> Masked Mare > by Neobahamut > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 6 scoops of sand > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Under the faint light of princess Luna’s Moon, a Little wagon pulled by an old Buffalo was slowly climbing a hill. Step by step, the old beast made its way through the irregular path, announcing to the wagon's passenger their next destination. "Ponyville lays ahead". He said in a raspy voice There was no answer from the passenger, so he reiterated, "We're about to get to Ponyville, and I hope you pay me as we arranged" There was still no answer from inside the wagon, so; finally fed up with his passenger he decided to be a little more direct this time. He unbuckled the harnes and slowly made his way to the back door of the wagon, there wasn't any lamp turned on, yet, he heard movement inside. Three ... fillies ... made ... suffer The old beast heard strange whispers coming from the wagon but they didn't make much sense, curiosity got the best of him and decided to stick his ear against the door. Four is for those who took me away... The buffalo didn't understand what was all that about, so he peeked over a small window in the door, there he saw the silhouette of his passenger, a little unicorn pony, pouring a scoop of sand into something that looked like an hourglass. Five is for the story I want to change... The unicorn mare emptied another scoop of sand inside the hourglass And six is to make way for the one that will make it possible... As soon as she poured last of the sand into the hourglass, it started shaking and growling as if it was some kind of beast laying over the table. The old buffalo started retreating, however, he froze in place when he felt a little tap on his shoulder. "Don't you have any manners, sir?" said the unicorn showing a crooked smile, her eyes were glowing in a ghostly white, and she was floating in order to be eye level with her driver. "Its rude to spy on a lady" Fluttershy got up early in the morning to start her daily routine, way before any of her little friends woke up, she liked it that way, se was able to surprise all the animals in her cottage with a delicious breakfast already served. First she served food in many plates, and she got sure to leave them by the entrance of their homes. "This is for you Mr. mousey, oh and this is for you Ms. Squirrel" she talked to herself since they were asleep. She then went outside in order to feed her chickens, the yellow pegasus had to be extremely silent to do this because they were easily scared, especially since Elizabeak had an encounter with the cockatrice on the Everfree forest. Fluttershy slowly opened the door when a powerful sound u the chickens to run everywhere. "HI!" a pretty energetic pink pony appeared out of nowhere greeting her friend covered in feathers. "um... hi pinkie." she answered on a little voice almost impossible to hear. Fluttershy heard that noise again, sounded like somepony was using fireworks. "What's happening?" "Ahh! Don't you know?, she's here, she's here she's here she's here!! it was a long time ago she came, and I was like Ooohh, and everypony else was also like GASP" pinkie said faking a surprised face. "Who is here? if um, if I may ask?" "Who else, Clockwork!" "Clockwork?" asked Fluttershy. "You know, Clockwork, THE Clockwork?" Fluttershy just looked confused to her friends’ reaction "I mean she is the most famous merchant on all Equestria, she always brings the most super duper candy from the east, west, north, north east, east south..." Fluttershy just smiled, she didn't want to disappoint her friend, but she actually was oblivious to this pony 'Clockwork', so she tried to change the subject. "So, um, what are you doing?" "Oh, I just wait." "Wait for what?" "My turn" answered the pink pony very proud. "Your turn?" "Yep" "For?" the yellow pegasus didn't finished her question when she noticed that, just a few meters away from pinkie pie, there was an almost endless line of ponies that appeared to end into the town's main center. "Told you she was famous" Added Pinkie Pie with a smile on her face. "Pinkie Pie!" A blue Pegasus further in the line shouted. "we wont keep your place if you don't come quickly" "Uh Uh, Fluttershy, wanna come?" Added the Pink pony. "um, I don't, I mean I have to." Fluttershy looked at Pinkie's enthusiasm, her big smile, her bright and wide blue eyes... Fluttershy saw the travelling merchant's Spectacle, and how she appeared to have anything a pony would want, from flasks filled to the brim with fruits and jam, fabric and some amazing dresses, even books and toys were in display near Clockwork's wagon. "Welcome Everypony, and look what I, Clockwork have to Offer!" said a small unicorn mare leaping in front of the six friends. Her appearance was very peculiar, she had a gray coat and a white mane, which completely contrasted with her black colored tail, and for an adult mare, she was pretty small, her eyes where at Twilight’s nose level. However what stood out the most was her cutie mark, a white big cogwheel connected to a black smaller one. "Hi Clockwork, its been a while" Greeted Twilight Sparkle. "Why yes Twilight Sparkle, but I just had to return to Ponyville, its my favorite town after all" replied Clockwork, "And also I couldn't go without showing you THIS" through her magic the gray unicorn lifted an old book in front of Twilight. "Twilight, is something wrong?" asked Fluttershy worried. "I..It can't be..." She took a closer look to the book and stood paralyzed for several seconds. "Don't worry Fluttershy" said Pinkie in a comforting tone. "This happens every time" "THE BOOK OF MYSTIC CREATURES AND LEGENDS FROM EQUESTRIA!!" yelled the ecstatic purple Unicorn "This isn't even in Canterlot Libraries!!" Her friends kept talking to the merchant while the yellow Pegasus browsed around the wagon, however a strange sound got her attention, it sounded like somepony was crying behind the wagon. "Pinkie, do you hear that?" whispered Fluttershy, however nopony reacted. "Twilight, Rainbow?" she insisted however the rest of her friends, but strangely, not one of them seemed to notice her. "I..I don't want to.." said the crying voice, Fluttershy decided to go see whom it was, as it didn't sound threatening at all, "She's too frail, she wont be able to use It.." the yellow Pegasus finally turned around the corner and saw who was crying. Far from her, almost in the opposite corner of the wagon she saw the back of a yellow earth pony mare, with a long pink mane and tail. Fluttershy gasped, that pony was almost an exact copy of herself, or at least it looked like it from where she was standing. Decided to know a little more about that mysterious pony. "Um, excuse me, why are you crying?" "I.. I'm sorry..." said the earth pony without even looking at Fluttershy. "I failed.." "Uh?" "I know you are a lot like me." "I.. um I don't understand" "That's why I didn't want to impose this into you." "What?" "I'm Sorry" the earth pony started getting up and walk towards Fluttershy, she looked a lot like her except for the fact that she was an earth pony, however, with each step she took, her body started dissolving into a huge cloud of black smoke. The small Pegasus stood in shock while her little doppelganger was turning into a bigger and more menacing entity, by the time she reacted and tried to run, the entity swoop down engulfing the scared Pegasus. She tried to scream but as soon as she opened her mouth the whole cloud forced itself down her throat. Ah, I’m going to die, I'm Going to die, I’M GONNA DIE!! was all the little Pegasus could think while she felt that presence inside of her, she tried with all her strength to gasp for air, but she just passed out. "Fluttershy" The pony tried to get up but she didn't have any strength to do so. "Fluttershy, are you OK?" Fluttershy made an effort to open her eyes, She was on her bed surrounded by her friends who looked at her worried, and she just nodded yes. "What happened sugarcube? ya' passed out rite there in front of Clockwork. We were worried." said Applejack Fluttershy thought for an instant, maybe she didn't saw all that, probably all that happened was just a bad dream, so she wouldn't want her friends to worry about something like that. "Um, I'm fine." "Are you sure?" said Twilight. "Yes, I probably just need to eat something." "Wow, you're lucky" added Pinkie pie "Clockwork felt wanted you to get better so much she gave you this" Pinkie pointed to a Cuckoo clock hanging on Fluttershy's wall. "What do you think?, do you like it?, uh uh uh?" "Well, its nice of her." "Come on girls, we should let her rest" Said Rarity guiding the rest out of the room, "Oh and Fluttershy, when you are feeling better please do show me where you got that necklace, its simply divine" "Um I'm not wearing a..." Fluttershy Looks down and saw the peculiar piece of jewelry hanging from het neck. Later that night Rarity was locked on her boutique, she had bought a special fabric from the griffin country, and she wanted to create a new dress but the ideas weren't flowing as natural as she wanted them. "Come on" said to herself "show me your true self" She rolled the fabric extending it over her table. The fabric had magnificent designs that looked almost as if someone had cut a piece of the day sky and pasted into de fabric. It was celestial blue with random patterns that mimicked the clouds on a sunny day. “There has to be a good design within you, I just need to-" One is for the ponies that never helped me… The color of the fabric started changing from a sky blue to a depressing gray, the clouds started turning black and resembled more the beginning of a storm. “What’s this? “ Rarity approached to her fabric looking at the changing designs of it, “This isn’t supposed to happen” the clouds where moving, and were those lightning’s coming from the cloud designs?. She tried to touch the fabric but she panicked when she saw that her hoof went through it. "This, isn't happening" said Rarity in disbelief "I'm probably just tired that’s all", She tried to roll up the fabric with her magic, however it refused to be manipulated. "Come on, don't be such a dumb fabric" the long fabric slowly stood up and started to spin, and spin faster with each turn. "This isn't happening" Said Rarity again trying to reassure herself, when she noticed that she was getting pulled into that roll of fabric, which now resembled a whirlwind more than ever. Desperate she tried to hold herself into her doorknob with magic. "HELP!!" Rarity yelled hoping somepony would hear her "SOMEPONY!! PLEA-CRACK" the door was ripped from its hinges throwing the white unicorn into oblivion... “uuuhhh, whets inside this one?” Said the excited pink pony opening a box, She had bought plenty of pastries of all over Equestria and had had them packed on different boxes without knowing what was in each box, she adored surprises and this was her favorite way to surprise herself “Hmmm Cupcakes!! I wonder why they have such a bad reputation?” Two is for the town I hate the most… “An what about his one” as soon as pinkie opened the box, it exploded in a rain of confetti and streamers “Wow” she said surprised. “Well then, next box… ” Pinkie noticed something weird, her bed was now covered in confetti, and it still kept raining over her. “That’s weird”, she tried to get another box but that one also exploded filling her room further. “Wait, I think I need to open the…” The pink pony tried to open her door, however it wouldn't budge. “What?” another box exploded adding pound after pound of colorful paper, which now reached up to Pinkie’s head, She frantically tried to reach a window when the last box exploded. With her room now filled with confetti Pinkie could still feel how it kept multiplying, how every single space was getting covered in confetti, and how she felt her body disappear inside that multicolored mess… Rainbow dash was happy with her buy, an autographed poster and goggles worn by Spitfire, her favorite Wonderbolt, and wearing that dear accessory she was practicing her tricks until late night. Three is for the fillies that made me suffer… “Ok, last one” said the blue Pegasus adjusting her goggles. “This is for the Wonderbolts!!” Rainbow dash shot up in the night sky trying to beat her altitude record when an orange blur passed next to her. “Huh?” she wiped her goggles and saw an orange Pegasus with a fiery mane waving at her many meters below. “Spitfire?” the orange Pegasus below only made a sign. “I can’t believe it, Spitfire is here!!” said Dash as the other Pegasus pointed at a distant cloud and started flying towards it. “Spitfire is here and just challenged me to a race!!” added Rainbow Dash flying after her hero. Even if Dash was a lot nearer to the cloud Spitfire quickly flew past her leaving an orange trail behind her. "OK Dash, it's time to show her what you are made of." She flew the fastest she could, however her hero never seemed to stop. Dash pushed herself even harder until she was to the left of her, almost at the same speed. "See?" she said gasping for air and making an effort to not lose her speed "I'm even faster than what I-" without any warning, Spitfire turned left making dash go straight trough her orange trail. "AHHH!!" it burned, what the blue pegasus thought was just an illusion of how fast was spitfire flying had hurt her. And it got when she looked back. Each and every trail left by Spitfire was still there, shining in the night sky like a wall of fire. "She trapped me? Why would she do that?" the orange blur did a quick turn and charged against Rainbow Dash, she closed her wings in order to drop fast into the ground. "I have to get away, I have to get away fast!!" "Why Rainbow Dash?" asked Spitfire appearing just below the blue pegasus. "I thought you were my Number 1 fan". The pegasus held Rainbow Dash in a powerful grab. "LET ME GO!!" yelled rainbow trying to release herself, the body of Spitfire felt like putting a hoof in the fire. "Would you like to fly with me?" Added the pegasus with a malicious smile as both of them ignited in the air leaving only a trail of ashes behind... "What are ya doin sis?" asked the small yellow earth pony to her older sister while she took out some strange fruit out of a basket. "Just some experimentin Applebloom" said while watching the green and prickly fruit in front of her nose. "Clockwork said this, um prickly thingy was pretty easy to grow an' one of the most delicious fruits in Equestria." "Soo? Are ya gonna replace apples?" "Nah, it just may help us to get more money to tha far-OUCH!" Applejack raised her right front hoof in the air "What happened, are yah OK?" "Nuttin to worry lil sis, ah think ah just got a thorn in mah hoof" "It's bleeding." "Ah said is nuttin, a lil thorn never killed anypony" Applebloom's face lighted with excitement, "Sis! Let me heal it!, let me heal it!, Ah could be a CUTIEMARK CRUSADER NURSE!!" said the energetic little pony running to look for the first aid kit. four is for those who took me away... "Aw shucks! Ah might just play along, now lets see how is this" Applejack tried moving her hoof however it was paralyzed. "What in tarnation!" she tried to move it with all of her strength until she hears a loud crack. There was a huge thorn coming out of her hoof as also were many little prickly vines wrapping around her leg. "APPP!!" her cry for help fell mute as she felt those vines coming out of her throat. She felt all of her limbs going numb, and saw the spines poking out of everywhere in her body... "Sis?" Applebloom returned minutes later, her sister was nowhere to be found. There were just some of those prickly fruits lying in the floor. Five is for the story I want to change... Twilight was on her bed immersing on the reading of her new book, she always enjoyed the company of a good book, and this one being extremely rare, was more than she expected. "Wow, this Tirek is scary, even I have problems believing how he got beat" said to herself. "I never thought that Equestria had such interesting creatures, even though I've never seen them" Twilight turned the page and saw the title of the next Chapter. "Twilight Sparkle?". Apart from the title, there wasn't any word on the chapter, or in the next page, or the page after that one. There was nothing but a bunch of blank pages from that page on. Twilight kept turning the pages in order to see if there really wasn’t anything written on that book. "Maybe is in invisible Ink?" said a frustrated unicorn using her magic on the book, each revealing, discovering and truth spells were casted on it, and however none of them yielded any results. "AHHH!!" Twilight tossed the book aside "I need some rest." said the purple mare disappointed, "I think I'll take a bath and call it a night". However when Twilight tried to stand up she felt something pretty weird. her legs weren't strong enough to support her, in fact they looked kind of "Flat?? My mind must be playing tricks on me. I'll just-" however Twilight wasn’t able to stand up, In fact the strange sensation of her legs started extending on her body. She tried to do magic, but this proved useless when her horn started bending as if it was made of paper. "NO, NO!!" Twilight saw how the book she tossed aside started levitating into her bed and opening in the page of Twilight Sparkle words started appearing on said chapter as the Unicorn started getting pulled into the book fusing her into the pages of the rare tome. Inside of a dimly lit wagon happy gray unicorn looked at six little flasks of glass on her table, from 1 to 5 were filled with sand of different colors, going from white to dark purple, with other colors like pink, orange and blue found in between them. "My dream is about to come true" said the mysterious clockwork while looking at the sixth flask And six is to make way for the one that will make it possible... > Rise of the Sapphire Lightning > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, a little apology, I had a lot of problems while writing this chapter, that added to my work, didn't made things easier, I hope the next one comes out Faster. Also In the spirit of current Kamen Rider series, I decided adding a preview for the next Chapter. Fluttershy examined the necklace in front of her, it was a simple design, a gold necklace with a clear jewel on the center and three plates with a little socket on each side of it, she then looked at the back of it where a curious writing called her attention, It was pretty worn out but it could still be read: Our bond cannot be shattered... CUKOO Fluttershy dropped the necklace, and turned around, the cuckoo clock marked midnight as a little gray wooden pegasus popped in and out of the clock. "Uh, is already this late?" Fluttershy turned the alarm off without noticing a little stream of sand pouring from beneath the clock. "Today was pretty strange" said to herself, she had been immersed on he thoughts the entire day. Why was she the only one in ponyville who hadn't heard about Clockwork, and more Importantly, what was the meaning of that weird dream and what did it had to do with that mysterious necklace "I think I'll show the necklace to Twilight, she might be able to find it on one of her books, or maybe she has another book on dre-" A little white rabbit started stamping his foot on Fluttershy's hoof. "Angel, Is something wrong?" The bunny was nervous turning his head frantically as if he was looking for something in Fluttershy's room. "What is it? did you had a Nightmare?" The bunny tapped his foot again calling for Fluttershy's attention, however, the yellow pegasus didn't saw anything in that direction. "Um, What is it? something scared you?" but Angel just kept looking around. "You lost something?" asked Fluttershy again until the bunny quickly pointed her head up "Do you-". The pony stood speechless as she saw a cumulus of sand growing in her ceiling. "Wha- What " The cumulus of sand dropped on Fluttershy separating her from her little companion. The blob of sand moved as if it was alive and it was immobilizing the little pegasus inside itself. "ANGEL!!" she yelled after seeing her getting farther away from her "What is this, this isn't nor-AUGH" she felt the sand covering mouth shutting her up. She fought desperate trying to climb out of the sand when she felt a little pair of paws digging her out of the the sand. Angel? she thought after seeing the bunny trying to save her putting his life at risk. Angel please stop, you, you will get- ANGEL!! The cumulus of sand sprouted a hand that threw the bunny against a wall. However Fluttershy was able to feel further digging on the sand around her. NO, PLEASE STOP- she thought as she saw that every single animal inside her cottage trying to free her NO, MISTER MOUSIE, HUMMINWAY, PLEASE STOP, I.. I DON'T WANT YOU HURT!!. The sand creature started moving throwing away or trying to drown every animal that tried to help Fluttershy. She felt enraged, she wanted to help her little animal friends, Leave them alone, Leave them alone LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! A soothing tune started filling the air, and Fluttershy saw how a little necklace emitting a golden glow floating just a couple of inches in from her eyes. the sand creature started acting weird, it molded itself in strange forms trying to get away releasing Fluttershy's upper body in that attempt, as if it was afraid of that object. The yellow pegasus reached her hoof into the necklace Releasing an enormous flash of golden light... The sun appeared in the horizon, leaving an extremely confused Fluttershy trying to piece what happened last Night. She had been tending the wounds of the brave critters that tried to save her from the sand monster the previous night. "Angel... please, get better" she said tucking the little bunny in her bed after having cured his wounds. She felt guilty, if she was as fast as Rainbow Dash she could have just flown away from her cottage and lead the monster away from her friends, if she had been as strong as Applejack she would have just dug herself out and bucked the sand away. I'm just a weak and helpless little pegasus that needs to be saved all the time She finished helping her animal friends and exited the cottage, with the early morning light she was able to see a little glitter coming from her neck, she was wearing the necklace that saved her life the night before. "I need to find Twilight right away, she might know something about that monster, or at least this necklace" She said galloping off to Ponyville. "Fluttershy!!, what a surprise." said a couple of earth ponies walking towards the town stopping her on her tracks. She recognized them as Lilly and Roseluck "Is it time already Fluttershy?" asked the red mane earth pony. "Um... time?" "Oh, in that case take this to them on our behalf" Added Lily pulling a bouquet out of her saddlebag. "um... thank.. you?" said Fluttershy tucking the flowers beneath her wings as she continued her way to the Library. "I hope she's able to move on..." Said Lilly "She's the only one who goes almost everyda- WOAHH!!" Roseluck jumped over Lily cowering. "Wha.. What happened" "I.. I felt something crawling around my leg" "There's nothing here silly.,." "But... but" "Honestly Rose" said Lily putting her friend down "Don't be so paranoid, I mean, we haven't had another stampede or anything like that in months, and I don't think a monster is gonna appear out of nowhere." "uhmm, yea, thanks Lily, i shouldn't worry that much" Both ponies continued their way to the market, failing to notice a little trail of sand following them... Fluttershy ran to the library in order to see her friend, getting some strange looks and whispers from everypony who looked at her. When She finally arrived, she found the library was closed. "um.. Twilight.." she knocked on the door quietly."this.. this is important... I.. I" "I'm going, I'm going!" said an annoyed little voice on the other side of the door, it sounded like if it had just woken up. "Fluttershy?" Said a little dragon rubbing his eyes in front of her friend. "Spike.. I need to see Twilight urgently, um... if its not a problem." The baby dragon looked at the bouquet that the yellow pegasus was carrying. "Well, we went to see them last week, but, OK, I'll take you" he answered and took the bouquet of roses from the pegasus wing. Fluttershy didn't understood why Twilight wouldn't be in her library, or what he meant by 'them', However she felt the need to ask the little dragon about something that had been in her mind. "Um... Spike, have, um, have you heard of somepony named clockwork?" "Huh? ah, yes of course, I mean she is known in all of Equestria." "ahh, I see..." "her visit yesterday has been the only important thing happening in ponyville in a long time..." Fluttershy just looked around, they were walking towards Ponyville's market near the center of the city, however there was nopony in sight, which struck her as odd, since it was getting a little late to open. "OK we're here" said Spike. "What is this?" asked the Yellow pegasus, in front of her there was a huge monument that occupied the center of the town. there were 5 pedestals each one marked with a cutiemark from one of her friends, and at the top of each one there was the statue of a pony resembling one of her friends. "Spike, where, um..." She didn't know what to say, Spike didn't say a word and just left the bouquet in front of Twilight's pedestal. As the little dragon returned to Fluttershy's side she was able to see a little plate with an inscription on that read: In honor of the brave ponies who stood up against the spirit of Chaos Discord and gave their lives to defeat him, your bodies may be gone, but not even time will make your spirits disappear... "Are you OK Fluttershy?" asked Spike after seeing her friend's shocked reaction "this... this.. can't.." Fluttershy couldn't finish her sentence, "Fluttershy?" "This isn't real" whispered the little pegasus backing away from that structure. "Calm down, we have come here every week since Discord..." "NO!" she yelled, "I never visited this monument, I talked to my friends the yesterday..." Spike could see the anger on Fluttershy's eyes, "I got to know princess Luna on Nightmare Night! I introduced Rainbow dash to her new Pet, I even Dressed as a Mysterious Mare" Spike tried to approach to her friend, who kept backing away "Fluttershy, what are you talking about?" "we.. we defeated Discord, it didn't happened this way... It didn't... this.." she was panting heavily, Spike tried to get closer but the canary pegasus mare backed away from the little dragon even further. "This isn't, this isn't my world..." "Fluttershy w-w-wait" said Spike trying to get her attention "lets talk about this, I-I mean, I know this is hard but is no reason to close yourself to-OUCH " he tripped and fell on the ground trying to reach the shocked pegasus. "Who put this boulder her-!" the little Dragon froze in horror when he saw what had tripped him. GYAAAAHHHH!! Fluttershy snapped out of her shock after hearing Spike scream in terror, Just in front of them there was a enormous pair of red colored eyeballs staring at them. "RUN SPIKE!" shouted the pony pushing the little dragon away as a gigantic claw scratched the earth they had been standing. "WHA- WHAT IS THAT!!" yelled spike as he saw the creature trying pulling itself up, as if it was climbing from below the ground. With each pull parts of the terrifying being started emerging. A long set of jagged rocks started sprouting from the ground, at the same time a second claw emerged and stomped the floor heavily, a soft groan starts filling the air as a misshaped reptilian head rises from the ground... It was a humongous dragon made entirely of rocks and sand, it stood menacingly in front of the yellow pony, it wasn't moving, as if it was mocking the little pegasus to try and escape. I have to escape, i have to, i have... was the only thing on Fluttershy's mind, however it was easier said than done. Her wings were stiff and and her legs refused to move, she was completely defenseless against against it. "Fluttershy!!" Spike yelled In order to get the pegasus attention, however she just stood there as the creature lifted its claw over her "HELP!! HELP!!" screamed the desperate dragon as he approached to her friend, however the beast simply lowered its claw on Fluttershy with a crash it made the earth shake. The wagon was deep into the Everfree forest, just outside the ruins of the old castle. The Magic that had given life to the unnatural forest and all of its inhabitants still filled the area around the ruins. Thick storm clouds blocked the sun around the ruins engulfing them in what appeared to be the eternal night promised a thousand years ago. The shattered windows however, shined a dull purple light to the outside. Concentrated, the gray colored Unicorn levitated the six flasks around her. The little sand containers danced in the air while glowing in different colored lights, drawing arcane symbols in the air. "The Life force of the elements of harmony will open the door, for the one who will reshape this world" The six recipients levitated themselves around the black hourglass and started spinning, each time faster than before, the ritual was almost complete, when the life force of the last element of harmony filled the remaining flask, the spell would have enough power to... crack A little fissure appeared on the remaining flask. "What the..." Clockwork's concentration broke when she heard that sound, She looked firmly at the empty container as a series of cracks had formed on its surface. Was the pressure from the ritual to much for the remaining container? Was it resisting the absorption? No she thought I'm probably over analyzing things She turned around once more to continue the ritual. However,even before she could resume, a loud crack resonated the ancient room "NOO!" yelled the magician as she saw how a golden ray of light exploded from the empty container,and started piercing through the other 5 flasks, poking holes on them and spilling part of their contents on the floor. She quickly stopped the spell in order to prevent the advance of that mysterious light. "What the Hell is Going on!!" A blue colored glow started flowing from under the beast's claw. "W-wha.." stammered Spike, the little dragon was still shocked since just a couple of minutes ago the beast had crushed his last friend, or so he thought... GRRR The beast clenched it's teeth, it was putting even more effort on keeping that claw on the ground. "I-it- its almost as if" the dragon couldn't finish his sentence as he saw the claw rising in front of him. The beast wasn't lifting its claw, it was being lifted from below! "Get, your, FILTHY, CLAW, OFF, MEE!!" the pony engulfed on the blue light pushed so hard that the beast lost its balance. "F-Fluttershy?!" Spike asked looking at the mare that emerged below the claw, she had her long mane and tail, her body structure, even her voice, but the similarities ended there. The mare was also clad in a sapphire colored armor, a purple translucent visor covered her eyes. She still had wings, however instead of the usually small pegasus wings, this pair was even bigger, and completely armored. However what stood out the most was her attitude, unlike the meek and scared Fluttershy, this Pegasus beamed with confidence. The Stone Dragon stood up and tried to crush the pegasus under its right claw again, however this time, the little pegasus vanished before the claw hit the ground quickly appearing on top of it. "wow, I, I-I've never gone so fast" said the pony just as surprised as the beast. "hehehe, I think I need to try this even more." The beast tried to slash Fluttershy with its powerful left, however the armored pegasus vanished again with a minimal effort. "You know" said Fluttershy sporting a cocky grin while standing on the Dragon's left shoulder, "I've seen a tortoise move faster than you do. Although, to be honest I don't know too many tortoises" GROAARR!!! the beast tried to hit the pegasus pegasus, however she flew away the last second causing the beast to hit itself. "Ouch!" said Fluttershy mocking the monster before her. Spike saw how the little pegasus dodging each punch, slice and stab the beast threw at her, She was so different, she was actually enjoying that. However in her extreme state of confidence, she failed to notice the chest of the beast rising between each attack, Spike knew about dragons, and if that thing was anything like one, that only could mean One thing. "FLUTTERSHY, HE'S GOING TO USE HIS BREATH!!!" "His breath? wait why did you call...?!!" the armored pegasus was engulfed by a powerful flame, leaving nothing but some ashes floating in the air. FINAL BLOW The beast turned its head around just to see how the Sapphire wings of the pegasus started changing color, with each feather shining with a different color of the rainbow, The stone monster puffed its chest in an attempt to release its flame against the opponent, however this time she charged forward with all of her might, leaving a shining rainbow trail behind her. "that... that looks like a sonic..." Spike watched in awe as his friend pierced the chest of the beast in one clean swoop. The stone dragon stood immobile, as if it wasn't more than a terrifying statue in the center of Ponyville. Cracks started appearing from the hole on the statue, the beast starts dissolving into an ginormous mound of sand, breaking apart piece by piece and leaving nothing more than fine dust in the air and ground. The baby dragon approached to the mare that landed in front of him, her majestic armor wasn't damaged one bit, looking at her a little closer, he saw her spiky and a little messy mane, which was colored blue instead of pink, however she still gave that impression of bravery an confidence she had during the whole fight. "F-Fluttershy, i-i-is that y-you?" stammered the little Dragon. The mare looked at Spike with attention, it was hard to tell what he expression was since the visor covered most of her face. She approached firmly and said "Did you see that spike?! I, I just beat a monster!! and it was SOO AWESOME!!, I never had flown like that before, I mean, I could be a wonderbolt right now, no scratch that, I could be their new leader in 10 seconds flat!!" said the extremely happy pegasus, to an even more surprised Spike. "oowww" a faint moan sounded from the enormous pile of sand were the dragon used to be. Roseluck, Lily and dozens of ponies emerged from that pile of sand, they looked confused and scared, trying to explain what were they doing in there, or at least how they got there. "Ah.. ah I think we should talk this out somewhere else, Flu-Fluttershy" said Spike as he saw the ponies trying to make out what happened and approaching to the mysterious Armored pegasus. "OK" said the pony jumping into the air with the little dragon "By the way Spike, why do you keep calling me Fluttershy? do I look like her o something?" ON THE NEXT MASKED MARE: Fluttershy: "I, I'm Fluttershy"?!! - Says the horrified mare as she looks herself in the mirror. Spike: You just noticed right now? ************** Clockwork: If I can't use the elements lifeforce to release you, I'll use the rest of the town for it. *Looking at a nurse earth pony* Clockwork: And the ponies from this cursed town are gonna help me,,, ************ Spike: its like if 2 ponies shared the same body!! Fluttershy: appearently we can use this powers each time I press this jewel. *** A Nightmare in broad Daylight