Twilight's Phobia, by Homage
Chapter 6: The Emaregency
It was a stormy Thursday afternoon in Ponyville. The pegasi had announced the incoming weather earlier that day, so the townsponies had ample notice of the upcoming thunderstorm. Everypony was was inside, sheltered from the rain and strong gusts. All except for one particular lavender unicorn.
“Oh pony feathers!” exclaimed Twilight. Her extremely long study session had prevented her from hearing the news. Twilight's cramming habit often got her into problems, and this was nothing new for her.
“Dumb study sessions...” Twilight muttered to herself frantically, galloping through the puddles toward the nearest shelter. She frantically beat on Fluttershy's door, flicking droplets of water out of her purple eyes. Her hooves were splattered with mud, and her purple and pink striped mane was dripping wet.
A bolt of lightning sliced through the sky with a blinding flash. It was followed by a resounding “krak!” that caused Twilight to leap several feet into the air.
“Come on, Fluttershy! Open up! It's Twilight!” the unicorn yelled, now hammering the door with both hooves. She heard a faint scratching behind the door between the cracks of thunder. The lavender stopped her pounding and stepped back, as the door was slowly unlocked and pushed open from the inside. Twilight sighed in relief.
“Fluttershy, thank Celestia you...” Twilight began, suddenly stopping. There was nopony behind the door.
“Huh?” said Twilight. Doors didn't open by themselves. The lavender pony couldn't handle the idea of another mystery she couldn't understand. Then she looked down.
A white bunny looked up at her with his big black eyes. “Oh, hello, Angel,” said Twilight, walking inside. “Where is Fluttershy?”
The tiny creature didn't answer, but rapidly hopped up and down and make wild gestures with his paws.
Twilight sighed as she closed the door. She hadn't really expected an answer. But she had seen Fluttershy talk to Angel many times before, and figured that Angel had some way of communicating with her. Unfortunately for Twilight, Fluttershy's ability to communicate with animals was something she did not share.
Angel continued to jump wildly. Twilight just sat down on the rug, frustrated at her inability to understand the bunny. The unicorn's head sank into her hooves in an extreme double facehoof. Suddenly, Twilight's lifted her head, smiling. She had an idea.
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Twilight Sparkle couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it earlier. She had been studying them all day, after all.
“Memory spells!” Twilight cheerily exclaimed, mostly to herself. “I can use one to find out where Fluttershy went!” She turned her eyes toward Angel, who was still bouncing excitedly.
She scooted across the floor to the white rabbit, and picked him up in her hooves. “Now, Angel,” Twilight said in the gentlest voice possible. “I need to perform a memory spell on you. Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit.” As her horn began to glow, Angel began to struggle wildly. He was clearly unwilling to have his memory probed. But Twilight wouldn't take no for an answer. Fluttershy had helped her in her time of need; the unicorn would not dare miss a chance to return the favor. Twilight touched her glowing horn to the frenzied pet's head.
A brilliant flash of white light filled the room, engulfing both Twilight and Angel.
<-=======ooO Ooo=======->
Twilight Sparkle stood on the floor of Fluttershy's cottage, in the same place she was before, except it was light outside. She immediately noticed that she was only a fraction of her previous height. She also realized that she was standing on her rear hooves... wait, were those paws?
“Well,” thought Twilight. “The spell is supposed to let me see Angel's memories. I guess it would only make sense to see them from his perspective.”
She tried to look around the room, but found that she couldn't. So she just waited until she heard a familiar, sweet voice. “Angel!!” the voice called. Twilight's host's long ears turned to face the sound.
Her host immediately spun around and began to hop up the stairs. Twilight was amazed at the ease in which Angel was able to move. He was one twentieth her size, yet he could get up the staircase faster than the unicorn could even blink. Her host bounced into Fluttershy's bedroom.
The yellow pegasus leaned out of the window, her forelegs propped up against the sill. She looked toward the Everfree Forest. “Um, Angel,” Fluttershy whispered. To Angel's sensitive ears, it was as loud as Vinyl Scratch's bass cannon. “Ouch,” thought Twilight, wishing she could cover her ears. “No wonder Angel is always in a bad mood.”
Fluttershy continued, “There is a storm coming.” Twilight felt Angel facepaw. The unicorn knew from her studies that animals seemed to have the ability to sense weather changes.
Fluttershy turned her head toward Angel, and stammered, “Anywhooves, I have to... um... go into... the Everfree F-f-f-forest. It's just... there are a lot of animals there, and all their homes would be flooded.” The yellow pegasus buried her face into her hooves. “I'm sorry, Angel, but I can't go to your clarinet recital today. Don't worry, I'll be back before the storm hits.”
Angel immediately jumped up and smacked Fluttershy on the nose with a loud “thwack!”
“Sorry...” whimpered Fluttershy. “I guess I deserved that.”
Ignoring this bit of animal abuse, Twilight silently gulped (that is, if she could). Fluttershy had gone into the forest, and she hadn't come back. That meant...
Refocusing on the memory, Twilight watched as Angel watched Fluttershy slowly move away from the window. She trotted down the stairs with a “clip clop clip clop” that sounded as loud as thunder. Angel's sensitive ears turned to the creaking of the front door opening and the “thud!” as it was closed.
Angel's ears immediately began to swivel in all directions, listening closely for any sounds. He hopped up onto the windowsill and watched Fluttershy enter the forest. He then closed the curtains and locked the door to Fluttershy's bedroom.
Twilight saw as Angel walked up to Fluttershy's closet and opened the doors. Although Fluttershy rarely wore any clothes, her closet contained a large assortment of neatly organized dresses, and even more curiously, a key, which hung from a hook labeled “Stay outta my shed!”
Angel ignored these things, however, and went straight for a small area of bare wall. Quickly looking over his shoulder, he touched the wall with a paw. It lit up with ten numbered buttons. He tapped out “10102010” Slowly, the panel slid open, and Angel hopped inside.
Angel was standing in a large chamber, the walls lined with various unknown gadgets. Twilight saw him hop toward a bunny-sized armor suit, which had a black rabbit head painted on the chest. Angel put on the costume, which was complete with a cape and mask, and started putting various devices on the belt. He then began to watch a large wall of monitors.
Angel continued to watch the screens, which seemed to be camera feeds from all over Ponyville. His eyes caught on a video of a mare with a black jumpsuit running out of a hospital, holding a book. He immediately sprinted to the other end of the chamber, and threw open the door.
It was a garage that contained a few bunny-sized vehicles. All were black, and all were extremely expensive-looking. He jumped into a futuristic looking car, pressed a few buttons, and a garage door opened. He flipped a switch, and the car took off at impossible speeds, roaring like a hydra.
Twilight would have gaped, had she not been occupying Angel's body at the time. But, slowly, the world around her began to fade into darkness...
Twilight Sparkle was back in Fluttershy's living room, in her own body. Angel was still clutched in her hooves. He began to struggle again. Twilight loudly assured the white rabbit, “Don't worry, Angel, I'll save Fluttershy!”
Angel bit Twilight's right foreleg. “OUCH!” the unicorn yelled, dropping the bunny. He scampered upstairs.
Twilight looked at the teeth marks on her fetlock. “Nobunny this mean could secretly be a hero, right? It must have been a dream of his,” the lavender pony thought.
Call her silly, but Twilight could have sworn that she heard a jet taking off. Then, she remembered Fluttershy. The poor pegasus was still in the Everfree Forest! And in this terrible storm!
Twilight immediately rose to her hooves, opened the front door, and started galloping into the woods. As she ran, she remembered something.
There were snakes in the forest.