Dark Blue

by ThatOneGuy42

Rating: everyone
Tags: Dark, Romance, Adventure
Length: 10384

When a new pegasus arrives in Ponyville, he brings with him a slew of trouble that only he can fix.

He doesn't remember anything, except that trouble seems to follow him. Suddenly, the fate of the entire world depends on him. Can the rest of Equestria rely on such a strange character? Do they have a choice?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-01-30 23:57:17 UTC

Chapter One

Dark Blue

by ThatOneGuy

Chapter 1

Fluttershy knew that it was dangerous to be out late at night so far out of town, but she was positive that she’d seen an injured bunny limp down the road. Naturally, Fluttershy was terrified for her life, being this far out of town this late at night, alone. In fact, she was shaking as she walked. However, her love of animals simply wouldn’t allow for her to just sit by and let an injured animal go away uncared for.

Thanking Celestia, or rather, Luna, for the clear night and the bright moon, she ventured outside of the town and onto the winding road. The autumn trees, with their leafless branches, reminded her of scary tales of ghosts and ghouls as the breeze made the branches scratch and shake. Letting out a little ‘Yeep!’ she steeled herself for the poor bunny’s sake and pressed on. Still, the shadows of the evil-looking trees frightened her even more than her own shadow.

She was starting to wish she had brought somepony along with her.

About ten yards ahead, she caught a glimpse of the bunny again as it swiftly moved off the side of the trail into a large bed of boulders. How is that bunny moving so fast, Fluttershy wondered to herself, and why is it running away from me? The bed of boulders stretched high and wide, almost resembling a cave, as a high ceiling boulder covered the top of the bed. Inside, it was so… dark. Fluttershy gulped quietly, but resolved to help that poor bunny no matter the cost.

“It’s okay little friend, you can come out,” she said hopefully. To her dismay, the bunny didn’t emerge. She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t go in there, and took a tentative step forward. You can do this, Fluttershy, she thought. She crept farther and farther into darkness, until finally she couldn’t see. She was beginning to regret going in, but there was no turning back now. She continued slowly, jumping at every little noise she heard.

“How far does this cave reach?” she wondered aloud. The darkness was almost tangible, slowing her every move like water.

“Not too much farther…my dear.” A cruel voice that sounded sickeningly like a unicorn horn on a chalkboard spoke suddenly. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and yet at the same time seemed to come from all directions. Fluttershy whirled about, already far beyond the point of panic. It was a wonder she didn’t faint, but she stayed on her hooves.

In an instant, Fluttershy was blinded by light coming from directly in front of her. She froze up, unable to move for fear. After a few moments, her eyes adjusted, and she looked around, terrified.

Three unicorns had all lit their horns with a very bright light that lit up the whole cave. They had the exit blocked. The bunny was nowhere to be seen.

“Haha!” a unicorn laughed. “My spell worked! She thought it was a rabbit the whole time!” He had a gruff, low voice to match his scarred face. One eye had a frayed patch over it, which made him all the more frightening. His right eye, the good eye, was red: a harsh, blood red. His coat was a deep gray-green, and his mane was pitch black. He wore a dark brown cloak that covered most of his body up.

“What a foal!” another pony said, his voice thick and lazy, like he didn’t think talking was worth the time. He had a burnt orange coat, with dark blue eyes and a wild red mane. He obviously hadn’t seen as much battle as the other unicorn; he had only one scar: a small cut to the left cheek. He wore metal shoulder pauldrons, almost as if he was prepared for a fight to break out.

“Silence!” commanded the third unicorn. He was the one who had spoken earlier, and was clearly the leader of the group. His eyes, like his coat, were a hard, unforgiving steel gray. His earth brown mane was swept back, long and elegant. He looked nothing like the other two; he didn’t look much like a thug at all. Rather, he looked like a high-class member of society, the type who would stroll into Rarity’s boutique for her most expensive wares. Indeed, he wore a very fancy black jacket with a tie and a dress shirt, looking quite full of himself. “I know we have her in our clutches; I don’t need you foals to remind me!” he grumbled.

The other two unicorns shied away from their leader, as if afraid of him. If even his accomplices were terrified of him, how much worse would he be than what Fluttershy imagined?

The leader turned to Fluttershy after a moment, who was utterly petrified. She stood, shaking, praying that she could find the willpower to open her wings. This effort was futile; as she strained, her wings remained locked at her sides.

The steel pony watched her for a few seconds in silence, and then chuckled a little to himself. So…pathetic. She couldn’t use her own biological defense to save herself when it counted most. For the first time, Fluttershy met his gaze.

“What do you want? What are you going to do to me?” Fluttershy asked in a whisper, panicking, nearly in tears. This couldn’t be happening, could it?

“Oh, don’t let that trouble you, dear. Leave the worrying up to us,” the leader said quietly, threateningly. His steel eyes flashed with a happy malice, making Fluttershy wonder what was going to happen with dread.

As he advanced, an evil grin on his face, he stopped when a CLOK sound made him stop cold. He whirled around, only to see his two accomplices crumple to the ground, their heads having been smashed together. Behind them was a pegasus, hovering a few inches off the ground on wings of midnight blue.

As the two collapsed, their lights went out, and the pegasus slipped out of sight. The steel pony cursed, then intensified his light; the pegasus was still nowhere to be seen. He could be hiding nearly anywhere in this cave. As the steel-colored pony advanced slowly forward, the shadows danced on the walls, revealing dozens of stalagmites that the pegasus could be hiding behind. The unicorn gulped, knowing that the midnight-hued terror could spring out of nowhere at any time. He took a few tentative steps forward, then shouted “COME OUT, COWARD! FACE ME LIKE A STALLION!” His words reverberated off the walls, echoing loudly. The fear in his voice was almost tangible.

“As you wish,” was the calm reply that came from the pegasus. His voice was smooth, like a stone being skipped across water. The sound did not betray his location, however, merely making it sound like it came from several places at once. The unicorn did a double take, spinning around, searching for the source of the noise. He only stopped moving when he feel a sharp pain to the back of the head as he was bucked to the rear of the skull, then blissfully fell into darkness.

He was not, however, the only one who fell to darkness. As he collapsed, his light went out, leaving Fluttershy and the other pegasus in the dark. Fluttershy finally couldn’t take any more; she broke down crying on the floor. She felt a gentle pair of hooves wrap around her chest, reassuring and warm. For some reason, she trusted this strong grip, that it would take her out of danger. She let him take her up into his grip, felt him fly ever so gently out of the cave, and into the night beyond.

“Th-thank you, m-mister,” Fluttershy managed through her continuing tears. She was put down softly on the grass, where she lay for a moment, collecting herself and managing to stop crying. Then she looked up at her savior. His face was mature, a truly handsome stallion. His azure eyes looked on her with curiosity, with concern. His midnight blue coat complimented his eyes and the night around him. His mane of jet black swooped forward and left, covering most of his left eye, and stretching partway down his cheek. He was as large as Big Macintosh, and certainly looked to be as strong.

“What is your name?” the pegasus asked Fluttershy. His voice was as smooth as glass, tough as nails, beautiful as the moon behind him. For a moment, Fluttershy was silent, almost mesmerized by this pegasus.

“I-I’m Fluttershy,” she managed. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” She at least wished to thank her savior properly.

“Can you show me to your home?” he asked Fluttershy, ignoring her question. “I must get you inside, where it is safe.” His voice was almost devoid of any emotion, yet the concern he had for the yellow pegasus’s well being was unmistakable. Fluttershy nodded, and rose to her hooves. She glanced at the cave.

“What about them?” she asked quietly. Her concern was apparent; even though their actions were cruel, Fluttershy hated the idea of seeing another pony hurt.

“They’ll be awake by morning, with splitting headaches, no doubt. They likely won’t remember tonight; I hit them pretty hard. They’re wanderers, so they’ll probably do what they do best: wander.” He sounded sure of their fate. More importantly, he seemed sure of Fluttershy’s safety. He nodded to Fluttershy, reminding her of the task at hoof.

As they walked the path back to Ponyville, Fluttershy noticed something strange about the night around her. Even when she was with her closest friends, she hated being in the woods at night. They were terrifying. With this pegasus at her side, though, she was not afraid. She knew somewhere, deep down, that she ought to be afraid of the stallion himself. He had clearly shown himself to be strong, clever, and dangerous. He could be trying to trick her.

She didn’t care. She was just glad to be in his company. This was most unlike her.

She led the way back through town, with the pegasus at her side. However, they were not alone. Eyes were on the two, observing, taking careful note. The two ventured on, oblivious. The eyes continued to observe, watchfully silent…

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The two arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage, which looked friendly in the moonlight. As they approached the door, the pegasus stopped. Fluttershy turned to face him, surprised that he was simply going to leave.

“Wait. Can you at least tell me your name?... you know if that’s okay with you, I mean. Sorry…” Fluttershy asked. He looked at her intently for a moment, then sighed.

“I don’t know what I am called,” he said, looking defeated.

“Oh dear. What do you mean?”

“I can’t remember a thing beyond a month or so ago,” he said, eyes downcast.

Fluttershy hated seeing her savior so forlorn. “Well, that’s okay; we can work that out. For now though, I want you in this house. I can’t let your act of heroism go unpaid.” She thought for a moment as he stared at her, then blushed as she realized what could be implied by her request. “I just meant, you know, stay the night here. Rest up. I’ll make you some breakfast. Eep!”

The stallion gave a small laugh, then said, “I understand what you mean. However, I’d hate to be a burden-“

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all! Angel and I love company!” This was of course not entirely true. She virtually never had guests. Well, apart from her animal patients.

“Angel…?”

“Oh, he’s my bunny friend. He’s sure to like you after what you did for me.”

The stallion faltered on seeing the look on Fluttershy’s face. “You’re truly going to insist then, aren’t you?”

“You’d better believe it, mister.” Fluttershy said this with the kind of confidence she only had around close friends. Why was she getting so close to this stallion so fast? He had gotten past her almost tangible wall of pure shy faster than anypony could have ever managed.

The pegasus sighed, then approached the door, opened it, and held it open for the yellow mare. He entered after her, and looked around. This was certainly not what he was used to. He usually slept outside, with only nature and the stars above for company. This felt different, somehow…warmer. Friendlier. This was where a pony could feel he was welcome, that he was accepted and even wanted there.

Here, he felt…out of place. This was not what he was used to.

Fluttershy gestured to a sofa, clearly intending him to sleep there. As he settled in, Fluttershy went and turned out the lights, then came back to him. She found him already asleep. After recovering from the surprise of his sheer speed of losing consciousness, she took a closer look at him. He looked so different when he slept, like all the fight was gone out of him. Even his dangerous aura seemed to be taking a rest. This was a different pony, a more welcoming pony. This must have been why Fluttershy had felt so safe in his hooves, even in the midst of crisis.

She didn’t know what caused her to do it, but she acted on her first instinct: she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, just below where the mane in his face ended.

“Thank you. I owe you my life.” Fluttershy smiled down on the stallion, as he lay there, sleeping, unaware of anything. He simply… was.

That was when she noticed it. he did not have a cutie mark. She pondered for a moment, but, giving up, she retired to her room.

As she settled in for bed, Fluttershy wondered to herself why she had kissed him. He hadn’t been awake, so it was as if it never happened, right? She knew even as she thought such things that they were not true. What would the other ponies think of him? What would they think of her? Surely they would find out about him staying the night at her cottage. They could draw the wrong conclusions, which could lead to a lot of awkwardness. She hoped it wouldn’t affect their friendship.

However, as she went back to thinking about the pegasus, she was once again put at ease, even by the mere thought of him. Something about that pony was different. And she liked it.

Downstairs, a pegasus lay there, eyes closed but very much awake, trying to solve the puzzle of why she had pressed her face against his like that. He too pondered for a moment, but likewise to his host had given up solving the problem and gone to sleep.

He stood on top of a hill; a hill of stone. The surrounding area was little different: rocks and mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. There was little friendliness in these stones; their aura was that of cold indifference. They didn’t care that he was there, didn’t bother themselves with his company.

Then he looked at the sky. Dark. So dark. This was darker than any night he had ever seen. The blackness made him fearful, but why? He wasn’t afraid of the dark. Only what was in it frightened him.

So what was in it?

It was then that he heard the laughter. Terrible and cruel, it clearly enjoyed his fear. The pegasus whirled around, then screamed as pain shot through him-

The pegasus woke with a start. He was drenched in a cold sweat. He lay there in silence, contemplating, destined to not be getting back to sleep that night.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy woke to the gentle calls of the birds through her window. She yawned, stretched, and got out of her bed. As she brushed her mane, she wondered what to have for breakfast. Of course, she’d have to make some for-

him. The memories of the night rushed back to her, like a tidal wave of mixed emotions. He had saved her, and now he was staying in her home. She was making him breakfast.

And she had kissed him. Oh, Celestia!

She came down the stairs to find the stallion sitting up silently on the sofa. He had clearly not slept well, or enough for that matter. He simply looked at Fluttershy and gave the slightest smile, so brief that she almost missed it, before it was gone, like the snows of yesteryear. She returned the small smile, but hers lingered, even when she went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

They remained silent until Fluttershy served the pegasus some of her finest pancakes and muffins. He broke the silence with a “Thank you,” but the silence was destined to return as he and she dug in. Or rather, Fluttershy, hungry from the night’s ordeal, dug in. The blue pegasus ate only a few bites of each thing on his plate.

Oh no. He hates my cooking. He hates it! Oh no, Fluttershy thought to herself, terrified. “Are you... not hungry?” she asked, deathly afraid to hear the answer. He nodded. “Oh dear, you hate it, don’t you?” she asked, the floodgates of her fears opening up. She internally bucked herself for saying that aloud. How rude!

He looked up at her. “Actually,” he said, “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I’m honestly just not hungry right now. I assure you, this is by far the best food I’ve had that I can remember.” Fluttershy blushed.

She asked him, “Why didn’t you get enough sleep? Was the sofa uncomfortable?”

“Not in the slightest. It was just...” he paused, clearly embarrassed to admit the truth, “I had a dream. A terrible dream. I couldn’t get back to sleep.” He hung his head in shame. What kind of hero gets scared of a bad dream?

“Oh, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Fluttershy assured. “I have nightmares all the time, and they always keep me up.”

“Nightmare...” the pegasus said softly, then shook his head. Then he simply hung his head again. His pride had clearly suffered a sucker punch.

Fluttershy couldn’t stand to see somepony so upset. She got up, crossed to him, and gently nudged him out of his chair and over to the sofa. She sat down next to him, and brought her wings around him in a warm, soft embrace. “There now,” she said, her expertise with comforting animals coming in handy here, “shhh. It’ll all be okay. It happens to everypony. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, I promise.”

At least, that’s what she wished she’d done. Instead, her shyness overtook her, and they sat side by side on the sofa silently. She tried her best to open her mouth, but try as she might, her lips were as sealed as death. Now instead of comforting him, she had just led him to the sofa to sit in a most exquisitely awkward silence.

She sighed, but only in her head. Her mouth still refused to open.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-oh-my…” Rainbow Dash had been squeakily ecstatic all morning. She was so excited that she once again missed the door of the library as she barreled into the (fortunately) open window. Twilight Sparkle was lying in the library, doing what she did best: studying. She looked up with moderate annoyance as Rainbow Dash zoomed into the room, the wind from her speed causing her papers to flutter up.

“Oops, heh heh,” Rainbow chuckled as the papers settled. “Twilight, you’re never going to believe this! It’s so amazing! I’d have never thought it…” It was clear that Rainbow was bursting at the seams with energy.

“Listen, Dash, I’m not a pegasus, so I really can’t share your enthusiasm for the Wonderbolts. Why don’t you talk to a pegasus about it, like Fluttershy, or-“

“That’s just it!”

“What’s just it?” Twilight was now actually taking interest.

“Fluttershy! I saw her last night, around one o’clock, with a stallion! They were walking, alone, and went together up to her house, and he never came back! I think he spent the night there! Fluttershy, she has herself a coltfriend!”

“What?! That’s wonderful! We should go congratulate her!” Twilight exclaimed. Twilight stopped as she approached the door, then turned and eyed Rainbow suspiciously. “Rainbow, what were you doing out last night at one o’clock in the morning? Were you spying?”

“Uhh, heh heh, I was just, you know…practicing.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Practicing?”

Dash glanced around. “You know, nighttime maneuvers.”

“O-kay then Dash,” Twilight said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

She and Rainbow Dash ventured over to Pinkie Pie’s to share the news. At first, they were hesitant, knowing that Pinkie would surely throw a party for the occasion, but eventually they decided she deserved to know. Naturally, she took the news as one would expect Pinkie Pie to:

“OH my goodgollygosh! How wonderfullymazing! AreyouexcitediknowiamthisissogreaticantwaittoseeFluttershyandOOOOHHHH!!!    You know what this calls for?? A PAR-”

“Pinkie, please, let’s not have a party over this,” Twilight said, exasperated. Pinkie was a mouthful. “Let’s give Fluttershy some space and privacy with this.”

Pinkie stopped mid-bounce, apparently immune to gravity’s effects. “Aww,

you’re probably right. But I want to be the one to throw her wedding party!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, Pinkie,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “It might not work out between this pony and her, after all. In fact, we’re not even sure if he’s her coltfriend. We’ll just have to see…”

Rarity and Applejack took the news happily as well; they had been together in Rarity’s boutique, Rarity forcing Applejack into another dress for Grannie Smith’s upcoming birthday party, when the trio found them. While they didn’t agree on many things, they positively hugged and squealed like schoolfillies when they heard Fluttershy was, well, Fluttersmitten.

They ventured up the trail to Fluttershy’s cottage in the middle of the morning. Twilight knocked on the door, and when the door opened, it was not Fluttershy, as Twilight had expected, but a considerably taller pony. His azure eyes gazed into the purple ones, and after a moment, the stallion blinked, opening the doorway to the ponies. They all stared for a moment at the midnight blue pegasus, taking him in.

He looked at them quizzically, wondering why they didn’t come in, and why they stared at him. Fortunately, Fluttershy entered the scene, breaking the silence.

“Uhm, girls, this is my friend. He saved me last night from some ruffians, so invited him to stay the night. I’m sure it looks pretty different from your point of view, but……sorry.” She broke off there, unable to continue.

Awkward silence dominated the room, until Pinkie suddenly squealed, “Yeeeeee!! Fluttershy has a coltfriend!” at which all the mares except Fluttershy began giggling uncontrollably. Fluttershy, looking flustered, blushed brightly, and said something too quiet to hear. The stallion stood silently, apparently unaware of all the commotion. When all the laughter subsided, Fluttershy stood in the center of her friends.

“Please believe me girls, he and I aren’t dating. He’s not from here, so I offered him a place to stay. I wouldn’t just let him stay out in the night.”

“Ohhh, a pony from out of town,” Rarity said, then maneuvered her way right next to the stallion. “So where are you from, hmmm?” She seemed unlike her usual, proper self, even giggling when she’d finished speaking.

“………”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. He can’t remember where he’s from right now. In fact, he can’t remember much anything beyond a few weeks back,” Fluttershy intervened.

“How awful! I’d simply hate not remembering anything! It must be terrible, darling!” Rarity used this opportunity to give the pegasus a hug, dramatically feigning sympathy. The pegasus didn’t move, apart from looking down at Rarity in moderate surprise. After a moment, however, Rarity caught herself and backed away, blushing and flustered.

“Wait,” Twilight said, wishing to change the subject, “you mentioned some ruffians? Are you okay? What happened? Who-”

“So wait... ya don’t remember anything? Like, nothing?” Applejack interrupted, looking baffled, unable to hold her tongue.

“Not beyond a few weeks, no,” he responded sadly.

“Well…okay then. How’s about we figure out what we can know about ya, fella?” Applejack took a much more disinterested approach than Rarity, which the pegasus appreciated.

The ponies didn’t manage to learn much from the pegasus. He only remembered waking up in the forest a few weeks ago with a terrible headache. He remembered no name, had no cutie mark, and was generally disoriented. He wandered into the first place with civilization he saw, only to be attacked by thieves when he came to into the nearby city of Fillydelphia.

The pegasus was surprised to find that combat came naturally, as he recounted the tale of defeating the crooks with ease. Since then, he had wandered the forest, no direction in mind, but not wanting to be around other ponies. He had decided he was too dangerous, especially since he didn’t know who he was. He seemed rather distressed when he spoke of how unsure he was of anything. The girls felt terrible for him, having to undergo such a rough life alone. It was a much different life than the ones they were used to. Pinkie Pie was animatedly crying, her eyes like fountains.

Then the rest was history. He noticed Fluttershy enter the cave, looking terrified, which he found suspicious. Fortunately, he came at exactly the right time. Fluttershy had to chime in often at this part when she felt he was being too modest.

What was it about this pegasus that had Fluttershy so atwitter? Would it really be a bad thing if this stallion were her coltfriend? Would she ever actually be able to defeat her shyness to get through to him? Fluttershy wondered these things to herself while the girls tried unsuccessfully to pry more details out of his story.

“Well can you at least let us name you so we can quit calling you ‘you’? I mean, you’re obviously not going to have an easy time remembering your own name, are you?” Rainbow Dash asked of the pegasus. He hesitated, then silently nodded.

“Oh! Oh-oh-oh! This is soooo much fun!” Pinkie Pie shouted gleefully. “Uhhh, how about Big Blue? No! Azure Feathers? No! Blueberry, Blueberry! No-“

“Take a deep breath, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash laughed.

It wasn’t until Pinkie stopped to breathe that they heard the screaming. It was quiet, but it pervaded the whole room nonetheless. The ponies all looked around, wondering what it could have been.  It grew steadily louder, which concerned them greatly. It was when it seemed to reach unhealthy volumes that the door of the cottage burst open.

It was Derpy Hooves, and she looked positively terrified. Her eyes wide, her mouth a perfect “O.” She sprinted to the center of the room, where she stood for a moment, then collapsed onto the ground, falling suddenly silent. Each pony was as dumbfounded as the next. Fluttershy was curled up in the corner, quaking. Twilight slowly approached Derpy, concern and fear in her eyes. She gingerly put a hoof on her shoulder, shaking her gently.

Derpy then sat bolt upright, laughing loudly. Not a crazed laugh, but a fun-loving giggle. Naturally, the ponies nevertheless jumped out of their skins.

“Hahaha! Gotcha!” Derpy laughed, applauding her comedic genius. However, she wasn’t the only one laughing: there was a faint sound of laughter coming from outside. The ponies all looked suspiciously in the direction of the source of laughter. That was when she came in the open door.

Princess Luna was laughing lightly, apologizing as she giggled. “I know it was a mean prank, but was it not it funny?” she asked between chuckles. “I have not had a good laugh in a long time. Derpy sure is a riot.” Upon hearing her name, said pegasus leaped up and ran to the kitchen, where she saw some leftover muffins from the morning’s meal, and happily chowed down.

Most of the ponies were bowing, trying not to laugh themselves, more out of relief than anything. Twilight hoped that Luna was doing well. Her last visit to Ponyville had been, well, eventful. Maybe now Luna was a different pony. She certainly seemed to be getting along with the mailmare, at the very least.

To Twilight’s relief, Luna said, “Oh goodness, I don’t want you to bow for me! This visit is informal! But thank you anyway.” She had obviously adopted a much more relaxed personality now that she had made some friends.

That was when she noticed one pony wasn’t bowing. In fact, he hadn’t moved since she entered the cottage. The thus-far-unnamed pegasus was simply staring at her, a strange look in his eyes. At first glance, nothing was peculiar about it. But then Luna saw what lay beneath the surface: fear. Absolute, terrible fear. It pervaded his gaze; little traces of its presence existed everywhere.

Luna gave him a concerned look, then asked, “Is everything alright?” Had she really frightened yet another pony without meaning to? However, things certainly were not at all right. The pegasus backed up, slowly, cautiously, towards the back door. By this time, all the ponies were standing and staring at this strange behavior. The moment the pegasus felt his back hooves hit grass, he was flying, fast, away from the cottage. He headed for the forest, where the ponies noticed a storm brewing.

“What the hay is he doing!” Applejack broke the stunned silence. The ponies bolted out of the cottage, only to stop at the edge of the Everfree Forest. The storm looked like it was coming in fast. The morning light, once cheerful and bright, was masked by clouds.

“Hey! It’s not supposed to rain today! What’s this about?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“We have to go after him!” Fluttershy shouted, not at all sounding like herself. Where was the shyness that they had all grown to be used to? She looked at them all in turn, and eventually came to look at Luna. “Princess, why did he run away?”

“My dear, I have no idea,” Luna answered sadly. Then she stopped for a moment. “But… he did seem familiar.” She had a curious look on her face, as if she had just remembered something, but was still confused.

The rest of the ponies were gazing at the clouds fearfully. This was going to be one hay of a storm.

And he had just flown into the middle of it.

Chapter 2

Dark Blue

by ThatOneGuy

Chapter 2

         The pegasus touched down, the downpour getting too tough to fly through. He took refuge under a hollow log and took time to collect his thoughts as the sound of rain on wood beat into his ears.

         Why was he so afraid of that pony? She had seemed more than friendly. She was clearly a pony of authority, the way the others bowed to her. She didn’t like to be respected like that; she wanted to be treated like any other pony. What was her name again? He didn’t remember hearing it.

         All that aside, he had a rather strange feeling underneath his skin. It crept into his brain, and it concerned him.

         Why was she so familiar?

         He was so sure he’d seen her before. Apart from the familiarity, all he had to go on was the fear. He remembered her, and he feared her. Never a good combination. However, what was almost as intense as the fear was the curiosity. The need to know why he feared her was just as great as the fear itself. He knew, deep down, that he would not be staying away from Ponyville for long.

         But as he looked out from his log, he also knew he didn’t want to go back just yet. The storm outside was incredible; he could scarcely see twenty feet away from the mouth of the log. He heard a CRACK as lightning struck a tree across the clearing. He sure was glad it wasn’t night…yet. For now, he wasn’t going anywhere.

=====================================================================

         Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, the ponies were in a spectrum of disagreement. Each pony had her own idea of what to do about the pegasus, and each was voicing it over the storm and each other. Ultimately, it meant a lot of noise, and none of it made sense.

         Finally, Twilight couldn’t take any more. “QUIET!” she shouted over all of them. Apart from Luna, she was the only pony that had been silent. Now, she was the only one talking. “I’m thinking!”

         The ponies, being used to Twilight having sound advice to give, stopped to listen. Even Pinkie Pie had shut her mouth. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment in thought, trying to decide on a course of action. After a moment, she looked at Fluttershy.

         “Fluttershy, you seem to know this pony better than we do,” Twilight said. “Do you think this pony seems like he could handle himself? From what you’ve told us, and from the stories he shared, I think he’s more than capable of taking care of himself. Do you agree?”

         Fluttershy paused for a moment. “…Yes. I believe he’ll be fine out there. If anypony is capable enough, I would think he is.” She swallowed, clearly already beginning to second guess herself as she glanced out the window. “But, uh, shouldn’t we try to help, you know, if that’s okay with you.”

         Luna looked outside, then turned to Fluttershy, a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, my dear. Going out there in these conditions would only put other ponies in danger. I just can’t allow other ponies to put themselves in peril on my watch. Please, I ask that you wait for the storm to pass. If I could have stopped that pegasus from fleeing, I would have. But I failed to do so. I’m truly sorry. This is my fault.”

         “Oh no, princess, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s not your fault! Oh no!” Fluttershy was nearly in tears now, which alarmed the princess. She hadn’t even tried to argue. For some reason, this disappointed Luna. Nopony ever second guessed her; everypony believed she was right, even if she didn’t know that herself. Everypony was afraid of her.

         “My dear, come here,” Luna said, giving Fluttershy a hug to calm her down, once again trying her best to keep everything under control, “it will all be alright. There now, shh…” Fluttershy gulped a little, but eventually calmed down. “I know it’s scary, but you need to believe that he’s a big pony. He can care for himself,” Luna assured. This must be how Celestia feels when she really talks to her subjects, Luna thought. Had I known that this was what being a princess was truly about...

=====================================================================

         The pegasus remained in his log as conditions only seemed to get worse. How long would it be before the water invaded his log? How long had this storm been going on? It looked like night wasn’t too far off. He decided that it was more important to get back to the others before nightfall than to stay dry. There was one problem that pervaded this situation, however: where in the hay was he?

He remembered what he could about the flight from the cottage. The sun had been ahead; the clouds made that piece of information useless. There had been a slight wind to his right, but the storm had tossed the winds around as well. There had to be something he could work with, right? He began to doubt it, but his restlessness defeated him; he stepped out into the downpour.

He looked around for anything he remembered, but all that he’d seen of the forest on the way in were the tops of trees. He knew better than to try to fly in this, so...it looked like he was walking. He chose a direction and began walking, against his better judgment. What good could possibly come of wandering? Despite this, he pressed on, not knowing where he was going, but for some reason not feeling lost. It was as if he had been here before.

That was when it hit him. He HAD been here. Just a few weeks ago. He recognized the clearing he came to eventually, memories of this place flooding back to him. Everything he could see through the brutal rain was familiar.

How had he gotten here in the first place? The middle of a forest seemed an awfully strange place, even for somepony waking up with amnesia. However, he would contemplate that later. There were things to be done now.

He looked around. He wasn’t seeing much, what with all the rain. Therefore, he wandered to the edge of the clearing, and chose a path that looked clearer than the other options, which wasn’t saying much.

But now he had a goal. That was enough for him. He set off at a trot, eyes set straight ahead.

=====================================================================

“Fluttershy, are you feeling okay?” Applejack asked with concern in her eyes.

“Yes...no. No I’m not,” Fluttershy said, practically shaking. When the princess had noticed the steadily darkening sky, she had remembered a meeting she was late for before she raised the moon for the evening. She had warped out, leaving the ponies to themselves.

Rarity had realized with a gasp that she had left her sister alone in the boutique, as she had not expected to be gone so long. Apologizing as she went, she donned a brutally fabulous raincoat to brave the storm in style, and rushed out.

Twilight had offered to organize a plan to sweep through the Everfree Forest the next day, so she was soon off to the library to draw up plans.

Pinkie Pie had simply gasped and bolted out fearlessly into the storm, which nopony found odd, it being Pinkie Pie and all. Rainbow had elected to send for the pegasi to see about defeating the storm with the weather squad.

Derpy Hooves had been the last to leave. When she had finished her third muffin, she simply told the others, “Thanks for the muffins. Gotta get back to Dinky and Doctor. Good-bye!” With that, she too left into the night, albeit clumsily.

This had left Fluttershy and Applejack. Upon seeing her friend so distressed, she decided to take it on herself to stay there for Fluttershy. After all, she thought, Big Mac is certainly capable of handling the farm by himself for one night.

From the moment Derpy’s form was no longer visible, Fluttershy had broken down into the sofa that the unnamed pegasus had slept on the other night, and hadn’t moved much at all since.

“Well shoot, sugarcube. What’s wrong?” Applejack asked with a smile. She gently sat on the sofa next to Fluttershy.

“I...I...thinkthatImightbefallinginlovewiththenewpegasusandhe’sgoneandI’mworriedabouthimbecausethestormisreallyreallyreallybadand,” From there, she fell silent, not able to go on. Not that Applejack had actually heard it.

“What was that, hon’?” Applejack asked, eyebrow raised. However, Fluttershy just shook her head, and buried her head into a pillow. It took a few minutes, but finally she resurfaced, with tears forming in her eyes. “Oh, well we can’t have that!” AJ exclaimed, pulling Fluttershy into a hug. “Just tell me what’s got yer mane in a twist, sugarcube. You know you can trust me.”

Finally, Fluttershy sighed, reminding herself that Applejack was the holder of the Element of Honesty. “I, uh, you know, don’t really know how to say it.” Applejack just pulled her tighter, waiting for her to continue. AJ could tell this was a serious problem, and was treating it as such. Fluttershy spoke again, scarcely above a whisper, “I think...I might be falling for the new pegasus.” Applejack nodded, silently urging her to continue. “I mean, we just met, so there’s no way he could like me, right? I mean, I could barely talk to him this morning, after last night, when I...” She broke off there, not willing to share that she had kissed the pegasus, even if he had been asleep.

Applejack sighed, knowing that it had taken a lot of courage by Fluttershy’s standards to share even that much. The best she could do was give some advice that seemed to work for her in all situations: “Fluttershy, my Grannie Smith always told me that if there’s one thing a mare’s gotta do, it’s being true to herself. If this stallion is at all worth your time, he’ll come to love you for who you are. Even if who you are just happens to be shy. He’ll want what’s best for ya, no matter what. And now here’s a tip from your good ol’ pal AJ: these things take time. Ya can’t really be sure that ya even feel that way about this pegasus. For all we know, you could be having some kind of post-traumatic thingy, and realize in a few days that this stallion is nothin’ special. Jus’ take yer time, okay?” Fluttershy nodded, put off that Applejack had so readily doubted Fluttershy’s feelings.

However, she thought about her friend’s advice seriously. She really wasn’t sure how she felt. The morning could hardly have gone worse when it came to her impressing him, she thought, but what if it hadn’t? What if things had gone as she’d hoped they would? She may have had a completely different situation on her hooves. However, she recalled Applejack’s other advice: be herself. Well, she had certainly been herself: shy as anypony had ever seen. She didn’t want to be loved for being somepony she wasn’t, did she? She stopped thinking about it as her brain began throbbing.

“Thanks Applejack,” Fluttershy whispered. “It means a lot to have somepony to talk to about this.”

“Shoot, sugarcube, you know I’ll always be there for ya,” Applejack said, her smile not just on her face but in her voice, warm and caring. It proved contagious as Fluttershy too couldn’t help but give a small grin.

The grin didn’t last long, however, as she remembered the situation that the pegasus was in. The night was just about here, and he was still out there. She couldn’t help but wonder all the terrible things that could be happening to him at that very moment...

=====================================================================

The pegasus trotted as best he could through the downpour. The forest was dark; its trees offered little comfort from the rain.  Night was quickly approaching, he realized, and he needed to find a place to stay for the night. Staying dry was no longer an option. He just didn’t want to be in the open when the nocturnal beasts came out.

There was one thing he could take comfort in, though, as he progressed: the rain was starting to lighten up considerably. The skies to the east were actually visible now, through which he noticed the faint glow of a moon fighting to penetrate the clouds. The walk wasn’t particularly pleasant,  but it was certainly bearable. Before too long, he came to a river that lacked a bridge. The moon was just starting to break the clouds, so he decided crossing the river was not going to be a good option. He looked at the trees that grew not far from the bank. They seemed strong, and high enough that he might escape an encounter with the beasts of the night. He took refuge in a willow tree, its dreadlock appendages surrounding him in unique beauty.

He liked trees; they were living, breathing, like ponies, but they never fought with each other. They simply stood, side by side, braving the cruel world together as a team. They stood strong as a team, and when they wavered against the forces that sought to bring them down, they wavered together as well. He longed for someone like that for himself, somepony who could be there with him though thick and thin.

His thoughts shifted to somepony else. That mare that had taken him in last night. What was her name? Fluttershy, that was it. She had been so kind to him, taking him into her home even at the risk of being ridiculed by her friends. She had selflessly feared for those that sought to do her harm, yet she was so delicate. What had she done to his face last night? He had felt her lips on his cheek, as delicate as her personality appeared to be.

Images of her and of the day’s events sent him into a peaceful sleep, more restful than most before had been. However, when his dreams caught up to him, he was not to have such peace...

=====================================================================

Luna paced in her room, lost in thought. The meeting had been boring, as she’d expected, but she had already forgotten about that. As she stood in her Moon’s beautiful light, she pondered the day’s events.

Who was that stallion? Why had he fled? Did he remember her as she did him? What was the connection? So many questions, none of which could be answered on her own. She was going to need an excuse to go back to Ponyville soon.

She then wondered why she had not allowed the others to look for him when the storm, even when he was in some serious danger. She had told herself all day that she had done so because she didn’t want to see anypony else get hurt. But as she opened honestly to herself, she realized there had been a different motive, a childish motive: she didn’t want to have to be there when they found him. She was afraid of him as well. Why? He’d given her no reason to fear him, hadn’t he? In retrospect, she knew she’d been childish. She would have to make this right.

She’d never be able to forgive herself otherwise.

=====================================================================

There he was again, in the field of cold stone. He’d tried to find something beyond the fields, but eventually he’d resigned himself to the truth that the fields reached out forever. And as the fields stretched out interminably, so too did his suffering. It didn’t just hurt when the abuser was tormenting him; he hurt all the time now, even when it left him alone. Was it physical hurt? Mental? Emotional? Likely all of the above. He wanted to die, he wanted it all to end. Was that so much to ask for?

When the tormentor was hurting him, he at first had begged it to stop. To show him mercy and forgiveness for whatever he had done wrong. Now, he didn’t ask for mercy. He knew the torturer knew no such word. Now...

Now he just begged it to kill him.

The pegasus jolted awake, startled, and promptly lost his balance. Before he could recover, he was falling off the branch. His head hit the ground, hard, and he felt dazed.

As he recovered, he regained his bearings. He had spent the night in a tree. Most of the night, anyway: the moon was still up in the western portion of the sky. It must have been three in the morning or so. The rain had stopped by this time, so he decided to set about getting back to Ponyville by flight. He hadn’t crossed a river on the way out from Ponyville, had he? Or had he? Buck, he didn’t know. He gave in, and flew over the river, only to crash once he had cleared the river. He must have hit his head harder than he thought. He resolved to give flying a rest for a while, and just started walking. After a few minutes, it finally hit him that he was making little progress at all.

Finally, he just stopped. This was hopeless. He was beyond lost. He took refuge in a tree once more, and just lay there. It was only then that he realized just how tired he really was. He had hardly slept at all in the night thus far. Maybe, when the Sun rose, he would finally be able to get some rest...

=====================================================================

The Great and Powerful Trixie hadn’t been feeling very Great and Powerful lately. She had already resigned herself to another morning without breakfast, a more and more common occurrence since she lost her wagon and her money to the Ursa. In a few short months, she had gone from The G&P T to the P&H T: the Poor and Hungry Trixie. It was on mornings like this that she almost wished she could go back to Ponyville and apologize to all of them.

She really had been terrible to them, hadn’t she? She really did want to make things right with them, if only so that her conscience would leave her alone. She would be poor and hungry and unliked no matter what happened, so why not clear her conscience?

Oh wait, that’s right. She was a fradey-pony. She would never be able to face their mocking, hateful faces as she imagined them every time thoughts of Ponyville entered her head. She was almost as afraid of returning there as she was of returning home to Daddy.

She’d never be able to go home, not after she had run away. Some part of her knew that her Daddy loved her, but that almost made it worse for her. He had wanted her to grow up and do great things and be a high-class member of society, but all she had done was run away, lead a sub-life of showboating, and then had even that stripped of her. She was too old now to go back and try to start over, no matter how willing Daddy was.

Wait. Was she...crying? No, that couldn’t be right. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn’t cry! Not even a sniffle! Not when her adoring fans were always searching to snap a photo or get an autog-

Oh yeah. She didn’t have fans anymore. She resumed crying for a while. It made her feel better, after a while. She missed Daddy. She missed Mommy too, but she had been used to her mother not being around, since she had died those many years ago. After elementary school, it had just been her and Daddy.

She found herself missing the ponies of Ponyville as well. She wanted them to know that she was sorry for what she did, and that she hoped they could forgive her. But she would never be able to work up that courage.

What was her alternative? Continue living this life, this escapade as a vagabond? She found herself not wanting to live even another second in this life. She needed a purpose other than survival. Especially since even that wasn’t going so well either, since winter was right around the corner. Food and warmth were becoming more and more scarce. She needed a new direction, and fast.

She was in luck, then, when a road sign entered her sight, proclaiming Ponyville’s direction to her helpfully. She steeled herself, then set out towards what she was already anticipating she would end up regretting.

=====================================================================

Several hours earlier...

Fluttershy woke up, feeling terrible and with a throbbing headache. She looked at the clock; 3:30 am. Hm. She’d actually managed to sleep an hour this time. The last couple times she had tried to sleep, she had only managed a few minutes of restless semi-sleep at a time. She looked out the window: the storm had finally ceased. When the sun came up, she would be out there with the others, looking for him. For now, though, she forced herself to wait.

She crept downstairs, praying she didn’t wake Applejack up. Her prayers weren’t heard, it seemed, because when she reached the bottom of the stairwell, there stood Applejack, looking tired, but with a small smile on her face. When Fluttershy met her at the ground floor, she was met with a warm hug from her friend.

“You hardly slept, sugarcube,” Applejack said, looking into Fluttershy’s tired eyes with concern. “Try to rest. We’ll be out there in no time, looking for him. For now, you need to try to get some sleep.”

Fluttershy gave in to A.J.’s request, and crossed to the sofa. Here she collapsed, and found herself surprisingly able to fall asleep quickly. As she drifted off, she found herself picturing the pegasus on this very sofa only the night before. Why had he run away? Why...?

=====================================================================

At 7 am, six ponies were gathered at the edge of the Everfree. They looked at each other nervously out of spite; they still feared the Everfree, despite that they’d been there before. As a team, they marched into the woods.

Fluttershy took the lead. She refused to be anywhere else for this. Plus, she didn’t want anypony to see her face while she walked. In truth, she was terrified, but that was not about to stop her now. If she could put on a mask of confidence, maybe what lay underneath would follow suit. Besides, nopony wanted to find this pegasus more than her.

What the search team didn’t notice was that they weren’t comprised of six; they were really nine. The other three didn’t exactly...make their presence known. At least, that’s what they told themselves.

In truth, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sneaking along because Sweetie Belle had overheard Fluttershy speaking to Rarity about finding the pegasus, and had told the other Crusaders. Naturally, they decided they would be Cutie Mark Crusader Pony Rescue Squad. They had rightly assumed that the others wouldn’t approve, however, so they decided to simply follow along...from a respectable distance.

They were not the only ones hiding something. There was another mare among them who was not willing to be open. As they continued their search, her mind was certainly elsewhere.

Rainbow Dash did not like the idea of being up at 7 am. In fact, there were only a few ponies she would do that for, and they were all here. Nonetheless, she was having a tough time staying awake. She hadn’t gotten much sleep either. She had lain in her bed all the night, unable to fall asleep. This had been an increasing trend recently, but there was nopony she could turn to.

That was because it was something she could hardly admit to herself, let alone anypony else. At first, she had viewed it as just a bad thought or two, but as it had grown she had begun to despise herself for it. She wasn’t that kind of mare, was she?

But as time had worn on, she had begun to think differently. It couldn’t be bad if it was just who she was, right? In any event, there was no point in further denying it. Not to herself, at least.

She was in love with Applejack. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t like stallions like most mares, but there was something about that orange Earth pony that just...ugh. She couldn’t describe it. She was kind of terrible with words.

Lately, she hadn’t been trying to stop her feelings for her, but to just figure out how to tell her. She hated being alone in her confusion. She needed someone she could trust and rely on; unfortunately, the first name that came to mind there was...Applejack.

Her mind was running in circles. Finally she had given up trying to figure out what to do, and had been “content” to just act like nothing was different. It seemed to fool the others, but she knew she would never be happy until she could get it off her chest.

More recently, she had been avoiding Applejack more than she meant to. She was so afraid that she would let something slip that she just eliminated the risk by not spending any time with her. Sometimes she would try to make herself hang out with Applejack for their friendship’s sake, but it was never like how it was before. In all truth, it broke her heart. And she was not typically the type for such sappy stuff.

And the worst part was that she had to pretend like it didn’t hurt her. She had an image to keep up, and being in love was hardly an option, let alone being a fillyfooler. She had nowhere to turn.

Until today, that is. For this would be the day that she would let it all out. She had given it a lot of thought, and realized that she was running out of options. She knew that eventually Applejack would have to learn the truth. She wanted it to come from herself.

So while the others were looking for the pegasus, she was multitasking: along with the search for the missing pony, she was on the lookout for an opportunity to talk to AJ alone. Unfortunately, nothing was forthcoming. Well, not until the utter surprise of the appearance of the beast knocked all six of the ponies on their haunches.

They had never seen anything like it. It was really a beast beyond compare. Its teeth glistened hungrily in all three of its mouths. One mouth had two fangs, each dripping with poison. The other two mouths were simply lined with venomless, jagged teeth. If that weren’t enough, its claws on its four forelegs looked positively sinister. Its back two legs were powerful, poised to pounce, giving it six legs in total.

The creature was twice as tall as Big Mac could ever hope to be. Its black coat meshed with the dark forest around it. It had nine eyes in all. Four of said eyes were, for some reason, positioned on the palms of its paws. The remaining five were spread all about its head in a circle, so it had a 360 degree view of its surroundings.

Before the ponies could react, the monster had already engaged them in attack. It swept aside Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie with hardly a thought, and with another foreleg he swept aside Applejack and Rainbow Dash in a similar way. Fluttershy didn’t need to be engaged; she had fainted already. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had managed to remain thus far unnoticed, and that was something they didn’t want to change. Therefore they dove into a nearby bush and watched fearfully from there.

Twilight took the most punishment of her friends: she hit a tree, and Rarity and Pinkie hit her. She was left incapacitated, dazed and confused. The trio lay in a heap, unconscious.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Applejack and Rainbow were mostly unharmed and ready to fight. It seemed, however, that the beast was not willing to take them all at once. With two of its forelegs, it swept Applejack off the ground and bolted.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow hollered as she gave chase. The beast was remarkably fast, and in this terrain Dash had a hard time keeping up. However, Dash was not to be deterred. “You put her down NOW!” she hollered. There was no way she was going to lose her best friend now, especially when she still had things to tell her. With this in mind, combined with her already extraordinary speed, she caught up to the beast.

She slung a front hoof as far around its gigantic neck as she could and attempted to pull it over sideways. Instead, her momentum carried her around its head so that she was face-to-face with three very large mouths. One hungry eye peered at her menacingly. She acted without thinking, and gave an almighty buck. It found its mark by the grace of fate: the beast’s front eye.

The beast came to a screeching halt, lost its balance, and tumbled over. As it scrambled to rise back up, its grip on Applejack loosened enough that she was able to break free. She backed away quickly towards where Rainbow stood defiantly. The beast now stood, facing Rainbow directly. Its eye had taken a lot of damage; it was already swelling magnificently. Two eyes farther to the sides peered at Rainbow with apparent difficulty; she had removed a large advantage this beast had.

That didn’t change that Rainbow and Applejack were against all odds against this killing machine. For the first time, the beast let forth a roar. And a roar as loud or as horrifying neither mare could remember in all her days. They didn’t try running, though, as they knew such an effort would be futile. They could only stand up to this monster, and that seemed no option at all.

=====================================================================

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were terrified. In little more than a few moments, they had watched two mares get swept off by the beast. Applebloom had not been able to do anything as her sister was taken and carried off like a ragdoll. Scootaloo had watched in horror as her idol had fearlessly bolted after the beast. That was why she admired Rainbow Dash, for her bravery, but the idea of her idol facing such a beast was petrifying.

So the Cutie Mark Crusaders acted without thinking. Paying no attention to the fact that it was the Everfree, nopony knew they were out there, and there were three unconscious mares nearby, they followed the trail. The lingering very faint rainbow from Dash’s furious flight led them in the right direction.

Of course, they weren’t expecting that the beast would lead them so far from the others. Soon, they were alone, with only the rainbow trail to lead them in the right direction. And that was fading all the more as they proceeded...

=====================================================================

The pegasus sat bolt upright as a terrible sound broke into his dreamless sleep. Whatever that was, it was not good. That was a cry of pain, of anger, and of determination to kill. His curiosity got the better of him; he flew off to see what was the matter.

He couldn’t place why the thought entered his head, because there was no concrete reason to believe such a thing. But the thought persisted nonetheless: somepony was in danger. Grave danger.