Inside a clearing, deep within the Everfree Forest, things were surprisingly peaceful. It was serenely quiet, with a gentle breeze wafting through the area, gently rustling the grass as it passed by. The clearing was a small circular area, cut into the middle of the thick foliage of the forest. There were several clouds in the sky, all spaced out granting a clear view of the marine blue sky above. The Sun was shining high in the sky, unobstructed by the clouds, shining its light down on the forest clearing.
In the middle of the clearing, a young boy lay on the grass, with his arms folded behind his head, staring up at the sky. He wore a high-collared black and tan robes with gold trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso. He has short black hair, dark eyes, and wore a circle-shaped necklace around his neck.
This boy just happened to be Zeref: the most powerful and evil black wizard in history. However, he seemed rather peaceful and relaxed as he lay there, staring up at the blue sky, watching the clouds move about.
“The sky here is so beautiful,” Zeref spoke, calmly. He then started to smile a little to himself, exposing his abnormally sharp canines.
Zeref then heard a rustling in the trees nearby, and he immediately dropped his smile again. He then sat up and looked over at the nearby treeline to see what the disturbance was. He could see several pairs of glowing yellow eyes in the darkness of the underbrush as a pack of timberwolves emerged. They slowly crept out of the shadows, breathing heavily as they slowly advanced towards Zeref. The stench of their breath was so strong that it was visible, even from this distance.
Zeref slowly rose to his feet, whilst he kept his eyes locked on the pack of timberwolves slowly approaching him. “No, please, stay back,” Zeref spoke quietly, in a sombre tone of voice. He then raised both of his arms out in front of him, indicating towards them to stay away. “I am not your enemy. I mean you no harm.” He now sounded worried, and his arms were visibly shaking with fear; not fear of the timberwolves, but of himself. He knew all too well what would happen if they didn’t heed his warning.
The timberwolves, ignoring his pleas, continued slowly advancing on him, and snarling in his direction. At once, they all pounced towards him.
“No!” Zeref called out.
Time suddenly slowed down to a crawl and the pigment of existence inverted itself. While time was slowed, Zeref then gently waved his hands up slightly. As the timberwolves slowly came down on him, the black wizard suddenly released a wave of death magic, encompassing the timberwolves and all the plant life in the area.
Time suddenly returned to normal, and the timberwolves all simply fell out of the air, dead; their bodies all breaking apart when they hit the ground. All of the grass, plants and trees in the area had withered and died as well.
One of the timberwolves heads rolled over towards Zeref, its yellow eyes fading out when it came to rest at his feet.
After seeing what had just happened, Zeref slowly lowered his arms again. “It happened again,” he said sorrowfully. “Why must every world I come to continue to reject me. Is there nowhere I can truly belong? Am I not deserving of happiness after everything I’ve done?”
He then lifted his head up, with tears in his eyes. “Natsu… where are you?”
---
“Alright, gather around, everypony.” Fluttershy said as she hovered in the air, inside her cottage, with a big bag of animal feed in her hooves. “Lunch time.” She spoke with a happy tune in her voice.
Immediately, all of the critters that Fluttershy took care of came rushing, from the tiniest mouse to the largest bear, and quickly gathered in the centre of the cottage as Fluttershy poured the food out for them.
“Now, now, there’s no need to crowd,” Fluttershy told them as she saw some of them push passed each other. “There’s plenty for everypony.” She said in a calm and gentle tone of voice, with a big smile on her face.
All of the critters looked up at her when she said this, and they all smiled and gave her a small cheer of appreciation in response.
“Awww, you’re too kind,” she said, waving her hoof, and with a blush on her face. She then flew over to a nearby table and grabbed a big bowl of lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes and other vegetables.
“Here you go, Angel,” she said as she turned around, but then suddenly pulled an abrupt face when she saw that her pet bunny, Angel, wasn’t there.
“Angel?” she asked in a confused tone, as she looked from side to side to try and spot him. She then turned to face the large group of critters in the middle of the room. “Has anypony seen Angel?” She asked.
The critters all looked up from their lunch in response to her question, and looked around to try and spot him.
While Fluttershy tried to find him, one of her squirrels ran up to her and poked her on the hoof. When she looked down to look at him, he pointed over towards the door, and Fluttershy saw that it was open.
Her eyes widened and she gasped as she flew over to investigate. “Angel!” She reached the door and threw it open wide. Once she was outside, she looked down and she saw bunny tracks leading away from her cottage. She followed the tracks up with her eyes, and she saw that they lead towards… the Everfree Forest.
The yellow pegasus raised both of her hooves to her face and let out a gasp when she saw where the tracks lead. She turned her gaze back towards her cottage for a second, before looking back at the forest. With slight hesitation, mentally making a list of pros and cons of whether or not she should, she then flew over towards the forest entrance.
Fluttershy landed on the ground, just in front of the forest. She suddenly had an unsure look on her face, and then took a step back and turned around to look at Ponyville behind her. “Oh, should I go in after him?” She whispered to herself. “M-maybe I should go and find somepony else to help me look first.” She then frowned slightly.
A moment later, she pulled her face back into a more serious expression and faced forward again. “No!” she said, louder this time, full of determination. “I can’t waste any more time. I have to be brave… for Angel.”
With her new sense of bravado, she slowly took one step forward, hesitating only slightly. Once she had done that, her look of determination hardened and she then took another step forward, and began making her way through the Everfree Forest.
---
Fluttershy continued making her way through the Everfree Forest. She followed the bunny tracks in front of her, keeping to the path as much as possible. Despite her newfound bravery, and the Sun shining down brightly on her, she still felt very nervous walking through the forest, constantly looking around for anything that might jump out at her, and jumped at every little sound she heard.
After about ten minutes of walking through the forest, she eventually reached a small clearing. As soon as she stepped into the clearing, she looked up, following the bunny tracks in front of her with her eyes, and they eventually led to her pet bunny, Angel, on the other side of the clearing.
Fluttershy suddenly broke out into a big smile. “Angel!” She called out. She took one step forward and then suddenly stopped again as her gaze rose up further from where her pet bunny was standing.
There was a strange creature; one that she had never seen before, asleep, lying against the trunk of a tree. It was a ‘he’ from the looks of it; probably no older than her from the look of him. He was breathing lightly, and he looked very calm and peaceful as he slept there. The atmosphere in the clearing was completely silent.
Fluttershy simply stood there silently for a few moments. After she had steeled herself, she began walking forward again.
Angel sniffed at the boy’s hand lying next to him. He then suddenly heard a twig snap from behind him. He turned around and he saw Fluttershy walking slowly towards him.
Seeing Angel look back at her, Fluttershy smiled warmly back at him, which Angel reciprocated in kind.
A moment later, they then heard the boy begin to rustle and wake up. They then both turned their heads back to face him.
Zeref raised his head and opened his eyes slowly. Directly in front of him, just a few feet away, he was able to make out a small, yellow pegasus, with a flowing, pink mane. He was still half asleep and in a shy state. Taking in the sight in front of him, he squinted his eyes a little as he spoke. “Who are… you?” He spoke calmly.
Fluttershy tensed up a bit as he spoke to her. She was surprised that this thing could speak. However, he didn’t seem to be dangerous. Swallowing her fear, she spoke up, albeit quietly. “Uhhmm… my name is Fluttershy.”
Zeref woke up a bit more and focused on Fluttershy more intently. “Fluttershy?” He said, still speaking quietly and softly, just like the pony in front of him. He then picked his head up straight, resting it against the trunk of the tree behind him and continued simply staring back at her, like he was waiting for her to continue.
Fluttershy was beginning to feel a little awkward, but at the same time, she felt safe; like she could trust this person.
She took another step forward; however, before her hoof touched the ground, Zeref’s black eyes suddenly widened and he tensed up. “No, don’t come near me!” He shouted out, holding his arm outstretched towards her. “Don’t take another step.”
Fluttershy simply stood where she was, her hoof still raised above the ground in front of her. She was completely transfixed by his gaze. His previously tired and empty face now looked worried. Sweat was starting to form on his forehead, and he was gritting his teeth tightly. Tears were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. Fluttershy’s heart sank at the sight of it.
The two of them both simply stood there, staring back at each other for two minutes; Fluttershy, with her left front hoof still in the air, and Zeref, with his right hand still outstretched towards her. As the two of them stayed there, frozen in place, Fluttershy was trying to figure out why he was acting so worried, but then it hit her. This boy wasn’t worried; he was scared. Just like a baby bird that didn’t have any parents to take care of it, he was scared. He was out here in the forest, all by himself. And he was scared.
This realization hit Fluttershy hard. In all of her years of taking care of animals, she was faced with moments like this a lot. And it made her sad every time. A single tear ran down the side of her cheek as she stared back at him.
The young boy continued staring back at her. His eyes were locked on hers, and he was breathing heavily. His face reflected the torment that Fluttershy knew he was feeling inside, and it made her ache. She hated seeing anyone feel this way. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him that everything is okay.
As she finally brought her hoof down and took another step forward, the boy suddenly called out to her again. “No, stay back! Don’t take another step. If you come any closer…” He paused for a brief second before continuing. “I’ll kill you.”
The last part of his sentence made Fluttershy pause for a moment, but only for a moment. As she stared back into his eyes, she could see the pain and hurt, but also fear. Something was wrong. He had just said that he would kill her if she came any closer, but it didn’t sound like he was threatening her; it sounded like a warning, like he couldn’t control it. And he was scared because of it.
After another moment of silence between them, she then lifted her hoof again to take another step forward.
“No, I told you to stay back!” The boy shouted out again. “If you come any closer, I’ll kill you.”
As Fluttershy’s hoof came down again and she took another step closer to him, looking back at him, she was completely calm. She then spoke as calmly as possible, “No you won’t.”
Zeref’s eyes suddenly widened when he heard her speak. He then slowly lowered his outstretched arm and he focused more intently on her, not breaking eye contact for a second. After several moments of silence, Zeref lowered his head and spoke quietly. “Please… you must understand. I’m warning you for your own protection. You must stay away from me. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt….” There was another small silence before he finished. “…or die because of me.”
After a few more moments of silence between them, Zeref decided to lift his head back up again, but Fluttershy was still standing in the exact same spot as before, with a calm, reassuring smile on her face.
“Please,” Zeref started, in a low tone of voice, with a sad look on his face. “I don’t mean you any harm, but if you stay here…” He choked up a little before continuing. “…close to me… you could end up dead.” He then bowed his head down again and the tears started to flow more freely.
“I don’t think so.” Fluttershy spoke up, in a gentle manner, while nodding her head from side to side. This caused Zeref to look up at her again, albeit slowly. “You don’t seem like a bad person. You look like you’re sad and scared… and alone; like you’ve been alone for a long time, without any friends.” Fluttershy nodded her head gently, with a worrisome expression on her face. “That’s not something anyone should have to go through.”
Zeref simply stared back at her, transfixed by this pony. He had warned her to stay away for her own protection, telling her that she could die if she stayed her, but instead of worrying about herself, she was instead only thinking of him, and was trying to comfort him. He had stopped crying by now, though his tears still stained his cheek. He then lowered his head again.
“You don’t understand,” Zeref started. “I’ve done a lot of bad things in the past… unforgiveable things.” He then turned away from her again. He now looked like he was about to start crying again.
Seeing him look like this, Fluttershy put on her best comforting face. “Nothing is unforgiveable, you know.” Zeref then turned back slightly to look at her again. Fluttershy then gave him another reassuring smile. “Let me ask you: do you regret the things you’ve done?”
Zeref piped up immediately and turned to face her fully. “Of course I do!” He then glanced away a little bit again. “More than anything.”
Fluttershy just beamed in response and took another step towards him. “Well there you go.” This caused Zeref to look back to her again. “You don’t seem like a bad person, and while you may have done bad things in the past, you seem to honestly regret the things you’ve done and want to do better.” She then gave him a sympathetic smile. “And that’s the hardest part.”
Another moment of silence past, with the two of them just staring back at each other, before Fluttershy spoke up again. “I actually have another friend just like that. He also did a lot of bad things before, and even after we became friends, it made things difficult.” She briefly dropped her smile and looked solemn, and looked down at the ground, but it wasn’t long before she was smiling again. Zeref’s gaze also drifted away a bit after hearing this.
“But now he’s come to really understand friendship, and has learned to face his past.” She then looked back up to face him again. “And now I truly believe that he’s changed.”
Zeref’s gaze briefly drifted over to her after hearing that, but he then he quickly looked away again without saying anything.
After seeing that he had stopped crying, Fluttershy gave him another sympathetic smile. She then took another step towards him.
When Zeref looked back once again, Fluttershy was now standing directly in front of him. Neither of the two of them said anything or even blinked. Even Angel, who was still standing by Zeref’s side, was completely silent. After another minute of this, Fluttershy broke the silence. “So… uhhmm… what’s your name?” She spoke calmly.
Zeref briefly glanced away from her, before then facing back at her with only his eyes. “Zeref.” He spoke quietly, still sounding a bit unsure.
Fluttershy, however, still heard him perfectly, and smiled back at him warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Zeref. My name’s Fluttershy.”
After only a split second’s hesitation, Zeref turned back around to face her completely, now looking a bit easier. “Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy simply smiled in response.
Zeref just stared back at her smiling face, with a blank look on his own. He then felt something brush against his hand. He looked down with an inquisitive glance, and saw a white bunny briefly snuggle against him. It then looked him in the eye and smiled at him, happily.
Zeref simply stared back at him, completely speechless, for a few seconds. He then finally smiled himself, and gently patted the bunny on his head, which he happily took.
The black wizard then looked back up at Fluttershy, who was still regarding him with a caring smile. His eyes then brightened up too, and he spoke. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
---
Fluttershy, Angel and Zeref all sat together underneath the tree at the edge of the clearing, all nestled together warmly. Fluttershy was sitting right beside the black wizard, while Angel was snuggling up against his leg, half asleep from the comfort.
The pony and the wizard both sat, talking to each other about happy things, things they remembered fondly, and things that brought them joy. Fluttershy had not stopped smiling throughout it all, and her laugh was the most beautiful thing that the black wizard had ever heard. Zeref could honestly not remember the last time that he felt this happy.
“So… you’ve really been alone all this time?” Fluttershy asked her new friend, as he picked up a nearby flower and tied it into her pink mane. The flower was just a simply daisy, with a yellow centre and five white petals.
The question made Zeref stop and think. Once he had affixed the flower to her mane, he then pulled back and looked up towards the sky, in thought. “Well, there was one girl a few years ago.” As he stared up at the sky, memories came back to him. As a soft breeze blew against his cheek and rustled his hair, the black wizard began to smile. “The time that I spent with her was… nice.”
Zeref then suddenly felt something touch his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked back next to him to see Fluttershy laying her head against his shoulder, sleeping quietly, breathing gently.
The sight of this was enough to bring another smile to the black wizard’s face. Zeref then looked down at his other side to see Angel bunny cozied up against his leg, sleeping soundly as well. He then extended his arm and gently pat the bunny on the head.
With a smile on his face, and surrounded by new friends, the black wizard then lay his head back against the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes. He had never felt more at peace with the world.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Zeref’s eyes popped open immediately at the sound of this intrusion. He then immediately faced forward in surprise, to see three adolescent dragons land directly in front of them, on the other side of the clearing.
The dragon to his left was a fat, brown-scaled dragon, while the one to his right, in contrast, was a skinny, purple-scaled dragon, with fur that obscured his eyes. The dragon in the middle had red scales, with sharp, yellow spines that ran all the way down his back, to his tail. This one seemed to be the leader with the way that he carried himself.
Zeref simply stared back at them, with a look of confusion and worry on his face. He then felt Fluttershy grab on to him tightly, and buried her face in his shoulder. He turned back to look at her and he could see that she was immediately afraid of these dragons. He could also hear her whimpering quietly. He had a bad feeling about this.
Looking away from Fluttershy again, he returned his attention to the three dragons in front of him, with an unsure look on his face. The red dragon in the middle then began sniffing in the air, supposedly oblivious to their presence at the moment. When he was finished, he brought a claw up to his face in thought. “Hmmm. The smell’s stronger here. He’s gotta be somewhere close by.”
The red dragon then looked down and he saw Zeref, with Fluttershy and Angel huddled close to him, under a tree, staring back at them, wide eyed. The red dragon focused on Zeref, regarding him strangely. “Huh. What the heck is that thing?”
Zeref just hardened his gaze back at him, trying to put up a false sense of bravado.
“Hey, Garble,” the purple scaled dragon said, walking up beside him. Garble turned his head to his friend as he approached him. “That pony over there.” He said, pointing to Fluttershy. The pegasus just buried her head further into Zeref when she saw him point to her. “I’ve got that peewee’s scent coming from her. She must be one of his namby-pamby pony friends.”
Garble’s eyes widened a bit when he heard this. He then turned back around to face them. “Is that so?” He then grinned devilishly, exposing his sharp, carnivorous teeth. “Well then…” He began, while cracking his knuckles. “I say we start by beating the daylights out of her, before we find him.”
Zeref’s eyes immediately widened further upon hearing this. He then jumped up quickly and threw himself between the dragons and his new friends, throwing his arms out at his sides. “Please, stop! We are not your enemies. We mean you no harm. There is no reason for violence.” He said, sweat forming on his forehead.
Garble merely continued to advance towards him, with his comrades in tow, with the same maniacal looks on their faces. “Oh, we’ve got our reasons, alright.” He spoke in a mocking tone. “We’re on a mission of revenge against this pipsqueak dragon for how he humiliated us. The way I see it, with how much he cares for these ponies, beating up them will be the perfect way to make him suffer before we get to him.”
Zeref clenched his teeth tightly. He then quickly threw his gaze back at Fluttershy, who was completely terrified and huddled against the tree trunk, averting her eyes, with Angel clutched tightly in her hooves, before returning it to the dragons. “I-in that case… I-I’ll fight you if I have to.” He stuttered out, while begrudgingly getting into a fighting position.
Garble stopped in his tracks to take in his opponent’s pathetic fighting stance. “Oh really?” He said sarcastically. He then turned his head to the side to face the purple scaled dragon. “Hey, Spiro. How about you handle this guy?”
The purple dragon quickly threw a sideways glance at Garble, before facing Zeref again. He then let out a devilish smile. “You got it.” He then pounded his fist into his palm and stepped forward.
Spiro then broke into a sprint and rushed at Zeref. When he came in close, he threw a punch at him, but Zeref quickly dodged to the right to avoid it. However, Spiro immediately followed up by swinging his tail to trip him up, before Zeref could react. The black wizard started falling backwards, but as he was falling head over heels, before he touched the ground, he placed his hand on the ground and did a backflip, jumping through the air and landing squarely on the ground a few feet away.
However, before he could stop to catch his breath, Spiro lunged at him again. Letting out a gasp, and quickly looking over at Fluttershy, who was still huddled against the tree, looking terrified, and peeking out from behind her mane just a little bit, Zeref then turned his attention back to his opponent. He then held out his left hand and produced a large, black orb in the palm of his hand.
He then moved to throw it at Spiro, but the purple dragon quickly ducked out of the way to dodge it, and punched him right in the gut. Zeref got the wind knocked out of him, and the black orb in his hand disappeared. Spiro then immediately followed up with another strike, and knocked Zeref back, into a nearby tree. Zeref bounced slightly against the tree, and coughed up a bit of blood before falling to the ground, face first.
Seeing that his opponent had been beaten down, Spiro just harrumphed and turned away, and started walking towards Fluttershy, being joined by his two comrades.
Zeref slowly lifted his head up slightly, and strained to open his eyes. Straight ahead, he saw the three dragons converge on Fluttershy, while his pegasus friend was frozen in fear and couldn’t move.
He now couldn’t see Fluttershy or Angel because the dragons were in the way. “No… Fluttershy,” Zeref said weakly, holding out his arm in a futile attempt to reach them. He was simply too weak in his sleeping state. As the last of his energy gave out, his outstretched hand fell down to the ground. He struggled to keep his eyes open; however, it was a losing battle. His vision began to blur and he felt his head start to fall down as well.
“N-no,” he spoke out, in a voice no higher than a whisper. His eyes then finally shut and his head fell to the ground.
However, his eyes then suddenly opened again, except now his irises were red, with a black ring around the pupil.
The dragons continued advancing on the helpless pegasus, as she curled up in a ball against the trunk of the tree in complete terror. Angel would have defiantly stood up against them to the bitter end, but Fluttershy was clutching him tightly in her hooves, and hiding behind her mane. “N-no. Somepony… please… help.” She squeaked out.
The dragons all hissed in unity as they were now only inches from her, and were about to pounce, when suddenly they all heard a strange, rumbling from behind them, and they all stopped in confusion. However, before they could even turn around to see what it was, the brown scaled dragon suddenly felt something hit him.
Garble and Spiro both turned around to see that their brown scaled comrade had suddenly been struck by a pitch black orb. The orb shattered as soon as it made contact with the dragon, and the brown scaled creature then fell down on to his knees hard, and then collapsed on to the ground, shaking the earth on contact.
Garble and Spiro both looked at this in shock, turning away from the shy pegasus, who was slowly lowering her hooves from her eyes to see what had just happened.
The two dragons then both turned around to look in Zeref’s direction, to see that the black wizard was back on his feet, standing there silently. He was looking down, with his face framed in shadow.
He then lifted his head up, showing everyone present his newly coloured eyes. His face was now completely cold and devoid of all emotion. He also seemed to be radiating an aura of pure darkness. He didn’t even blink.
As Garble stared back at him, he felt Zeref giving off a terrifying aura, which chilled him to the bone. He then suddenly noticed something. His eyes widened and he tensed up. “Hey.” He spoke quietly. Spiro turned to face him. “Something’s wrong. I can’t move.” He spoke through his teeth.
Spiro stared back at Garble, in shock; his eyes popping out from under his eyebrows. “Wh-what?” He stuttered out. He then turned back around to face Zeref. The black wizard hadn’t moved an inch from that spot since he had stood back up. He then held his arm out to the side and produced another black orb in the palm of his hand. His face was still completely blank.
Spiro simply gritted his teeth in irritation as he stood there. Unlike Garble, he could still move, however, he still had this general feeling of unease. He unknowingly took a step back.
Another moment of silence passed. The two dragons and Zeref all simply stared back at each other, none of them moving an inch. Fluttershy was beginning to calm down a little, her fear from earlier melting away. However, it was replaced by this feeling of unease. As she stared at Zeref’s cold, uncaring expression, she could tell that something was wrong; that wasn’t the same person that she became friends with.
Suddenly, Spiro furrowed his brow in annoyance. “You pathetic creature…” He spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. “Don’t you underestimate me!” He suddenly screamed out. He then took a step forward, stomping down on the ground hard. “You’re still a weakling!” He then charged ahead, straight for Zeref.
The purple dragon, with this new source of adrenaline, closed the gap between the two of them quickly. Zeref still simply stood there, unmoving. Spiro then clenched his claw into a fist and threw himself at the black wizard.
Right as he was about to make contact, time suddenly seemed to slow down for Zeref. He then lazily stepped to the side to avoid the attack. As Spiro passed him by, slowly to his deepened perceptions, Zeref then casually lifted his left arm above his head, and smashed the black orb against the dragons head. The orb dissipated as soon as it made contact.
Time then returned to normal, and Spiro immediately crashed to the ground in front of him and didn’t get back up. Garble and Fluttershy both stared back at this, wide eyed, with terrified looks on their faces.
Zeref, who had casually watched the purple dragon as he fell, then returned his gaze in front of him again, at the one remaining dragon. Garble was still frozen in place by Zeref’s overwhelming power. There was no other way to put it: the dragon was scared. “N-no, please!” He begged. “Don’t kill me!”
The black wizard then started slowly walking towards him, taking it step by step. “It’s people like you that made me what I am today.” He finally spoke up, his voice now sounding dark and empty.
“The world is full of people like this pony,” He continued, most likely addressing the red dragon in front of him. “Kind, caring, always looking out for others and only thinking of themselves.” He then furrowed his eyebrows a bit. “However, they are all overshadowed by people like you; people held captive by their greed and lust for power, only looking out for themselves, not caring about anything but their own interests. If this is how we as a species see each other then we have no future.”
He then stopped where he was, with a rigid look on his face. “I have decided then: if the world shall reject me, then I shall reject the world. I will destroy everything in a one-sided annihilation from which nothing will survive and start it all over again.”
He then closed his eyes briefly and looked down. “However, you shall suffer the worst fate of all for what you have done here today.” He then looked back up. He began waving his two arms out to his side, moving them in a circle formation, out and then in towards his body again. The dark aura surrounding him began to intensify and started to shake the nearby area.
Fluttershy was pinned down to the ground by the force of the power that he was releasing. Angel landed safely underneath her right front hoof, and placed his paws over his ears and shut his eyes tightly, averting his gaze. Fluttershy tried to push herself back up, but the gravity was just too intense.
When she couldn’t pick herself up, Fluttershy peaked out from behind her mane once again to see what was happening. As much as she didn’t want to see it, she couldn’t look away. Garble was right in front of her, to her left. He was still frozen in place by Zeref’s energy. His eyes were wide, with a look of terror etched on to his face. She then hid behind her hooves again.
Zeref then brought his two hands together. On his left hand, his middle and index finger were pointed up, with the rest clutched in, towards his palm. On his right hand, his pinkie and index finger were pointed up, while the rest were held in towards his palm. Once he brought his hands together, the rumbling intensified, and the dark aura surrounding him started to spread out, engulfing the whole area.
“THIS is your sin to bear…” He then grit his teeth in anger. “For making me forget the value of life!” The volume of his words rose towards the end, and for first time since his change in demeanour, he put real emotion behind what he said.
“Zeref… No!” Fluttershy screamed out, as she peaked out from behind her hooves. She was now also frozen in place just as much as Garble.
Zeref, however, ignored her pleas, and continued with what he was doing: directing his death spell at the red scaled dragon. Garble started wildly moving his head from side to side, trying to break free of the wizard’s hold, but it was no use. His fate was sealed.
The darkness was now starting to get thicker, and Fluttershy struggled to keep her eyes open. Between the growing darkness spreading out, and the intensity of the power that Zeref was emanating, Fluttershy’s vision started to darken more and more, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Before everything faded to black, the last thing she saw was the cold look on Zeref’s face, and before she completely blacked out, the last thing she heard was a terrified scream, the likes of which even she had never heard before.
---
All Fluttershy could see was darkness. Even in this darkness, however, the look that Zeref had on his face a moment ago was still burned into her memory. That look that he had on his face ever since he stood back up… He just looked so cruel, so uncaring, so… dark. He just seemed so different from the kind and gentle person that she had become friends with. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t forget it; and it broke her heart.
Suddenly, she got some feeling back in her body, and she felt herself being softly poked in the face. She strained to open her eyes, and the world slowly came into view. It was initially a bit fuzzy, but after a few seconds, she could see clearly again, and she saw her pet bunny, Angel, standing right in front of her face, taking up her whole view.
He seemed to have a worried look on his face, but as soon as she had opened her eyes, he gave a little sigh of relief. He then almost immediately started smiling again and hugged her warmly against her face.
“Angel?” Fluttershy said, still feeling a little dazed. Angel then stepped back a bit to give her some space.
She slowly picked herself up on her two front hooves, still feeling a little shaky, and her vision still a little blurry. She gently shook her head and placed her hoof to her head, to try and see more clearly. When she was finally able to properly see her surroundings, she was horrified by what she saw: everything in the area around her was dead. The trees were all drained of life and dissolved, leaving only small stumps of burned wood; the grass was all gone, exposing the earth underneath; and the three dragon’s bodies were nowhere to be seen.
Finally, she noticed that Zeref was gone. This last bit of information she found the most worrying, and she suddenly started looking left to right, trying to spot him. “Zeref?” she called out, not as loud as a scream, but louder than she usually spoke. “Zeref?” she called out again, hoping in vain that he was still here somewhere.
She was hurt and scared and needed comforting, but mostly, she just wanted to see her friend and know that he was alright.
After looking around and calling out to him for a full minute, she stopped and slumped down a bit in worry, with a frown on her face. Angel could see that she was feeling sad and gave her a reassuring stroke on her cheek.
Fluttershy looked up at Angel, who had a comforting smile on his face. Seeing this brought a smile back to the shy pegasus’ face again. She then reached out a hoof to scratch him behind his ears. He smiled in ecstasy from the action.
“Oh, I’m alright Angel.” She finally spoke up. She then almost immediately frowned again. “I’m just worried about Zeref.” She then looked up into the sky. “He was so kind and gentle when I first met him, and he seemed so frightened at the thought of hurting somepony.” She choked up a little. “But then… when those dragons attacked… he tried to reason with them, and fought so valiantly to protect us…” She then felt a little choked up and looked back down before she continued. “But then he suddenly seemed so different. He… with that cold look on his face, he looked so… so… scary. And he sounded so cold and distance, and dark, and he… he killed those dragons.” She then gestured to all around her. “And he killed everything around here… indiscriminately.”
She then placed her hooves to her face to try and stop her tears. She sniffed. “When I asked him if he regretted what he did, and he said that he did and wanted to do better, he seemed so sincere.” She then lowered her hooves again, her face now relatively tear free. “Was he lying when he said that? What happened exactly?”
Fluttershy then looked down at the ground again, tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, and she hid behind her mane.
Angel gave her another worried look and then looked away in shame; however, he then noticed something out of the corner of his eye and looked back towards Fluttershy.
Fluttershy looked up at Angel again, and saw that he was pointing at her. She then followed his gaze slightly to her left and she saw it. There, just out of the corner of her eye, still attached to her mane was the flower that Zeref had put in her hair. Unlike everything else around them that was dead and lifeless, the flower was still pristine. It was still as bright and colourful as when he had given it to her. This was enough to bring a smile to her face and she wiped away the tears in her eyes.
Angel was still confused by her sudden change in emotion, and gave her a confused look. Fluttershy simply gave him a comforting smile and patted him on the head. “Don’t you see, Angel?” Fluttershy asked her pet bunny. While Angel was still confused, Fluttershy then looked around at her surroundings again, but now with a much happier look on her face. She then faced Angel again and gestured to the flower in her mane with her hoof. “That blast wasn’t indiscriminate; this flower is still alive, and so are we.” She then lowered her hoof again and looked down at the bunny. “That means that there’s still hope for him yet.”
She then smiled warmly and looked up into the sky, with new, happy tears in her eyes. “Until we meet again, Zeref.”
She then stood back up, Angel happily hopped on to her back, and the two of them headed home.