Shadows…
Shadows danced gleefully across the floors and along the walls, dipping and diving without rhyme or reason. The laughter of young foals echoed eerily as the shadows danced about carelessly. If only Fluttershy could be one of those carefree shadows. In another life, in another time, she would be cowering from the eerie shadows, but now, instead of cowering from them, she yearned to be one. It felt as if the shadows embraced her and accepted her, despite the fact that she was not one of them.
As she lay there on the floor, she couldn't help but to reflect on past events. Did she really do that with Pinkie? Did she really take on a spider demon by herself? And did Celestia's radiant sun, actually burn her to nearly a crisp? That pain was real, and so was the pleasure that followed shortly after she preyed on Pinkie.
Guilt, shame, embarrassment, it all coalesced in the pit of her stomach. Oh how she wanted to go outside and talk to the others and apologize to Applejack, but the tyranny of the sun prevented it. Surly, should she set hoof in its light, she'd be burned as if a flame or a hot iron had touched her.
‘Oh, to be a shadow…’
Silent tears began to fall as the sound of hoof beats approached Pinkie’s room. Her keen ears and scent told her that Pinkie had returned, but whom was with her? Should she hide or stand firm? She couldn't even decide how she should act anymore!
'Damn Twilight and her stupid spell! She's responsible for all of this!' She cursed mentally, then the realization of her thoughts hit home.
'No! She did what she thought was best at the time. She never meant for any of this to happen, it was an accident. Though she should have known better since the parasprite fiasco...'
The door slowly creaked open, and light from the hallway chased away the shadows that were dancing their aimless dance.
"Fluttershy...it's just me, I brought a friend. Don't be afraid! She just wants to know what's going on and wants to help." Pinkie cautioned.
"O-okay..." Fluttershy whispered.
Pinkie and Rainbow entered the room, and closed the door behind them. The first thing Rainbow Dash noticed was that the curtains were drawn shut tightly and that the room was quite dark. Then, from the far corner of the room the closet door creaked opened slowly. It was like something out of a horror movie, and when the mare, who was supposedly Fluttershy, inched out, Rainbow Dash actually needed to fight back the urge to flee as the first thing she saw was a set of glowing, crimson eyes from a dark figure exiting the closet. As Rainbow's eyes began to adjust to the light level, she began to make out details.
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked awestruck as she traced every contour and shape with her eyes. She was perhaps the hottest mare she ever saw. Fluttershy hid part of her face behind her silky mane as she saw Rainbow's wings unfurl and her eyes bore down on her lustfully.
"Yeah, I know right?" Pinkie said, trying to pry away her own eyes from Fluttershy's alluring physique.
"Dashie, you're staring at her. Quit it!" Pinka forcefully whispered out, an edge of protectiveness evident in her voice.
Rainbow snapped out of it and covered her eyes with a free wing.
"S-sorry Fluttersex--I mean Fluttershy!" Rainbow stuttered embarrassment and arousal clouding her senses and sapping her willpower.
Fluttershy blushed, trotted over to the bed, and then threw one of Pinkie's blankets around herself.
"I-is that better?" Fluttershy's sweet, velvety voice asked.
"Oh Tartarus..." Dash replied after hearing her speak.
"Yes, that helps a lot. Now you just look friggen adorable instead of somepony I want…in bed… I can deal with adorable. But even you voice is kinda different, like, 'I want to buck you' different." Rainbow Dash blurted out as she lowered her wing and managed to get them both to rest at ease on either side.
"That is a really big help Dashie! Now maybe we can get down to business; the important, not sexy, kind of business." Pinkie chimed in.
"Oh...okay..." Fluttershy said, still blushing boldly from Rainbow's outburst.
"Do you know that you look almost completely different?" Dash asked her.
"I do now, and from how the two of you reacted and behaved, I can only guess that I'm, um, well...um...I'm really sexy..." She squeaked, a sign that the old Fluttershy was still in there, somewhere.
"Yes, yes you are." Pinkie interjected.
"Is there like, some kinda way you can tone it down?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know, I can try, maybe." She replied. Uncertainty etched across her face.
"Do either of you have any idea on how I should start?"
Pinkie and Rainbow Dash sat and pondered for a bit, then Pinkie Pie was first to make a suggestion.
"What if you concentrated really, really hard on how you normally look?" Fluttershy thought about it for a little while. Then replied, “I guess that could work.”
As she closed her eyes and did so, the other two watched in awe as gold and red motes of energy slowly materialized and engulfed her. Then, with a flash of dark light, Fluttershy was back to her normal form.
Dazzled by the display, Pinkie couldn’t help but to let out an astonished “wow”. Rainbow Dash was likewise impressed, and now very much relieved.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked at herself, she excitedly exclaimed, “It worked! It worked! Thank you so much Pinkie! If you hadn’t made that suggestion I don’t know what I’d have done.” And scoped her up in a nearly bone shattering hug.
“Sure…thing…can’t….breath…” Pinkie wheezed, slowly growing dizzy until she was released from Fluttershy’s grasp. ‘I wonder if that’s how other ponies feel when I hug them' she thought to herself.
‘Probably...’ Pinkameana interjected.
***
The Canterlot Library, oh how Twilight had missed it here! But T’was a shame that it had to be under such dire circumstances. Most of the Canterlot elite seemed to not even notice something was amiss. Perhaps the news of strange things in Ponyville had not reached the general populace quite yet. Swiftly she entered in, but something was much different this time. Where there would usually be many librarians and other studious ponies, there was nothing but a single pony shrouded in robes of a more archaic time.
“Princess Twilight, It is an honor.” The figure said as she bowed in respect, her voice soft and soothing; nearly memorizing. Twilight took a few steps forward, gauging the mysterious pony.
“Yes…well, um it’s nice to meet you. Uh-”
“Night Lily, and the pleasure is all mine. But we both know why you have come. You have gotten my letter, I assume.” She interjected, raising her face to meet Twilight’s eyes. Twilight couldn’t help but to shiver ever so slightly as this mare gazed into her own eyes. When their eyes meet, Twilight saw so much more than just a pair of enchanting golden eyes, she also saw an eternity in those very same eyes; almost akin to what she occasionally saw in either of the Royal Princesses’ eyes.
“Where is everypony? And how did you know I’d show up at this time?” Twilight questioned, unease beginning to set in.
“Princess, there is no need for concern. I have spoken with Princess Celestia and acquired permission to close the library for today in order to better aid you. I am your ally and I know how to help your fiefdom; if you will trust me.” Night Lily reassured, her voice never rising but now resonating with an authority Twilight had not felt initially. To further prove what she was saying, she pulled out a royal scroll penned by Celestia herself; the calligraphy was unmistakable.
“Who are you really” Twilight asked, her curiosity briefly outstripping her caution. “You seem to much more than a hoofmaiden.”
With a chuckle, the mare pulled down her cowl revealing a set of bat pony ears, her fur was soft and silky and was of a violet hue fading to magenta near her throat continuing, presumably, down her underside; her mane was indigo with yellow tips. She couldn’t have been much older than Twilight herself. “Y-you’re a bat pony! Are you involved with the night guard?”
“I am a very old friend to the royal sisters. I was once a night guard, but I preferred the calm and simple life of a servant than to that of a soldier. I know that you know much princess, but there are yet some things that you don’t regarding Equestria’s history and alliances. But none of that is important right now. But what I will tell you is that the being you are dealing with is what is known as a Jorōgumo, a Neighponese monster of legend from the landmass of the same name. In Equestrian, the name can be translated in two different ways, either ‘Binding Bride’ or ‘Whore Spider’. Regardless, this creature, from the sound of it, is the same thing that terrorized Ponyville seventeen years ago.”
As she began telling Twilight these things, she led her to a table and pulled out a hoofful of ancient tomes as well as newspaper articles and laid them out before Twilight. Twilight was astounded at the gathered information and tediously kept files and couldn’t help but to admire the bat pony’s hoof-written notes.
“H-how did you get all this information! This had to have taken years of research! However did you acquire so much in such a short amount of time?” Twilight questioned.
With a sigh, Night Lily motioned with one of her leathery wings for Twilight to sit. Twilight followed her lead, and took a seat in front of her.
“Because, seventeen years ago, Celestia herself had sent me to investigate what is now known as the ‘Spider Fever Epidemic’.”