Chapter 7: Saving Fluttershy
Twilight Sparkle's heart raced as fast as her hooves as she burst through Fluttershy's doorway toward the Everfree Forest. She ignored the bright flashes of lightning, the crashes and booms of thunder, and the rain pouring down all over her mane. The lavender pony didn't even bother casting her rain deflection spell. She was too focused on the mental image of a helpless Fluttershy trapped somewhere deep in the forest, possibly in pain.
“No, Twilight!” the unicorn thought out loud, “You mustn’t think like that! Fluttershy is probably great, just great!”
As Twilight reached the canopy of trees, she tried not to think about the snakes that lived in the forest. “You can do this, Twilight!”
The lavender unicorn continued galloping at full speed under the cover of the dripping trees, loudly splashing through deep puddles and getting her hooves positively pruney. Unfortunately, the speeding pony failed to watch her step. Her right forehoof struck an exposed tree root and she tripped, faceplanting directly into the mud on the banks of a nearby creek
Twilight slowly lifted her head out of the indent it had created in the soft earth. It had left an impression of her face, complete with a hole where her horn had pierced the ground. Twilight wanted to kick something out of frustration at her clumsiness. But a small flaw in the otherwise perfect cast of the lavender unicorn's face caught her attention.
“Is it me, or is my horn...” Twilight thought. Then she caught a glance at her reflection in a small puddle. “BENT!!!” the horrified unicorn cried out.
Twilight crossed her eyes staring at her broken horn. She was terrified at the prospect that she may never be able to do magic again. “My special talent... gone... just like that,” she muttered. She made a futile effort to levitate a nearby stick. But her horn just fizzled and emitted small pink sparks.
Twilight sat down in the mud, depressed over her mangled horn. The unicorn finally understood those commercials for “natural horn enhancement.” Tears welled in her big purple eyes. What she wouldn't give for a week's trial right now...
But a sudden “KRAK” of thunder caused the unicorn to snap out of her stupor. The torrential downpour was still going strong, and she hadn't found Fluttershy yet!
You can wallow in self-pity later,” Twilight lectured herself. “Right now, you have save Fluttershy, with or without a functioning horn! She rose to her hooves, glad that at least her legs still worked. She noticed a trail of hoofprints in the mud that didn't match her own.
“Hmm...” muttered Twilight, spotting the prints. “I guess falling here might not have been all bad.” She got up and followed the trail of hoofprints.
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The hoofprints followed a flow of water that diverted from the nearby overflowing creek. When Twilight reached the end of the prints, she was at a large cluster of tree branches and bushes. She tried to move them with her magic. Her horn fizzled and popped.
“Oh yeah,” she thought sullenly, pushing the bushes aside with a hoof. She expected to find a scared Fluttershy, curled up in the bushes as cover from the storm. Instead, Twilight found herself at the mouth of a cavern.
The entrance was about a pony and a half tall, and at least as wide as a train-car. But at least it provided some shelter from the rain. However, Twilight doubted shelter was the reason Fluttershy went into the cave. All the runoff from the overflowing creek was going right into the cave!
“Fluttershy must have gone in there to save the cave animals from drowning!” Twilight thought. The lavender unicorn gingerly took a step into the cave. Her hoof was completely submerged. She carefully took another step. Something smooth brushed against her leg.
“EEEEEK!!!!” Twilight shrieked. A brown snake, about as long as her tail, slithered through the water and out of the cave. The lavender pony immediately jumped backwards out of the cave.
“F-f-f-f-Fluttershy!!” she called out, her hooves shaking. There was no response. “Come on out Fluttershy!” Still no response.
Twilight Sparkle began to contemplate the situation. Fluttershy was in danger, and something that Twilight was terrified of was keeping her from helping. Twilight tried to think of what to do. “Go back into the caves, with all the s-s-s-s-snakes, or just go home and get help?” She was seriously tempted to go back to Ponyville. Then she remembered Fluttershy's response to a similar situation.
“Fluttershy didn't abandon her friends because of a scary reptile!” Twilight lectured herself. “Fluttershy overcame her fear to face down the threat! Because nothing is scary enough to come between good friends! Not a dragon, and not a cave full of snakes!”
Her confidence somewhat restored, Twilight trotted into the cavern. Her hooves splashed through the gurgling water with each step. She passed by several more snakes escaping the flooding cave, but she didn't flinch. The lavender unicorn was determined to save her friend.
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Twilight Sparkle continued deeper and deeper into the cavern. Long stalactites hung from the high ceiling, and stalagmites underneath them jutted out from the frothing water, creating small eddies in the current. She saw many more snakes pass by, heading toward the mouth of the cave. The lavender unicorn shivered a bit, but pressed onward.
It started to get darker as Twilight went ever deeper into the cave. Se wished her horn worked, so that she could cast a light spell. But she had to just deal with the darkness. As the lavender pony splashed through the flowing water, her ears perked up. She heard something.
“Um.... excuse me...” a faint voice said. “You need to... um...” Twilight knew the source of the voice.
“COME OUT!!!” Fluttershy suddenly screamed. Then in a much softer tone, she added, “If that's all right with you.”
Twilight followed the sound around a corner, and saw a familiar yellow pegasus standing in a dry patch of rocks, surrounded by fireflies.
Twilight galloped toward Fluttershy, and immediately wrapped her soaking hooves around the pegasus.
“Eep!!” Fluttershy shrieked in a voice that would have been nearly inaudible to Angel.
The lavender unicorn released the startled pegasus at once. “Fluttershy, it's me! Twilight!”
“Oh! Twilight! You startled me,” replied Fluttershy. “Um... what happened to your horn?”
“Fluttershy,” started Twilight, ignoring the yellow pony's question, “we need to get out of here. This cave is flooding.”
“Um... but... Twilight...” mumbled Fluttershy, “that's exactly why I came here. I'm trying to save the colony of vipers that live in the hole under this rock.” She pointed a hoof toward a large boulder.
“V-v-v-v-v.... vipers?” stammered Twilight. “But aren't those... venomous?”
A small snake squeezed out from underneath the stone. It went directly toward Fluttershy.
“Look out!!” yelled Twilight, recoiling. To the lavender unicorn's shock, Fluttershy didn't move away from the deadly serpent. Instead, she crouched down as it approached her.
The snake slithered right up to Fluttershy. She didn't reach out to touch it, but she cooed in the softest voice, “It's ok, sweetie. I know you're scared. But you really need to get going now, or else you'll drown.”
The viper seemed to understand Fluttershy perfectly, despite the fact that snakes are deaf. It turned around and started its way toward the mouth of the cave.
Twilight stared at Fluttershy, her mouth agape. Fluttershy just looked away sheepishly. “Fluttershy,” Twilight managed to say once her speech returned. “That was the second-bravest thing I have ever seen you do!”
Fluttershy was about to respond, when suddenly, there was a loud “SPLOOSH” from the mouth of the cave. Both ponies turned to face the source of the noise. The once small flow of water into the cave had nearly tripled in volume. At this rate, the cave would be flooded in minutes!
Fluttershy began to panic, “Oh no!” she wailed. “The dam broke! The entire creek is diverting into the cave!”
“So let's get out of here!” exclaimed Twilight. “What are we waiting for?”
“We can't!” screamed Fluttershy. “There are more vipers trapped under the rock! And I can't move it by myself!”
Twilight facehoofed. “You want me to help you move a huge boulder, to release a bunch of deadly snakes?”
Fluttershy just looked at Twilight with her turquoise, teary eyes. “Please?” she begged. “They deserve to live just as much as we do.”
Twilight saw the logic in her statement. And how could she say no to that face? “Fine,” she said, after a few moments of pause. She secretly wondered if the worms and fish that Fluttershy fed to her animals deserved to live, too...
Fluttershy and Twilight began to push the rock with their forehooves. The two ponies strained hard to move the massive chunk of granite. Twilight broke a sweat. “Earth ponies must have it rough,” she thought. The lavender and yellow mares gave one last big shove, and the boulder finally shifted and began to roll away. The ponies stepped back as it continued down into the cave, finally smashing into a rock wall, making a big hole. “Watch out, here comes Tom,” Twilight thought with a smirk. However, it was quickly wiped from her face, as dozens of hissing vipers began to slither out of the exposed nest, directly toward the ponies!
Twilight shrieked and covered her face with her hooves. She didn't want to see the snakes end her life. She hoped it would be quick.
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“So this is what being dead feels like,” thought Twilight. “I can feel my soul floating up out of my body and toward the Everafter.” Then she saw a small light in the otherwise total darkness. She wanted to run away from it, but found that she couldn't. “NOOOOO!!!” screamed Twilight. “I want to live!” But she continued floating toward the light.
“Um... Twilight...” said Fluttershy, holding the terrified unicorn in her hooves, “are you... um... alright?”
Twilight quickly figured out that she wasn't dead at all. Fluttershy was just holding her as they flew out of the cave.
“Great... just great!” replied the relieved lavender unicorn, blushing a bit from the embarrassment.
Fluttershy flew through the mouth of the cave, setting Twilight Sparkle down on a small patch of grass. The storm was finally over, and a full double rainbow cut right over the forest. Twilight wasn't sure what this meant, but she didn't really care. They were safe!
A few snakes began crawling out of the cave, right between Twilight and Fluttershy. Fluttershy waited for the screams, but they never came. Twilight just sat in the grass, gazing at the double rainbow. Fluttershy turned to watch it, too. It was more beautiful than any she had seen before.
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The pegasus was the one who eventually broke the silence. “I'm glad you're finally over your phobia, Twilight,” she said softly.
Twilight didn't take her eyes off of the rainbows. “Maybe over is too strong a word,” she modestly admitted, “I may not ever love snakes like you do, but I don't think I will be causing any more disasters like the Reptile Festival again.”
Fluttershy snickered a bit. She quickly apologized for her insensitivity.
Twilight giggled. “Don't be sorry. It was pretty funny! I saw Rainbow Dash's video!”
Fluttershy was still looking at the sky. “Is it really true?” she asked. “Ten million views?”
“And counting!” Twilight declared.
The two mares sat in the grass a while longer, enjoying the rainbows as vipers passed by them. Eventually, the two ponies rose to their hooves.
“Well, I better get back to Angel,” Fluttershy said, trotting off. “Thanks for your help and all...”
“Any time!” called Twilight. “And I am off to the hospital to get treatment for this horrifying injury that may have left me disabled for life!” she exclaimed, in a voice that was oddly cheerful for a unicorn with a bent horn. But suddenly, she heard a rustling from the cave.
Twilight barely had time to turn around before a large swarm of flying creatures came speeding out of the cave.
“EEEEEK!!!!” shrieked Twilight, jumping into a tree and landing on a high branch. “B-B-B-B-B-BATS!!!!!”
Fluttershy, having seen the commotion, facehoofed. “Here we go again...”
The End.