancée, mister,” she said, pointing back into Ponyville, even as she wobbled on the bridge.

Hugo looked unconvinced, then nodded as he realised arguing with her wasn’t going to work. He turned around to leave. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Hope you feel better in the morning.” With that, he trotted back into town.

Fluttershy watched him go with a small smile and a little wave. Once he was out of sight, she turned around and opened the door, then groggily walked in, closing the door behind her. As soon as she got in, she felt like she was about to pass out as the sickness she was feeling became worse. She felt like her brain was pounding against her skull, trying to bash its way out. It was starting to become unbearable. She put a hoof to her head in the futile hope it would ease the pain she was in. “Rosemary?” she called, hoping the rabbit was close by.

Rosemary hopped out of the little hutch in her living room and looked at her in shock. “Could you get me some headache and sleeping tablets please?” Rosemary nodded, and then dashed off to get some. Fluttershy staggered to her couch, then slowly climbed up and set herself down on her stomach, groaning as the headache made its presence even worse.

After a while, Rosemary returned with some tablets in one paw and an ice bag in the other. “Thank you, sweetheart,” she whispered as she took them from her. “Now, could you get me some cold water to drink please?” The rabbit nodded once more and shot off to get some.

Fluttershy slowly placed the ice bag on her head. She gasped as the icy feeling coursed across her head and her body, but it felt better than a spitting headache and a sickly feeling. She hoped and prayed Twilight was right and it would be gone in the morning; she didn’t want to miss her flight lesson with Rainbow after all. She let her head fall back onto the soft couch, and visibly slumped as she tried to relax. ‘It is a shame,’ she thought. ‘I would have liked to have seen this meteor shower.’ She had heard from Twilight the one coming over Equestria tonight would not be seen for another thousand years. ‘Maybe I’ll see it next time,’ she mused. ‘If I live that long.’

Before she could think further on the matter, Rosemary returned with a glass full of water. Fluttershy accepted it with both hooves, smiling gratefully at her. She first placed the headache tablet in her mouth, and then swallowed a mouth full of water from the glass. She was about to take the sleeping tablet when Rosemary stopped her, shaking her head and squeaking at her to wait for a moment. Reluctantly, Fluttershy agreed. She set the glass and tablets down on the little table and slumped back into the couch, sighing heavily as she felt the headache tablets starting to have some affect. As she waited, her nocturnal animal friends came to her and offered their assistance to make her better. Fluttershy smiled at them all and said, “It’s okay, little friends. I’ll be fine later.”

Half an hour later, she felt it was time to take a sleeping tablet. She raised herself up, picked up the tablets and the glass, picked one tablet out of its packet and put it in her mouth, then took her glass of water and drunk the entire glass in one gulp, swallowing the tablet as well. She slumped even further into her couch and, with a soft fluffy pillow against her head, closed her eyes, hoping the tablet would work and she would be out for a while.

A few minutes later, her mind blanked out the world and she was away in her dreams.

The sun didn’t seem to care that Fluttershy’s eyes were closed, for its rays seemed to shine bright through the windows and into and through her eyelids. She groaned a little and absently rolled right, forgetting for a second that she should have rolled left. By the time her mind told her of her mistake it was too late. With a startled squeak she fell off her couch and landed on her back, her eyes now wide open and feeling wide awake, and a little silly.

As Fluttershy fought her way out of the entanglement of a blanket, pillow and a really cold ice bag, her mind tried to tell her something was missing. Once she broke free of the blanket’s grasp, she finally realised something had happened. She was moving faster than she did yesterday, her mind was clearer and didn’t feel as heavy. She didn’t feel as tired, and when she put a hoof to her head, she felt she was at a proper temperature than she did yesterday. Fluttershy’s lips grew into a grin when she realised it. Something wasn’t wrong, something was right.

‘I’m better again!’ she squeaked in thought, sighing happily. Rosemary came out of her hutch and glared at the mare for waking her up with the sudden commotion. Her glare subsided when she saw her carer was looking better again. Fluttershy ran up to her and hugged her tight. “Oh, thank you for looking after me when I was ill, Rosemary,” she said. “How about I cook you some carrot soup as a treat?”

The rabbit nodded eagerly, thumping one of her hind legs on the ground rapidly. Fluttershy nuzzled her quickly, and then pranced into the kitchen to make the soup. As she worked, she looked into her back garden to see her animal friends playing with each other, or standing about and grazing. Fluttershy smiled as she danced about the kitchen, her mood uplifted drastically by the fact that she was better. ‘The last few days have been awful,’ she thought. ‘At least the animals were able to fend for themselves while I was out.’ She thought it was strange that she was better all of a sudden, but she didn’t care – she was glad that she was up and about once more.

After a while, the soup was ready. As she examined it and tasted it, she could see she made an excessive amount for one little rabbit, so decided to help herself to a bowl. She poured the soups in the bowls, and then went into the living room and gave one bowl to Rosemary. “I hope you enjoy. Oh, and be careful, it’s quite hot.” With Rosemary taken care of, she went to her couch, set herself down, and began taking little licks of the soup with her tongue. As she enjoyed her soup, she began to think of what she was going to do today.

She couldn’t help but be excited for her flight lesson with Rainbow Dash, which was the first thing they did every morning when they scheduled these lessons, mostly because fewer ponies were in the sky at that time. Afterwards, she would go into town and see all her friends, have an hour or so with each, then go home and tend to her animal friends. ‘Today is going to be a great day,’ she thought excitedly.

Once the last bit of soup was gone from her bowl, she hopped off the couch and took it back into her kitchen to clean up and dry. She hummed a little tune as she washed up, which a few birds heard and started to join in, bringing the sweet little cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville alive with the sound of birdsongs. She soon finished with the washing up and once the last of the bowls had been put away, she quickly began to tend to her animals.

An hour later, she finished off by feeding her chickens. She took hold of the bucket full of chicken feed and flung the contents inside around the pen; she wanted to get away and get to her flight lesson with Rainbow Dash that she just couldn’t take every seed out like she usually did. “There you go, enjoy, bye!” she said quickly. She raced back inside, picked up her saddlebags, gave a quick kiss on the forehead and explanation to Rosemary, and flew out the door and cantered towards the park.

The day was another gorgeous one. A few clouds were scattered here and there, but they were there to give ponies appropriate shade from the otherwise scorching day. Yet the air was sweet with the aroma of summer, making Fluttershy breathe in deeply then let it out again. ‘That feels even better,’ she thought cheerfully. As she walked, she noticed an interesting lack of ponies walking around, which was strange. Most of the ponies that lived closest to her loved a stroll on a Sunday morning, yet there wasn’t even one of them in sight. She shrugged it off as just one of those quiet days, and cantered on.

Fluttershy’s mood brightened further when she entered the park. Usually it was busy on a Sunday with ponies walking their pets, or having a picnic with loved ones. However, this time it was empty, with not a soul in sight. Fluttershy couldn’t believe her luck. She hated coming through the park on days like this since it was summer, making it a popular place to hang about, and making Fluttershy fidgety and uncomfortable whenever she had to walk through here. ‘This day is going to be one of the best days ever,’ she thought with an excitable giggle. She slowed herself down into a trot, her eyes moving from tree branch to tree branch as she watched birds flutter around their nests to feed their little ones.

She looked ahead again, and stopped when she saw a bright green unicorn with a cutie mark of a lyre about to run into her. The unicorn stopped when she noticed Fluttershy was standing in front of her. “Heya, Fluttershy,” the unicorn said, trying to force a smile; at least, that’s what it looked like to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy smiled amiably. “Good morning, Lyra,” she greeted the unicorn. She quickly glanced over the unicorn’s shoulder to see her saddlebags crammed with stuff belonging to her. “Um… forgive me if I seem intrusive, but, um, are you going somewhere?”

Lyra nodded her head solemnly. “I’m leaving Ponyville, Fluttershy. And I won’t be coming back.”

For a second Fluttershy thought she was hearing things, but the look on Lyra’s face told her she had heard correctly. She could feel her smile dissipate instantly. “You’re… leaving?” she repeated. Lyra nodded, trying hard to hold back tears. “B-but why?”

“Because there’s nothing here for me anymore,” the unicorn said sullenly. “I’m going to take my chances in Canterlot, or even head north to the Crystal Empire. I hear they would like some talented musicians.”

“But what about Bon Bon?” Fluttershy queried, almost at a loss. “Surely she must be devastated about this.”

Lyra’s ears flattened. “She doesn’t care less what I do. In fact, I think she was glad to see the back of me.”

Fluttershy felt her heart drop. ‘Those two were the best of friends!’ she thought. ‘How can they suddenly break apart like this?’

She was about to ask why but Lyra continued. “This morning, after I had woken up, Bon Bon seemed to be in a really foul mood. I asked why and…” Lyra paused to wince as she remembered. “Let’s just say one word led to another and some harsh truths came out, and now here I am,” she said, gesturing with a foreleg at herself.

Fluttershy felt gutted for Lyra. Those two had been friends since she first came to Ponyville, nigh inseparable they were. Now it was over, just like that. Fluttershy’s ears flattened and she lowered her head. “I’m so sorry, Lyra,” she said quietly.

Lyra gave her a comforting smile and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t be sad for me, Fluttershy. I’ve got my health, my money, and my lyre with me. As long as I have those things then I should be all right.”

Fluttershy looked up and smiled bravely. “I’m really going to miss you, Lyra. The park is going to be a different place without you.” She reared up and quickly hugged the unicorn. “I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do.”

Lyra pulled away, smiled at her, then walked past her and into Ponyville without a further word. Fluttershy watched her go, wanting to ask her to stay and try and make things right between them. But she quickly saw any argument to stay would be futile. Lyra had made up her mind, and she never changed her plans once she made up her mind.

“Måtte Vidarr sine vinger beskytte deg fra denne verden av ondskap (May Vidarr’s wings shield you from the evils of this world),” Fluttershy whispered a prayer in Dragonian, but if Lyra heard it, she didn’t acknowledge it. Fluttershy watched her head out of sight, and then with a sad sigh escaping her lips she walked on, her head low, her ears flat and her good mood soured by this news.

Her cheerful smile returned when she saw she was by the spot her and Rainbow meet for their flight lessons; a large field surrounded by hedgerow. Upon seeing it, the break-up between Lyra and Bon Bon was forgotten. She trotted onto the field, now excited once more, then sat down in the middle and looked to the sky, hoping her pegasus friend would soon appear. ‘She shouldn’t be long,’ she told herself. ‘Any minute or so I would imagine.’

About half an hour later, and Fluttershy was still there, tapping her hoof to a quick rhythm in increasing impatience. ‘Where is she? Has she forgotten?’ she thought. Her heart leapt for joy when she saw a pegasus coming her way, but it slowed down when she saw it was one of the weather ponies coming to take a stray cloud away. “Rainbow never forgets these things, and she is never usually late,” she said to herself. “Unless…” A fear suddenly came across her. “Unless something happened to her!” She spread her wings and thrust herself into the air into the direction of Rainbow Dash’s house.

A few minutes later, after flying at quite a speed, she found herself outside her friend’s home. She began to frantically knock on the door. “Rainbow Dash, are you in? Are you all right?” she called. She received no response for her troubles. Her nerves starting to get to her, she looked in through the window to see that it was empty. Her bed was unmade as it usually was, and her kitchen was a mess from when she made – or at least attempted to make – her breakfast. “She probably got called to do some emergency weather duty or something,” she reasoned to herself. Nevertheless, it left her with most of the morning open. She sighed, visibly deflating as she did so. “Now what can I do?”

Her face lit up when she had an idea. “I’ll go see Rarity and Hugo!” With that in mind, she flew away from Rainbow’s house and veered towards Ponyville.

As she flew, her highly good hearing couldn’t help but pick up the sound of ponies arguing at each other. Fluttershy never liked arguing; she preferred to think rationally and logically about problems so she could solve them quicker. Shouting was something that wouldn’t get anypony anywhere, it would just lead to further anger and hatred, something Vidarr warned her about two years ago. She ignored the shouting as best she could and flew on, picking up speed a little just to be sure.

She smiled when she saw the Carousel Boutique coming up below her. She fluttered gently to the ground, landing at a trot, and walked up to the door. She lifted a hoof up to knock, but before she could a voice behind her said, “They’re not in.”

She turned around to see an old earth pony with a bubble pipe as a cutie mark staring at her. Fluttershy walked up to the old pony, her face giving away her confusion. “Um, excuse me, but what do you mean, sir?”

“I mean that they both have gone out. I don’t think the stallion is coming back, though. He left first with bags full of possessions on his back and trailing behind him. Heading towards the train station, I believe. I don’t know if my glasses were playing up, but he looked to be on the verge of tears,” the old pony explained.

Fluttershy felt her hooves clamp over her mouth in complete and utter shock. If Hugo had taken all his stuff and headed for the station then that meant… ‘The marriage is cancelled,’ she thought in disbelief. “That can’t be true. It just can’t!” Fluttershy cried, her eyes threatening to spill tears.

The old stallion nodded his head sadly. “Afraid so, miss.”

Fluttershy took a step back from him, shaking her head in disbelief. What the hay happened during the night that made them wish to never see each other again? She looked to the ground between her and the old pony, her heart racing in sorrow for her unicorn friend. “Rarity must be devastated,” she said aloud.

A chuckle escaped from the old pony. “Devastated? Miss Rarity looked extremely delighted when she left this morning. She was just about prancing when she left her home this morning.”

Fluttershy looked up at the old pony, her look of horror giving way to a scowl. “Rarity would never be like that!” she yelled. She didn’t want to yell, but she couldn’t help it. How can this pony, who barely knew Rarity like Fluttershy did, ever say such a thing? “She might have looked like it so it didn’t seem like nothing was wrong, but deep down she must be hurting.” She backed away from the pony once more, looking left and right. “I need to find her.” Without another word she galloped into town, desperate to find her friend.

She couldn’t get her head around the fact that the engagement was over, and wanted to know how it could have happened. The day before they were talking and laughing joyfully, and getting ready to spend the rest of their lives together. Now, that future was destroyed, and not only devastated Rarity and Hugo, but Fluttershy as well. She had worked tirelessly to make Rarity happy and get the stallion of her dreams, but that dream had been crushed for reasons unknown to the pegasus.

She wanted to know why it suddenly went wrong, but how could she get the question out of her friend, she didn’t know. ‘Don’t be silly, Fluttershy,’ Fluttershy chided herself. ‘You shouldn’t force the question out of her. She’ll tell you when she’s ready.’ That was a matter for a different time. Now, Rarity needed a shoulder to cry on, and Fluttershy wanted to be there for her.

But where could she be?

It was near the marketplace where she suddenly stopped with a skid. “Of course!” she exclaimed. “The library!” Twilight was one of the kindest ponies she knew, and perfect for a good shoulder to cry on and being a good listener. With the library set as her destination, she spun around and galloped in the direction of the great oak tree the library was built in. As she ran, she didn’t fail to notice the lack of ponies talking to each other like they usually did, or some heavy arguments between ponies who she knew were really close friends. ‘What is going on with everypony?’ she mused. She cleared her head about it. ‘Probably one of those days were everypony is a meanie to each other.’

After five minutes or so of galloping she was standing at the front door of the library. She pricked her ears up to see if she could hear the wails of her friend from inside, and was surprised when she couldn’t. ‘Rarity must be a quieter crier than I thought she was,’ she thought. She lifted her hoof up and gave a few gentle taps of the door. After a moment, much to her surprise, Spike opened the door. “Oh, hey Fluttershy,” he greeted her.

“Hi, Spike.” She glanced over the little dragon to see if Twilight was in, and possibly Rarity close by.

“You’re looking for Twilight, aren’t you?” Spike enquired, lifting an eyebrow.

Fluttershy squeaked and nodded. “And Rarity too, if she’s in.”

“Sorry, but they’re not. They met here then went off…” Sudden confusion dawned across his face. “Hold on, shouldn’t you be at this meeting Twilight talked about?”

Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to look confused. “Meeting? What meeting?”

“This meeting that Twilight said you were all gonna be doing. Something about discussing something or other. I didn’t get most of it, but it sounded pretty important.”

Fluttershy was puzzled. None of them had told her of this meeting that was taken place. ‘Unless they tried to, but because I was so hasty getting out they came around and didn’t know where I was,’ she thought to herself. “Do you know where this meeting’s taking place?” she asked Spike.

“Yeah,” Spike answered, nodding, “I think she went to Sweet Apple Acres. Said Applejack said they could use her barn for it.” He gestured with his head in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. “You best get there if you want to hear it all.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she realised she should be there. “Oh my goodness! Of courses I should be there, but I’m not there! Oh, I wish I could stay and chat, Spike, but I got to go. I’ll speak to you later, bye!” With that, Fluttershy spun around and galloped in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

As she ran off, she could hear Spike mutter, “Now back to cooking that jewel cake.”

After fifteen minutes of galloping, Fluttershy arrived at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. Once she arrived outside the first orchard she stopped for a moment and sat on her rump to rest and take a breather. “I’m not as quick as I once was,” she said to herself. As soon as she felt ready again, she got up and broke into a trot towards the barn, which she could see its steeple in the distance, just above the tree line.

As she got closer she wondered why her friends were having a meeting? Was it about Hugo and the all of a sudden split up between him and Rarity? Alternatively, had the Elements of Harmony been suddenly called into action once again? Had Discord broken his promise and was now spreading chaos across Equestria, or was it something more? Either way, she was about to find out.

Fluttershy soon found herself in the yard with the barn directly in front of her, and the sound of easily recognisable ponies talking to each other. She smiled when she heard them discussing something or other, and brought herself into a gallop so she could open the doors and give Rarity a comforting hug.

“I’ll tell you all right now, I was so glad to see the back of him!” Rarity declared, making Fluttershy skid to a halt. Her eyes widened and her jaw slackened. Did she just hear right? She put her hooves in her ears to see if they weren’t blocked, and apart from a few dirty bits, found them to be clean.

“I don’t know what ya saw in ’im, Rarity,” Applejack said, “but I’m glad ya came to your senses in the end.”

“Oh, thank you, my dear,” Rarity replied. A small sigh followed. “I should never have listened to her. Everything she usually says ruins my life in someway.”

Fluttershy thought she could feel her heart stop beating, only for it to start going faster. “What?” she whispered aloud. She suddenly realised that she was the one who told Rarity to try it out with Hugo, and her eyes widened at the realisation. “No…”

“I know,” Rainbow came in. “Although I’m surprised you could hear her most of the time. She’s usually so darn quiet you get a better conversation from a mouse than her, and a mouse doesn’t even speak.” A fit of giggles followed, which made Fluttershy’s heartbeat go only faster. ‘Please, someone, please tell me this is just a prank.’

“Well you’re all lucky you don’t have to put up with her most of the time like I do,” Rarity complained. “It’s usually the same, boring, conversation with her at the spa, and now it’s only worse since she has that stupid fire thing to lie on. It really smokes up the place, and I come out of there more stressed than relaxed these days.” Fluttershy felt her heart suddenly splinter.

“Hey, well you don’t have to teach her to fly. But I do. Me? Teach a pegasus, to fly? Do you know how lame that sounds?” Rainbow retorted.

“Not as lame as the pony you have to teach, I imagine,” Applejack said coldly.

Fluttershy felt her heart stop beating all together, and was now starting to crack apart. “No…” she whispered, with tears in her eyes and starting to drip down her face. “Please tell me this isn’t so…”

“She is way too shy as well,” Pinkie suddenly said. “I mean, in four years of, unfortunately, knowing her, I never hosted a single birthday party for her! Not a single one!”

“And when I try to introduce her to new ponies, she just squeaks, faints, or runs away,” Rarity went on, every word feeling like a hammer to Fluttershy’s glass heart. “I don’t know why I even bother.”

“Neither do I,” Twilight said. “You should have given up on her ages ago. We all should have. I don’t know how or why I took it for so long, but I don’t think I can put up with her voice anymore, or any of her whiny self for that matter.” A few, “Mmm hmm,” followed in agreement. “So I think we all can agree then. We’ll have nothing more to do with Fluttershy.”

“Agreed!” came the reply from the other four ponies.

At that moment, Fluttershy felt her heart suddenly get ripped up in five pieces, and then each piece was shattered before her. She put a hoof to her chest to assure herself her heart was still beating, which it was. A part of her wished it wasn’t, though.

She was glued to the spot, her eyes, even though she was half blinded by tears, were fixed on the door as her mind tried to tell her what just happened. She wanted to bite herself to see if she was dreaming, that she was lying ill on her couch and hadn’t woken up yet. But something in her mind told her this wasn’t a dream. This was as real as it gets, and she hated it. She heaved a few sobs back as the barn door opened and the five ponies that had just spoken about her vehemently strode towards her. They stopped when they saw Fluttershy standing there, and glared at her with contempt.

“H-how can you do this to me?” Fluttershy screamed at them, tears pouring down her face. “I thought you loved me, as I loved you!”

Twilight stepped forward, looking at her with a hatred – and something else that Fluttershy couldn’t decipher, or care to notice – she hadn’t seen since facing Heimdallr for the first time. “Oh, Fluttershy,” Twilight said gently, “as if we could ever love somepony like you.”

That was too much for the heartbroken pegasus. Unable to stand the sight of them anymore, she spun around and galloped as fast as she could out of Sweet Apple Acres and back into town, wailing in sorrow.

She didn’t stop when some ponies asked her what was wrong, nor did she want to; she just wanted to get away from everything. She felt herself run into one pony and fall to the ground, but quickly got up and galloped off again, not once looking back because she dared not. She was half blind with tears, but that didn’t stop her from getting out of Ponyville.

She looked up through teary eyes to see her home was in sight, and galloped even faster just to get in. She didn’t want to look back in case her (former) friends were following her, laughing mockingly at her, so she didn’t; her mind was set on getting herself home.

She galloped over the little bridge, barged the door open, and once she was inside slammed it shut behind her. Once she realised she was in the safety of her home, she turned around and locked the door so nopony could follow her inside. Once the lock was in place, she pressed her head against the door and cried inconsolably, her body shaking with sorrow. Her friends – the only friends she ever had, the ones she could talk to about problems, the ones she once trusted and loved like they were family, had shredded that lovable guise and showed their true colours today – they hated her, and sounded like they always have. “Why!” she wailed, thumping the door while her body sank to the ground, her tears never once losing their momentum.

Rosemary came out of her hutch and, upon seeing her carer in such a state, raced over and hugged her foreleg. Fluttershy looked down at Rosemary with solemn eyes, as tears fell like rain down her face. The small rabbit jumped up onto her back and wrapped her little arms around her carer’s neck, nuzzling her gently. Fluttershy sobbed some more, but returned the nuzzle.

A sudden collection of noises from the cottage bolted her head upright to see what it was. From all around the house, every animal that was in her care or were one of her dearest friends began inching their way towards her, their eyes sullen as they wanted to know what was wrong. Fluttershy looked at them all with wide, yet devastated eyes. She had friends still, but those ponies she had known for four years were supposed to be more than just friends – they were meant to be family.

“Oh, Rosemary,” she sobbed, closing her eyes. “My friends… they were supposed to be my friends… they… they broke my heart…” Her voice faded away as she spilled the pieces of her heart out once more, while all her animal friends could do was crowd around her and listen to her cry uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, a roaring wind like a hurricane came up through Equestria from the south. It swept across the land quickly, and whistled as it flew by in a flash. Although most ponies who felt it couldn’t hear it, those with keener hearing could make out the sound of maniacal laughter echoing amongst the wind.

Chapter 6 (part 1)

Voices flowing through her ears like the morning song of birds jolted Fluttershy into opening her eyes. She blinked a few times until her vision cleared and could make out the hall she and her companions were in. Her legs didn’t feel as achy as they were whilst walking through the desert, and she felt well refreshed and ready for another day’s journey. She let out a loud, long yawn as she brought her head up, and quickly spotted Luna, Cadence and Spike sitting together beside a wall, and speaking in loud whispers.

Her three companions whipped their heads around upon hearing Fluttershy’s yawn, and collectively smiled when they saw the pegasus getting up. “Good evening, Fluttershy,” Luna greeted her with a small bow of her head. Spike waved joyfully at her, while Cadence only smiled.

Fluttershy stood up straight, and moved her mane out of the way of her face while quickly straightening some of it down upon feeling some of it was out of place. “Good evening, everyone,” she greeted as she trotted over to sit alongside them. She turned her head to look through one of the broken windows, and confirmed to herself that it was definitely night time. A few clouds obscured many of the stars, but some shone through, lighting up the broken hall.

At the back end of the hall was what were the remains of a large hearth, blackened and crumbling with age. Left of it was what was left of a door, and behind it was the stairs leading to the top of the tower the four of them saw getting here. A table that had once stood at the hall’s centre, and stretched right down from one end to the next was now a broken and rotten corpse of one, with the benches in the same state. The black metallic door at the front end of the hall was the only thing that was largely intact about the interior of this place.

“How do you all feel?” Fluttershy asked, looking from pony to dragon as she sat down in their little circle.

“A bit tired,” Spike answered first, “but otherwise fine.”

“You were on my back most of the way, Spike, so how could you possibly be tired?” Cadence reminded him, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, well, do you know how tiring it is to be holding on for dear life when you’re going at a few hundred miles per hour?” Spike retorted.

“I do, actually,” Cadence replied smugly, leaving Spike silent. Cadence turned back to address Fluttershy. “I’m a bit tired myself, but it’s better than being dead, I suppose. I do feel quite stupid for forgetting my wings.”

“Don’t feel stupid, Cadence,” Fluttershy said comfortingly. “I had forgotten them myself at that moment. In fact, there was one time I fell from the sky with my old friends, and was rescued by Rainbow Dash, and another pegasus.” She briefly shuddered at the memory. “It is quite easy to forget them sometimes.”

Luna nodded in agreement, chuckling. “Indeed. I think it is safe to say all of us forgot them at that point, but if it wasn’t for your quick thinking, Fluttershy, we would have all been buried in that sandstorm. So thank you.”

Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn pink at the praise, and covered her face with her mane as she looked away bashfully. “I-it was nothing, really,” she squeaked eventually. “I just feel silly for not thinking about it earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Cadence said softly, smiling. “We all make mistakes and do silly things, even Princesses do.” Her body suddenly shook as a nightly chill crept through the windows and around the inhabitants of the derelict castle. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s time to get some firewood.” She turned to face Spike, who had just sat down and got himself comfortable once again. “Spike? Could I borrow you for a moment to help me find some firewood?”

Spike’s lower jaw dropped in shock, which quickly turned into a pout. “Why me?” he moaned.

“Because you’re a dragon,” Cadence answered matter-of-factly. “And the best person to ask about firewood is probably a dragon. So I need your help.” She added gently with a big smile and wide eyes, “Please?”

Spike tried to look away or ignore the puppy dog look Cadence was giving him, but it was useless; the cuteness was too strong. “Fine,” he sighed, getting up from his sitting position. “But there better be some nice, juicy crystals for me to have when this is over.”

Cadence got up and stretched out her legs. “Of course there will be. I’m a mare of my word, Spike; you will get the crystals you want when I can give them to you.” Spike grinned eagerly, then jumped onto Cadence’s back as she turned around towards the door.

Fluttershy began to stand. “I’ll help as well,” she offered. However, before she could stand upright, her rump and tail was surrounded by a dark blue magic that set her back down on her rear.

“No, no,” Luna said, “I want you to stay here so I can trade words with you.”

Fluttershy scrunched her face up in confusion. “But, I don’t have any words that I want to trade with you. In fact, I don’t know if that’s even possible.”

“She just wants to talk to you, Fluttershy,” Cadence explained. “That’s all it means.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy oozed, nodding in understanding. “Okay, I’ll talk to you. I do like talking, especially to my friends. I… I can count you as a friend, can I?”

“Of course,” Luna replied, smiling warmly. “Just because we’re running for our lives does not mean we cannot be friends. I would go as far as to say it enhances that friendship.”

Fluttershy smiled with relief. “That’s good. So, um, is what you want to talk to me about something important?”

Luna nodded, then turned her head around to address Cadence. “Just be careful, and don’t go beyond the woods surrounding this castle,” she warned them. “We don’t know what’s beyond this place.”

Cadence nodded curtly at Luna, then, with Spike on her back, walked through the door and out into the cold night, leaving the door slightly open behind them. Luna and Fluttershy listened to the sound of hooves clopping against the ground, which gradually faded into nothingness.

“Oh, I hope they’ll be okay,” Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves around each other in worry.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, so long as they stay in the woods and do not linger.” Luna looked back at Fluttershy with a more serious expression. “Now, Fluttershy, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me truthfully.”

Fluttershy felt nervous to be in Luna’s presence all of a sudden. She shifted her rump about until she felt comfortable in sitting. “Um, okay… I think. What did you want to ask?”

“I was wondering how you were going to lead us to Horsca?” Luna asked quickly.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise, and fright. “Ho-how did you know about that?”

“Vidarr told me while you were pacing in a circle yesterday evening,” Luna explained. “He brought me out of the group for a moment, and told me that Horsca is where we should be going. He told me that he wanted you to lead us all to Horsca, and asked me to give you support, and assist you when necessary.”

Fluttershy stared at Luna with her mouth agape, incredulous to what she had just heard. “So that’s why you suddenly changed your mind about heading south,” she realised.

Luna nodded, her ears falling flat across her head out of guilt. “I apologise for deceiving you like I did, but Vidarr said it was important that you figured it out for yourself.”

“But I didn’t figure it out for myself, though,” Fluttershy countered. “Although you were very discreet about it, you still gave me the push in the right direction by telling me that we should discontinue heading south.” She visibly slumped and let out a sigh. “How is that being a good leader? How can I be a leader when everypony helps me rather than letting me do things on my own?”

“Now let me tell you something that I learnt from over a thousand years of living: a leader is only a good leader when he or she listens to the right advice from those he or she protects, and acts on that advice.” Fluttershy lifted her head up with a look of disbelief, yet she listened intently. “Although a leader makes the final decisions he or she thinks are the best for everypony, it is always good to listen to others and get a second opinion, for a decision made alone by the one in charge may not always be the right one to make.”

Luna’s ears suddenly fell flat once again, and her eyes looked sad. “I learnt that from personal experience, Fluttershy. I once made a decision that cost some good lives once, while ignoring those around me who said it wasn’t for the best. So never ignore advice given to you, Dragonlord. For if you do, only ruin will follow.”

Fluttershy’s yellow coat had turned a bit brighter than usual, and her eyes were wide with terror. “I-I-I’ll keep that in mind, Luna. Thanks.” Although it didn’t make her feel any better at all. Listening to one pony saying one thing seemed fine, but have a few more adding their voices into the issue, then it became a problem – one she thought she wouldn’t be able to handle.

“But you have yet to answer my question, Fluttershy. How do you plan to get us north and into Horsca?” Luna asked persistently.

Fluttershy already knew the answer. “I don’t know, Luna,” she responded, lowering her head to shy away from Luna’s gaze. “I would like to say by luck alone, but that would be the wrong answer.”

“Actually, there isn’t a right answer, or a wrong one. At least, not yet,” Luna said. “The only way for such an answer to be right or wrong are the events that will cross our path on the coming journey.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I just hope nothing bad will happen, that’s all. I don’t want any of you to get hurt, nor do I want other ponies to be hurt because of me or any of us.” She went silent for a moment as she thought intensely about it. “Maybe if we avoid all of the main roads, and major towns and cities close to us, then we may be okay.”

Luna smiled at her. “Spoken like a true tactician,” she said. Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn pink once more at the praise. “I completely agree with you, Dragonlord,” Luna continued. “So long as we are able to travel cross country as we are doing now, then we might get through it all unseen, and without much trouble.” Her smile suddenly wavered. “But Celestia is a cunning tactician, and she will employ anything in her arsenal if it means to capture us again.”

Fluttershy suddenly went pale as an unwanted thought came into her mind. “Or maybe even to… k-k-kill us?” she suggested.

Luna sighed. “I was going to leave that unspoken, but yes, she might. I’m surprised you thought that by yourself, to be honest. I thought you believed something happened to Celestia to make her act this way?”

“I know what I said,” Fluttershy replied, rubbing her left foreleg. “And yes, maybe something is controlling Celestia to make her wish to capture us or even kill us. But sometimes… sometimes I have these fleeting moments of doubt that say Celestia and my friends are fine, and they really do hate me or want to kill me.”

Luna hummed as she pondered. “It is only natural that you think like that. Like us, your faith in your friends and loved ones has been put into doubt. It is something we are all going through, dear Fluttershy, so do not think yourself alone in that. But do not ignore them, for they must be fought and cleared from our minds if we want to uncover the truth of what is exactly going on here.”

Fluttershy’s ears suddenly pricked upright. “You mean you’ll help me?” she asked, a hopeful smile crawling across her face.

Luna’s eyes cast themselves to the ground between them. “I have been thinking about what you said to me while we were in the desert. Although I may not entirely believe you about my sister no longer liking me, I fear something must have happened to make her think that we are traitors, and it has affected Equestria as well. If you will accept my help, then I will aid you in your quest to uncover the truth.”

Fluttershy couldn’t decide on whether to just say thank you, or tackle her in a bear hug. Eventually, she decided on the former. “I will gladly take your help. Thank you, Luna,” she said with a friendly smile. With that, the two fell into a companionable silence as they waited for Cadence and Spike to return.

As they waited, Fluttershy began to grow increasingly restless with every passing second. She started to feel itchy all over, making it difficult for her to sit still. She prostrated herself onto the ground, and rolled onto her back and began swaying her back from side to side as she tried to rid herself of an agitated itch, squeaking and making other sounds, much to Luna’s obviously building annoyance.

Just as she felt that one go, another itch on her left shoulder appeared. She rolled over once again, sat upright, and began scratching the itch like a dog, sighing pleasurably at how good it felt. She set her leg down, and sat still with a completely bored expression on her face. She didn’t know what to do, nor did she know what to say to Luna; she barely knew her after all. ‘We could try and get to know each other better in Horsca, when we’re safe,’ Fluttershy decided.

She began to shift her back end about as she tried to get comfortable, with a sound like sandpaper against metal bouncing around the walls. After a minute or so of this, Luna looked as if she had enough. “Have you quite finished, Fluttershy?” she asked, her tone implying her annoyance.

Fluttershy stopped fidgeting instantly, and blushed sheepishly at Luna. “Sorry, Luna. But I’m just so bored sitting here. Do you know anything we can do to pass the time until Cadence and Spike comes back? Any games? I would suggest ‘I spy’, but there’s not much here to play that with.”

“Well, we could get out of here and have a look around,” Luna suggested, gesturing with her head to the rest of the castle outside the hall. “Cadence and Spike might be a while, and even if they get back and we’re not here, they’d know we won’t be far away.”

Although Fluttershy felt the idea of exploring an old, dilapidated and creepy castle as very scary, it was still better then just sitting around and doing nothing. “I would love to,” she said, willing herself to stand upright once again.

Luna smiled, glad that Fluttershy was on board, then got up from the floor and stretched her forelegs. “Then let us explore like the explorer Daring Day,” she declared. With that, she turned around and trotted towards the open and rotting door.

“Um, Daring Do is the name of the explorer, Luna. Not Daring Day, who I recall was the name of Daring’s son in the final book,” Fluttershy corrected her, although it came out as a mumble that was only heard by herself. She quickly sprinted after Luna, who was by the door waiting for her.

The two walked through the door, and looked around at what they presumed to be the old courtyard. The ground was paved in stone and, much like the rest of the castle, was broken up with weeds and other plants growing out of the stonework. Although the night was dark, and the wind was strong, creating a chill that crawled over the ponies, the two could just make out the rest of the castle. In front of them was what was left of the gatehouse, which once stood proud and foreboding, but was now a ruin that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. While around the old, broken walls lay small buildings, ruined like the rest of this place.

“Which way should we go?” Luna asked, looking left then right. “I wouldn’t mind looking left and seeing what’s on this side.”

“Well I would like to look right,” Fluttershy replied. “How about we split up and go both ways?” Luna nodded in agreement, and then turned to head right. “Just be careful, Luna.”

Luna looked back at her, grinning assuredly. “I can take care of myself, Fluttershy. Just look out for yourself.” With that, she turned around and trotted around the corner of the hall, and out of sight.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Fluttershy muttered to herself. She looked away from where Luna went and trotted right of the main hall, which, with the tower added, looked tall and intimidating to the little pegasus. She could see a lot of weeds and other plants weaved into the stonework, making her fear that a slight push to one of the stones would make it all collapse on top of them in an instant. She shuddered at the thought, and then looked away at the other buildings.

In the right corner from the gatehouse stood what was left of a long, rectangular building, with what appeared to be the remains of barrels and crates stacked against and on top of each other. ‘Must have been a storehouse,’ Fluttershy reckoned. She briefly wondered if there was any food stored in there, but quickly thought against it. If there was, it was probably old and mouldy, and mostly eaten by rats or other predators that might call this place their home.

Next to the storehouse, a shorter, but longer building stood out, in that it was one of the few buildings that was largely intact; its roof was mostly in one piece, albeit a single hole, and the inside was left untouched, as though whoever lived here had gone out for a stroll and never came back. Fluttershy’s curiosity got the better of her, so she moved to stand in the open doorway to see what was inside.

The building appeared to have been a forge. On its side near the entrance was an anvil lying on its side, much to Fluttershy’s surprise; those things were heavy, and hurt when one falls on one’s head – that’s what Twilight told her, anyway. In the corner was a large furnace, with a chimney stretching from its centre and out of the roof. The furnace, again like the rest of the castle, had fallen into disrepair. Across the wall was what was left of a rack for storing weapons, but unfortunately there was none to take.

As her eyes moved across the forge, her mind tried to paint an image of what life might have been like here. She could imagine two or three ponies working tirelessly as they forged new weapons, or repaired old ones; the heat coming from the furnace, the sound of metal being bashed together, and a hissing sound as new steel was placed into water to cool down. With a small smile, she turned around and continued down the path, passing a few more storehouses.

Fluttershy moved swiftly past a few more buildings, too derelict and ruined to be recognised or described, until she came to a halt and turned back with a pondering look when she thought of something. ‘If ponies lived here, then where did they stay?’

She was going to ponder further into her own question, when a sudden sound from behind her made her squeak loudly in fright and spin around on the spot to face whoever caused it. She looked around, but saw nopony. She pinned her ears upright, allowing her to just make out the sound of hooves clopping against the stone ground away from her. Her right ear twitched. Although Luna had hooves, her hoofsteps were heavy and slow in pace, whereas the ones she had heard were light and quick, more for a pony of her stature.

Luna suddenly came galloping up from behind her. “I heard you squeak in fright,” she said. She looked down at the pegasus, who had not moved a muscle as her mind tried to tell her what she just heard. “What is it?” Luna asked, suddenly nervous by Fluttershy’s edginess.

Slowly, Fluttershy lifted up her left leg, and Firewing shot out of its bracelet, singing its metallic song. Unlike Drage Bane, which was a dark grey metal, Firewing was made of steel that was bright as the moon now above them, and straight and smooth with a sharp point at the end. “We’re not alone,” Fluttershy whispered, and proceeded to walk cautiously towards the source of the noise.

“Are you certain it wasn’t Cadence, or Spike?” Luna asked, her head low and following Fluttershy submissively.

“I heard hooves, Luna, so it wouldn’t be Spike. And anyway, why would Cadence or Spike run away from us?” Fluttershy reasoned to her. She pointed to the other side of the castle with Firewing. “Whatever it was, it went this way.” She lowered herself into a crouch, and then crept slowly forward, with Firewing close to her chest, and Luna right beside her.

The two moved off the old stone pavement, and onto a dry muddy surface at the bottom left corner of the old castle. At that moment, the moon went behind some clouds, and the world dimmed slightly. “Luna, do you have an illumination spell we can use, please?” she asked.

Luna smiled and nodded. “Certainly.” Instantly her horn glowed a bright light, and the corner of the castle was soon illuminated, revealing the hoofprints that ran through the ground and into the corner.

“Hello?” Fluttershy called in the direction of the hoofprints. “There’s no need to be scared! We don’t want to hurt you, nor cause you any trouble!”

“Unless he or she starts trouble first,” Luna muttered.

Fluttershy eyed Luna for a second, and then looked back at the corner. “We just wanted shelter for the night!” She waited patiently for an answer, but none came. “We’ll be going in the morning, if that’s okay with you!” Fluttershy tried again, to no response. Fluttershy swallowed down the growing nervousness she was feeling in her throat and stomach. “Um, maybe we should just leave whoever it is alone? Maybe then it would leave us alone.” She made her way to turn back to the hall, but Luna quickly put a hoof up to stop her.

“No, we can’t just go back now,” Luna said. “Whoever it is, we have to know if it is a friend, or a foe.” The Night Princess took a deep breath, and walked slowly forward.

“And what if he or she is neutral?” Fluttershy asked, following close behind.

Luna looked back at Fluttershy oddly. “Try not to complicate the situation, Fluttershy,” she warned her, before turning around and moving towards the corner.

Fluttershy moved forward, but stopped when she heard hoofsteps behind her. She looked back to see Cadence and Spike walking through the gatehouse, their magic or claws full of firewood. “Hey, Fluttershy!” Spike called, his eyes squinting to just make out the two ponies under Luna’s light. “Whatcha doing down there?”

“Heard some hoofsteps, so me and Luna are checking it out!” Fluttershy called back. “Get a fire going! We’ll join you shortly!”

“Fluttershy, you have to come and see this!” Luna called loudly, even though the pegasus was standing right next to her.

Fluttershy grimaced as her ears rang as though large bells were right next to her, ringing like they were celebrating a wedding. ‘Why is everypony shouting all of a sudden?’ “What is it?” Fluttershy asked once she recovered. Luna simply pointed in answer, and when Fluttershy saw what she was looking at, she gasped.

A short-sloped path ran down from the castle, then straightened up to a large iron door that led underground. The door itself was covered in old Equestrian sigils, and even the sigils of the sun and the moon were side by side at the centre of the door, forming the main lock.

Yet the door was opened partially, confirming to the two that somepony had fled into there. Fluttershy looked along the walls, and smiled pleasingly when she saw an old but useable torch held on a brazier. She hovered up to it, and took it with her teeth. “Do you know any fire spells?” she asked through gritted teeth.

Luna nodded, and with a beam of blue magic shooting out from her horn, the torch came alive with the crackle of light blue flames, which fascinated Fluttershy. “Thanks,” she said, before turning around and making her way down the slope, with Luna close behind.

At the bottom of the slope, Fluttershy stopped just on the other side of the doors, and peered down the corridor. In the low light, the walls flickered a faint blue, with each revealing the carvings that adorned the walls, all of which were moments of Equestrian glory that were won in battles in the country’s past. As Fluttershy looked down the corridor, it didn’t take long for her to notice that the corridor sharply turned right.

For a short moment, Fluttershy considered leaving the tunnels alone and go back to Luna and Cadence, yet her heart stopped her. Somepony had fled down there, probably tired, hurt and very, very scared. More scared than her. She had to know if the pony or another hoofed creature was all right, and then move on. ‘Besides, if a scared pony ran down here, then why should I be scared?’

“Come on… if you want to, that is,” she said to Luna, and trotted on. Luna, although hesitant, compliantly followed. Fluttershy didn’t blame Luna for being hesitant. Every muscle in her body was telling her to turn tail and run back to the hall with the others, yet her mind kept her firmly going forward, determined to know if this pony was all right and harmless.

Around the corner, the corridor turned a sharp right again, leading back towards the castle and under it down a gentle slope. “Ah, now I know why I can’t remember this place,” Luna said, her eyes going over the walls. “My sister was the one who designed this castle. I must have designed the ones in-between this one. I never had these underground rooms built in my versions.”

Fluttershy trotted down the slope cautiously, praying she wouldn’t find a weak stone that made her slip and break a leg; she didn’t want to be a burden to the others. Luckily she made it down with little difficulty, with Luna sliding down the slope with such grace as if she did it all the time. “So you both took turns in designing these castles?” Fluttershy asked as she walked ahead.

“Oh yes,” Luna answered. “We decided to equalise the number of castles we had built so both of us gets equal credit by building a castle each along the line, so it was Celestia’s first, then one of mine, and so on and so forth. It was actually a lot of fun for us. One day we had a contest to see how many castles we can both design in a day. And another we made models of our castles, and then played mini war games with them. Celestia had these toy models painted like her own army, the Solar Flares, and mine were painted like my own army, the Luna Wolves.”

Fluttershy giggled at the image of two grown alicorns playing with little toy soldiers when they should be ruling a country. “What about Cadence?” Fluttershy asked, not wanting to leave out the other Princess of Equestria; she thought it would be rude if she did. “Did she have anything to do with the designs?”

Upon receiving no answer, she looked back to see Luna staring at her weirdly. “Cadence wasn’t even born yet,” she answered simply. “She isn’t as old as we are, Fluttershy.”

“Isn’t she?” Fluttershy gasped, her ears falling flat. “Oh dear. Now I feel awful for thinking she’s very old.”

“I would not call thirty-one very old,” Luna said. “At least in my case.”

Fluttershy looked up at Luna in surprise. “She’s thirty-one?” Luna nodded. “Oh. I thought, well being a winged unicorn, that she would be quite old.”

Luna shook her head. “Cadence ages like yo– I mean, she ages like any other pony, and she wasn’t born with a horn. She was a pegasus orphan adopted by earth ponies in a village somewhere in southeastern Equestria. With her heart of pure love she was able to reform an evil pony that stole love using a necklace. With that ability to spread love recognised, she was teleported to a special place between our realm, met Celestia, and came back as a Princess.”

Fluttershy’s jaw was nearly on the floor. “So, you’re not her real aunt.”

“And neither is Celestia her aunt,” Luna confirmed. “She adopted her as an niece, and when I came back, Cadence accepted me as an aunt as well. We – I am the closest pony she has to family now.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask more, but stopped when she heard the sound of hooves clopping against the ground enter her ears once again, and then gradually fade away. “It’s okay!” Fluttershy called. “We want to help you if you would like us to!” Fluttershy cantered down the corridor, a torch of blue flame in her mouth, with Luna hot on her heels.

After going straight down for about a minute, the two ponies stopped when they saw the corridor going two ways: one went left, while the other went right. “I suggest we split up so we can cover both alternatives,” Luna said, looking both ways.

Fluttershy shook her head dismissively. “A cornered prey can become a dangerous predator, Luna,” she cautioned. “I think we should stick together, and take it slowly.” The two walked up to the crossing, and quickly looked left then right.

On their left, the corridor continued down a flight of stairs, with carvings of more of Equestria’s long and illustrious history adorning the walls. While right led into a large room, with the far right corner caved in with rubble. “Let’s have a look in here,” Fluttershy ventured, walking towards the room.

“I’ll stay outside and keep an eye out,” Luna offered, facing the corridor and standing straight like a guard. Fluttershy rolled her eyes at the sight, and then turned back to the room in front of her.

The chamber was dark, and full of old, battered cobwebs. Fluttershy had a quick look around for spiders, hoping there weren’t any really big ones that could capture her in webs and drain her blood later. She had a bad streak with spiders recently, and they were becoming her least favourite animal rather quickly. Luckily for her, there was none. She smiled in relief, and looked around the room. It was mostly bare, save for a few racks along two of the walls that were filled with weapons. ‘Wait, what?’ She looked back at the racks in disbelief.

“Luna!” she called, gesturing with a hoof for Luna to come forward, even though the Princess couldn’t see it. “Come and see these!”

Luna, curious to see what got Fluttershy sounding so excited, peered her head through the door, and gasped at the number of weapons there was. “Incredible,” she whispered, walking up to stand next to the pegasus.

All the weapons, save but a few, were locked in scabbards decorated with golden or silvery swirls that spun around the sheaths like snakes. The hilt was shaped like a unicorn’s horn, and pommels that sat on the ends were decorated in the shapes of either the sun or the moon, and even one with a crystal. Fluttershy looked at each with a mix of fascination and intrigue. Despite Fluttershy’s hatred of weapons, and what they were made for and what they represented, the pegasus couldn’t help but admire the beauty and elegance of a sword.

Luna picked up the one closest to her, the magic wrapping around the horn-shaped hilt nicely, and unsheathed it fully. The blade sang as it was freed from its scabbard after years of neglect.

Fluttershy thought the blade in Luna’s hold made her swords look like letter openers in comparison. It was about four or five foot long, and a bright silver with a double-edged blade that ended in a heart-shaped point. Although Fluttershy thought the blade was beautiful, she was more interested by the fact that Luna’s magic didn’t wrap around the entire sword. “How comes the blade isn’t fully wrapped by your magic?” Fluttershy asked, pointing at it.

Luna looked at her for a moment, and then looked at the sword in contemplation for a while. “You see the hilt?” Fluttershy nodded. “As you can see, it is shaped like the horn of a unicorn. And you know how magnets work, right?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. North and south attract together, while north and north, or south and south, doesn’t.”

Luna nodded. “Indeed. With these, the same rules apply. The hilt of the sword, which is the north end, acts as a magnet for the magic from the unicorn’s horn to attach to, which is the south end. Understand?”

Fluttershy’s mouth formed an O as she nodded in understanding. “I see. So, why did they design them like that? Wouldn’t it have been easier if they could allow the magic to wrap itself around the whole sword?”

“It might have been,” Luna agreed. “But I think it wouldn’t have been as… practical, wielding it like that, when you can have the strength of all your magic on one end. Like this.” She backed away and turned from the pegasus, and then proceeded to swing it around her head and slash at the air like she was cutting a foe in half that wasn’t there. She thrust her sword forward in a stabbing motion, then pulled it back, brought it above her head, then spun around and swooped it down right where Fluttershy was standing.

Fluttershy, thanks to being a Dragonlord, acted fast. She lowered her body, then brought up her right leg above her head and let Drage Bane shoot out of its scabbard, just before Luna’s swing could cut her in half.

The two blades clanged into each other, the sound of steel against steel ringing against the walls, and back into the ponies’ ears. Fluttershy felt the weight of Luna’s sword against her own, pushing her leg down a little, yet she stayed firm. Luna looked wide-eyed in horror at Fluttershy, while the pegasus stared back at her with a touch of fear, and a small bout of admiration.

“You have some skill with a blade,” Fluttershy remarked quietly.

Luna backed away from the pegasus, and quickly dropped her sword, which clattered to the ground at Fluttershy’s hooves. “Fluttershy, I deeply apologise if I caused you any fear. That was foolish of me to practice in such a enclosed room, and so close to you.”

Fluttershy trotted up to the Princess, and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. “It’s all right, Luna,” Fluttershy said kindly, smiling assuredly at her. “I wasn’t harmed, and was quick enough to block it. Just next time, practice in an open space away from anypony.”

Luna chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”

Fluttershy smiled, then picked up the sword with her hooves and held it up for Luna to take. “Are you going to keep this one?”

Luna shook her head. “I was never really a fan of straight-edged swords like that one. Let’s have a look and inspect what has been left behind.” With that, Luna began looking at the various swords and axes on the racks or on the floor, while Fluttershy placed the sword in her hooves back in its scabbard in the rack.

While Fluttershy looked at the different weapons from her sitting position, Luna walked along the racks, looking for the weapon for her. She stopped and grinned eagerly when she saw the right one. “Found you,” she muttered under her breath. Fluttershy turned her head, and tilted her body back so she could see what Luna was looking at. When she saw the blade Luna had picked, she gasped in astonishment.

Like the other swords, its hilt was shaped like a unicorn’s horn, with a pommel in the shape of the full moon. The blade, however, was the most exotic design the Dragonlord had ever seen. From the hilt to the point, it was bent into the shape of a crescent moon, almost like Luna’s cutie mark. And a word in the old Equestrian tongue was spelt out across the curved edge of the blade. A word that, thanks to Twilight and her knowledge of the old Equestrian language, Fluttershy was able to read.

Fluttershy got off her rump and moved to stand beside Luna, her gaze never leaving the fantastic sword. Suddenly, the hilt of the sword began to glow blue, and was lifted from the rack and held upright for Luna to get a feel of it in the grip of her magic. “Nightbringer,” Fluttershy read the word aloud. She nodded satisfactorily at it, and then smiled at Luna. “It’s as though it has been waiting for you, Luna.”

Luna nodded in agreement, her eyes never leaving the weapon. “It might be best if I had this, Fluttershy, as well as weapons for the others, just in case we have to defend ourselves. I hope you can understand that.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. I have weapons of my own, so saying you cannot have one would make me a hypocrite.”

Luna nodded, and then strapped Nightbringer loosely to her left side, making it easy for her to grip hold of it in case she had to unsheathe it. “What about Spike?” Luna queried, her eyes scanning at the different swords for one of Spike’s statue. “Will he be allowed a weapon?”

Fluttershy’s face hardened into a cold stare. “No,” she said sternly. “He is just a baby dragon, Luna. We can’t expect him to hold a weapon against someone or something, nor do I want him to know what it feels like to take a life. It’s a horrible feeling that he’s too young to go through.”

Luna looked back into her eyes and said, “He’s not going to be a baby dragon forever, Fluttershy. He will grow beyond the size of any of us when he’s older, and become just like every other dragon that has ever lived: a lonely, greedy killer.”

Although Fluttershy wished Luna was wrong, she knew she wasn’t. Twilight will eventually die, as will she, leaving Spike alone in the world. Then there would be nothing to stop him from falling back into his dragon instincts.

She rid the thought out of herself, and said, “All the more reason for him not to have a sword yet. Even if he grows into that, he is still young, and I don’t think his mind could take putting a sword through someone just yet.” She gestured with her head to the other swords and weapons. “Let’s get to finding this pony, see if he or she is all right, then get back to the others.”

Luna shook her head. “Not yet. Help me find one for Cadence. She’ll need one as well.” Luna began picking up the various swords, axes, or other weapons that could suite Cadence.

“Giving Cadence a sword?” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head. “Um, forgive me, but I don’t think Cadence to be one with a weapon in her magic.” She tried picturing Cadence with a sword gripped in magic and a fierce look on her face, yet couldn’t. Apart from the incidents with the changelings and the return of the Crystal Empire, she seemed too friendly to wield a weapon. ‘Looks can be deceptive, Fluttershy,’ her mind explained. ‘Nopony would think you were capable of wielding a sword, yet you can, and you do.’

“She was a Princess of Equestria, Fluttershy,” Luna replied, turning her head to look back at her. “Like all Princesses before her, one of the first things she learnt was the art of sword combat, and being able to defend herself against such armed foes. She will be able to look after herself, Dragonlord. Have no fear of that.” She looked back at the racks of weapons once more, while Fluttershy began pacing and looking around the room, unsure of what to do with herself.

She suddenly stopped when she realised she had trodden on something that didn’t feel like the stone floor. She looked down, and gasped at the gorgeous bow at her hooves. She stepped back a little, then picked it up with her hooves, holding it out before her to get a proper look at it.

Like several of the scabbards on the racks, thin golden swirls wrapped around its upper and lower limbs, and what looked like the material a unicorn’s horn is made of at the centre of the bow, forming the grip. A long piece of thick, strong string was – amazingly – attached from one end to the other, and the bow itself was, again surprisingly, in perfect condition, as if the ponies that were garrisoned here had never left.

“Luna?” Fluttershy beckoned her. “Would you like to come and have a look at this?”

Luna was soon beside her, and her eyes were going over the bow with a look of amazement. “Fascinating,” she whispered as she picked the bow up with her magic. “Most bows, even their string, would have rotted away or broken up by now, yet this one is still complete.”

“Maybe it’s magic,” Fluttershy suggested.

Luna shook her head, and tapped the wooden bow lightly, making a sound like an acorn would make as a thrush cracked it open. “Or maybe it is because the bow itself is made out of Everfree wood,” Luna observed, running a hoof along the smooth edge of the bow. At Fluttershy’s confused look, she explained. “Wood from the Everfree Forest is usually strong, thanks in part to how old the trees there are. The string itself is from a village a couple of miles away south from Las Pegasus, I believe. The earth ponies there know how to make the toughest string known to ponydom.” She looked up with a sense of sudden realisation. “That would mean we’re not too far away from Las Pegasus.”

Fluttershy’s brow creased in surprise. “Wow,” she said. “We walked quite far, then.”

“Indeed,” Luna nodded, “and quite quickly as well. Much quicker than I thought we would be.” She looked back at the bow for a second, and then slung it onto her back. “Cadence will be able to use this easily.”

“She’ll know how to use that?” Fluttershy queried, pointing to the bow.

“Oh yes. I’ve seen her hit a target at dead centre from two hundred yards away at a festival some time ago. She moved back another hundred, and then shredded the first arrow with her second shot,” Luna explained. “She has a good eye for such small details, Fluttershy. The bow would be perfect for her.”

Fluttershy nodded; silently pleased that Cadence was not with Celestia and the others by the way her shooting skills were described to her. “What about a sword?” she enquired. “Did you find one for her?”

Luna nodded, and then gestured for Fluttershy to look at her back to see the long sword that was sheathed in a scabbard coiled with silver lines and had a pommel shaped like a crystal. “The only one of this lot that was forged by the ponies of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said. “I’m glad, really. It will give her a piece of home.” She looked around Fluttershy’s hooves. “Did you find any arrows?”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and spun her head around to face the door upon hearing the sound of hooves trying to sneakily pass the room. Fluttershy galloped to the entrance, and stopped when she saw the silhouette of a pony at the bottom of the stairs. The two stared silently at each other for a moment, before the pony suddenly veered about and galloped back to where he or she came.

“Wait!” Fluttershy cried. She broke into a gallop, and ran down the corridor as fast and as carefully as she could go, with Luna not too far behind her. The corridor went straight down for a long time, before suddenly veering left, and into a large boxed room with several routes to take.

‘Why would Celestia design such a complicated system of tunnels?’ Fluttershy wondered as she looked around. One way was straight in front of her; the second was to the right of that one, the third was on an elevated structure, with a flight of stairs leading towards it, and the fourth was around the corner of the large block, but was blocked off by rubble.

Luna soon caught up with her, gasping for breath. “I need… to exercise a bit more,” she panted. “Any idea… which way the pony… went?”

Fluttershy shook her head frowning, while her ears were pricked up at their highest as she listened for the sounds that might give the pony away. However, all she could hear was Luna’s heavy breathing, much to her annoyance.

“Um, excuse me, Luna? Sorry if I sound rude, but would you mind breathing quietly for a moment while I try to figure out where this pony went?” Fluttershy asked.

Luna glared at Fluttershy for a moment. “Well I apologise for breathing so loudly because I was out of breath,” she said sarcastically.

“That’s okay,” Fluttershy said, smiling at her. Luna only rolled her eyes. With Luna now quiet, Fluttershy concentrated as hard as she could on finding out which path the pony took. Although a small part of her mind continued to tell her to leave whoever it was be and get back to Cadence and Spike, she did her best to ignore it. The pony could be injured, or starving, or in a far worse state. Fluttershy could not dream of leaving the pony be without seeing if he or she was all right first.

Her right ear suddenly twitched, as it picked up the sound of something heavy falling over down the right tunnel. “This way,” she declared, pointing to the tunnel. With that, she broke into a gallop down the tunnel, with Luna close behind and Nightbringer gripped in her magic.

The corridor continued for a long way, passing carvings on the walls, and sometimes even broken statues of great ponies of Equestria, or even other pony kingdoms. The corridor suddenly turned right, and Fluttershy and Luna followed, with the pegasus praying that they would come to a dead end, and this madness will cease.

She smiled thinly to herself when she saw up ahead the corridor was blocked by a cave-in, and the pony she had saw earlier was pressed up against the wall, with hooves over eyes in the hope the pony would not be seen.

Fluttershy tilted her torch a little, allowing a small amount of light to spread across the corridor, and revealed the pony cowering before them. The pony was a unicorn mare with what seemed to be a dark blue coat in the low light, and what appeared to be a dark brown mane and tail with traces of white here and there. Fluttershy suddenly caught a sense of déjà vu with this pony, as if she had seen her before, yet couldn’t remember where.

With cautious movements, Fluttershy set the torch aside and stepped closer to the mare. “Um, excuse me?” she said gently. The mare brought her head out of her hooves. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you. We just want to he–” She cut herself off when she felt the tip of a blade pressing against her throat.

“Fluttershy!” Luna cried, striding forward ready to bring down Nightbringer on the armed mare.

“Get away from me!” the mare yelled, pushing the short sword in her magic forward and making Fluttershy step back, forcing Luna to stop. “Haven’t you ponies ridiculed me enough?”

Fluttershy tried not to show any fear, yet her breathing had quickened as she realised how dangerous her situation had become. One wrong move could see her throat cut open, and send her blood dripping from her neck and onto the ground. Although she kept telling herself she wasn’t afraid to die, she didn’t want to die just yet.

She looked from the sword at her throat to the mare, and smiled disarmingly. “No pony is here to ridicule you, miss. I just wanted to know if you were all right, and to let you know that there is no need to hide from us. I want to help, that’s all.”

The pressure Fluttershy could feel on her neck slackened, yet the mare didn’t bring the sword away. “Thank you kindly, but I am fine. I do not need any help, nor do I want any. Now go away before I run you both through.”

“You look like you don’t have the strength to keep that blade afloat for long,” Luna pointed out.

“I can and I’ll prove it!” the mare yelled. She swung the blade away from Fluttershy, and raised it above her head with intent to swing it down and embed it in Fluttershy’s skull. Fluttershy jumped back at the last second, letting the blade fall to the ground. The mare toppled and fell with it as the last of her strength dissipated.

With the mare on the ground, and sniffling with tears, Fluttershy quickly grabbed the sword on the ground, threw it behind her, and then looked back at the mare not in anger, but in sympathy. She could now see the mare’s ribs on her body, her mane and tail were not brown in colour but were ragged and dirty, and her cutie mark… Fluttershy’s heart stopped beating when she saw the mare’s cutie mark. “That’s impossible,” Fluttershy whispered aloud, her eyes widening in shock.

As she gazed at the unique cutie mark, Fluttershy’s mind raced back to when she had last seen this mare, and her eyes bulged when she realised was only a year ago. ‘I have to be sure it is the same pony.’ She bent into a crouch, brought her torch closer to reveal the mare had a sky blue coat instead if a dark blue, and using a hoof, gently brushed the mare’s mane away from her face, letting Fluttershy truly see who she was. Upon looking into the mare’s eyes, there was no doubt in Fluttershy’s mind who the pony was now. However, the unicorn’s eyes, which had once sparkled with great arrogance, now held the soul of a completely broken unicorn.

The mare looked up at her with dark violet eyes, wide as saucers, as though she was trying to remember where she had seen the pegasus from before. “I know your face,” she whispered, tears weeping from her eyes and her body shaking with exhaustion.

“As I know yours,” Fluttershy replied. She let go and spun around to gallop back out. “Keep her here!” she ordered Luna. “I’m going to see if Cadence and Spike cooked any food yet!” Without waiting for a reply she raced back down the corridor and through the labyrinth as fast as her legs could carry her.

A few minutes later, she was nearly out of breath when she arrived at the top and back out into the fresh, cool air of the night. She stopped for a moment, but as soon as she took a deep breath and released it, she galloped hastily into the main hall where Cadence and Spike had a fire going, and a large pot with something that smelt good inside.

“Do you have any food ready?” she demanded quickly as she rushed in, her eyes wide.

Spike nodded, confused as to what got Fluttershy worked up. “Yeah, we have a whole pot of stew ready for us.”

“We found a load of bowls and buckets by the castle gates we could use,” Cadence explained. “Admittedly, there were a bit dirty, but a quick rinse in a water fountain we found and they were ready for use.”

“Do you have one ready?” Fluttershy asked, jogging on the spot in a hurry to get back down into the tunnels.

Spike nodded, then handed her a large bowl. Fluttershy took it in both hooves, and hovered over the pot and dipped the bowl in quickly. “Fluttershy, I don’t understand what’s the urgency? Is everything all right? Did you find something down there?”

“We found some things down there, Spike, and some one,” Fluttershy replied as she turned around and prepared to fly back into the tunnels.

“You found somepony down here?” Cadence asked incredulously. Fluttershy looked back and nodded in reply.

“Gosh,” Spike gasped. “Did you get a name from him, or her?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I didn’t need to, since we’ve met her before.” At Spike’s confused look, she added, “We found Trixie down there, Spike.”