//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: The Chase. 
// Story: The Chronicles Of ARTIMUS: Book One 
// by AlkapwnZ 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy opened her eyes, not even realizing she had fallen asleep.
Last night had been one of the most tiring moments of her life. Ever since the Wonderbolts Tryouts poster appeared on the local billboard, her friend Rainbow Dash had been spun into an anxious loop of exercise, condition, test, rest, rinse and repeat. RD was notorious among her friends for her aiming to please Flyers of all colors, with a somewhat boasted confidence, but this was a whole new level. Fluttershy worried for her friend; she would wear herself out before the tryouts even began, ruining her chances of success.
Because of this, Rainbow Dash insisted on having Fluttershy as "her training buddy". Honestly, 'Shy didn't feel like she was making much of a difference. Dash still pushed herself too hard, ignoring her advice on relaxing and resting. And the intense training wasn't just taking a toll on her friend; it was drastically affecting Fluttershy as well. 
She would end up coming home more tired than she'd like to be, consistently forgetting about the well being of her pets and animals she had within her care. She didn't blame Angel for slapping her awake after falling asleep in his bed when she was fluffing it out.
And each morning, she would wake up late with sore muscles that made it so much harder to complete her morning chores. And then she would leave her home to train with Rainbow again, continuing the painful cycle.
How much longer will this go on? Fluttershy thought to herself as she fought to stand up, her legs burning in protest. Fluttershy had that terrible morning taste in her mouth, and as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she realized she had fallen asleep in her bathtub. She was too tired to remember anything, but assumed that she had been attempting to take a shower before going to bed.
Oh, well. saves me the walk to the bathroom She stepped out of the bathtub, and stepped onto the white, smooth floor of the room and over to her sink. She rubbed cold water into her face in an attempt to revive her energy. When she completed this task, she looked into her mirror and just barely suppressed a gasp.
Her eyes were sunken and baggy, and her pink hair had lost it's usual shine and frayed in all directions.(plus some drool had dried on her bottom lip.)
Rarity would have simply fainted at the sight of me! Fluttershy thought in anguish. She sighed, and reached for her hair brush to take care of the mess, only to find empty space where her comb always was. She sighed again, as forgetting where everything was became a common occurrence in her life ever since Rainbow's training schedules. She walked out of her bathroom to search for the brush, only to be shocked at the sight of her home.
There was fur, feathers, down, nearly every kind of shed-able covering of animals was covering her furniture, floors, and even her kitchen sink! An unpleasant smell filled the air, something that reminded her of old eggs, and Angel was wrestling with a bear cub Fluttershy had saved from a cowardly timber wolf in the Everfree forest during her last visit to Zecora's hut.
Normally, Fluttershy would have cried over what was happening to her home, but with her sore muscles, limited rest, and irritating time spent with Rainbow, she snapped.
She galloped over to her broom and began sweeping the shedding into a pile for cleaning, and then began to fly about her home, something she rarely did in fear of knocking her head into one of the hanging bird cages. At speeds that would have put RD to shame, she filled the food and water bowls of her animal friends, cleaned out their musty cages, threw out old garbage, etc, etc, etc, until she was completely sure everything was in order. 
When she was able to ensure every animal was happy, healthy, and clean, she collapsed onto her couch.Anything else? Fluttershy ran through everything she had completed in her head. Fed and watered all the animals, cleaned the little ones cages, took out the garbage... Fluttershy froze when she realized what she had forgotten.
RAINBOW DASH"S TRAINING!!! She checked her clock, and realized she was two hours late!That HAS to be a record! She thought unhappily as she flew about her home, searching for her training clothes.Where ARE they?!?!? She realized she was already wearing them. She then flew out of her home and out towards the pegasi training field.Please don't be mad, please don't be mad... she was frightened of what Rainbow dash would say about her excessive lateness.


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When she finally reached the levitating field, there were several pegasi flying about, training, most preparing for the upcoming Wonderbolts tryouts, like Rainbow Dash. The field was huge; a vast disk of cloud, with training equipment of all kinds. Some pegasi were shooting through cloud hoops, others were doing wing-ups, and even a few were making failed attempts at a sonic rainboom.
No sign of her... Fluttershy hung her head in despair. She had probably got tired of waiting, and simply left without starting any training. I'm a terrible friend. Fluttershy scolded herself. You rested too long, and you let down one of your closest friends. Fluttershy nearly cried, when she suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings, and a mare gasping out words between breaths.
"Sorry...sorry I'm...la-late..." Fluttershy turned her head, and saw a sky-blue mare with a shining, multicolored mane fly towards her, practically wheezing as she sat down.
"Rainbow Dash, what are you talking about? I'M the one who's late!" Fluttershy exclaimed in surprise.
"What?...did...did you oversleep?" Rainbow Dash asked, finally starting to catch her breath. "Yeah..." Fluttershy replied sheepishly.
"So did I. I guess we've been over working it a little, huh?" Rainbow Dash chuckled. Fluttershy was surprised at her friend.
"You're not mad?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"Considering I'm no better, not really." Rainbow Dash sighed. " Let's take a break. We...need some time to rest." Rainbow obviously hated having to admit she was tired.
"Yeah..." Fluttershy suddenly had an idea. "Hey, when our break is over, we should train at Applejack's farm! There's a lot less pegasi there, and it'd be easier to pace ourselves there, anyways." Part of the reason they overworked it was because a couple of cocky pegasi stallions had been mocking them since day 1. Fluttershy knew that only made Rainbow Dash more competitive with the other trainees.
" Good idea. I'll ask Applejack, and then we'll meet there in three days." Rainbow Dash stepped towards her."Rest up; each day we spend training puts me one step closer to joining the Wonderbolts." The Blue-furred pegasus mare flew off at a much slower pace than earlier.
Fluttershy realized she was still in a messy state; her hair was still everywhere, her training clothes were filthy from sleeping and exercising in them, and she still had dry drool on her lower lip. Everypony's staring... Fluttershy flew away from the field, fully aware of her blushing. I can't think of a worse situation... Fluttershy despaired.


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I can't think of a worse situation! Twister thought in frustration as he galloped through the Everfree forest, and away from two REALLY pissed off Snake Women. 
All he could see was more and more trees, each one looking exactly like the last! The tree canopy was far too thick for any pegasus to fly through safely, and there weren't any rocks, or bushes, or anything he could as landmarks for navigation.
The pegasus stallion leaped over a small cliff and dove under it, hoping to lose his pursuers. Twister was used to being chased; he had been for over six months since his grandmother's death. But his previous pursuers were all ponies; these were supernatural snake women, possibly native to this forest. They were sharper than most; let it be a crumpled leaf, a broken branch, the tiniest clue to his presence never escaped their eyes. Twister knew these things were out for blood. They had destroyed quite a few trees in their attempts to kill him the first time.
Twister held his breath when he heard the slithering of the snake-tail-legs (whatever the hell they were called...) of the creatures. He knew the tiniest intake of breath would give away his position.
"Where did he go?" One of the snake-demons began to communicate with her partner with a terrible hiss for a voice. "How should I know? It's YOUR job to find him, and it's MY job to finish him!" The other creature snarled.
So they were hired...typical. Twister's enemies had too many prissy's in their circle. They wouldn't DARE get their hooves dirty.
Twister struggled to hold his breath longer. He was gonna have to breathe again soon, and he'd have to run when he did. He tipped his safari hat up as he scanned the area for an exit. The canopy was still too thick; no openings to be seen within the area. There wasn't any sunlight bursting through the tree's to indicate the forest's edge. Shit...no way out. Twister was gonna have to take a dangerous gamble.
He took in as much oxygen as he could within one gasp, and launched himself into the air and flew through the forest at high speed. This was extremely dangerous; flying under a tree canopy was just asking for a branch up your ass. Plus, there was a lot of tree trunks you would have to swerve around and avoid. This was tricky. Add the fact you're being chased by two angry monsters with powerful destruction spells, and you got at LEAST a 20% chance of success.
What would Granny do? Twister wondered. Nothing, he realizes, as she would never have gone into a forest during pursuit.  He thought it may have been worth the risk...the castle that princess's Celestia and Luna used to live in was here in the Everfree, and it was in it the next Key Shard was located.
 ...And the next clue to Grandma's death. Twister thought in anguish. Now, everything could go to hell within a second, because he made a fatal, idiotic mistake. His enemies would eliminate him, get their hooves on his map, and capture all the other Key Shards.
 Stay focused! Twister scolded himself. He nearly launched himself into a tree trunk, and then where would he be? Suddenly, Twister noticed a faint light to his left. Something's there! Twister swerved toward it, and as he got closer, an opening in the canopy slowly turns to his view.			
 Finally! Twister flew through the opening, and the next thing he knew, he was sky high.
"Take THAT, you sons-of-bitches!" Twister laughed out loud. He'd made it! He was so glad to finally be out in the open, to glide through the air...
Suddenly, a blinding amount of light and pain comes from his right flank, and Twister spirals out of control. Was it up, or down? Left, or Right? He couldn't tell. The pain was too much for him to handle, much less navigate. All he knew was he was out of control, and his right wing felt like it was tearing itself apart.
As he fell, Twister could hear a screeching in his ear, deafening him to everything else. He realizes before he crashes, that this is his own scream.



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Fluttershy had been training with Rainbow Dash at Applejack's farm when she heard the screaming. Three days had past, like it was planned, and she was more than ready to restart the training. Angel Bunny was happy, her animal friends no longer fought with one another, and she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Applejack was waiting for them outside her barn. "Alright, you two." The orange mare spoke with a southern accent that fit her appearance. She wore a cowfilly hat over her blonde mane, which she had tied up so it wouldn't get in the way of her work. "Y'all can go train out in the front, near the plains. Ah'll be bucking the apple tree's if ya need me. Stay outer' trouble." Applejack walked towards the apple acre, like she said.
"All right; lets get to work. We gotta make up for lost time." Rainbow Dash flew towards the ragtag training area Applejack had set up. " I'm ready." Fluttershy grinned as they began their training.
The day had been going wonderfully. Until the screaming filled her ears, and Fluttershy saw the pegasus stallion spiraling downwards, towards the edge of the apple farm.
Now she was galloping towards the crash site, Rainbow Dash and Applejack close behind. As she approached, the scent of blood and burning flesh became stronger and stronger, and she could see smoke rising from the site. Fluttershy was struggling to keep herself from panicking. Have to be strong; it won't help whoever it is that's injured if I start freaking out.
She moved past the rows of growing cabbages in the front as she moved forward. The smoke was rising near the border between the farm and the open plains leading to ponyville. She heard Applejack bark at Apple Bloom to stay in the barn. As she got closer, Fluttershy could see dirt kicked up all around the broken body.
Fluttershy nearly cried out; the sight before her was gruesome, even for a crash. The Stallion hadn't simply crashed; he had been shot down, evidence pointing to his right wing...or what was left of it.
The feathers and skin that was on the wing was completely burned off, and several parts of the wing itself was torn off in the crash. What was left was burned, bare muscle, some broken bone sticking out at torn parts, and there was blood EVERYWHERE. It soaked the Stallion's dull, yellow fur and his black, white, and gray colored mane, and was pooling around him. His leather vest was badly stained, and he wasn't moving...
Is he dead? Fluttershy wasn't sure what to do. Luckily, Applejack apparently did.
"Rainbow Dash! Fly T' Zecora's hut! We need somepony who knows how T' handle serious injuries!" Rainbow nodded and flew off. Applejack turned to Fluttershy. "Quick, go grab somethin' we can use t' stop the bleedin'!" Fluttershy flew back to the barn as fast as she could.  Something to stop the bleeding.... Fluttershy grabbed a blanket from the top of a shelf in the corner, and flew back as fast as possible.
"Can...can we use this?" Fluttershy asked uncertainly. "Yeh, It'll do." Applejack carefully pulled the vest off of the stallion and tied the blanket tightly around his chest. The blanket was quickly staining as he bled. With blood staining his fur, it was hard to see the pegasus stallion's cutie mark clearly. The best Fluttershy could tell, it was a gray tornado.
Suddenly, the stallion's eyes flipped open, and he took a sharp, agonized breath. Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. He let out a strangled cry, and he was reaching his left hoof out, as if he was trying to grab something that wasn't there.
"Calm down; you'll be fine." Applejack was making a failed attempt at calming him down. The stallion's eyes were wide with fear, and he was hyperventilating. His left hoof began to flail about, as if the fact that it couldn't find anything was what was making him panic.
Fluttershy immediately took action; she grabbed onto his hoof, and spoke soft and soothingly to calm him. "It's alright; we're here to help. You'll be fine. Focus on my words. Ignore the pain." Fluttershy began to sing a lullaby her father used to sing to her when she went to bed.
This wasn't calming him; he still kept trying to move his hoof and let out several short, pained gasps. Fluttershy realized he was trying to point behind her. Fluttershy turned her head, and whimpered as two hideous, snake-like creatures with two scaly tails holding them up like bipedal legs, and snake heads for hair, slithered out of the Everfree forest.