//------------------------------// // A d-dangerous pony? // Story: Reign of the shy-pony // by The_Swedish_Horror //------------------------------// The unicorn psychologist stubbed out his cigar against the portrait of princess Celestia. "And now, my little pegasus, I shall wipe your memory clean. After I'm done your mind will be as blank as a blank-flank's flank. You will forget your name, your friends and, most importantly, those documents... I would like to tell you to remember this little lesson in what happens when you snoop around in things that are out of your league, but then again I know that is by definition impossible." "LET ME GO!!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed, struggling furiously in her chair. "Don't do it! Please, don't do it! My friends are the most important thing in my life! I'll do anything you want, just don't destroy my memory!" "You'll do anything?" "YES! Anything!" The unicorn stroke his beard. "If you only knew what twisted implications that brings to life in my mind as a psychologist... I... I have to smoke another cigar! Immediately!" Rainbow Dash felt slightly nauseous, like she was about to vomit. She couldn't guess exactly what the psychologist was referring to, but she assumed that it had to be something very, very disgusting. She hated being treated like a damsel in distress. It went against every fibre of her being and her very soul. She had to break loose! After a few deep inhalations the unicorn looked directly at Dash with an evil smile on his face. "I want you to... wear a tall, powdered wig and dress like a rococo-age queen! And then maybe drink tea from a porcelain cup and perhaps wave around with a little handfan..." he said with a squeeing look in his eyes. "NO WAY!!! That's totally uncool! I will never do such a thing!" "But please consider how adorably cute you would look!" "Sorry, but this pony doesn't do cute... This pony is all about the awesomeness!" "Very well, then... That makes no difference as I would have wiped your mind anyway." "Oh, drat." The unicorn's horn lit up with a bright, magic light. His eyes turned glowing white and his beard started to spark with static electricity. "AAAaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed, closing her eyes and trying to turn her head away. She felt an intense heat on her forehead, slowly spreading towards the middle of her skull. Thousands upon thousands of small lights flickered on her retina as the world spun around her. Then everything went black. * * * Fluttershy was lost. For several hours she had wandered around in the woods outside Baltimare, confused and scared. She didn't dare to take the main road as she feared to be recaptured by the police or some others of Celestia's numerous goons. She really didn't want to be taken to Flutter Island! The thought of that horrible place sent shivers down her spine and almost brought her to tears... And now it was dark outside. Being lost in a dark, scary forest was the number one thing that Fluttershy feared the most. All the trees looked like terrifying creatures, reaching for her with their branches. At this moment she remembered what Pinkie had told her; to laugh at things that scared her. "Ha... ha... ha..." she tried. But that didn't help this time! How she wished that Pinkie was there! Or Rainbow Dash! Or Twilight... "W-well... trees. You are scaring me... But I think that you are the ones that should be scared," Fluttershy said for herself. "You can try and scare me all you want, and that's probably not very hard to do... But bear in mind that when I'm scared I am the most dangerous! That's right! I am the one that forced Celestia from her throne! I am the one that enslaved the residents of Canterlot, waged war against the Crystal empire and did numerous other evil deeds! And do you really want to take your chances with a pony that's just out of prison? What if I'm dangerous? You never know when I could attack! Perhaps with a knife or a broken bottle... I'm a dangerous and desperate pony! Be aware!" Fluttershy laughed her most evil laugh, and to her surprise she felt much less scared. She was a dangerous pony! And it felt wonderful... She knew that it was wrong to think this way but for the time being she really enjoyed being an evil, dangerous pony that even nature itself must fear. Perhaps the trees were afraid of her? They'd better be! "Mwahahaha!" she laughed as she sneaked around, pretending to hunt for an unsuspecting prey. She was comparable to Nightmare Moon, Discord and Queen Chrysalis! Fluttershy, a name that was to be feared all across Equestria... After another hour she saw a flickering light among the trees. She was cold and hungry and the prospect of sharing the comforting warmth of a friendly campfire in the company of some nice ponies proved irresistible to her. She picked up the pace and trotted towards the fire. But when she got closer, she saw that there were no ponies there. Instead there was a pack of big, menacing diamond dogs. Fluttershy hid among the undergrowth. She counted the dogs. There were seven of them. Now she really felt how cold it was outside... As soon as they would leave she would sneak up and steal the last warmth of the fire. But the dogs didn't leave. They just sat there, talking and passing around a jug of some unknown beverage. The sight made her realize how thirsty she was. She had nothing to drink and nothing to eat... How she wished that she could just walk over and join them as she would have done if they were ponies. But she was too scared... Or was she? Was she really scared? The most dangerous and evil pony in the whole of Equestria? She couldn't decide... And now her nose begun to run. "...and then I jumped out and caught that stuck-up unicorn clothes designer by her horn!" said one of the dogs, gesturing wildly in the air. "And I robbed her of all of her diamonds! I remember even calling her a mule before I left... You should have seen the look on her face." "Arr... those were the days. How long has it been since we even saw a diamond last? I haven't stolen any diamonds this month. It's a bleak season, I say..." "Indeed. Ever since that wretched Celestia doubled the taxes ponies can't afford to buy any diamonds longer. She has killed the market, that greedy cur!" "She has made the ponies hide their diamonds to avoid having them taken away in her numerous tax drives. The princess robs her country of its wealth." "We sure live in a strange time..." Suddenly there was a muffled sound from the undergrowth. "Pfff!" "What was that?!" "PFFTH!!" It was Fluttershy who sneezed... * * * Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. The room around her was some kind of office. She had a headache and she felt a bit nauseous... And there was an unpleasant smell of something burnt still lingering in the air. She sat in a comfortable chair, dangling her legs. There was a desk in front of her. "What a nice desk," she said. She looked around. On the wall was a picture of a beautiful pony with a tiara... Maybe some kind of royalty? That was very likely. Perhaps a queen or a princess? She didn't know. Rainbow got up and walked around in her office. To the left she found a wardrobe. When she opened it she found some clothes... mostly blue uniform jackets and visor caps and ties and shirts. They looked like they had never been used... Strange, she thought. "Hello?" she asked. To her surprise she got an answer, a faint whimper coming from the floor. She looked down and saw an old bearded unicorn, nearly passed out and hyperventilating. The creature's horn was burnt, most likely due to some kind of magic accident. He certainly didn't look very well, but she couldn't see any other injuries on his body. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my office?" she demanded. "Uuhh..." "Wait here while I go and look for somepony who can take care of this..." She opened the door and peered down the corridor. There was a sign with the text "WARDEN'S OFFICE". Of course. She was the prison warden! That made so much sense! That was the reason why she had all these uniforms! Quickly she returned to her office and tried to put on one of them, but it was impossible since her wings were in the way... She had to get them sent to the tailor as soon as possible, she thought. "I wonder what I look like..." she said and took a good look at her reflection in the mirror. "Oh. I look totally dashing! Rainbow-colored mane, awesome tail... I'm probably the coolest prison warden in this... this... place?" Rainbow Dash then neatly stacked the documents on the desk. Those were classified files... Who would have placed them there, lying around like that? They must be stored in a safe where they belonged. "Do you know anything about these files?" she asked the unicorn. "Ooow... my head... my poor head..." "Have you read any of these files? You know that these are classified files, don't you?" "Get me a doctor..." the unicorn moaned. "Of course! You poor thing... How could I forget?" The door opened and an old goat appeared. "You're finally awake, pony? Quick, follow me!" he cried. "Thank Celestia... who ever that might be... that you're here, doctor! Help me with this poor unicorn. His horn appear to be damaged." "No, we don't have time with that! You must follow me! You are in danger... There is a conspiracy! I'll explain later, but now we must go!" "A conspiracy? Are we involved or are we the targets, doctor?" "We were involved, but now we are the targets... sort of. Never mind, just follow me! We must get away from this prison!" "Of course! I'm the fastest prison warden in Equestria, you know!" "Good! But let's hurry up before the others come! There are numerous spies among the prison guards! And I should know, because I'm involved myself!" "Are you a spy?" "I will explain later! Now, follow me!" * * * "Is there anyone there?" the biggest of the diamond dogs asked as he pushed the undergrowth aside. A terrified Fluttershy emerged from the bushes. She was almost too scared to talk, shaking from cold and nearly about to cry. What would these diamond dogs do to her? Would they attack her and gobble her up?! She didn't know... Her only chance of saving herself was to scare them, she thought. She was a dangerous pony, after all! "And who the buck are you?" the diamond dog asked. "I am the one they fear," she said, trying to sound as dark and evil as possible. "Who?" "I think you should know my name by now, dog." "Are you...?" "Yes. I am Fluttershy, the one that brought Celestia to her knees." The diamond dogs looked at her with suspicion in their faces. They rubbed their chins. "She doesn't look very evil... She is too adorable to be feared by anyone." "And what evil pony has a pink mane and cute little butterflies on her flank? That's not very evil... Butterflies are nice things. And if she really is evil, one might think that she should have something nasty as her cutie mark. Perhaps a skull or some kind of weapon? Maybe a blood-dripping dagger! Or a knuckleduster?" "I've heard that there is a kind of knife that is called butterfly knife. Perhaps the butterflies symbolize that weapon?" "No, then it would look like the weapon and not actual butterflies." "Yes, that's more logical now when I think about it." "Hmmm...." "Hmmm, indeed... I have heard about a terrible pony with that name who did commit many evil deeds, and her cutie mark is said to be pink butterflies. And as we concluded earlier, this one also has butterflies on her butt." "Okay, then she really is the evil one... Good! You're welcome to sit down and join us around the fire, princess...? Please tell us about your evil deeds! We got plenty to learn." Fluttershy sat down close to the fire and the dogs handed her a warm blanket to wrap herself in. "Let me introduce ourselves," the leading dog said and made a sweeping gesture towards his pack. "My name is Rood. And here are Doan, Gear, Ganrod, Shan, Baran and Blind." "How nice to meet you," Fluttershy said. "You too. Now, please tell us about your evil ways and what horrific, twisted and dark deeds you are planning to commit!" "I... I'm planning to commit the evilest deed possible," Fluttershy said, desperately trying to come up wit a really nefarious crime. "I have already robbed the bank, stolen the throne and waged full out war... But soon I will do a really, really bad thing! I will become... a... a pirate! A lawless, dangerous pirate!" "Wow, Fluttershy... that is really bad," Baran said, his voice filled with awe. "Thank you."