Out of Equestria

by yoshiXII

Capture

Fluttershy awoke with a start to the soft pitter-patter of rain against her face. Apparently, despite her insomnia, she managed to squeeze a few hours of sleep. Looking up into the gloomy, gray clouds of abyss, she groaned, thinking about how making a hammock might have not been a great idea. Now, they had no protection against the warm, moist droplets of water. The water shot down, first invisible, then visible, flitting into her peripheral vision. The yellow pony blinked as a few stray droplets found its way to her eyes. She thought about the dream she was having. Forgetting all about her fears of the past night, she wanted to dive right back into the dream.

Fluttershy’s dream started off similar to all of her dreams. She was standing outside of her cottage, all of her animals properly fed and circling and nuzzling her legs, and she was gazing out at Ponyville, Canterlot, and Cloudsdale. It was a nice, sunny, peaceful day. The Everfree forest didn’t even look as ominous as it usually was. The caretaker sighed contently as she gazed out over most of Equestria. She could see Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight’s library, Rarity’s boutique, and Pinkie’s Sugarcube Corner. This was the life she desired, living her days in her cottage outside Ponyville. It was a nice break from the island, though it was just a dream.

Bam! The dirt path in front of her exploded in a wave of dirt and gravel. Fluttershy flinched back as a load of dirt flew directly into her face. Miraculously, she was unscathed since the dirt seemed to disappear a few feet from her face. Looking up into the smoke and dust that had arisen, she saw a familiar rainbow-maned pony laying there. Rainbow Dash stood straight up and brushed the dirt off of her fur.

“Hey, Flutters,” she said casually.

“H-hi, Rainbow,” Fluttershy responded, “What are you doing here?”

Rainbow looked around herself. “I don’t know,” she admitted, finally setting her sights on Ponyville, “Don’t you feel that something is wrong? Something isn’t right here in Ponyville? Or Equestria?”

Fluttershy glanced at Ponyville. She saw the same ponies she knew by name working there to support their growing village. They all looked the same and behaved in their usual cheerful manner. Applejack and Big Mac were busy working on the farm. Twilight was shut away in her library. Fluttershy turned back to Rainbow. “I-I can’t tell,” she tried, “Ponyville looks the same.”

Rainbow sighed and facehoofed. “Look again.”

Fluttershy looked back at Ponyville. Suddenly, everything changed. The ponies were suddenly in collars linked to one another. All of them had the same dreary look that was devoid of hope. A few stallions stood in full armor, whipping at the ponies to walk faster. The ponies were in groups of 10s that were all walking to farms all across Equestria. Then, they were let off the links to other ponies, only to be on a leash to the stallions. The poor ponies toiled over the farms with no breaks.

Fluttershy squinted into Ponyville. All over there were new laws and notices posted about with Celestia’s face on them. Statues could be found frequently displaying Celestia. All other forms of art and literature were nowhere to be found and the library was demolished. The grass was burned and it was as if the color had been sucked out of Ponyville. The huts the ponies used to live in were now grey boxes that lacked creativity. The trees were gone. Absolutely everything about the ponies’ lives was now dominated by Celestia.

“Now look behind you,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy drew a sharp intake of breath. Behind her, were the burned remains of her cottage. Many royal guards took all of her animals into small cages. She gasped and tried to run and save them, but hit a magical force field instead. The terrified pony took a few steps back. Looking at the Everfree forest was a nightmare. There were ponies chopping down the trees faster than wildfire. Suddenly, Zecora emerged being dragged out of the forest by more royal guards. Zecora struggled against them to no avail, while the royal guards viciously tore off all of her accessories. She was slowly dragged to some sort of a hovercraft with a single rotary wheel at the top that propelled it to fly. The hovercraft slowly took off and flew off to Canterlot.

Tears now welling in her eyes, Fluttershy turned back to the wreckage of Ponyville. She saw Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity as royal guards as well, though they looked hesitant to do their tasks. They looked about themselves nervously, as if trying to help the poor ponies without being caught.

Fluttershy gazed up into the sky. The sky was entirely red with crests of darkness cleaving through it. Even more shocking, Celestia’s face appeared looking down on all the mayhem, as if reminding them that they can’t escape.

“Now look at Canterlot,” Rainbow said as she stomped the ground.

Suddenly, the world swirled before rematerializing until the sight before them was Canterlot. The situation there was much better, though still not the best. There were royal guards at every corner watching everypony. The hovercraft that carried Zecora reappeared and landed in front of Celestia’s tower. The royal guards tossed Zecora onto the ground. She tried to get up and run, but was instantly subdued back to the ground. She was brought up until she was standing. Princess Celestia trotted down the stairs and gazed unmercifully at the zebra.

“Now everypony will know how we deal with abnormalities or ponies that decide to break our fair laws.” Celestia said in her royal Canterlot voice.

Princess Luna galloped down the steps desperately. Luna fell down before Celestia grasped her hoof. “Sis, wait! Don’t do this,” Luna pleaded, tears streaking down her cheeks, “She’s innocent.”

Celestia kicked Luna in the chest. Luna let out a grunt in pain as she was knocked back a few feet. “Was the moon not enough for you?” Celestia asked coldly.

Luna struggled to get back up. Celestia grabbed a spear from a royal guard with her magic. She levitated it until it was about an inch away from the zebra’s chest. Zecora tried in vain to get away. After murmuring what seemed to be a prayer, she stopped struggling and accepted her fate. The spear drew back a few feet away. And then –

Fluttershy squealed. She collapsed on the ground, unable to take it anymore. The Canterlot ponies avoided looking at Zecora’s dead body, and unease was spread about them. They too had to live under horrible circumstances that nopony should ever suffer through. Celestia looked at the land before her that lived in agony and laughed a cruel laughter. The laughter split through Equestria and all of the ponies cringed, looking in horror at the speaker.

Speaking in a voice that could be heard all across Equestria, Celestia said, “Now, we live in a much better time than before. Ponies who don’t obey me shall be eliminated. Learn to love me and accept me as a god. For I am higher than all you mortals. We shall have a much better society, now that we have progressed so much. Yes,” she cackled.

Rainbow sighed, looking at Celestia plaintively. “Fluttershy, what do you think? Is this a fantasy? Or is this a reality that we don’t realize?” She stared directly into Fluttershy’s eyes with a soft, wistful look.

Fluttershy looked back into the amethyst eyes. The air behind Rainbow crackled with red and dark lightning. All of the ponies in the background disappeared as the lightning ravished the land and destroyed everything. An awful booming and cracking sound was heard as the lightning devastated Equestria, ripping off pieces of the land off into space and the dark void. Rainbow turned away and trotted a few feet before getting struck as well and she disintegrated into darkness, which swirled into the dark void. Fluttershy gasped and ran after the spot where Rainbow was, until there was no land to be found and she took a leap of faith. Before she leapt, she saw Princess Luna again, this time in the void and looking at the moon. Then, she fell, her stomach in her throat. Memories flashed and tears streamed.

The dream was curious enough that the butter pony would take her chance to leap back in and find out what was happening. Though dreams rarely do that if you go back to sleep, she still tried to do so. Unfortunately, the rain thwarted her plans of sleep and she was forced to stay awake. Stretching out a little, she glanced to her side at the smoldering, damp, burnt pieces of wood and ash that lay at their fire site. She groaned, thinking about how the site was not a smart location, before looking at the sleeping pony.

Rainbow slowly groaned as she yawned. Her eyes attempted to flutter open, until finally she was successful. Tasting her horrible breath, Rainbow stretched out, making her muscles moan in protest. Finally, the grumpy pony sat up and looked about her. Looking at Fluttershy staring at her, made Rainbow smile. Though, she quickly remembered where she was and sighed. It was a pity; her rest was deep and undisturbed.

Rainbow glanced at the rainforest. Peering closer, she saw that there was one pony, then two ponies, and suddenly the entire forest was filled with ponies. Her pupils dilating, the terrified Pegasus slowly turned her head to Fluttershy while keeping her eyes on the ponies standing in the forest.

“Are we being watched?” She asked as quietly as possible.

Fluttershy followed her gaze. Immediately, she saw the ponies that looked remarkably similar to the one the night before. Before she had a good long look at them, however, they struck.

The earth ponies and unicorns charged with their spears brandished. Like ants, they quickly spread themselves out in an orderly fashion so that they formed a circle around the two Pegasi between the trees. The circle had a relatively small radius, and the front earth ponies held their spear directly at the two ponies to remind them that there was no chance of escape.

While this was happening, the native Pegasi swooped down from their perch on the clouds. Moving swiftly, they dived down until they hovered around the two ponies and trees in a semi-sphere. They covered every part so that the Pegasi couldn’t possibly fly away, and they too held their spears menacingly at the sitting ponies.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched frozen in horror as all of this took place. Suddenly, the aggressive, blue Pegasi pushed off of the hammock. Taking flight, she randomly flew directly to the top of the sphere of ponies. Preparing themselves, the Pegasi held their spears in her direction. Speeding directly at a random Pegasi with green and white marks, Rainbow resembled a blur that was soon to be impaled by the spear that was held. The Pegasi holding the spear tensed, and positioned his spear so that it was directly in the rainbow-maned pony’s path. Rainbow looked up, suddenly aware of the fact that she was about to be stabbed. Considering this, she decided to form a different path around him. She continued until she was only a few feet away.

Abruptly, Rainbow stopped. She was still flapping her wings madly, but it appeared as though she had frozen. Opening her eyes, she looked back and saw Fluttershy had a mouthful of her tail, flapping her wings in the opposite direction. Growling, Rainbow said,

“Come on, Flutters, we have to escape. What do you think these guys are going to do?” She gesticulated wildly at them. “Befriend us? No, they’re going to eat us!”

Fluttershy stared back calmly. “What’s the point in trying to escape?” She asked, “It’s not like we can. And if we try, they’ll just get angrier.”

Rainbow sighed, “Fine, just hope we don’t get killed.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy slowly flew to the ground. The ponies, seeing this, relaxed a little. Once they touched the ground, the native ponies started to move. They retained their formation as they moved slowly to the mountain. The two Pegasi remained stock still in the center until a navy blue pony trotted on over to them. “Come with us,” she said.

Reluctantly, Rainbow and Fluttershy fell into step with the others. As the trek continued into the forest, they noticed that these ponies knew a certain path that was simpler to follow. This path took them through areas with fewer trees to avoid, and less obstacles to go over. This path was not visible, however, and the ponies seemed to remember where it was without any visual markers. It was amazing how the mass of ponies traveling through here seemed to not leave a mark on the ground, and how they seemed to not get wet by the rain pouring down the trees.

After what seemed like hours, they finally arrived in a clearing at the base of the mountain. The ponies rearranged themselves so that Rainbow and Fluttershy were now at the front with the other ponies guarding behind them and to their side. A lead pony came up beside them and said in a loud clear voice,

“We have brought them back, Chief Kulnife. Awaken now.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy looked in confusion at the lead pony and glanced at the mountain ahead of them. After staring for a while, the mountain started growing veins and organs similar to how the ones the trees had. They watched in horror as the same process that produced all the other ponies took place, only this time with a mountain. The pony that emerged was enormous and was as big as the mountain. His coat shone a silver hue and his mane was a multi-colored green-blue mixture along with his tail. He stood up straight and peered closely into the group before him. Finding the two Pegasi standing in the front, he sighed. Grumbling, he trotted around his mountain.

“I hoped it wouldn’t end like this,” Chief Kulnife said with distaste.

Rainbow strode on over with a confident gait, the rain matting down her mane. “What do you mean?” She asked, “What’s going to happen? Tell us now!”

The chief looked down at the talking pony, in wonder. “You’re wondering why you two were brought here under such hostile conditions, right?” A pause as he scratched his head, “Well before we go directly to that, I have a story to tell you: A story that deals with Equestria, your homeland, and Princess Celestia.”

All the other native ponies hissed and booed at the mention of Equestria and Celestia. Catcalls and jeers were passed, as Fluttershy and Rainbow looked around nervously. Apparently, these ponies had a grudge with Celestia, which didn’t bode well for them. The chief stamped his tremendous hoof once on the ground, and it created a miniature earthquake wave that rocked the earth. Rainbow and Fluttershy were rocked off their feet, and they almost fell to the ground. Stunned by this, the other ponies quieted after retaining their balance.

The chief cleared his throat, though it sounded like gravel being scratched along a volcano. “As I was saying,” he continued, “Equestria and Celestia. We were actually living in Equestria along with several other groups of ponies at the time which was several centuries ago, though it went by the name of Athelin at the time. We lived in peace, and I remember working alongside them frequently. I would work in our giant berry fields, gathering the biggest, juiciest berries you could ever find.” The chief’s eyes glistened with tears as he remembered those days, “Together we helped each other and provided a helpful hand to anyone in need. In fact, the reason I am such a giant is because there was a species of pony that was immense. It was called the colossal ponies. Though now we are mostly extinct, which is why you two probably never heard of ponies like me. Anyway, our civilization thrived with the absence of Celestia.

“Then,” he continued, “A random group of Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns randomly showed up in our lands and denounced it as Equestria. At first, we ignored them, and allowed them to live in a faraway parcel of our land. They grew in size as well, and soon we were competing for more land and resources. Fights and battles ravaged our lands and many cruel weapons were developed to kill innocent ponies. These times were awful. Everypony would stay inside their little huts, fearing to peer outside at the dirty streets, filled with soldier ponies dying of hunger. Disease ran amok among the poverty of the ponies, and lack of water and food killed off many. The war lasted a few years until Discord happened.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy gasped. The chief looked at them curiously. “I see you know him as well. No one knows for sure how he came about, but an old legend says that he was formed from the chaos. Many body parts were thrown into the air and created him with the chaos supplied by the ponies. But, once he was here, he was here. Discord used his unknown magic to throw all of Equestria into darkness. Suddenly, there was no fighting, no poverty, no worries, just chaos. Discord would sit at his throne and snap, and then somewhere there would be more chaos. It was almost as bad as the war, though it didn’t involve everypony dying. Still, ponies lived in discomfort, but in unity, as Discord created his own empire for everypony to live in.

“Out of nowhere, there were two unicorns with wings; I think alicorn is the correct term. One of them was a dark blue with moons imprinted on her, and the other was white with the sun on her as well. Assessing the situation of chaos before them, they decided to end Discord’s tyranny. They vanquished Discord and set everything peaceful and everypony was glad. This is the history you all learned about. However, Princess Celestia decided to leave out a certain section that displayed her dark side. The group of earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi that appeared in our lands made a close bond with the two princesses. Celestia wanted the land of Equestria all for herself, but luckily the outside group was allowed to stay. Celestia decided to banish all of us other groups outside of Equestria forever. Princess Luna first tried to persuade Celestia to not do this, but Celestia was too far gone beyond her help. Then, Luna tried a last ditch attempt to warn everypony by enveloping them in eternal darkness, but Celestia knew her plan and banished Luna to the moon. So, we’ve been transported to this small island. We’ve grown so tired of wandering it, that we decided to rest in the trees by learning to adapt to the tree’s environment. And that is where we have lied till now. ”

At this, Fluttershy squeaked. Rainbow looked up aggressively at the chief. “How can you prove this?” Rainbow asked stubbornly, raising an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure that if this actually happened, there would be some ponies back in Equestria who would remember this sort of thing.”

The chief sighed. “Well, have you had some weird dreams of late?”

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow cringed. The chief smirked. “Princess Luna is trying to tell you two that everything is not as it seems. Besides, history gets lost along the way to current generations. Which leads me to the reason you’re here: A few years ago, I had a dream. In it, a calm voice told me of what is to come. Dreams like these always seem to foretell the future, no matter what and they have helped me guide my group. The voice told me that a rainbow-maned, cyan Pegasus and a pink-maned, yellow Pegasus were going to bring about the destruction of this island and its inhabitants. I arose and quickly alerted everypony on the island about this. And now you two have come, though I’m not quite sure how you are going to destroy this place.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy stood with their jaws dropped. “Us,” Rainbow said incredulously, “Destroy this island?” She tried to laugh, “That’s a bunch of hooey. Tell that voice that it’s crazy. There’s no way we could do that. It’s not like we have a grudge on you or anything.”

The chief looked at them sadly. “If only. We can’t ignore this omen because it might be true. So, before you have the chance, we’ll eliminate you two. It’s not like we have any attachment: You two are Equestrian traitors who turned your backs on us. My men are mad, and justifiably so. You’ve forced us out of our homeland, and now you are going to destroy our other home. This will not happen. You will be killed. I’m sorry it had to end this way.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow’s eyes widened. Their pupils danced around the chief’s face, searching for some sign that he was lying. After finding none, Rainbow panicked again and flew directly under his legs. After flying for a few moments through the cavernous place, Rainbow’s escape was blocked by a giant hoof. The hoof curled around Rainbow and brought her up to the chief’s face. Rainbow struggled violently against him, but to no avail. She glanced up and grinned sheepishly at the unimpressed chief.

“W-we were just thinking of leaving,” Rainbow said, trying discreetly to worm her way out of the hoof, “No plans to destroy you guys. And there's no way we could harm you if we were in Equestria, jillions of miles from this island. So it’s a win-win situation. We go home and you guys don’t get destroyed.”

“No chance,” the chief said, unblinking, “You could tell Celestia about this island, which would bring our demise.”

“Well,” Rainbow tried, “You could keep us alive. No reason to try to stop the inevitable fate.”

The chief rolled his massive eyes. “We must try anyways. What else have we to lose?”

Rainbow gulped. She turned to Fluttershy, who gave no help other than looking like a deer in headlights. Fluttershy started tearing up after a while, as the implications of her death struck her. No wonderful life to enjoy. No fabulous animals. No wonderful friends. No vibrant neighbors of Ponyville. Nothing. Rainbow turned back to the chief, who slowly lowered her down next to the bawling Pegasus.

The native earth ponies and the Pegasi readied their spears. They inched closer to the two Pegasi.

“Let them have a few words before parting,” the chief said sympathetically.

Tears emerged in Rainbow’s eyes as well. Sniffling, she turned to her companion. The poor pony had her head lowered in her hair, with a hoof raised to block of the rush of tears. ‘Why?’ Rainbow thought, shaking, ‘Why did it have to end here?’ Gathering herself together, Rainbow found the strength to deliver her last words.

“Well, Fluttershy,” Rainbow began, “It had to e-end here.” A sniff. “It had to end on an island we don’t know.” She raised a hoof to brush away the tears. “All because of an accident Twilight made. Now we are about to face our d-death by s-sp-pears” She put her hoof on her chest. “Remember our friends, Flutters? And Ponyville?” She glanced to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy brought up her head to reveal her bloodshot eyes and her disheveled mane. “Remember Applejack?” Rainbow continued, though her sobs shook her body, she kept her voice steady, “She was the most honest pony anypony could ask for. Though stubborn, she was always faithful to us, her friends.” Rainbow lifted her eyes to the sky, as if she could almost see her friends. “Remember Rarity? Though snobby at times, she would always help us. Remember Pinkie Pie? Even though she was annoying, she always knew when to cheer up her friends. Remember Twilight? It’s her fault that she got us on this island, though it doesn’t matter anymore. She always acted like an egghead, but was the smartest in our group.” Rainbow turned her head toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy stared straight back, quivering but trying to stay brave for Rainbow. “And you Fluttershy. You were always the kindest, though shy at times. I’m glad you’re with me to the very end.” Rainbow brushed off more tears. A surge of emotion she never felt to the yellow pony coursed through her body. Suddenly, she deduced what they meant. Looking down at the ground, Rainbow said, “And Flutters, I wanted to say before we leave. Fluttershy, I-I…” Rainbow gulped, trying to summon up the courage.

“I love you!”

Fluttershy gasped, her eyes widening as the native ponies took a second to aww. Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy before looking back down at the ground. ‘Now I’ve done it,’ she thought, ‘I just ruined our friendship, not that it matters.’ Rainbow nervously braced herself for the inevitable rejection. Fluttershy gazed at the crestfallen pony with her jaws dropped. Emotions swirled around in her chest, making her heart beat faster. Her skin tingling, she knew what she must do as well. The timid pony cleared her throat.

“R-rainbow, I-I t-think,” Fluttershy paused, gathering herself, “I-I l-love you too.”

She glanced up, not sure how her normally courageous friend would react. For a split second, she saw the dilated, amber eyes of the blue Pegasus; then Fluttershy felt her lips press tenderly against hers. At first, Fluttershy kept her eyes wrenched open in shock. Then, slowly, her eyes closed to savor the bliss of their love. All their fears of dying faded away at their newborn love. The rain was ignored, for it couldn’t douse the burning of their hearts, infatuated with love.

At the kiss, the native ponies went wild: Clapping and cheering the two lovers. However, the chief was not impressed. “Time’s up,” he said coldly, not willing to let this act of love sidetrack him.

The native ponies reluctantly got into position again pointing their spears at the still kissing Pegasi. Rainbow sensed the tension, and broke the kiss. Fluttershy opened her eyes, feeling a little unsatisfied, but soon remembering their dreadful situation. Rainbow gazed around, looking wistfully at the gathered native ponies readying their spears for impalement. She looked back at her short-lived lover, doomed to die with her. Bracing herself, her voice shook as she said,

“Well, here we are now, about to die,” Rainbow put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder, rain drenching both of the lovers, “But I just want to let you know—“

The ponies put their spears in a circle with about a foot radius from their bodies.

“—that even though we’re going to leave—“

They brought the spears closer until the spears were only an inch from their bodies.

“—that we’ll leave together,”

The ponies drew back their spears, ready to thrust it forward now that they pinpointed the spot that was going to be pierced.

Tears came gushing down Fluttershy’s face like a waterfall, combining with the rain water as she leapt forward and hugged Rainbow tightly. “Together,”

Rainbow hugged her back, closing her eyes, unable to stare at her death straight in the eyes with tears streaming with the rain. Fluttershy too closed her eyes, and they stood there waiting. They stood holding each other, shielding each other from the rain and the native ponies.

The native ponies tensed now, waiting for the signal from the chief. The chief looked sadly at the two lovers and closed his eyes as well as he said, “N—“

Before he could finish his word, a huge portal ripped the fabric between space and time on the outskirts of the clearing. A huge booming noise resounded throughout the entire island, as the native ponies and their chief stared in awe at the sight, waiting. The rain stopped. The clouds dispersed.

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

Wut? Has the Doctor messed up time again?

[Funinightmare]

Tribe: Awww you two look sooo cute together. We're really sorry we have to kill you two now nothing personal you know just bad omens and stuff.