Fluttershy woke up that morning in the hollow of her favorite tree trunk. It used to be Zecora's house, and even though she'd gotten rid of all the potions and masks, and even the windows, the once-house still felt like Zecora's and smelt like it, too. This dis-pleased the yellow Alicorn.
She would have thought that placing her soul into a stone statue would have removed all these little things.
She got up and stretched her wings. Looking out through the empty window, she saw the light streaming in through the canopy of trees, and somewhere a small stream could be heard trickling along. The whole effect was rather nice, she reflected. It had taken her years and years to claim the once resplendent forest back from the monsters that had inhabited it, and she'd done a very good job, she thought.
The leaves of the forest blew gently in an invisible wind, the same one that Fluttershy's mane floated in. Time did not seem to pass here, and every animal knew their place. Sometimes there would be faint hints of music on the wind, like a flute.
Fluttershy started walking.
In the centre of the forest, there lay what used to be the castle of the Royal Princesses. It was well over three thousand years old, probably more, but even though vines covered the outside of the stone walls and trees bent over the top of the ruins to shed their leaves, that was all that nature had been able to claim of it. There was still glass in the windows, the stone floors had not chipped nor cracked, and the wooden doors had not even splintered the tiniest bit.
However, where there were once the Elements of Harmony, there now lay five stone statues, with two larger ones standing at the front. In truth, most of the Elements of Harmony were still there: however, instead of stone orbs, they had been replaced with two unicorns, two earth ponies and a pegasus. The Bearers of the Elements, as they were before Alicornation, minus Fluttershy. In front of them stood the two Royal Sisters.
These statues were empty. They were nothing more than smooth stone (though Rarity's had an enchantment on it, for she was the Bearer of Stone) at the moment. One day soon, Fluttershy, she thought, you'll have the whole set. She'd managed to mentally contact Rarity one night and trick her into thinking that she was going to join her side, that she'd 'come to her senses', as it were. She'd managed to steal some of Rarity's power (which would quickly return to her) and summon seven statues that would house her friend's souls. With the other ponies, it was different. It was more like petrifying when you actually had the soul on you.
She remembered the day she had ascended to power like it was yesterday.
She'd been nervous, worrying if she wasn't good enough to be an Alicorn and protect the Element of Earth. Rarity was already the Element of Stone, having ascended the week before, and she didn't really know what would happen once she was an Alicorn. Would everything be different? Would her other friends in Ponyville treat her differently?
Fluttershy floated down from the top of the Castle Throne Room and looked around with fresh eyes, sharper hearing and a new mind.
She felt the earth that was far beneath the castle, crushed and subdued. She felt the flowers in her hair, dying slowly. She felt the Canterlot Caves, robbed of their precious jewels. Fluttershy looked around and saw ponykind destroying the Earth for their own gain. Fluttershy looked around to see a world full of criminals.
Ah, yes. The first time she truly felt her powers. It had been so frightening, feeling a million living creatures dying or being subdued around her, and no-pony even knew it. So terrifying. But then she had slowly realized her purpose in the world now she had been freed of her mortal body, her purpose in this new world. She was there to serve the very Earth itself, to save and to protect. She was the Earth's saviour.
The first thing that Fluttershy had done when she'd arrived back in Ponyville was that she had set all of her animals free and demanded that everypony give up their pets. It wasn't right to drag a creature from its natural habitat and force it into submission like that. Twilight no longer lived in Ponyville - none of her friends did - and so Fluttershy had exerted full control over the small town.
Wind whistled through the town of Ponyville. The streets were quiet, since there were not many ponies that lived there any more - most had escaped to Canterlot or some other place under the cover of darkness. Fine, let them. They'd learn their lesson soon enough, and it would be fun to track down their souls in the future. Or the souls of their foals. Either way, somepony was going to have to pay for the damage.
You see, Fluttershy, having realized that ponykind was destroying the Earth and they didn't even know it, was slowly collecting the souls of the ponies who had, in her view, committed heinous crimes against nature - her first stop had, naturally, been Sweet Apple Acres, which was now much improved. The Apple Family were the first ponies to go logically, but maybe she should have started elsewhere.
The day after she had claimed her first criminals - for they were, trying to tame nature in such a way - she came to town and realized that at least half of the townsponies had gone. They had disappeared some time in the night, and Fluttershy had spent the entire day creating a barrier around Ponyville so that no-pony could leave.
Fluttershy reached the part of the castle that held the worst of the outlaws. It didn't have a name. Maybe it would become the Hall of Shame. Here rested Carrot Top, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, three of the flower ponies, and many others. After the Hall of Shame (for Fluttershy had decided that the name was a definite keep), there were the rest of the townsfolk.
Anyway, she wasn't just there to look at statues. Today, she had decided to scout around the town again and this time, she'd be looking for secret bunkers. Up until now, Fluttershy had been sectioning off parts of the town and slowly working her way through a bit every so often, instead of sweeping her way through the town all at once. No-pony could leave, anyway. Now that she'd done the houses, it was time for a bit of digging.
Fluttershy walked towards the town.
The first few houses had no secrets so reveal. Since Ponyville was mainly just dirt, Fluttershy could exert some control over it and could see where dead plant matter was. Which was everywhere. It would give off a faint glow, depending on how much there was, and she could see pantries and such.
And no-where were there more dead plants that the flower ponies' houses.
"Why?!"
Rose used her last words to question the Alicorn before her body surrendered itself to Fluttershy's magic. A shame, she thought while Rose's soul was absorbed by her body, she could have used them much better. "I'm sorry, I was wrong" perhaps.
Oh well. The Earth would not suffer under her tyranny any longer.
Fluttershy stopped at the town hall and ignited her horn, which emitted a cyan coloured glow. She quite liked having unicorn magic, though it had taken some time to getting used to. It was useful. Casting a light wave of pale blue across the ground, it rolled and bounced against every lump and rock on the ground, giving everything an outline. The outline faded, and, keeping up the spell, slowly the ground lit up with little dots and odd shapes, too small to be seen individually by a normal pony. They surrounded her in a large circle.
Fluttershy started to walk.
Eyes glued to ground, the yellow Alicorn found a few crudely dug-out holes containing some corpses. She collected some of the souls that still remained, but a few had fully gone. They were lucky - she'd have to spend more effort trying to get those ones back. Finally, Fluttershy came across the very mare she was after.
The mare's name was Buttercup and she had moved to Ponyville only recently. Unlucky for her. Her coat colour was cream and her mane was two shades of warm yellow, and her cutie mark was two yellow buttercups tied with pink ribbon. Her eyes were pink too, if she remembered correctly. None of these things mattered; she just liked to know the names and faces of the criminals she brought to justice.
And there she was, cowering in what looked like a pantry, and not just a small hole. Fluttershy disengaged the spell and walked to the front of Buttercup's house. The door was locked, so the Alicorn pressed a hoof to the door and felt through the key hole, feeling the pins and gears and shifting them so that when she removed her hoof, the door fell open. A standard Alicorn trick.
The air was stale and no-pony had been inside for weeks. If Buttercup was alive at this point, it would be rather impressive. Fluttershy reminded herself to congratulate the Earth pony before justice came to collect her. She searched the house, ignoring the upstairs level. The entrance to the pantry was very well-hidden, and she eventually came across it underneath a false cupboard in the kitchen. Impressive - though it had probably already been there for a while. Fluttershy knew that many flower and food growers hid their pantry entrances so that in the event of a break-in, they'd at least have some stock left to sell. She'd learnt that from Applejack, and exploring the Apple Family farm had taken quite some time, but it had been both necessary and rewarding. Almost fun, if their crimes had not been so awful.
Being as quiet as possible, Fluttershy silently removed the false cupboard and walked down the steps. They went quite deep - for maximum safety, she supposed - and eventually she appeared before Buttercup. The poor mare squealed in terror for quite some time. Shame, Fluttershy had been waiting for a more natural response. Once she stopped and looked up, the Alicorn started to talk with a solemn tone and a pitying face.
"Buttercup, because of your crimes against the Earth and Nature itself, I am going to kill you, trap your soul and place it in a stone statue. You will stay there for the foreseeable forever, and you will never come out. It is pointless to struggle. I have already imprisoned the majority of Ponyville and you will be no exception. Have you any last words?"
"...W-why? What have I d-done...to deserve murder?" Buttercup began to sob again.
"It is not murder. It is capital punishment. It is justice. For years you have subdued the Earth and murdered its brethren without thought, for money and your own selfish gain. If anypony here is the murderer, it is you." Even Fluttershy surprised herself with how formal and regal she was sounding. She liked to imagine a faint halo of light around her head.
"B-but I didn't know...*sob*...I didn't know!"
"It does not matter. No-pony did. No-pony can feel the Earth like I can, feel it die and wither around me under the selfish rule of ponykind, feel it suffer. If anypony knew the Earth like I do, then you would all be crying as you felt Nature's pain." Fluttershy's voice was raised and a single tear fell to the ground as she stood over the small yet so significant mare.
"I'm...I'm sorry...but I didn't know." This time, Buttercup stopped crying and sat up to look Fluttershy right in the eye, an indescribable look on her face.
Fluttershy was taken aback. This...this simple mare had the nerve to look a Goddess, a physical embodiment of pure Nature itself in the eye? She took a step back, brow quivering as she tried to process it. She ignited her horn, charging it with an arcane power too great for a mortal being to understand it, and fired at the criminal before her, instantly draining her heart of energy and removing its soul from its abode. Without effort it was dragged into the Alicorn's body.
The process ended, and a heavy wave of hush descended across Fluttershy. She became very uncomfortable, and once she was outside of the house, Fluttershy began to run.
Author's Note
Leave a comment to let me know what you think! Or, y'know like and fave it, I guess...
