//------------------------------// // Guard Flutter, Part VIII: Facing Oblivion // Story: Guard Flutter // by Impossible Numbers //------------------------------// Under the silver needles of the Moonstone Pines, the breezie floated up from the golden head of the giant daisy and chattered away with its squeak of a voice. The tips of its curly antennae hummed and throbbed with bioluminescence. Both its twiggy legs dangled from a body the size of a grape. Yet its mane and tail flared in its wake with the grace of lilies on a pond, and its wings – delicate as a cobweb – drifted through the heady air in lazy, undulating beats. Around it, other breezies were taking to the air. Lights filled the little hollow beneath the huddle of pines. Giant daisies stared upwards in awe. Pairs of breezies united among the slow swirl. A spiral caught on, and soon the dance had begun in earnest. On the pond, their lights bobbed and rippled between the surfacing heads of the black catfish that gasped as though at the sheer beauty of it all. On the grassy bank, Fluttershy had lain down with her front hooves dipped in the water. The lights and the gauzy wings were mirrored on the surface of her red-stained eyes. She was singing under her breath. “What is this place, filled with so many wonders? “Casting its spell which I am now under…?” A catfish nudged her hoof by chance; she got a glimpse of its gleaming back before the scales slipped into the reflection of the dance. Despite herself, she smiled. “Thank you, little catfish,” she whispered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.” Before long, however, the frown eclipsed her good mood. She sniffed, and another bloom of sweet pollen and plant musk transported her through her nostrils to the midst of the ancient forests. It conjured heaps of leaf litter, and the whir of insect wings, and tickling legs crawling on her. She almost giggled at the memory, but the weight on her brow was too heavy to lift and the lips sagged under the weight. “Remember what Derpy said,” she told herself. “No matter how dark the cloud gets, there’s always a silver lining.” She tried to ignore her inner voice that piped up at this point. It was insisting that a cloud blocked by another cloud could have no silver lining at all, and anyway it wasn’t much good if the silver lining was on top of a storm cloud and you were standing under it. No, that couldn’t be true. There was a silver lining in this, wasn’t there? Something good had to come out of a double demotion, right? Unfortunately, the only lesson her mind had come up with so far was; “Don’t get a double demotion.” The spiral of breezies began to break up. Now the jiggling lights showered over the flowers. Pairs began to land as softly as snowflakes on the padded flower heads, golden seats overlooking the pond and the gleam of catfish backs and heads. How could she cope with this sort of thing? She was a private. Privates were newbies who hadn’t figured out where the little fillies’ rooms were kept. There were plenty of side roles she could have been bumped into. Why exactly had she been dropped and buried like a rotten apple in a compost heap? All the petals glowed under the breezie huddles. The sight of the “starry night” under the solemnly bowed pines bowled over her senses with the force of cotton, and her little worries and frets were blown away. There was only the quiet beauty sleeping beyond her hooves, stirred only by the soft breaths of dozy catfish. By her left wing splayed over the grass, two of the breezies held each other gently between their tiny forelegs. Muzzles like wheat grains nuzzled each other. Their curling antennae intertwined with a balletic grace. All four of the glowing tips brightened, brilliant as the heart of a firework. “So romantic…” she whispered. “So breathtaking…” Her eyelids skimmed across the surface of her corneas. Baring her teeth, she stretched her mouth in an animal yawn and shook her neck down. Slowly, she lowered her chin to her hocks, and let the darkness settle over her as a blanket clean of woe or worries. The infinite stars. The endless night… From afar, they glinted with the promise of exotic jewels across the midnight sea. Her mind imagined them up close; other moons, other worlds like hers, some with tiny pegasi gazing back at her and dreaming of Fluttershy’s… Below her, a raspy voice was shouting her name. Young Fluttershy sighed and let herself fall through the clouds, through fog and mist and the dew that clung to her feathers, down to the white world where the land was laid out and a young Rainbow Dash was flitting from spot to spot. She was only inches from the underbelly of the stratus layer, but at no point did she make any effort to rise through it. “I changed my mind,” said Rainbow Dash in a huff. “This is stupid. I want to go back to bed.” “No! Don’t go back now. If you turn back every time, you’ll never see it for yourself.” A brittle chuckle escaped the foal’s mouth. “Yeah, I think I can live with that.” As gently as she could, Fluttershy reached down and hooked her forelimb around Rainbow’s. Ignoring the filly’s protests, she rose through the curling tendrils of cloud, yanking whenever she felt any resistance down her limb. “There!” she said. “Look how lovely it is!” She turned to watch the face next to her; Rainbow froze, then drew back gasping. For a moment, Fluttershy thought the filly was about to dash back down. A twinge of doubt went through her mind. “Are you OK?” she said. “It’s…” Rainbow stammered. “It’s so… so… big! And shiny…” “Do you like it?” Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together. “You do like it, don’t you?” “All this space… right here, where no one can see it… So much space…” Fluttershy was beginning to feel bits of her twitch. This wasn’t how she’d expected it. A suspicion crept into her mind. “Oh, I didn’t think,” she said. “You’re upset, aren’t you? Let’s head back. Forget all about this.” “Forget all about it?” Rainbow woke up and rounded on her. “What are you talking about? I’m never going back!” Fluttershy could’ve been whacked around the head, and she wouldn’t have felt so off-kilter. “What? You mean you like it?” “LIKE it? I LOVE it!” Before Fluttershy had so much as blinked, the rainbow flashed past, around, and above her, darting to and fro as Rainbow tried to take it in from every angle. The blue hoof pointed. “There must be HUNDREDS of ‘em! THOUSANDS! I’ve never seen so many at once! Ooh, ooh, what’s that big one? Right there? What’s that one? Is that a star too?” Fluttershy followed her awestruck gaze. “That one’s called the moon. But… You’ve never seen it before?” “How far away is it? Can I touch it? Hold on a sec!” “WAIT! Don’t fly towards it!” But Rainbow was already zooming across the cloud plains, and she knew instantly there was no hope of catching her; Rainbow moved like a bullet. Panting and straining, she forced her tiny wings to throw her after the disappearing dot, and then shrieked with alarm when the dot shot back and Rainbow’s wide eyes and grin almost smacked into her. “It must be MILES away!” Rainbow rubbed her hooves with glee. “Has anyone ever touched it?” “Well… No, but –” “Then I, Rainbow Dash, do solemnly swear that I, Rainbow Dash, will be the first! Forget going round the world; Airheart and her followers did that already. Bet none of them would dare try to touch the moon and back. Oh! Oh! Even better! The stars!” This conversation was making Fluttershy feel mugged. “The stars?” “Yeah! I bet they’re even further away than the moon! Think of how many awards I’d win if I brought back a star! I mean, look how small they are. I think I could carry one easy-peasy.” A burst of blue wings later, and Rainbow was off. Fluttershy was staring at nothing, and she wheeled round to try and spot the flashes of colour as Rainbow zipped from cloud to sky to staring at the moon. Around her, the stratus layer was slightly ridged, and she could tell by stopping to check the swirls that the cover was drifting northwards. “We should be getting back soon,” she whispered, and then she shrieked when Rainbow almost bashed into her side. “This place is AWESOME!” The mass of hair zipped round to her other side, making her own locks hit her face with the turbulence. “I’m never going back down again!” Then, she yawned and shook herself down. The silence of the night rolled in, the moon was staring down among the fresco of stars, but what impressed on them both – now that Rainbow Dash was settling down – was the void. There were no sounds that tickled their ears. What little wind there was had died away. Not a scent was in the air they breathed. Never changing; no one was there to change a thing. Despite the feeble stars and the lonely moon, the sky was full of nothing but the cold, dark, silent stillness of oblivion. Rainbow’s ears drooped. She backed away slightly, but Fluttershy placed a stick-thin leg across her withers, and she held firm. “It’s… pretty,” the blue filly said. “A bit empty, though.” Behind her pink curtain, Fluttershy glanced down at the featureless grey. “That’s why I like it.” “Could get boring. You come here all the time?” Fluttershy drew back her leg from Rainbow and shook her head, her fringe swaying. “I can’t do it every night because it ruins my sleep. If I close my eyes, though, and dream really hard, I can see every star in the right place without leaving my bed.” “Wow. You ever dream about flying up to one?” “Uh… no. I just like looking at them.” “Well, you must do something in your dreams. Do you draw pictures in the sky, or do you jump right in like it’s a big swimming pool, or do you see giant monsters and alien ponies coming down in big airships? That’s what I’d dream about.” Fluttershy sighed impatiently. “None of that stuff, silly. I just like looking. I don’t like touching it.” “Wow. You’re weird.” Rainbow smirked. “Come on. You can tell me. I told you about my dreams. You know? Fighting monsters, flying all over the world, rescuing damsels –” “Damsels? What’s a damsel?” Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno. I think it’s like a princess.” “Isn’t it some kind of fly?” “Don’t be daft. It doesn’t look anything like a fly. They’re always pegasi in my dreams. And one day, I’m gonna fly around the world, and now I’m gonna fly to the moon and the stars and bring one of ‘em back. I’m gonna be a firefighter, and a peacekeeper, and an explorer. I’m gonna be whatever I want to be, and I’m gonna have a castle made out of clouds…” While the filly prattled on, Fluttershy let her gaze wander back to the shining moon, its pure glow not enough to cover the dark blemishes and pockmark craters that dotted its circle face. She was wondering; could a pegasus fly all the way to the moon? She’d never heard of anybody trying, but maybe that was because pegasi liked to stay close to each other, and no one really wanted to go that far away from towns and cities and other creatures. Her flapping wings began to ache. If only she weren’t such a weak flyer… that moon looked so enchanting… “– and then I’m gonna find an evil unicorn, and I’m gonna give ‘em what-for, and then I’ll – uh, Flutters? You OK there?” Fluttershy blinked – the spell was broken – and she turned back to Rainbow. “What?” “I was saying,” said Rainbow in a huffy tone, “how I was gonna beat up a unicorn. Or do you have some better dream you’d like to share?” “No, no. I like looking at… stuff.” Fluttershy flushed red. Rainbow yawned theatrically, even patting her mouth for the complete effect. “Bor-ing. Who’d wanna dream about just looking at stuff?” “It ruins it. I don’t like ruining things.” They hovered there, surrounded by tiny and quiet reminders of oblivion. Rainbow shuddered as she gave it a final glance and broke the silence. “It’s bigger than big,” she said. “Bigger than ‘huge’ or ‘immense’ or ‘colossal’, even. I don’t think they have a word big enough for this place… Come on, let’s go. You look like you’re gonna drop dead any moment.” Fluttershy was feeling a little tired, she couldn’t deny it. With a final wistful look around at the starry night, she ducked down into the clouds after Rainbow Dash. The two of them descended in silence until the academy loomed out of the fog, brightened as it was by the thick icing of snow. She couldn’t help sighing in disappointment. There’d been all that lovely space to sit in and contemplate and savour, and the filly had kept trying to stuff it. Anything that came to her at all: words and flying and trying to shove herself into every little thing. And even her generous soul had to admit Rainbow had a voice like a yipping puppy. Fluttershy opened her mouth for one last attempt, finally having the courage to speak. “Rainbow?” “Hm?” The filly was stretching a forelimb, apparently trying to copy a superhero’s pose. The flickering flame in her chest dwindled, but she blew on it impatiently. In spite of her less than commendable arrival – cheating by ascending on the back of another filly – Rainbow was a legend among the cadets already. If anyone could answer, it was her. The flame flared up. “I was thinking… I’m not… like the others… Um…” “Whaddaya mean?” “Well, you… Being you, I mean… I thought… Are you…?” “Yeah?” But then the flame died. She closed her mouth again. “Oh… N-Nothing…” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and then shook her head. “Ha! You’re one weird pegasus, Fluttershy. I’ll race you back! One-two-three-GO!” The gangly filly watched the streak vanish into the whiteness, and sighed. That was typical Rainbow Dash. And Fluttershy woke up. She raised her head, but the pond was calm now and the breezies had long since retired. Underneath her, the grass tickled her belly and limbs, and her hooves had adapted to the water and no longer felt the wet chill. Beside her, Cloudchaser lowered a hoof and turned to face someone else with the words; “There, you see! I told you we’d find her here!” Another pegasus – Meadow Flower – peered around the standing intruder and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. You make it look so easy.” “Me?” Cloudchaser shook her head, scything the air with her spiky locks. “Not at all. Fluttershy’s easier to figure out than a three-piece jigsaw puzzle.” At this point, Fluttershy felt it prudent to sit up. She wasn’t presenting herself to advantage lying on the ground at their hooves. Yet, while Cloudchaser’s eyes splashed with a watery triumph, Meadow Flower’s darted about as though trying to land on the hidden trick. “Can I help you?” said Fluttershy in the sharp tones of one hoping to hear the answer “No”; it had been such a pleasant dream, cliché notwithstanding. “I am on shore leave.” “We know,” said Cloudchaser, and the black eyeliner stretched as she gave Fluttershy a winning smile. “It’s more we were hoping you could help us,” said Meadow Flower, glancing nervously up at Cloudchaser. “You see, Cloudchaser and some of the others all agreed to meet up somewhere to give Rainbow a toast. For, uh, becoming captain.” Fluttershy’s face hardened. “I see. And that includes –” “That includes you, Lieutenant Fluttershy.” Cloudchaser gave her a black wink. “Although don’t feel you have to come along. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, after all. We’d quite understand.” She gave the dark hollow a once-over and stretched her winning smile into a smirk. “Well, there’s that,” admitted Meadow Flower, “but we also wondered if you actually knew where Rainbow Dash was? As in right now?” “Can’t give the captain a toast if there’s no captain there, can we?” They stood over her, one spiky and cool, the other as offensive as pastels. The peacekeepers were not, in essence, all that different from the old armies of the ancient Pegasus Empire. True, the modern corps had an opt-out scheme that didn’t involve death or getting pelted with tomatoes the rest of your life, and there was a much tighter security net of pension schemes and insurance and the best medical care, free of charge. But it was, when one came down to it, the Empire’s hired muscle, still flexing its wings and shaking down people who refused to pay them, even though they now called it “tax” rather than “protection money”. Fluttershy felt herself drawing back slightly, despite her annoyance. Oh, Meadow Flower was hardly any better than she was, but Cloudchaser – if you didn’t know her very well – looked the part. She was slightly leaning to her left as though giving ponies shakedowns was just another Tuesday. It didn’t help, of course, that everyone knew she spent most of her time styling her mane with buckets of goop. That sort of thing really ruined the “radical” image. And she was, in practice, a bit of a poser. “I can’t help you,” Fluttershy said shortly. “But if you all agreed, how come you’re searching all over the place?” Meadow Flower shrugged helplessly. “Eh… You know how it is. Everyone gets ideas, shore leave only comes every so often… And it really was a last-minute thing.” “I was busy,” said Cloudchaser. “To be honest,” said Meadow Flower, “you didn’t have to spend quite that long in the dressing room. I mean, how long can it take when all you need is a comb and” – she caught Cloudchaser’s sideways glare and hastily added – “Shutting up now.” “It’s not my fault if you all left without me. Didn’t I tell you how long I’d need with the wiring? Besides, image is important.” As Cloudchaser went off on another of her ready-made “image is important” lectures, Fluttershy cocked her head and wondered once more about the state of the corps. She’d learned once that ancient pegasi used to leave their foals out on a hillside overnight as an early test of strength. The fact that she was still alive to learn this was testament to how quickly the practice had died out. Yet it was still true that the pegasi swam and walked and flew in military culture, no matter that the pegasus in question was probably meeker and feebler than a breezie with a head cold. The point was that it took all sorts to make up the peacekeeper service; with a recruitment policy summed up as “If you’re born, you’re in”, that was all but inevitable. In another life, Meadow Flower might have been happier out in the countryside idyllic, with slower but steadier work that kept her in regular contact with soft and fluffy things. In this life, she held the record for worst ever recovery from a stint on the Dizzitron machine, which was impressive when even Fluttershy had managed to scrape a respectably dire ten seconds and most foals could average nine. As for Cloudchaser, it was hard to imagine her as anything but background, even with her black eyeliner and a hairstyle like a cloud of thorns. Privately, Fluttershy thought she tried too hard. Her gaze wandered to the gap in the branches, and as it did so, she could’ve sworn she saw a dot shift across the red sky. Seconds later, Derpy rose into view, waving her limbs madly. “You guys!” she was yelling. “You guys! I found Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Look! Look! She’s up there!” All of them squeezed through the gap and peered up. There was no mistaking it this time; the dot was a pegasus flapping hard as she passed the tallest rooftops. Next second, she’d shot across the city and vanished out of sight. “I can still follow her!” yelled Derpy. “Well? Come on, then,” snapped Cloudchaser. They hurried after the silhouette, noticing as they did so the rainbow streaking out behind it. None of them were going to impress any bystanders with their speed. Fluttershy and Meadow Flower would’ve been faster if they’d galloped, except that the winding streets would have hampered them. Derpy kept stopping to shake her eye back into place. Cloudchaser – still leading, all the same – was trying to keep her hair from disintegrating against the headwind. “Typical Rainbow Dash,” she muttered. “She’s turning around! She’s turning around!” Derpy shook her head to focus again. “Maybe she’s seen us?” “At that distance? Not a chance.” “Look at her move.” Meadow Flower sighed. “I wish I could move like that. That Dizzitron would’ve been a breeze if only I could move like that.” Fluttershy didn’t need Derpy’s shriek this time; she’d seen the streak duck down into a random street, though at this range it was still hard to tell rooftop from rooftop, and she just hoped Rainbow reappeared somewhere close by. Rainbow probably just wants to be alone, she thought. She spends so much time with the other pegasi. Maybe, if she just had a few hours to herself… Maybe she did want to see the stars, after all… Beside her, Meadow Flower was panting with the effort to keep up. “I need a breather. Can we stop? She’ll only turn around and shoot towards the other side of the city, knowing her.” Derpy “oohed” and “aahed” overhead. “Now she’s spinning in a circle! No, sorry – ooh, ooh, a twister! Come on, we’ll miss the show!” “I don’t know where she gets the energy,” said Meadow Flower. “It’s like water off a duck’s back to her.” “Mmm hmmm,” said Fluttershy, but not with much enthusiasm. She had a longing to creep away and slink back to the pond, where the catfish had nudged her hoof and the giant daisies gazed up as though waiting for the clouds to clear. Everything was much less demanding back at the dark hollow. Derpy gasped. “Oh, there’s someone else with her… A big someone else…” “It’s not Bulk Biceps, is it?” said Cloudchaser. “No… it’s a big thing just jumped on the roof. And there’s Rainbow Dash over it! I think.” “A fan, I’ll bet.” “I… don’t think so…” A dark cloud passed over Fluttershy’s face. That hunched back, the thing sticking out of it, clicked a few tumblers inside her brain. There was a hairline suggestion of a waving tail at this distance, but no one colour stood out. It definitely wasn’t the white of Bulk Biceps, and the only possible citizen of that size was an ox. Even then, a really big ox. Its outline was all wrong… Ignoring their cries, Fluttershy burst past the three pegasi just as the thing and Rainbow vanished. Alarms were going off in her head. On the edge of her hearing, she could just make out the echo of a loud roar. She was now several chimneys away… Five… Three… She cleared the rooftop. Her mind went numb with shock. The chimaera struggled to run in place – a foal had just fled from it and disappeared into a nearby house – and a second later she heard Rainbow’s shriek. The thing turned; wrapped tight in the snake’s coils, Rainbow was struggling, her wings and forelimbs pinned down to her sides. Fluttershy’s world turned into one electric shock… She leaped. Ponies were running against her, her own hooves pounding the cobbles several yards back, but her mind was already there, hearing the snake’s hiss. From far away, Fluttershy heard the tiger growl something about hating pegasi, and the goat bleated mockingly. There was another hiss, Rainbow squirmed and groaned – “You! Won’t! Hurt! Anybody!” “EXCEPT YOU!” roared the tiger. Fluttershy shot between Rainbow Dash and the widening mouth – Some seconds later, her brain woke up. Dreamily, she noticed the warm haze leaving spittle and dew around her fur. All four of her legs were aching and quivering, and there was so much pressure on them that she felt they were a slight squeeze away from shattering. Blackness gleamed at her, but there was enough light coming in from behind to show the fleshy pinkness of what she’d initially taken to be a cave. Her legs were splayed. Each hoof had latched onto a wedge just behind the gums. Her tail trailed out over its fangs and lip. The thought crept down her spine. She was in its actual mouth. Sheer surprise kept the scene still long enough for her to take it all in, but the rumbling growl was pushing it out, and her stunned mind finally clicked back into place. “Oh my…” she squeaked. The chimaera began to shake. Fluttershy felt one of her hooves slipping, and she screamed out and shut her eyes as every quake and rattle and splatter of slime rocked the bones of her legs. Any moment, the darkness would snap. “RAAIINBOOOWW DAAAASH!” she shrieked, and then her voice box gave up and she was trying to shout her way out of her own body – The jaws snapped. Fluttershy shot out of the square, and the legs of Rainbow Dash tightened around her forelegs and chest as she soared up and over with Fluttershy in her grip. She glanced down at the chimaera, all three of its heads peering up at them and roaring, hissing, and bleating with rage. Her mind bloomed with a wonderful, overpowering lightness of being. “Oh thank you,” she burst out. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…” “We’re not done yet,” Rainbow yelled over the turbulence. “I’m heading back in.” The lightness of being smacked into a wall. “WHAT!?” “One chimaera GOING DOWN!” “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” They shot down. And then Rainbow Dash dropped her gently down onto the nearby rooftop, and landed with barely a flutter next to her. Circling round were Cloudchaser, Meadow Flower, and Derpy. From the street below, boxes smashed and crates were thrown high into the air. Cloudchaser was nursing the drooping morass that was all that was left of her style. “Darn you, Meadow Flower. That gel doesn’t come cheap!” “Aw, come on. We had to knock that snake away from Rainbow somehow. That thing was like a vice. And it got her out, didn’t it? You can puff up your hair later –” “OK.” Rainbow pointed at each pegasus in turn. “New plan. Cloudchaser; you’re up front with me. Keep its heads distracted. Meadow, go for the snake. Roundup tactic four seventeen, got it? Derpy, Special Delivery.” “Sp-Special Delivery!?” The mismatched eyes lit up. “Special Delivery. You got it. Now GO! GO-GO-GO!” As quickly as they’d spoken, Fluttershy blinked and she was alone on the rooftop. Screams and smashed crates were thrown up from the street below. “Uh…” she said. “Guys? Guys?” Two paws crashed onto the tiles below her, and she squeaked in fear. The tiger’s head licked its lips and braced its muscles, hauled itself up, and leered at her. Yowling, it sank out of sight. Tiles slid down after it and smashed on the street. She heard Rainbow and Cloudchaser shouting. Beneath the lip of the roof, tiger and goat growled at each pegasus as first Rainbow Dash and then Cloudchaser zipped smartly out of range of its swipes. Rainbow moved like a shark, cruising easily around the beast, then firing herself up for a gouging lunge and sleekly curving away for a second attack. Now, she spread her wings wider and flapped harder, shifting to a seagull-like approach, beating her wings over the heads in a frenzy, and ducking down as though pecking at them. A leap, her wings spread wide, and she was gliding with insulting ease clean across the creature’s broad back. Fluttershy leaned over the edge, transfixed at the sight. From behind a crushed stall, Meadow Flower went for the back of the beast; the snake’s head spun round and hissed at her. She drew back and then shifted around it, eyes level with its own. A giant goat hoof stamped; Meadow Flower rolled out of its path. Whimpering, she drew back and scampered to another stall for cover. “Get over here!” Rainbow yelled at her. “Meadow, for Pete’s sake!” “Sorry! Just nerves!” The snake barely had time to snap back when Meadow Flower galloped forwards, seized its head, and pulled. Cloudchaser dodged backwards and the paws hit the ground with a skittering of claws. Meadow Flower weaved around the first leg, curled round the second, and swung towards its haunches, yelping each time a limb stamped too close. Rainbow was there. She gripped another part of the snake and the two of them gave an almighty yank. With a yowl, the snake-like tail tightened. The beast, suddenly hogtied, swayed and howled and toppled. It smashed onto its side. “Whoa,” breathed Fluttershy. “Special Delivery!” yelled a voice overhead. She glanced up. Only when the chimaera had righted itself did the empty crate land with a smack. Two paws and two hooves poked out from underneath it. From inside came growls and bleats as the thing strained to free itself. Rainbow Dash pursed her lips at the sight. “What?” she said. “No anvils?” “I couldn’t find any.” Derpy flew down to join them. “Anvils are pretty rare.” “Ah, I guess it’ll have to do. OK, nice work everybody – Meadow Flower.” She glared at the apologetic mare next to her. “Now, let’s knock this thing over. Ready? Brace yourselves.” Planks flew across the plaza, one almost striking Cloudchaser across the head. “My mane!” she yelled. “Not again!” Fangs punctured the side of the crate. With further bites, a head-sized hole was ripped out of the wood. “Everybody now!” Rainbow yelled. “HUT HUT HUT!” It was at this point that the tiles gave way. Fluttershy scrambled on the lip for purchase. Wings and limbs blurring with the effort, she hovered for a few terrifying seconds. Then she dropped. Next moment, she had hit all four hooves on the edge of the crate. The whole thing – Fluttershy, crate, and chimaera – swung down. She saw the cobbles rising up to meet them. When it crashed, she had skipped off smartly and landed with a stagger. Tipping over again, the crate brought the thrashing limbs up and pointing skywards, and then it rocked back and was still. Now the crate itself was the right side up, which unfortunately for the chimaera meant its occupant was now upside-down. The other pegasi gaped at the result. “Or I guess that works too,” said Rainbow Dash. “We did it…” breathed Meadow Flower. “We actually went and… did it…” “What’s wrong?” Cloudchaser had paused in the act of pushing her hair up; despite her words, she spoke as though only dimly aware of what had happened. “I thought we were… peacekeepers…” “Yes, but we’re only… well… not that good.” “Bulky!” Derpy pointed; beyond the growling crate, the white pegasus was touching down. “You caught up!” “About time too,” muttered Rainbow Dash. As though a trance had just been completed, everyone snapped back into reality. Bulk Biceps smiled weakly. Wings that would’ve looked more appropriate on a bumblebee buzzed on his back. The crate shifted a few inches. Wood splintered inside it. Rainbow gestured to the shaking planks. “Bulk Biceps, if you please?” The gigantic face was completely blank. “HUH? IF I PLEASE WHAT?” “Just throw it, will you, tough guy? Put those giant muscles to work for a change instead of kissing ‘em?” “OH. OK!” They watched from the rooftops. Bulk Biceps was built like a rhinoceros, but in his hooves the crate still dipped precariously and he was grunting and groaning as he came up to their level. “How do you think he’ll do it?” whispered Derpy to Meadow Flower. “Shot put, javelin, or hammer throw?” “That thing? Hammer throw, I’d say.” Fluttershy grimaced behind her curtain of hair. Now that the prospect of being eaten had passed, older pangs that had been hiding at the back of her mind now came out, dusting themselves off and straightening their ties. It seemed a shame, when she really thought about it. If only it had listened to her, if only it could at least try to control itself, then they wouldn’t have had to work so hard to stop it. If only it was nice… She glanced fearfully at her colleagues, but they were all too busy watching the show to read her mind. Guilt flared up, mostly because she was harbouring thoughts that, with the best will in the world, they would only laugh at. At best. But now a much older, much darker set of pangs stirred from the depths of her mind, and they showed her a picture. It was a picture of her, with limbs splayed and hot breath all around her and a wet, fleshy cave right in front of her. She was almost there for a moment; there was the certainty, the ice cold certainty, that one snap, one failed leg, would have been enough. There’d been foals that hadn’t been so lucky. She had to fight to control her breathing. Let it fly, she thought. Bulk Biceps let go with a grunt. It was a good throw. They didn’t move until the crate was a dot disappearing into the darkness beyond the city walls. They imagined the thump. “And stay out!” Rainbow shouted after it. It wasn’t stellar-grade repartee, but it captured their general mood. “YEAH!” Bulk snorted. “Woohoo!” cried Derpy. “Very nice, but what do we do if it comes back?” said Meadow Flower, twiddling her hooves. Rainbow thumped a hoof. “Well, Meadow, that’s when I’ll get really mad. Come on, troops! Let’s MOOOOVE OUT!” “To the nearest security base,” Cloudchaser insisted, still moodily pushing her hair up. “We’re supposed to report this incident.” “Fine. If you say so. TROOPS! TO THE BASE!” The pegasi around her preened themselves in her wake. Troops. Now that sounded good. “Where is the nearest base from here?” whispered Derpy. Bulk Biceps shrugged. Far behind the disappearing – and newly christened – troops, Fluttershy was alone. She glanced down at the wooden wreckage on the street and watched the emerging pegasi shuffle, sadly, around the remains of their stalls. She sighed, but duty called. She left to catch up with the rest of the pegasi.