Ponyville’s Tiny Librarian

Chapter 10

Dragonshy
-
part 7

Twilight jumped like a rocket. “Dragon, Ponyville, danger…!” She scanned the room, only to notice that she was lying on Spike’s bed, which was no longer colossal when compared to her. The mere strength of her voice pushed several small objects away. “What happened?” she asked hastily. “Where’s the dragon?”

“It’s a long story,” Cadence spoke, startling Twilight, who leapt from the bed and curled up behind an upside-down basket, which was too small to hide her presence. After blinking and rubbing her eyes, she looked upon her no-longer-giant foalsitter, whose fur failed to cover her bruises, a small reminder of the many tons of rocks that had fallen on the alicorn not long ago.

“Cadence, what happened, and why are you smaller than before?” Twilight asked curiously as she massaged her own forehead.

“Don’t you remember?” the alicorn asked as Twilight shook her head. “You tried to return to your normal size on top of the dragon’s snout, which was a very reckless move, as it left you vulnerable. The dragon threw you to the ground before the process was complete, and then stomped on you. You were lucky he didn’t press his whole weight against you.”

Twilight examined herself both with her eyes and her hooves, making sure that she was still in one piece rather than being a flattened version of herself. She noticed a few small marks of damage, but nothing serious. She took a step back and gasped. “H-how?”

Cadence placed her hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “You’re lucky you were nearly at full size when this happened. The dragon knocked you out, but your bones endured. With the help of my magic, I nursed you back to health and brought you here.”

“But how? The closer I am to my normal size, the weaker the protection spell is.”

Cadence nodded as she withdrew her hoof and explained, “I think you have your earth pony magic to thank for that. If you didn’t develop it over the past months, you would now be lying in a hospital bed alongside your friends.”

“That’s a relief,” Twilight sighed before her eyes opened widely at the sudden realization. She stood on her rear hooves and shouted, “What do you mean ‘alongside my friends,’ what happened to them?!”

Cadence pressed her hooves into the floor, trying to hold her ground against the full force of Twilight’s voice. Once her mane and tail were no longer being blown about, she answered, “Big Macintosh, Gilda, and Rainbow Dash are in the hospital.” Cadence quickly sealed Twilight's mouth with her magic. “And no, their wounds aren’t that serious. They will get better, and you can assist with your healing spells. Just rest for a little before you do, okay?” She closed her eyes and smiled warmly. “Oh, before you ask, don’t worry about your size change, I can fix it at any moment… with your cooperation of course.”

The alicorn continued, “Pinkie is preparing gifts and sweets to cheer them up and also to organize a ‘we saved Ponyville from a dragon’ party, alongside an ‘I am sorry for being unconscious during a boss battle’ party.” Cadence giggled while canceling the seal on her friend’s mouth. “She sure is random, but I like her unpredictability.”

“Well…” Cadence tapped her forehooves together before looking up at the ceiling. “Fluttershy and Overwatch asked for some privacy. They want to resolve matters between them.”

Twilight nodded. “I see. What about Applejack, Rarity, and Spike, do they know about the news?”

“Adventure?” Twilight asked curiously, now deep in thought, wondering what her friends had gotten themselves into.

“Yes. It seems that Rarity was captured by Diamond Dogs while Applejack and Spike played the role of knights and rescued her… or did they rescue the dogs from Rarity? Hard to tell.”

“Charge!” Spike roared, perched on Applejack’s back and holding a six-foot lance. He belched flame as he aggressively aimed the lance towards a group of Diamond Dogs guarding the entrance, their spears held defensively.

Applejack bolted forward with sparkling gems covering most of her body. “Release Rarity, ya rockheads, before Ah buck ya harder than mah apple trees!”

One of the Diamond Dogs broke out of the defensive formation and charged, his spear aimed at the intruders. The farm mare leapt to the side, barely dodging the sudden attack.

With one strong swing of his lance, Spike struck the Diamond Dog, cracking his armor. Applejack flexed her legs and kicked him in the back, pushing him several meters away, his chest plate now shattering into tiny pieces.

Not wasting a moment, Applejack charged again; a few Diamond Dogs threw their spears at her, but each bounced off the gem armor the pony and dragon wore. Spike once again swung his lance, shattering several spears and knocking their bearers down, while Applejack tackled a Diamond Dog to the ground, only to kick two more that tried to catch her from behind.

With an opening in the enemy formations, Applejack galloped deeper into the tunnel and entered a spacious area full of beautiful glowing gems.

“Rarity, we came to–” Spike failed to finish his sentence, as another group of Diamond Dogs ran towards them.

“Seems the buckin’ isn’t yet over, partner,” Applejack stated as she turned around and prepared her armored rear hooves for another strike, only for her targets to bow before her, their paws held together pleadingly.

“You came for whining pony? Please, take the whining pony!” he begged while another continued.

Spike and Applejack blinked in confusion as they noticed the pale white mare approaching them, her muzzle raised proudly in triumph.

“W-what happened. If those creatures laid a paw on you, I will–” Spike once again failed to finish his knight-like monologue as Rarity put a hoof on his mouth.

“Those ruffians wanted to force a lady like me to dig gems for them, the nerve!” Rarity huffed before looking at Spike and next at Applejack, her annoyed expression devolving into one of complete and utter shock. “But what happened to me does not matter. What happened to you?” she asked in confusion, pointing at her friends.

“What do you mean? Sure, we fought some of those big dogs, but they didn’t do any damage thanks to our armor,” Spike responded, before puffing his chest and gesturing to his chest plate.

“Armor?!” Rarity shouted as she angrily thumped the gems tied together with several frayed and haphazard threads. “You dare to call this an armor?! Wearing that… that thing is a fashion crime.”

“Fashion crime? Now wait just an apple-picking minute here,” Applejack growled in annoyance as she stood up on her rear hooves, almost causing Spike to fall off. “Ah spent at least an hour tryin’ to sew these darn thin’s together to rescue you, and ya call it a fashion crime?!”

Rarity stomped firmly. “As much as I appreciate the gesture, I cannot stand for my friends to wear… this!” Rarity stood up on her hind legs and held one hoof on her chest while her other foreleg raised upward. “I swear, as the greatest fashionista in Ponyville and as the Bearer of Element of Generosity, that I will tear up that thing you dare to call an armor and make for you and Spike the best, hardiest, and most beautiful armor worthy of a friend.”

Rarity looked Applejack in the eyes with growing determination. “Once I am done with you. You both will look like the most powerful, prideful and fashionable knights that ever lived.”

Before Applejack or Spike could even blink, the fashionista grabbed them with her levitation, while she herself turned towards the Diamond Dogs who trembled in front of her. “I need a stock of the largest and hardest gems you have. Color and shape I will choose personally, do I make myself clear?”

The Diamond Dogs nodded as they rushed to their treasure chambers and searched for what Rarity demanded. Satisfied, the unicorn turned towards the farm mare and added, “As for you, dear Applejack. I cannot let this crime to go unpunished even for a friend, no exceptions.”

Cadence chuckled cheerfully. “They aren’t hurt, a few bruises at best. It seems that the Diamond Dogs gave up in the middle of the fight as they begged for Rarity to be taken away.”

“Really? Wow. I totally need to ask Rarity to tell me the full story. Where is she by the way?” Twilight asked as she remained motionless, afraid of making any destructive move with her new size.

“In her boutique, of course. As punishment, Rarity is now giving them additional sewing lessons, while she herself is working hard to make battle armor and a lance for Spike and Applejack.”

Both Twilight and Cadence laughed, not doubting that Rarity would indeed do as she claimed.

After the unicorn recovered, she asked, “So, I take it you want me to rest a bit longer? After you shrink me that is.”

Cadence poked the unicorn in the muzzle and frowned. “I’m very disappointed in you,” she said. Noticing Twilight’s growing confusion, she added, “You hesitated to increase your size for far too long, and it nearly cost you your life.” The unicorn lowered her head as her ears drooped. Cadence continued, “The moment I was in no shape to assist, you should have increased your size before facing the dragon, not during the battle against him. Did you forget what happened with the manticore? Increasing your size in the middle of danger is a recipe for disaster.”

Cadence gently pressed Twilight’s face against her own neck. “It’s okay, Twilight, I forgive you, but try to change your size in advance next time.”

Twilight nodded, pulling herself free from the warm embrace and inadvertently knocking the alicorn off-balance. She asked, “Can you help me adapt to bigger sizes? I promised my mentor that I will work on control of my magic and strength, but I don’t want to go to Canterlot all the time… Would you,” she tapped her hooves before asking hesitantly, “stay in Ponyville, at least for a few days? I will even introduce you to my friends.”

Cadence, after regaining her balance, rubbed her chin, receiving a worried smile from her friend. After a moment of thinking, she nodded. “I’m sure Luna won’t mind a week or two. I will just send her a letter that I’m staying here.”

Twilight cheered, only to jump into the ceiling as a result, leaving a cracked mark in the shape of her horn on the wooden surface. She shook rubble from her head and massaged her forehead, only to frown in annoyance. “I have been massaging my forehead a lot today. Crashing into things certainly doesn’t help with my headaches.”

“You know what? You should also write a letter to the princess about our adventures,” Cadence suggested.

The unicorn nodded before tilting her head to the side. “Speaking of which, I wonder how well they did on their diplomatic mission.”

“We must say, thou stink,” Luna remarked, grinning as Celestia was being cleaned by several ponies in biohazard suits.

“You don’t say,” Celestia quipped as she pointed at her sister. “You do not look any better.”

Luna burst in raucous laughter. If, after returning from her banishment, a common pony suddenly told her that she and her sister would end up covered in wounds and smell foul after their battle against dragons for the safety of Equestria, she would think the pony was mentally ill.

A burst of pink magic entered the room, a letter materializing, before being caught by Luna’s magic. The moment Luna unrolled the letter from Twilight with her sister’s permission, Celestia asked, “How are Twilight and her friends doing, are they hurt? I know Cadence would not let anything bad happen to them, but still.”

Luna shook her forehoof dismissively. “Thou need not worry. Although thy student and her friends’ lives were in grave danger due to a rock avalanche and a fire breathing dragon, Cadence protected them and even overcame her own fears in the end… much like the Element of Kindness.”

Celestia’s eyes opened widely in horror, as images of her tiny student crushed under colossal boulders flashed in her mind. “That's… a relief,” she said hesitantly, as Luna gave her a prideful glance.

“We must admit though, thou have changed for the better. Thou art facing all our punishments with dignity and grace, and dirty thine hooves to keep our subjects safe. Even if thou stink now, as the result.”

Celestia smiled cheerfully. “Compared to thousand years on the moon you and Nightmare Moon had to endure, it is nothing,” she said calmly until her attention focused on a royal guard with dark fur color and bat-like wings on his back. “And who is your new friend, Luna? Did you bless one of the guards?”

Luna rolled the letter before shaking her head. “We didn’t, dear sister. During our encounters with dragons in the past weeks, We found out that our blessing passed from generation to generation. What thou see in front of thine eyes is a pony coming from a long line of ancestors from the proud Lunar Guards who once fought by our side.”

The bat-pony bowed. “It is an honor to serve as my ancestors did, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia.”

The taller alicorn blinked several times, finding it hard to imagine that any poor Lunar Guards had even survived the purge that the solar guards started after Nightmare Moon’s banishment, while she herself was too deep in sorrow and too focused on recovering damaged Equestria to notice it. She wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat while a wave of guilt struck her.

Luna, noticing it, smiled. “They forgave thee for not controlling thy guards. It has been a hard time for all of us; let Us not dwell on them longer than We need to.”

The Night Princess and her guard walked away, stopping upon hearing Celestia’s voice. “What will you do now? After I finally get cleaned, I will need to restore Equestria from the dragons’ attacks. Will you spend time with Cadence while I do?”

Luna shook her head while her ears drooped. “Cadence decided to spend some time with Twilight to learn more about her friends.”

The Night Princess cheered, “Thou need not be sorry, as We will not be bored. We shall search Equestria for a new generation of our proud guards and apologize for what We asked of their ancestors as Nightmare Moon.” She pointed at Celestia. “Thou have worked hard to earn our forgiveness, so now we shall put efforts to earn theirs.”

Overwatch stood in front of Fluttershy’s cottage, watching warily as several of the animals glared at her. She chose to leave her armor back at the library, but she was now starting to regret that decision, lest the animals suddenly decide she wasn’t welcome around their homes.

When Fluttershy walked out from her home, all of her animals took up defensive positions as if they were a well-trained army, tensed and waiting. Several birds glided down to chirp a message into the pegasus’s ear.

“It seems we’re alone,” Fluttershy said and then trotted back inside, gesturing for the guard to follow.

As she shut the door behind her, green flames enveloped the pegasus to reveal her changeling form. Her legs held conspicuously smaller holes across them, but her mane was made of a beautiful pink silk, her chitin was a pretty shade of yellow, and overall, her form closely matched her pony disguise.

Overwatch glanced at the animals once again, noting that they didn’t seem to be bothered by their caretaker’s new appearance in the slightest. She took a deep breath before shedding her own disguise, revealing a lithe, streamlined form like that of a cat. She slid a hoof under her scarf and rubbed at her neck uncomfortably.

Both changelings stared at one another in a moment of silence, neither of them quite willing to say a word. The only sounds were those of the skittering animals, who made sure that no pony could witness their meeting.

Finally, bolstered by the presence of her animal friends, Fluttershy gathered her courage and took a deep breath. “Do you care about Twilight?”

“I died about...” Overwatch stopped to take a quick mental count, “fifteen years ago, give or take.”

The guard mare pursed her lips. “I mean she. She died. It was a couple of years before I met Twilight for the first time. It was uhh…” Overwatch trailed off, rubbing at her neck under her scarf again.

Fluttershy quickly homed in on the movement, able to recognize a nervous tic easily. “I’m sorry, but could I… ask that you remove your scarf for just a moment? Please? If-if that’s alright with you,” she said carefully.

Overwatch shot a glare back, before sighing as she pulled back the scarf, revealing three long lines above her left shoulder where the chitin appeared uneven. They were drawn parallel to each other as if scars from an animal attack.

“Before you ask, yes, it’s related to Overwatch, no, it’s not from Overwatch, and no, I’m not comfortable talking about it,” she grimaced, adjusting her scarf back to its normal position. “All you need to know is that she was essentially dead when I assumed her appearance. I didn’t lift a single hoof against her.”

“At the time, it was… an investigation of potential rival hive activities. My task changed shortly after to infiltration of Equestria’s military.”

“What do I want from Twilight?” Overwatch raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want anything from her, except her friendship. I-in a non-changeling way. I care about her. My job is to protect her, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

Fluttershy took in a deep breath. “I believe you. The way you acted today proves that you really do care about her.”

Overwatch smiled wistfully, looking down at the holes in her forelegs, much larger than those of Fluttershy. “Yeah, it’ll take a while before my magic reserves return to normal after today’s display. I’ll have to restrain myself unless I want to exhaust myself completely.”

“I see…” Fluttershy sat on a nearby pillow at her table and gestured for Overwatch to sit across from her. “Last question. Where does your loyalty lie?”

“That’s…” Overwatch hummed as she took the opposite seat. “You’re going to have to elaborate.”

Fluttershy blinked a few times in confusion. “Are you loyal to your Queen? Or to Princess Celestia? Or to Twilight?”

The guard mare opened her mouth to answer, but Fluttershy fiercely narrowed her eyes and added, “And don’t try to lie. Detecting emotions means that we can both easily recognize a lie.”

At that, Overwatch let out a light-hearted laugh. “Oh, you know I can suppress my emotions, right?” she said.

With that, she seemed to disappear to Fluttershy’s senses. To a species who relied just as much on their emotional senses as their physical ones, it was disconcerting to the faux pegasus to see somepony with a magical signature indistinguishable from that of a piece of furniture.

“Oh, it’s something I picked up from my mother. I’ve found it useful at times. It’s great for hiding from changelings like yourself and for listening in on conversations I shouldn’t know about, but,” Overwatch released the block, letting her emotions flow out, “this isn’t either of those.”

The guard mare took a deep breath and released it. “You asked who I was loyal to. As part of her hive, I am loyal to my Queen. As a Royal Guard, I am loyal to Princess Celestia, even if I didn’t take the oath myself, and I am loyal to Twilight because I swore to protect her.” She stared into the middle distance, focused on nothing in particular. “So far I haven’t had to choose between them. With luck, I never will.”

“But you won’t hurt Twilight or her friends, nor will you take action against Princess Celestia, right?”

Overwatch smiled. “As long as they don’t give me a reason to, I’ll never harm them.”

Fluttershy returned the smile with one of her own. “Fair enough. I’m content for now. It’s only right if I will tell you about myself in return.”

Fluttershy rose from her seat and tried to grab her pillow with a wing, though she was stymied by the inflexibility of her native form’s appendage. She blushed and simply took the pillow up in her hooves instead, placing it on the sofa as she gestured for Overwatch to sit there instead.

Overwatch followed her example, placing her pillow on the opposite end of the sofa. Fluttershy shot her a quick smile before entering her kitchen, returning a moment later with two cups of tea levitating in a shaky green aura. She sat on the sofa, placing the teacups between her and Overwatch’s hooves before both changelings took sips.

“Yes, it is. Jasmine and few herbs that grow in my garden. Glad you like it.”

Overwatch levitated the cup of tea onto the table and looked at Fluttershy expectantly. “So, what happened to the real Fluttershy?”

“I am the real Fluttershy. The hive I come from doesn’t temporarily replace ponies to steal love as yours most likely does. Oh, before I forget, feel free to give Queen Mimic’s best regards to Queen Chrysalis.”

“Simple, actually,” Fluttershy responded. “No other hive has a large enough presence here to need infiltrators in Equestria’s military.”

The guard mare stared back in silence for a moment before she muttered to herself. “Ahh. Right. That happened.” Overwatch hesitantly smiled. “Not bad. Please continue.”

Fluttershy took another sip from the teacup. “I made my pony disguise from scratch when I was a nymph. I didn’t receive much magic from the ponies at flight school in Cloudsdale though, leaving me greatly weakened. The fillies and colts in there were very mean to me.”

“I do.” Fluttershy nodded. “I take care of them, and they feed me freely in return, though, I try to feed only on a little bit of their magic so as not to hurt them in the process. Unlike ponies, animals don’t have much affinity for magic, Angel being the exception.” She paused as Angel climbed up her foreleg and sat on her head, his little paw poking at a hole in Fluttershy’s horn. “I just take a tiny portion of their magic to stay alive.”

Overwatch nodded. “Considerate, though judging by your holes, you seem to be healthy and well-fed anyways. Overfed, almost.”

Fluttershy blushed, which was clearly visible through her black face. “That’s because I now have many wonderful friends. In my youth, only Dash stuck with me, and I became friends with Rarity two years after moving to Ponyville. But now, I’m friends with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Steel Blade, and Twilight. I can spare a lot of magic and positive emotion for my hive thanks to them.”

The guard mare sighed. “But it’s not just their magical energy you’re after, right?”

“Oh, no. I care for my pony friends as much as I care for my animal friends, especially Dash. I couldn’t care less whether they feed me or not. I just wish to be there for them.”

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other before Fluttershy cleared her throat. “S-so, what’s your name?”

“I-I mean before you replaced Overwatch, but if you don’t want to tell me, I-I’m okay with not knowing.”

The guard mare stared back, letting in another moment of silence. Finally, she drew in a deep breath. “It’s… just Nymph. It’s been a long time since I’ve been referred to by that name,” she said, before scooting closer to Fluttershy and holding out a hoof. “So, truce?”

Smiling cheerfully, Fluttershy tapped a hoof against Overwatch’s and nodded. “Truce.”

Ponyville's Tiny Librarian

by CommanderX5

Ch.10 - Dragonshy - Part 7