War Games

by Darkstarling


7 - Night of the Flutterbat


"Now remember, our plan relies on distraction and misdirection to pull off" Twilight said. "And in the unlikely event that our abduction fails we can still achieve several secondary ones. Fluttershy, your target is the Kicker compound. They're an old and famous military family, tracing their history back to the Lunar Rebellion. And they're traditional enough that they keep a fortified family compound in Canterlot. Cadence can use the Crystal Heart and the city’s amplification matrix to cast a long range teleport insertion to Canterlot. It will work for you and all the others, but we can't target precisely. Once you orient yourself in the city, you'll have to make the rest of the way by wing."  


Fluttershy peered down onto the Kicker compound from the nearby rooftops, and nervously licked her lips. It had only been a single frantic day, and she was still getting used to the feel of her fangs. She kept unconsciously prodding them with her tongue. At least being reminded of them helped her feel fierce, but everything else felt very strange. Especially her magic. It had never been very strong, but now it also felt alien and squashed. Why oh why hadn't Pinkie given her more time to get used to her body? Combined with her nerves, the differences were crashing down and overwhelming her. All the subtle senses of wind and pressure and humidity that she took for granted were just gone, and if there had been a cloud she was sure she wouldn’t be able to do much more than stand on it. They had been replaced with a drumming sensation from all around her she was sickeningly sure was heartbeats. The only things she recognized were her flight, her grip, and a trace of weather magic she thought must be control of lightning. She wouldn't know, she'd only ever summoned lightning once. It had been an accident during a very emotional moment during her disastrous first Gala, and she'd been far too scared to try again. And even the magic she still recognized was all different. She couldn't help but be aware of her tail and mane as they twitched nervously with her thoughts, her new stronger grip making them virtually prehensile. Even her hearing was strange, it kept painting pictures of her surroundings in her head. She let out an inaudible squeak of discomfort that only brought the world around her into sharp three dimensional highlight, and she curled up into a ball.

What had she been thinking? She’d been comfortable in the Crystal Empire with her friends and nothing alarming going on. Even drinking a blood packet hadn’t been that bad, though Nurse Square Cut had frowned at her heating it up, and it had been so tasty. But now the unfamiliarity and the scary situation was just too much. She let out a high pitched whimper again. That was when she heard, rather than saw, a young small brown bat touch down on the roof beside her.

“???” It said, tilting its head curiously. She could hear it’s inquisitive sonar clicks, lighting up the roof around her like a lightbulb. She didn’t want to answer but she supposed she should, she didn’t want him to worry.

“No, I’m alright thank you. I’m just resting” she said, keeping her eyes tight shut.

“?**”

“No, really I am. I’m just a little scared right now, that’s all.”

“*^!”

Fluttershy giggled a bit despite herself. “Yes, I suppose I am a very big bat to be scared aren’t I. But that’s okay. We all get scared sometimes, even if we’re big and strong adults.” The bat chirped sympathetically and walked up to comfortingly lick her nose. Fluttershy smiled, and gave his head a gentle pat in return. It was incredibly useful to be able to see without having to open your eyes. “Thank you very much. My name is Fluttershy. What’s your name?”

“%*$”

“That’s a lovely name. In Equish I think it would be Bartholomew.” Bartholomew shrugged. “Thank you again, you’ve helped me very much.” It was true, she had uncurled and was even tentatively opening her eyes now. She couldn’t afford to collapse here, she needed to be strong. “I need to go now though. And I have to be sneaky, so I won’t be able to talk. But I hope I see you again.” She gathered herself up and took a few deep breaths. The panic attack was fading a bit, though the strange sensations were still overwhelming.

“*@!”

Fluttershy giggled again. “Well that’s very nice of you to say. I think that will help my confidence very much. You really are a lovely little bat. You remind me alot of a friend of mine, I’m sure you’re a good and loyal friend to everyone back at the colony.” Shook herself and shakily flew to another rooftop. It really was too bad he was only a dream, she thought. I would have loved to really meet him.

Suddenly there was a tingling sound behind her, and she whirled around to look. But whatever had happened, it wasn’t obvious. Fluttershy listened for a minute more, but there wasn’t anything of note: only Bartholomew flying off. She shrugged then. She was still getting used to her new ears, and it must have been from the city below her.

She kept taking deep breaths to keep the panic from returning. She was going to need to get this under control if she wanted complete her mission. She wished her friends were there to encourage her. She did have the next best thing though. Discord had been giving her imagination lessons, which he called a special way to lie to yourself. It was a good time to use them. They were very useful, and she hadn't confused them for reality in weeks now. She pictured Twilight as thoroughly as she could, especially her voice, and carefully split off the phantasm so that it could begin talking on it’s own.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy! I know it’s overwhelming, but think about how fascinating it is!” A hallucinatory Twilight said, walking into view from her peripheral vision. She still couldn’t make her imaginings appear in from of her eyes, though Discord said she would with enough practice. “You’re one of the only ponies to ever experience another race’s magic. If we just break down the sensations, like when you first learned, we should be able to limit your focus to the familiar. And I have some books on meditation that...”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and shook her head, vanishing the phantasm to a mental box for later. Twilight meant well, but over-analysis was what had caused the problem in the first place. She couldn’t help but feel her tail twitching, it was like being aware of her tongue. And now she was aware of that too. Darn it. Maybe the others could help more?

“Aw Fluttershy, you don’t need me.” She looked up, and an image of Dash was hovering over her head. “You’re always so radical when it matters. It’s awesome! Just keep your cool and you’ll be fine.”

“Indeed darling.” Rarity added, walking up beside her and giving her her a reassuring hug. “I know you far too well for your timid shell to hide your inner strength. You simply must let it shine through!"

“Yep. Aint none of us think you can’t do this except you Sugarcube. All that’s left is the doin.”

Fluttershy smiled, the hallucinations vanishing to a little mental box as she nodded to them. She hadn’t made a Pinkie Pie, she was sure that if she did she wouldn’t be able to get rid of it. And she was worried that somehow Pinkie would know. But they were right, she thought.  I, I mean. I was right. I can do this. It’s just a matter of attitude. Discord was right again. He really was so clever, under all the layers of touchy, bored, lonely zaniness. And I might be scared, but I don’t need to be the me who is scared. Fluttershy nodded to herself in determination. She could be whoever she needed to be, Discord had shown her that too. And she already had a whole history just sitting there ready for her. With just a few changes… She closed her eyes, focused inward on the story the dream was telling her, her mind full of Discord’s lessons. Fluttershy is a mask, she chanted to herself. I wear my mask, it does not wear me. Within me are many masks. I wear my mask, it does not wear me. Fluttershy is a mask...

Night Whisper opened her eyes, looking over the Kicker compound. She hid below the lip of the roof completely, not exposing her head as her ears swiveled and she reached out with her magic. 73 heartbeats in the compound, another five in the air, and a hidden observer she would have landed on in another minute. Her previous clumsiness...what had she been thinking? She couldn’t imagine. It was lucky it was dark.

What HAD she been thinking? That incompetence, that crisis of confidence, it had been like...she shook her head, banishing the thoughts. That didn’t matter, clearly. What was important was the job in front of her. Yes.

Sneaking in wouldn’t be easy, but not impossible either. The Pegassi were blinded by the compound's lights, and the other watcher was up high. Limited perspective was always a problem. A few inaudible clicks revealed an outer window on a former barracks building right by the outer wall. Perfect. Well, this would either work or it wouldn’t...no sense delaying. She took a deep breath and plunged from the roof, zooming low between the buildings in a blur of leathery wings. The wall was right ahead, and she waited until nearly crashing before pulling a sharp climb. Her momentum actually let her run up the wall for a moment as she stalled, and she vaulted the top to drop like a stone. She snapped out her winds again, floating silently to the ground. No time to rest though. She’d been over like a flash, but still…

“Hey, did you see that?” She heard from overhead. Yep, the guards might be questioning what they saw but she still had only moments before they came to check. Fortunately there was the window. Locked of course, but her tail threaded through the gaps with the ease of long practice and twisted open the latch. She darted through the window, her exceptional grip letting her cling to the walls like a spider, and shut the window behind her just as the guards swooped down behind her to check out the disturbance. She ducked out of view of the window and barely even breathed, focusing all her attention on tracking the guards heartbeats. They were the steady, slow rhythm of a practiced flyer, slightly elevated with curiosity, but not the quick sharp beats of alarm. After a tense minute that seemed far longer, they moved on to resume their patrol and she began to breath again.

Now the hardest part was done, she let herself look around. The room she was in had clearly been repurposed into a closet a long time ago, all sorts of odds and ends. The door was locked from both directions, but her tail made short work of that too. She could just imagine Spike’s reaction to that. He’d never really seen her work, but he was so fond of the Maneiac. She wondered, not for the first time, if she should grow her mane out.


”Once you’ve entered the compound, your goal is to find Tornado Kicker’s room. I’ve enchanted these gem beetles to serve as a magical listening devices.” Twilight brandished a tiny squiggling construct, which looked more like an ectoplasmic shrimp that had tried to swallow a saphire. “Just scatter them in his wardrobe and they should conceal themselves in all his uniforms.


Sneaking through the compound was child’s play for Night Whisper. Literally, she added to herself, remembering her forrays through the cloudsdale orphanage of her youth. She could easily detect anyone moving in the corridors, and as for them sensing her...ha! She doubted even another Thestral could have done it. She was the World Champion of Shh, and had even beaten a skeleton once to defend her title. She slipped through the compound as silent as a ghost. She even managed to contain a rumble of her tummy. She hadn’t had anything to eat since that afternoon, with a far too small cup of blood.

She had been quite pleased with herself at beating the skeleton. Dropping the humidity in the room to make the ligaments holding it together creak and snap had been genius, even if it had taken her half an hour to manage without moving her wings. Which...she had done by...She’d had Dash do it for her of course, she couldn’t control humidity. She was lucky she had such loyal friends. Without pegasus magic she would have been in a real bind. Her hunger must be making her a little distracted. She would have to focus to finish the mission on time.

Past the clan museum, and the chapel, up the stairs of the private residence and through Tornado’s door. She smiled to see him asleep. She wouldn’t have hated to have to wait, she really was starving. She quickly darted to the dresser, poured out the packet of beetles in the closet, and was preparing to leave, when she froze. Something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t put a feather on what. She didn’t hear any shouts of alarm from anywhere in the compound, but something had her fur standing on end. It was probably nothing, just more trouble like her inexplicable panic attack earlier...where she’d been thinking so strangely, it was almost like she was...hungry. That was it. She really was starving and it was getting to her head. Low blood sugar causing emotional fits and confusion. She really should know better than to fast out of nerves. And she still had to finish the mission and get back to the extraction point.

She turned to look at the sleeping form of Tornado. She shouldn't but... it would just be sensible wouldn’t it? Her mouth watered and she licked her lips again. She hadn’t drunk pony blood that hadn’t been donated for years after all, that was a good record wasn't it? And it was for the mission. Of course she shouldn’t, but it would be so tasty. And it wasn’t like she would really hurt him. Even if she wanted to, they needed him to be in charge for the backup plan. So it really would be alright. It would even be a distraction, when they saw he had been bitten, and they wouldn't look for the beetles. She swallowed, licking her lips again. Yes, all that made sense. Delicious sense.

She crept over to him, hooves barely even touching the floor, and carefully licked his neck with her anaesthetic spit. The warning feeling redoubled, but she still couldn’t hear any alarms. She cast out with her heart sense again, and blinked. At first glance the compound still looked inactive, full of still ponies. But half the heartbeats had moved...and the hall patrols had stopped at the major intersections. Somehow she had been caught. She turned her senses to Tornado, wondering if she had time to eat before she fled, and gasped. Though he still appeared to be fast asleep, his heart was beating strong...and fast!

She leapt back just as he lashed out with a kick that would have struck her solidly in the gut, and in a fluid movement he slashed at her with a wing blade that ripped through the blankets. Flutter...Night Whisper had just enough time to be shocked that he slept with a weapon before the clatter of hooves announced the guards racing to the room.

She'd walked right into their trap, they'd sprung it, and she didn’t have any time! Not that she could beat a trained soldier in close quarters anyway. She had to get out of here! Night Shy Whisper opened her eyes wide and Stared at Tornado, putting all the force behind it that she could. His wing was just winding up for another slash as he froze, and even then it was barely enough. She could see him struggling, trying to look away. She had to keep up the pressure. Against all her instincts she flew towards him and into the reach of his sword. She swayed hypnotically back and forth, her muzzle inches from his, filling his field of vision. She was struggling to keep her eyes locked and not blink as she heard the guards piled together outside the door. Any distraction on her part would break the trance, but she was so close. She called on all her experience in The Quiet Game to not lose focus even when the door was smashed open with a kick. And it was just enough: his own concentration lapsed at the sound and she felt the snap as he went under. With a deft spin she was behind him and let out a warning hiss, fangs inches from the entranced captain’s throat. She had an ironic flashback to a scene years before, when it had been Twilight bursting through the door and Rarity under her thrall. But this time she was on a mission for her Princess, and there wouldn't be any friendship speeches.

The other guards stopped, eyeing her warily and lowering their spears. Only two of them could fit in the door, but she could sense another five in the hall and others getting into position farther away so they wouldn’t crowd the first responders. Oh dear, this wasn’t good at all. She reached behind her with her tail to unlock the window, but two more pegassi were getting in position to intercept. Not good not good…

“Alright Fluttershy, this was a good try. But you’re surrounded. Just let the Captain go and we’ll take you in quietly” the guard in lieutenant’s armor said. Night Whisper blinked. Fluttershy? Who was...Fluttershy…

“You should listen to her Fluttershy” said the other. No, no she thought. She was Night Shy not Flutter...I mean… “I know it’s only a dream, and we don’t want to harm you, but believe me when I say that spears hurt. I’m talking from experience here.” Dream? What dream? She wasn’t Fluttershy! She hissed again, and bit down just hard enough to break the skin. She could remember everything, the orphanage, being banished and living alone, Princess Twilight forgiving her and...and...

“No! I’m real!” She was shouting and she didn’t even mean to be, her eyes wide. “You’re not going to confuse me! I’m not weak and helpless and terrified!” The guards were looking disturbed and actually backing up, their spears seriously at the ready now. Another guard from the hall came into view, looking scared but preparing a spell. They were a unicorn, and out of armor because of the rush. And on her a chest was a moonstone just...like...hers…

“Aaaaa!” Fluttershy screamed as a whole life vanished like dying, and her magic flared in a burst of crackling lightning that filled the room. She was barely coherent as she burst out the window, fleeing the horrible smell of burnt fur. The two pegassi dropped to the ground, also caught in the flaring electricity she couldn’t seem to stop. She had barely cleared the wall before she collapsed to the ground, magic too exhausted even to fly, and galloped blindly into the streets of Canterlot.


"Exfiltration itself should be simple. Just cause some kind of commotion at the compound, and slip away in the confusion. The teleport out will be in the same place you arrived, and we'll give you three hours to complete the mission. By then the plan will be complete, one way or another, and we'll debrief in the war room."


She never would have made it if it hadn’t been for Bartholomew. The little bat had organized his friends to fly in a pegasus shaped flock over the roofs to mislead the guards, and had guided her away himself until she had calmed down enough to make her way to the exfiltration point. And even then, she would have been caught if she had been the only pony running in the streets. The rest of the plan must be going well then, going by the panicked crowds. Yay.

She hugged herself as she waited for the extraction spell. Poor Night Whisper. She wanted to bring her back just long enough to comfort her, but she knew that would just make things worse. She sniffled. She had just wanted to be brave and skilled, not...that. She did remember Discord's lessons for times like this. Within each pony there are many, and one that watches all others. Be that one, and you will recover. It helped a little, but at the moment it seemed cold comfort. She sniffed again, remembering the feeling of her whole world collapsing around her. Bartholomew landed in front of her, chirping anxiously, and she made herself look up.

“Thank you again for helping me, Bartholomew” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “Without you, I don’t know what I’d have…” and then she froze in shock, her woes momentarily forgotten. On Bartholomew’s chest was a smooth round stone, like hers. But it wasn’t the clear white of moonstone. His was the iridescent rainbow of Chaos Magic.