//------------------------------// // 8-Picking up for dropping off // Story: Ghost of a Chance // by Boneguard //------------------------------// Agent Frost managed to make it to Fluttershy's cottage using his cloak leaving all the ponies wonder what happened before them. The princesses managed to keep the crowd together without panicking and sent them to the safety of their homes and stationing guards to keep watch for any new events that might endanger them. "Twilight, we have received word that something has crashed in Cloudsdale, we need you to take Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and investigate what happened there as soon as possible." said Celestia. "Don't worry princess, we'll do our best." acknowledged Twilight. "But wha' about that monster that got away?" questioned Applejack. "You'll try to find and capture it before it harms anypony else." added Celestia. "Umm, I must return to my cottage before we go. I have to make sure that all my animal friends are safe." "Very well Fluttershy, we'll wait. But please try to hurry." said Twilight. Fluttershy started galloping to her home to see if Frost arrived so she could check on him and when she arrived the door to her home was wide open. She trotted inside and closed the entrance, but she couldn't see her captor anywhere and the lights were off, she was going to turn them on when a hand grabbed her by the muzzle. "Are you alone?" Frost whispered in Fluttershy's ear and she nodded in response. The Ghost let her go and went back to finding his Stimpacks. "What happened out there, I thought you said that you wouldn't hurt nopony." Fluttershy said with an upset look. "It was personal. Don't get in something you can't get out." Frost calmed her. "Where did that ship crash?" "I think it landed in Cloudsdale, a floating city made out of clouds where the pegasi live." she answered. "Take me there right now." Frost said suddenly. "What? But I have to meet my friends so we can go together." Fluttershy tried to refuse, but Frost had already taken her outside and mounted her and made her fly with a kick. "We have little time, fly me there as fast as possible." he said engaging his cloak. Fluttershy, who is not a really good flyer, gave her very best to soar as fast as possible, but not without being seen by Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle who were quite surprised to see her friend going without letting them know and started to follow her. After what felt like an eternity of flying, Fluttershy finally reached Cloudsdale and found the crash site surrounded by pegasi, but none of them dared to even get close to the downed starship. She landed right near the edge of the circle and felt Frost get off her and she realized that he had gone to the ship that was on some kind of airstrip that did not fall through the clouds. Frost was trying to pry open the hatch quite calmly due to his cloak and that the ponies would just assume that it was just the wreckage falling apart from the gravity. He managed to slightly open it and crawled inside, only one of the lights was still lit and blinking. Frost decloaked to conserve his energy and he could figure out from the blinking light that everyone inside was dead so he started to collect their dog tags making his way to the cockpit. When he reached the cockpit he could see the pilot sitting eerily in his seat, he slowly approached to get his tags. Frost checked if he was still alive, but to no avail. He saw that only a few of the systems have been damaged by the hit and the impact, he could repair the ship in due time, but first he must take it somewhere secluded. While Frost was inside the wreckage, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle caught up to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, we saw you fly away without telling us, what happened?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Oh, ummm... One of my birds said that it was urgent and I had to come as quickly as possible." Fluttershy lied. "Now, it doesn't matter. We must investigate this strange thing." announced Twilight while trotting towards the downed Medivac. "I don't think it's a good idea." said Fluttershy. "Oh, come on! Don't be afraid. It's just some piece of junk." Rainbow Dash tried to motivate her friend. Twilight was right at entrance of the starship when it suddenly came back online, scaring all the ponies present. Twilight jumped back and saw the machine started to float due to its engines that were making a resonating sound. The Medivac floated for a few moments before its afterburners activated and launched it to incredible speed, disappearing from Cloudsdale in an instant. All the ponies were confused and they all turned to the Princess of Friendship for answers. "Calm down everypony, it was damaged and it must have just ran away." announced Twilight. "Fluttershy seemed to know what was going to happen." said Rainbow Dash. "Oh no, I was just scared of that thing. It looked so imposing." defended Fluttershy. "It doesn't matter now. I hope that it is long gone and will no longer come here. We will talk it over at the tea party." said Twilight. "Oh, of course. I must go and prepare. Meet you in the evening." said Fluttershy before flying off. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Frost managed to land the Medivac somewhere inside the forest away from prying eyes. He inspected the damage that it has suffered and realized he could repair it in a few days. Luckily, the engine and the navigation systems weren't very damaged, but still could use some work and the healing beam was beyond repair. He buried the dead some distance away and camouflaged the ship, after that he made his way to Fluttershy's home. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fluttershy was in her home brewing some tea when Frost appeared in front of her and used a Stimpack. Fluttershy started to panic knowing that her friends will arrive any minute now. "Oh, hey. What are you doing here? My friends must arrive." said Fluttershy. "What? I said nothing that would blow my cover!" yelled Frost. "Of course, I'm going right now to tell them that the tea party is off." Fluttershy said before she opened the door only to find her friends about yo knock. "Good evening Fluttershy, we have just arrived. May we come in" greeted Twilight. "Oh, but yes. Make yourself feel at home." said Fluttershy trying to hide her nervousness. "Is Discord going to join us, dear?" asked Rarity. "Oh, no. He said that he had business in the realm of Chaos." answered Fluttershy. "That sounds fun!" screamed Pinkie Pie. The six ponies sat down at the table and started chatting, eating and drinking tea with the exception of Fluttershy who was in a state of constant anxiety about her friends finding out that she shelters a wanted criminal. "Is something off, darling?" Rarity saw her friend's discomfort thus drawing everypony's attention. "Oh no, it's just that it has been so long since we've had a tea party at my house." defended Fluttershy. "Are you sure, sugarcube? You seemed a lil' tense right there." said Applejack. "Can't you see that she wanted a party so bad she forgot how to be in one!" yelled Pinkie Pie. This answer seemed to please the friends who continued to eat and Fluttershy excused herself so she could find Frost. She went into the kitchen and waited for a few moments before the ghost became visible right in front of her. "Why are they still here?" Frost asked. "It just seemed rude to turn them away after they made all the way here." Fluttershy answered. "Unbelievable. You risk everything just because you thought it was rude." Frost scolded. "Can't you just become invisible again?" "Ran out of energy. I can't use my suit until morning." "Well, what about that thing you got from Cloudsdale?" "I'll just let you know that if something happens, something bad will happen." "Fluttershy, what's taking so long?" asked Rainbow Dash as she walked in the kitchen. Fluttershy panicked and quickly hid Frost in the cupboard before her friend would find out who she was talking about. "Oh, nothing. Just talking with my animal friends." "Umm, there are no animals here, Fluttershy." "They just ran off, let's get back to the party." Frost felt irritated that he just leaves this ponies doing anything they want to him. He considered slaughtering every living creature inside the house, but he found out that these ponies are important figures in their society so them suddenly disappearing would raise some questions. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Frost waited until the last of the guests left until he finally came out of hiding heading straight to Fluttershy in an imposing matter. It seemed that he wanted to kill her. "I swear, if somebody else knocks on that door. There will be hell to pay." "I'm so sorry, um, I promise that nopony will ever bother us again." "Good enough for me. Now, my scans have picked up strong psionic energy emanating from that big castle. I thought that you would know what is the source." "Oh, well, it must be the magic map inside Twilight's castle. It calls us when a friendship problem happens and we solve it." "Interesting, you will take me to it tomorrow and I will examine it." "Oh, but I don't think you're allowed to do this." "Remember that I am your captor and that you now have a choice, either you obey me or you will pay dearly." "Yes, yes, I will do as you say and I'm sorry for all that's happened. I have been foolish to believe that we could actually become friends." said Fluttershy lowering her head in embarrassment. "Good girl." replied Frost stroking her mane. After that Frost went to keep watch over the entrance with his visor making sure that nothing would drop in unannounced on him while Fluttershy started washing the dishes. "I would like to know more about you, like what is your name? But not like friends, I just thought that maybe we could have some mutual respect even though we're different." Fluttershy proposed. "Ughhh, I'm the only Terran here so I think it wouldn't hurt nobody. My codename is Frost and I am a Ghost operative." "Ghost... that sounds scary. What exactly do you do?" "I can't go that far even if I was the only man left in the Universe." "Oh, ok. So your name is Frost, is there any meaning behind the name?" "Yes, it's cold blood." "Like a reptile?" "Just finish the dishes and get some sleep, we have a lot of work tomorrow." Frost said while laying down on the couch falling asleep with one eye open. Tomorrow was going to be the day that he would have to examine this magic map and likely get a sample for testing.