//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Dangerous Delusions // Story: Through Deceiving Eyes // by CowgirlVK //------------------------------// It was nothing unusual for Fluttershy to wake up to having one or more animals on her. Regularly waking up included at least one; a particular rabbit, who would be thumping her over the head. This, however, was completely different. She cried out in pain as something rammed her hard in the ribs. Instinctively, she rolled over and fell to the floor with a thump, her body tangled in the sheets hanging halfway off the bed. Her eyes flew open, expecting to see Rainbow Dash, but was met with something entirely different. She gasped as a flock of birds dive bombed her, and covered her eyes with her forehooves. “Stop!” She cried out as she struggled to free herself from her blanket. She felt the stab and scratch of beaks and talons as the birds attacked her viciously, leaving her no time to respond. Immediately after, she felt the crushing weight of a swarm of animals slam into her. A sharp of pain shot through her body as a loud crack resound from her side. “Please! Please stop!” She sobbed as she tried to drag herself away. “What is wrong with you?” She gasped at the sharp pain in her chest from the sudden, jerky movements. Again the animals backed up and charged her. She braced herself for the pain once more as the animals attacked her. This had never happened before. Never in her life had her pets acted so savagely towards her. Protective, miffed, avoided... these things she’d seen. But she’d never, never been attacked by the woodland creatures she had shared a home with for so long. “Please, please stop!” She could smell the blood that trickled from her many wounds. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and curled up as she all but gave in to her seemingly inevitable fate. Her pained cries echoed loudly around the room as she was struck over and over. Again and again, her animals acted wildly and out of control, bashing her battered body further. She opened her eyes long enough to see them also attacking each other. This was not normal. This was not right. What had happened? “Gotcha!” A set of firm forelegs wrapped themselves around her. She felt herself being lifted from her corner, torn from the sheets that held her captive and rushed away. Her body was bleeding from the many wounds, and her mind felt fuzzy from the pain. Her vision was blurry from the tears that streamed down her cheeks as she looked up at her savior. This was not right. Why had her animals attacked her? “Hang it there Flutters. I’ll get you some help. Just stay with me!” The voice caressed her ears as she was supported firmly against a warm body, her mind too blurred from pain to fully register who it was, as her eyes rolled back and she succumbed to the darkness. Spike was busy sweeping the crystallized floors of the throne room when the doors burst open, and a rainbow blur blasted into the chamber. He was knocked back, falling to the ground and glaring. “Rainbow!” he shouted in annoyance before the metallic stench reached his nose. The annoyed look quickly turned to one of fear as he looked over to see a worried Rainbow holding a blood stained Fluttershy close to her. “Get Twilight! Now!” She shouted as she rocked the pegasus and tried to comfort her with encouraging words. Spike’s eyes widened as he ran out of the room, letting his broom clatter to the floor as he rushed to the library. “Twilight! Twilight!” He cried. The purple alicorn looked up and frowned. “Spike, I told you, I had to organize these new books-” “No time!” he cut her off as he grabbed her hoof and started dragging her towards the exit. She frowned and jerked her hoof away. “Spike! What’s going on?!” “It’s Fluttershy! She’s hurt!” Almost immediately, Twilight’s attitude changed completely as she pulled Spike onto her back and galloped out of the Library and into the throne room. Twilight gasped upon seeing the battered and bloodied sight of their gentle little friend. Fluttershy was covered in bruises and fresh blood trickled out of some of her wounds. It looked as though her chest was slightly sunken in from a cracked rib and her bloodshot eyes were puffy from tears that continued streaming endlessly down her face. Snot and blood flowed from her nose as she sniffed and whimpered in pain. “Hospital, now!” Twilight instructed. Lighting her horn, she teleported them the short distance to Ponyville Hospital and rushed up to the front desk. The nurse took one quick look at the ponies and dragon before rushing off to get the doctor. Her eyes were wide with alarm. Spike and his friends, with the exception of Fluttershy, waited anxiously in the hospital waiting room. Now that the initial commotion had died down, Spike was beginning to notice an irritatingly shrill cry buzzing all around him. He scratched his head with his claws, wincing, gritting his teeth slightly. He growled in annoyance and plugged his ears with his hands, glaring down at the floor. Very little changed, if anything it felt as though the sound was now inside his head. He looked over to Twilight and his eyes widened as he saw the alicorn turn a rather unappealing shade of yellow. He blinked and shook his head, looking at her again to see her normal purple coat and rubbed his eyes. He looked around at the others, who just moments before had also seemed to look different be perfectly normal. Spike groaned and shook his head as he squinted his eyes to see a faint… glow? Why were his friends glowing? He shook his head once more, and they’d returned to normal once again. “Spike? Are you alright?” Rarity asked in concern, noting the dragon’s strange behavior. Spike looked up. “Uh... I think so?” The others were now also looking at him. “Are you sure Spike, you are acting strange, and after what Dash described-” He suddenly stood up feeling very irritated. His body jerked sideways slightly, shuddering from some unknown force. “You know, I think I’m going to go home... my room.” His voice was high-pitched and nervous. The dragon staggered to his feet and strode forwards, nearly running into a wall. He paused and took a deep breath before taking a few steps forward and running into the door frame. Twilight bit her lip, torn between waiting to hear from the doctor, and holding back a few chuckles as she looked at her assistant with concern in her eyes. “Spike, are you sure you are alright?” She looked to her friends and after a few moments got to her hooves. “Actually, I’m going with him. I’ll teleport right back here as soon as I’ve got him in bed. He must not have slept well last night, and then the shock is getting to him.” Twilight reasoned. Her friends nodded. “We’ll be right here,” Applejack said as she sat beside a slightly trembling Rainbow Dash. “It’s alright Sugarcube. You got her out of there. Though ah don’t know what made her animals go crazy like that.” Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, a team of Celestia’s guard had cut off the paths and were trying to round up the animals. They were retaliating violently, birds swarming them or bats attacking them as if trying to nest in their heads. Wasps and bees swarmed and stung the guards, the armor only protecting them from so many of the bugs. The bear was roaring angrily as he clawed at the four guards that were struggling to bring him down and the snapping turtles latched onto whatever limb they could. One of the pegasi had flown away to gather a few snow clouds from the weather factory to deal with the bugs and a unicorn had used their magic to toss a thick net over the bear. He roared and clawed at the net in vain before being shot by a tranquilizing bolt of magic and collapsing to the ground unconscious. The snapping turtles were pried off the guards and tossed into cages, small chunks of skin being torn away with them from how hard they’d bit down. A little while later, a few pegasi guards came back with the snow clouds and planted them over the swarm of bugs, smashing their hooves into the clouds to produce large amounts of snow. The sudden cold weather caused the bugs to drop to the ground dead, a sight Fluttershy wouldn’t like. The birds and butterflies were caught with nets and placed into cages as well, flying around them and bashing into the bars as they tried to escape. The squirrels were going nuts as they tossed volleys of acorns at the ponies. The unicorns had to capture the squirrels, bunnies, and other animals in their magic before they could be caged and taken away. Once every animal had been put into cages, and all the bugs killed off, the guards took a moment to relax and look at each other with mixed expressions of confusion and concern, some of them showing fear. Unbeknownst to them, among the chaos a particular white bunny had managed to slip away into the woods, the shrill screaming having been too much for his ears to handle. He watched in regret as the other animals were taken away by the guards, grimacing at the pile of bugs lying dead in the yard before hopping away. Fluttershy winced as the last bandage was pulled tight. An IV ran from a sack of donated blood into the crook of her arm. Her face was pale, and her breaths uneven and ragged as she fought through the pain in her side. “There we go Miss Shy.” The doctor said as he came around to her face. “That’s the end of that for a while. You got lucky Rainbow was able to save you when she did. Now, do your body a favor and rest while I go find your friends.” “Thank... you... doctor.” She said in a halted whisper. She winced right afterward, whimpering slightly despite the medication they’d given her to help ease the pain in her side. He laid a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “Rest.” Stables frowned as he left the room shaking his head sadly. What in Equestria had caused those animals to do that? Everypony knew Fluttershy could handle any animal. For them to do that to her- he shivered. This wasn’t right, nor did he know what was going on. He had one idea, rabies. There was no other explanation. But if it was that disease, then Fluttershy’s blood test should come out positive. For now, he had to tell her friends they could see her at last. He took a deep breath, steeling himself to tell them the news. Pressing through the door, his eyes fell on the five huddled mares. He coughed, clearing his throat. “Ladies.” All five heads snapped up, Pinkie, and Twilight rising to their hooves, eager to hear what he had to say. “The damage is fixable. Luckily she got away mostly with just minor cuts and bruises. There were a few that were deeper, and she did crack a rib. I’ve managed to get it reset so it should heal… however, there is nothing we can do to protect it. She'll have to remain still for it to heal properly.” Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Can- can we see her?” She asked hesitantly, her ears pinned back on her head. He nodded. “It would do her some good. She’s been through quite a shock. To be honest, I can’t even fathom what made the animals act like that... especially with a pony who’s known them nearly their entire lives. I’ll have the lab run tests, but right now I know nothing.” “Thank you Doctor,” Twilight sighed. “At least she is safe. That’s all that matters now. Where is she?” “Room 936,” he replied, “It’s down that hallway and to your left.” The others nodded and got to their hooves, quickly making their way down the hall to the room. Fluttershy was laying back in the bed. The blanket pulled up to her chest and her eyes closed. Upon hearing the door open and the multiple sets of hooves, she opened them slightly and lifted her head to see her friends walk through. A weak smile crossed her face as they came up to her bedside and stood around her. “Hey!” she beamed up at the five concerned faces around her. “How are you?” Dash was the first to speak, coming as close as she dared to her friend, brushing a hoof against the smaller mare’s shoulder, running down her foreleg, and hooking hooves with her. The smaller pegasus winced as she tried to take in enough breath for a response. “Sore.” She replied weakly, her broken rib and bruises making it hard to breathe. “Ah bet sugar cube, ya look like ya took on a dragon and failed,” Applejack said soothingly. “Yer lucky nothin’ worse happened.” Fluttershy’s eyes closed, and her ears flopped down as her weak smile dipped down into a frown. “Girls!” Pinkie scolded. “You’ll be Okey Dokie Lokie in no time! And I’ll bring over cake, and cookies, and anything else you like!” Fluttershy didn’t respond, but her body relaxed a little, and her smile returned. “Don’t worry Flutters,” Twilight added. “Celestia has already sent guards over to capture the animals for testing so nopony else can get hurt until we know what’s going on.” Fluttershy frowned. “I hope they're ok… they must be so scared… no...pony... got hurt... I hope…” Twilight gulped. “I’ve not heard back yet, but you can be sure they took every means to ensure there were as few injuries as possible.” “Darling, we are just glad Dash heard you and was able to get you out of there!” Rarity’s eyes were streaked from crying. “It must have been absolutely dreadful!” Fluttershy shuddered. Rainbow Dash opened her wing and laid it over her foalhood friend’s torso. “I’m here Fluttershy,” she said soothingly as she looked around at their other friends as well. “We’re all here.” A weak tear creaked out of the corner of her eye, trailing down her cheek, and falling with a splash on the pillow. “Why?” It was faint, but it made every mare in the room shudder, and their ears flop down. It was in fact, the question of the hour.