Of Heros and Horrors.
Fluttershy walked through the streets of Canterlot and towards the outskirts of the city. With recent events, the city had been mostly devoid of the normal hustle and bustle. They weren't going to stay like that, but Fluttershy found herself feeling a little guilty, liking the relative quiet the aftermath of the crisis had.
Nodding to the guards posted at the gate of the city, she walked out to the road that was not simply low in traffic, but straight up non existent besides herself.
Fluttershy sighed as she finally felt like she could be alone.
New friends from beyond the borders of Equestria had come to learn so much from her. Tempest, the siblings with their wide array of beaks and personalities to match, and other like minded creatures who wanted only to help in the crisis.
One of the ones she was happiest to help was the ape like creature that had managed to finally let his feelings out with her help.
And yet, with the sheer energy of the crisis finally abating, Fluttershy just needed to be alone.
* * *
Eventually, she found herself outside the city, at the place where brave souls had paid with their lives saving others during the crisis. Fluttershy had been told the site was being considered a memorial place for where the ones lost could be honored, but first the living had to be tended to before any work could be done on any kind of long term memorial. And so, only the large patch of scorched earth was present acting as a marker for the site.
She didn't know most of the ones that had died, but she did feel great empathy for their sacrifice none the less. Yet, there was one in particular that she wanted to pay her respects to. She didn't know this griffin very well, but knew that they meant a great deal to one of her good friends and had helped that friend along in healing from some old scars.
And so she went over to the place where she felt the griffin had died, based off the testimony she had heard from others. With the nearest best guess she could make, she knelt down and quietly started speaking.
"Um, it's me, Fluttershy. I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm still going to try. We weren't really close, but I..."
Fluttershy stopped in mid sentence as she bore witness to a horrifying scene unfolding.
Several yards out, a staff began to glow and rose up out of the rocks it was hidden among. With a rising pulse almost like that of a heartbeat, energy began to flow out of the staff. The energy coalesced together and she saw the skeleton of an ape like creature beginning to form next to the staff, with it's front limb held out, grasping the staff.
The energy stopped flowing out of the staff and as soon as the skeleton finished forming, it went limp for a moment and landed on the ground just beneath it.
Turning to look at it's surroundings as if it still had organs, the ape like skeleton quickly saw Fluttershy staring back at him. Quickly, it threw the staff behind the rocks, as if to keep it hidden, then glared at her with its skull lowered in an aggressive stance.
Back in the Crying Comet, the songstress Guiding Star looked to her audience. "And so, Fillies and Gentlecolts, I will now sing a special treat for you from foreign, far off shores. Drink responsibly and enjoy!"
She turned on the karaoke machine that she had just fed musical sheets into before she turned to the audience as it started slowly with a piano.
"Where have all the good braves gone and, where are all the guards? Where's the streetwise Rockhoof to fight the rising hoards? Isn't there a great knight, holding fast to his fiery creed? I toss and I turn and dream of what I need..."
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Fluttershy was completely limp as the skeleton held her up by the throat in his deathly tight grip. She was unsure exactly what was running through the creature's mind, but there was one thing she couldn't deny. Emanating from the creature was a great sense of anger as it worked to decide what to do with her.
She was starting to run out of breath as she did her best to quell the panic. She knew this wasn't the kind of anger that fueled the ape like creatures in battle, as she had seen that and still managed to quell it in spite of the inappropriateness of similar actions.
No, this was malice. There was no negotiating or helping this one. Even if it was possible to reach out to him, he had no alternative desire fueling it that she could appeal to. There might of been at one time, but now whatever it was, it didn't matter anymore to them. They had submitted their every waking thought to the anger. This was pure, raw hatred for the sake of hatred. The only reason she wasn't dead yet was because it wanted her to suffer first.
The creature tilted its skull as it reveled in her suffocation. Fluttershy thought this might be it for her when a sword came striking down on the arm holding her.
Immediately, she fell to the ground and heard the creature wail an unnatural scream of pain. She then saw the owner of that sword kicking the hand that just fell limp from her throat. It was a soul she recognized, but had been on rocky terms with.
Scraps the rogue.
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Guiding Star sang with great gusto, "I'm holding out for a hero to the morning light! He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life. Larger than life!"
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As Fluttershy ran into the night, doing her best to not panic, she looked over at Scraps right beside her. Her need to focus was doubled over when she saw his gate indicating a sense of cowardliness and he was panicking enough for the both of them.
They didn't go straight for the city gate, but rather hid among the trees in the path, trying to throw the creature off. As scared as she was, he was outright shaking like a scared puppy as they hid.
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"And where the lightning splits the sea! I could swear that there someone somewhere watching me!"
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At first the creature seemed to have trouble looking for the two, but it became apparent the shadows of the trees didn't protect them. Turning to their direction, the creature saw them immediately, and shot out magical darts from his remaining hand.
The darts were fast, but Scraps pulled out a tiny scroll from his vest and quickly read the short phrase from it. Just as the darts were about to strike, a shield formed around the two huddled together. All seven darts passed straight through the shield, but struck Fluttershy harmlessly, as if they were simply made up of water that splashed off of her.
Scraps then dashed forward and pulled out a set of two twisted vials tied together. Jumping up to the creature's skull, he slammed the vials onto the spot between the eye sockets.
Immediately, the two liquids inside mixed and foamed up, filling the inside of the skull as it splashed into it and also foamed up on the face.
The creature tried to claw at it with its one good hand, but found the stuff to be extremely sticky and wasn't coming off easily.
Turning back to Fluttershy, Scraps bolted at full speed and screamed "Run!"
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"Through the wind and the chill and the rain, and the storms and the flood! I can feel his approach like the fire in my blood!"
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Fluttershy and Scraps ran side by side up the path to Canterlot. Fluttershy was starting to get winded, but Scraps stayed by her side, ready to block more attacks if he had to.
Fluttershy knew in her gut the creature wasn't far behind, but Scraps stopped at a narrow point in the path and made a point to force her to stop too. Through the clear night sky, the moon illuminated just enough to show the creature running up the path to them. His eyes sockets were no longer filled as the creature had finally gouged out the foam.
Just as soon as the creature was coming to the nearest point of the path, only a few yards from them, Scraps called out "Barata," under his breath and Fluttershy heard a snapping noise.
Immediately, Scraps' small practice spell ignited the foam still inside the creature's skull, causing the creature to double over in pain as the flame blinded him.
Running up at just the right angle to the side, Scraps bowled into the creature and forced him over the edge of the cliff. Barely keeping balance, Scraps was about to come back from the edge himself, but was grabbed by the creature.
Slipping to the edge with his sword being his only anchor in the ground, Scraps kicked the creature holding onto his back legs, finally managing to get him to fall into the cliff side below.
Scrambling back up from the ledge, Scraps and Fluttershy resumed their run to Canterlot.
* * *
Without any clear sign of the creature behind them, they ran into Canterlot, past the guards and found many of their friends coming back from the Crying Comet. Rushing into their embrace, Fluttershy finally allowed her brave front to fail her and she tried to explain to them.
"We're in trouble! Dal..."
A loud screech of "Qosou! could be heard through the crisp night air.
Suddenly, Fluttershy found herself unable to speak as she felt a wave of emptiness overcome her. With her friend's horrified face embedded into her mind, everything went black.