//------------------------------// // Beguiled // Story: The Same Night // by LimeAttack //------------------------------// Beguiled “No, it really isn’t that important that I clean my house now,” Fluttershy squeaked as a small group of ponies began to close around her. “I have sponges if you need them!” “And I’m willing to help you out since you work so hard to keep the animals well!” “My toad can wait, making sure the caretaker is taken care of takes the top!” When her back grazed against the wall, Fluttershy glanced around at the three random ponies staring her down eagerly, smiling all the way. A breeze stirred, whisking around her house and gently tickling the tips of her wings. In a breath of wind, Fluttershy streaked away from her “aggressors” and toward Whitetail Lake. How did this blur start? The wretched hacking of the once proud eagle filled the tiny cottage with its despairing dissonance. I’ve had animals pass away, but that came about from old age... Fluttershy dug through drawer upon drawer of notes and small books, eventually finding the one page that could be her saving grace. The dangerously complicated recipe for a nightshade paste seemed to grin wickedly up at her. It has to be eaten, which could be really dangerous. But it’s the only way. Names of various herbs and plants dotted the page, from the namesake nightshade to calabar bean, saffron, and sage. Fluttershy’s eyes, previously scanning the page and making a mental shopping list, stopped and widened. “A blooming Dust of Twilight?!” After carefully collecting the ingredients naturally occurring around her home, Fluttershy hastily trotted into warm cinnamon breezes and the gentle noise of Ponyville’s market. After nearly half an hour of fruitless search, blood red strands caught her eye. On her approach to the spice stand, Fluttershy’s heart fell at the price of spices. The posh merchant running the stand turned to face his new customer. “Come for something to make your tastebuds dance, my sweet?” His hoof, done with the casual presentation of his stock, rested on the sign proclaiming prices that would put Fluttershy at least 100 bits under for the amount of herb she needed. Feeling the measly weight of just under fifty bits in her saddlebags, Fluttershy started to turn away from the stand and its outrageous pricing. “It’s for a medicine, a-and I’m afraid I don’t have enough bits to pay for what I—” “Nonsense! I’m sure we can agree on something reasonable if it’s for a good cause. What kind of medicine are we referring to, madam?” His suave marketing slit a smile into his trained face. After pawing at the ground once or twice, Fluttershy came back to the stall. “I have an eagle that happens to be very very sick, and I need some specific spices to make him a paste so he can recover.” “Well, what do you need? I’m sure that if it’s not too expensive,” the stallion gestured to a full pair of saddlebags in his stall, “the house can make up the difference.” “Um...” Fluttershy bit her lip. “I need two ounces of saffron.” A few minutes later, the stallion shook his headache away as he stood up. “My, I took quite the tumble. It’s not often people come asking for saffron. But what you’re asking for, it costs 120 bits, and I may not even have enough of it!” With a dejected sigh, Fluttershy turned away from the stall again. “I know, and I only brought 45. I should’ve known that it would be more expensive, it’s just that I haven’t bought saffron in so... so long that—” “Hush now.” After an extended pause of consideration, he finally continued. “Just pay me 40 bits.” The stall owner carefully measured out exactly two ounces of the notoriously rare spice. “It’s destined for a noble act.” Fluttershy’s smile grew to amazing proportions. “Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” After depositing a sack of bits on the counter, she gingerly took the saffron in her mouth and made her way back home. Upon coming back to her small house, Fluttershy checked on the sickly eagle. His feathers, disheveled and in need of preening, ruffled slightly with every short breath. He cried shrilly yet quietly as his careful guardian pony lifted him into a small carrier designed for rapid, airborne medical transit. She then packed in a bowl with all of the ingredients, ready and waiting to be mixed. Fluttershy took one last glance at a small map spread on the table, whisked the notes for nightshade paste into her mouth, and carefully pushed her way out into the reddening afternoon sun. As she landed on the small mesa, the sun crept ever closer to the west horizon and a tiny sliver of the moon edged the slightest hair of its light over the east. Dust of Twilight flowers only bloom for that tiny moment where it’s neither day or night... I hope I have enough time! As soon as Fluttershy mixed the ingredients she had into a smooth paste, the field around her began to open up into a rainbow. The divinely beautiful flowers beamed a cascade of colors that traversed the entire spectrum of the sky at twilight, that fragile moment where the heavenly bodies stood equal parts in the sky. Awestruck by the amazing power of the moment, Fluttershy nearly forgot why she came. “The paste!” She quickly snipped a bloom from its stem and began crushing it into the paste, the tiny wisps of highly fickle magic seeping out in visible puffs of either light or darkness. Either he’ll completely recover or he’ll die, no telling which... But he would die anyway if I didn’t at least try! With a final push of the pestle, the paste became a swirling gray that seemed to shift from indigo hues to orange ones, depending on which light struck it more fully. Holding her breath, Fluttershy fed the strange medicine to the eagle bit by bit until he had consumed the entire dose. Just as the last of the paste vanished, the entire field of flowers shed the blooms and began forming buds once again. For the first 30 minutes, nothing seemed to happen other than his breathing becoming fainter and fainter. Just as Fluttershy got ready to pack up and head home to prepare yet another grave for her latest animal to pass, the eagle ruffled its feathers and flapped up to its feet. With a long gaze and a brief cry toward his savior, the regal creature beat its powerful wings and took off into the deepening night, toward a copse of trees where it would undoubtedly roost for a while. Carrying a spring in her wing, Fluttershy flew on smiles all the way home for a much-needed sleep. The late morning sun spilled into Fluttershy’s room, striking its way through thick windows and spilling onto the bed. Her eyes slowly drifted open, catching the sight of Angel, who threw his arms up with a smile at the sign of Fluttershy stirring. As her eyes fully opened, Fluttershy drew the curtains open to look outside. “Oh, no!” In a flurry of motion, she flew about the house, feeding animals and giving a few some fresh bandages after a night spent protecting some scrape or another. Within an hour, Fluttershy panted and sweat beaded off her forehead as she finally sat down on her couch, morning chores finally done. Surprisingly, Angel had eaten without fuss. In fact, he didn’t even wake her up that morning like usual. After her short break, Fluttershy trotted out of her cottage and toward Ponyville. As she approached town square, a few random ponies greeted her warmly. I’ve never even talked to these ponies before. Why do they seem so suddenly interested? When she finally made it to that spice store, the merchant beamed at her. “So, how did it go?” “He’s recovered fully,” Fluttershy said simply with a small smile, “and I’m very very grateful that you were so kind as to let me pay later.” As she pulled out a sack of bits to cover what she owed the stallion, his hoof stopped her. “No need, no need at all my dear! In fact, how about a discount on some of the rest of my stock? No doubt you need it for some of the other poultices and herbal remedies that you make so often!” He waved to the rest of his stock in a grandiose manner, highlighting his immense stock of spices that grew all over Equestria. Fluttershy backed away a few steps, eyeing her possible avenues of escape. “Oh, no thank you, I’m really just looking for some more cleaning supplies. I’m out of sponges, you see, and I planned on cleaning my house later.” Almost as if on cue, another merchant perked up. “Sponges, you say? Well, for Miss Fluttershy, I can offer you 5 perfect, top of the line sponges for just two bits!” “Um... but aren’t they normally two bits for each sponge?” As more and more ponies began looking her way, Fluttershy felt her heart begin to race. The soft blue mare smiled. “Well, yes, but seeing as you’re such a kind person, I thought I’d do something nice for you as well!” “N-no thanks, I really can pay what you usually charge—” “Nonsense! Either you get 5 sponges for two bits or you get 10 sponges for three! Enough to clean your house today and for the rest of the month!” “I’m sorry but I really must decline!” With no warning, Fluttershy cantered off toward her home, hoping to escape the oppressive market. As she approached her house, other ponies that had chased her all the way here from the market began walking toward her. “We came to help you clean your house!” they all spoke in unison, smiling unbearingly bright smiles that seemed to wilt the pegasus’ spirit. “No, it really isn’t that important that I clean my house now,” Fluttershy squeaked as they began to close around her. “I have washcloths if you need them!” “And I’m willing to help you out since you work so hard to keep the animals well!” “My toad can wait, making sure the caretaker is taken care of takes the top!” When her back grazed against the wall, Fluttershy glanced around at the three random ponies staring her down eagerly, smiling all the way. A breeze stirred, whisking around her house and gently tickling the tips of her wings. In a breath of wind, Fluttershy streaked away from her “aggressors” and toward Whitetail Lake. Once at the shore of the lake, Fluttershy crumpled onto the ground and lay her muzzle in the grass, her cheeks not yet dry. What’s happening to everypony? They’ve become so kind, and I just don’t want them to go out of their way for me. I liked things the way they were before... As Rainbow Dash peeled her eyes open, she noticed the sun just past its peak in the sky. She yawned, stretching out her wings and kneading the cloud she picked for nap just a few hours ago. With a few light *pomf* noises, the cloud returned to its puffy state, lacking an imprint of the pony that recently abused her ability to sleep just about anywhere, undisturbed. After a few exaggerated cracks of her bones, Rainbow took off to her house. Upon looking inside her mailbox, the pegasus nearly squealed in fangirlish delight as she noticed the letter she had been waiting for: a signed response from Spitfire regarding consideration for the next Wonderbolts tryout session, along with another surprise. “A ticket to their show tonight? Yes!” The wind nearly ripped the ticket apart as Rainbow Dash flew multiple loops around and through her house’s airspace. That night, in Canterlot Stadium, Rainbow sat excitedly in the VIP section of the south stand - a prime spot for catching the best of the airshow. She leaned forward, wings spread open and softly fluttering. With an opening flair, the blue-suited miracle flyers created a dynamic pattern in the sky, twisting loops around barrel rolls and spinning through reversals, finally coming to a delta point in midair. Immediately after all five ponies dove straight down, peeling off at the last second and whisking some of the water on the field up into the air. They then proceeded to whirl around the center of the water cloud, drawing it into a thunderhead while leaving the audience to view the entire thing through a prismatic veil of mist. In a final flourish, blue blurs weaved through the cloud, drawing lightning away and bringing it into the air. As they pulled up, the five split and strafed the edges of the mist, arcing the lightning out to the tiny bits of water and creating chromatic lightning that zipped around the mist thousands of times each second. When the last spark died, the crowd broke into thunderous screams, hollers, shouts, and stomps. As Rainbow Dash finished picking her jaw up off the floor, she turned around to see none other than Spitfire and Soarin’. Conveniently, the words that failed her seemed to be working perfectly fine for the ace flying mare. “Rainbow Dash, right? I hear next week you’ll be trying out for the team. Say, why don’t you grab a few drinks with Soarin’ and me? We like to relax after a show, and we figured that you might as well get to know us. After all, you’ll be dealing with us quite a bit if you make it.” With a smile wider than her wingspan, Rainbow enthusiastically nodded her agreement. The three ponies casually leaned back on their specially crafted clouds in Breezy Skies Lounge, known for being the only establishment of its kind in Canterlot that specifically catered to pegasi. An all-pegasus crew meant that the bar could get away with bringing in clouds to serve as some of their furniture. With a wave of her hoof, Spitfire brought one of the waitress pegasi over and whispered something in her ear. After a wait of a few minutes, the waitress brought back a bottle of scotch and one containing a strange drink Rainbow Dash had never seen before. “Ice Lily Liqueur.” Spitfire smiled at the confused pegasus. “The plants can only be grown at high altitude. Naturally, pegasi have to fly up there to get it. In fact,” she pointed to a picture on the back wall, “it was my job before I joined the Wonderbolts.” Underneath the autographed picture, a small plaque read Proud former employee of Breezy Skies Lounge. “By the way, I suggest you go slow on this one. You’ll be out faster than if you held your breath in midair. Now, how about we play a little game? I’ll start by saying something I’ve done. If either of you have done it, you have to take a drink.” She proceeded to fill all of their glasses with scotch, topping it off with some of the liqueur. Soarin’ smiled casually. “I can dig it. As long as you can hold up to it.” Having settled down quite a bit on the leisurely fly over, Rainbow Dash grinned. “Alright, let’s do it then.” “This isn’t really a challenge. But it’s good to see that you have spirit.” Spitfire capped the alcohol. “Take a drink if you’ve messed up preening before.” The other two drank, and Spitfire motioned for the next turn to go to Soarin’. “Hmm, how about if you’ve woken up in midair?” This time, only Spitfire drank. Rainbow Dash tapped her chin for a moment. “Oh! If you’ve run a race on hoof before.” To her surprise, both of the Wonderbolts drank. The rotation continued, with the group coming out just about even in terms of how much they drank over the course of the evening. With some pauses to refill and others to generally chat it up, the group moved into the small hours just after midnight, with the moon high in the sky and the lounge slowly beginning to lose patrons. The metaphorical stick came around to Rainbow Dash, who looked between the two ponies before her and then stared down at her glass. “If... if you’ve crashed.” Two glasses rose and clinked back onto the table. Defying the rules of the game, Rainbow simply continued. “If you’ve messed up a wing.” Two rise, two drink. “If you’ve seized up before a trick.” Rainbow Dash looked up just in time to see the other two finish their drinks and look directly at her. After downing the rest of her own drink, she continued. “I’ve always wanted to join the Wonderbolts, you know. Ever since the first time I saw a show, I wanted to be up there in the sky, soaring around, showing ponies how amazing the air is. Seeing you guys made me want to be amazing, made me want to be strong, not just in the air but all the time. And I wanted to do for other ponies what you did for me. “I should really be going. Thank you so much for inviting me to the show and to this place.” Rainbow Dash beat her wings a few times, hovering into the air. Before she could leave, Soarin’ stuck out a hoof and sat her back down. “Just a second.” He made sure she paid attention by turning her face to look at him. “You’ve got fire, you know that? You truly love what you do, and you’re more loyal to your dreams than just about anypony.” Spitfire cut in, understanding the direction taken. “And that’s exactly why I think you should decline to try out for the Wonderbolts. You’ve got the dreams, you’ve got the drive. I think you could make your very own aerial team. One that’s got less baggage than us, that’s for sure. Think about your friends. In the Wonderbolts, there’s no more time for friends or family. Or even yourself, for that matter. Us being here, doing this, could get us in big trouble. But I wanted to make sure that a pegasus with your raw potential put it to a place where it could truly shine.” Rainbow Dash looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up to her idols. “I need some time to think. Thanks for the good time, you two.” “Thanks for listening,” Spitfire said. Soarin’ looked at Rainbow knowingly. “Yeah, go ahead and sleep on it.” In a few beats of her wings, Rainbow Dash took to the Canterlot airspace and glided around for a while, eventually banking in the general direction of Ponyville. The Wonderbolts, not for me? They said that I could start my own group, that it would be better for me than theirs, but I’ve always wanted to join the Wonderbolts. Could it really be that bad? Having lost track of the time on the fly over, Rainbow Dash shook her head clear when she spotted her cloud home not too far away. As she slid in for a soft landing, her mind stuck on what they had said. I have fire, the dreams, the drive, but apparently not what they need in a Wonderbolt... Nato sat on the cold stone floor, staring down the long hallway. Eventually, he looked to his left at Celestia. An hour had passed, perhaps more, since the last time either talked. He looked up at the sky he could not see, dwelling on thoughts of his sister and what problems his arrival had ultimately caused. Heat rose in his body as the princess simply sat there, eyes closed, almost as if she were sleeping. He stood and turned. Celestia took notice and immediately stood as well. “Do you plan on going somewhere?” Nato simply looked at her. “I have a sister to find, and the more time we spend here just waiting the better chance there is that she could get hurt. Not to mention that there’s no indication of exactly when they’ll be back from their trip into the belly of this dark beast. I don’t want to just stand around and let things happen. You can find me when you need me, Celestia. I’ll be out there, getting things done.” The princess glared down at the impertinent unicorn, a fire burning within her that hadn’t been kindled for far too long. With great effort, she kept her composure. “So be it.” With a grunt, the impatient blue fool trotted back the way the group had entered. Celestia returned to her sitting position, closing her eyes and waiting for her faithful student to pull through. Nato looked up into the night sky for the first time since he had landed in Equestria from his home world, and focused his mind. He felt the magical currents around him, familiar yet strange all the same. With little effort, he pulled in a vast amount of magical power and turned his eye to a rock approximately the size of his head. Straining, Nato slowly lifted the rock and began moving it ever so gently across the clearing. He collapsed into pants as the rock fell back toward the ground. Damn my magic! Why can’t I be precise? I’ll need it if I plan on somehow exploring this place. For good measure, he discharged the ambient magic still around and felt the world around him slowly return to an even state. Five minutes later, Nato had found a balance and his horn now lit with an icy blue light as he paced into the darkness of the Everfree Forest.