Fluttershy opened her eyes, and sat up. She jumped out of the bed, and walked into the bridge. Earth was in visual range.
Fluttershy looked at the planet. Massive clouds obscured the landmasses, and a virtual shield of satellites and space stations defended the planet.
The console beeped with an incoming transmission.
"This is the United Nations Extraterrestrial Tourism Board. State destination and purpose of visit."
Fluttershy leaned over the console, and cleared her throat. "My destination is..." Fluttershy trailed off, looking at her navigation systems. "Teufort, Australia?"
"And purpose of visit?"
"Pleasure."
"Understood. Samuel L. Jackson, you are clear to land at Teufort Station. Have a pleasent visit to Earth."
"I will."
Fluttershy wondered why they didn't ask for a passport, or identification, but she decided it was all the better they didn't.
The ship locked into a landing mode, and started descending to Australia. Fluttershy looked out the window as it did. She gasped when a giant snake reared up from the ground, only to be struck with a barrage of missiles. The console beeped again.
"This is Captain James of the Australian Army! We need help with these bloody Deathsnakes!" a desperate voice shouted.
Fluttershy looked at the Australian soldiers. Most wielded what basically amounted to rocket machine guns, and a few mech units were fighting off Deathsnakes. One Deathsnake bit into a mech. The mech stood still when the snake released, only for a gush of venom to fall out onto some other troopers, killing them.
"Captain James, request approved. Let me land a second."
"What?"
Fluttershy didn't answer him. Instead she landed behind the Australian line. The door opened, and Fluttershy ran out. The Australian troopers looked on disbelief.
"She's...she's a..." one said, pointing. "How do I put it?"
"Alien?"
"Yeah. What's that around her arm, or leg?"
They were answered when Fluttershy activated the lightsaber and cut into a Deathsnake. Another came up, and Fluttershy Stared at it. The Deathsnake disappeared in a glorious explosion.
"This is what you get when you misbehave!" Fluttershy shouted, as she twisted the lightsaber and the Deathsnake screamed and roared. Eventually, the snake bled out, and Fluttershy deactivated the lightsaber. Captain James ran up to her.
"Uh..." the captain stuttered. "I'm not sure of where to start here..."
Fluttershy retreated a bit from the human. "...Hello."
"Okay...Lads! What do we do with aliens who drop out of the sky and save us?"
"Well, I'd say we buy her a pint!" one said.
"Oh, no. I really have to get to Teufort..."
"Teufort? Why the hell are you going to Teufort for?"
"To fight the Heavy Weapons Guy."
Captain James looked at Fluttershy in disbelief. "Excuse me?"
"The Heavy Weapons Guy."
"Are you fucking insane? First you charge two Deathsnakes then you say you're going to kill the Wielder of Dakka?"
"Yes."
"Fine. Your funeral I guess."
Fluttershy turned to go back in her ship. As she walked into the door, a soldier came up to her. He held out a small metal object. It was an Australian Dollar coin.
"Here. It isn't worth much ever since the mutated wildlife basically turned us into nomads, but if you're going to Teufort, you can get a packet of crisps or something. It's basically the last piece of civilisation left." the soldier said. "We're still holding out for the US."
"Thank you." Fluttershy said. The soldier tucked the coin underneath the lightsaber band, before giving a thumbs up.
Fluttershy walked back into the bridge, and lifted the ship up. As she left, the squad of soldiers waved her off.
Captain James turned towards his men.
"Alright lads. We keep going. Onwards!"
Big Macintosh looked up into the night sky. He connected the stars in his head. He saw all the constellations from this small clearing. The Heart. The Mare. The Rabbit. He knew them all off my heart. He knew that Fluttershy was off on a dangerous, near-suicidal mission. What if she never came back? What if she is killed by an asteroid, or a space criminal? Or even Ballbreaker the Psychotic?
Big Mac shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. No. She's coming back. In everything she's done, she comes back safe and sound. She's fought monsters the size of cities. She's fought entire invading armies. And Discord only inconvenienced her.. A few space criminals can't hurt her.
Big Mac didn't even notice Pinkie pop up besides him. She looked up into the sky too.
"Hey." Pinkie said, quietly. Big Mac jumped a bit, then settled.
"Hello." Big Mac replied.
"You looking at the stars too?"
"Eeyup."
Pinkie pointed towards a constellation. "Look, The Heart is there."
"I know."
"They say that when The Heart is out, if you stare at it and think of somepony you love, they'll love you back."
"I've never really believed that."
"Well, you never know..." Pinkie said. "I was just thinking, about how much fun Fluttershy must be having up in space."
"Yeah..." Big Mac said quietly. "It's just that...I didn't get to see her off."
"Awww." Pinkie said. "We should've invited you."
"It's alright...I just want to see her again."
Pinkie leaned over and looked at Big Mac. "Ohhh...I get it."
"You get what?" Big Mac said, slightly panicked. Panic was not an emotion he felt.
"You have a thing for her!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice.
Big Mac looked around, worried if anyone eavesdropped. "Please don't tell anypony."
"Pinkie Promise."
"Thanks..."
"So why don't you tell her?" Pinkie asked. "It can't do any harm, right?"
"Yeah...But she's up there." Big Mac said, pointing towards the sky. "And I'm down here."
"Well...I have a radio-phone-thingy." Pinkie said.
"Really?" Big Mac said. "But...I want to tell her when she's back."
"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie said. "I promise not to tell anypony!"
"Thanks, Pinkie. I appreciate it."
They both looked up at the stars. Somewhere, Fluttershy was having a grand adventure.
The ship's navigation system guided Fluttershy to land. As she did, she noticed that the station that it reported was in fact a train station, albeit dilapidated and littered with human corpses. Fluttershy exited the ship, and looked around.
The train was on its side, and burnt out. A few corpses were on the tracks. One was surrounded by a pile of mutant corpses and holding a light machine gun. Fluttershy thought about that corpse, and how he or she must now be in Valhalla's Battlefields. Fluttershy trotted nervously through the wreckage of Teufort Station. The sun was beating down heavily on Fluttershy, and a terrible stench was rising from the dead. Fluttershy edged over a collapsed fence and walked out into an abandoned street. A long-dormant tank stood over Fluttershy.
There was a scuffle, then voices. Fluttershy looked around and saw a group of human children. Some had sticks and batons. Some had swords and knives. Their leader, the tallest, was holding a shotgun.
"H-h-hello?" Fluttershy stuttered.
"Mutants talk?" one asked their leader. "Should we kill it?"
Fluttershy readied herself to fight, if necessary.
"No. If it's talking, then it has to be intelligent." the leader said. Fluttershy relaxed.
"Okay...Hello?" one child said. "What are you? What are those wings?"
"Oh...I'm a pony. A pegasus, although I prefer to walk."
"You're mutated from a horse?"
"Oh, no. I'm not a 'mutant.' I'm not from Earth."
"You're an alien?" the leader said. "Wow!"
"I guess you could say that...My name is Fluttershy."
The leader stood forward. "My name's Jake Taylors. I lead my little group of my living friends around."
There was a massive roar. The children turned around and saw a ten-foot tall dog with large teeth protruding from it's ruined jaw. "Oh shit! It's a dingo!" Jake shouted.
The children ran away, with Jake firing a few shells past Fluttershy. The dingo winced in pain, then turned it's attention to Fluttershy. The children braced themselves for the alien visitor to be ripped to pieces before them.
"Oh, what's wrong?" Fluttershy said softly to the dingo. The dingo roared in Fluttershy's face.
"Hey! We do not roar! C'mon..." Fluttershy said, stroking the dingo's foreleg. She focused, and tried to read it's thoughts.
Pain.
Fluttershy gasped. The dingo looked at her, not with anger, but with sadness.
It hurts. My fucking jaw! What happened to me?!
Fluttershy looked at the dingo's overgrown teeth, and the way it tore open the entire face of the animal.
Help me! Help!
Fluttershy choked up, and activated her lightsaber.
Kill me! Kill me! Stop it!
She hovered close to the mutant, and hugged it, before stabbing it in the throat, trying to sever the jugular, the cartoid and the windpipe all at once. The blood soaked Fluttershy, and she let out a loud sob. The dingo fell to the ground, dead. The children all looked at Fluttershy, who was lying down, crying.
Jake approached her, and put his hand on her back. "It's alright. We all cried the first time we had to kill a mutant."
Fluttershy turned around and looked at the boy. "It's not that...I could understand him. He just kept saying about pain, and suffering. He said to kill him."
The leader sat down next to Fluttershy. His group started forming a protective lookout circle. "Then I guess killing them is the kinder thing to do. For their sakes."
"But I love animals...They were my only friends for most of my life..."
"I love them too...I...used to have a dog...He was my best friend...He mut...he changed...Bit my sister and tore her arm clean off. My dad had to break his neck..." Jake said, choking up.
Fluttershy looked at the boy. His tears was forming a clear line through the dirt and the blood on his face.
"I should go...I have to get to Teufort."
"Teufort? Teufort fell yesterday." Jake said. "Everyone there was killed. Everyone except the Heavy Weapons Guy and us. We're the only survivors, and that's because our teacher blew herself up to save us." Jake looked down the empty street. "Australia is dead. We're only surviving for the next few fucking years and then we're dead as well. I may as well blow my own head off now and get it over with. The world doesn't care. The world only cares about what some bastard slut is up to in the Silicon Implant Valley..."
Questions floated through Fluttershy's mind. If she killed the Heavy Weapons Guy, Australia might never recover, and the survivors would die. But if she didn't, then she would never be Samuel L. Jackson's student.
Fluttershy looked at the children, and it looked like they went to Tartarus and back. She couldn't doom them because of her own selfish need...
There had to be another way. One way to get the the Element and ensure Australia's revival, if not for her, than for the children that stood around her...