//------------------------------// // 4 A Prisoner to her own Conviction // Story: The High Price of Kindness // by Bronyxy //------------------------------// Outside the main entrance, a Bat Pony snorted and shook his head. He stood shackled to the chariot as he had been for the last hour, but neither he nor his colleague would dare to say anything about the lateness of their vip passenger. Meanwhile, Silver Salver stood patiently by the door watching the night sky reveal its mysteries to him, waiting for a chance to say goodbye to the mare he had developed such a crush on. Finally, the door opened, and a servant emerged carrying a small bag, followed by Fluttershy who looked more dishevelled than her avid admirer remembered. He rushed forward and almost knocked over another bag carrier who was following behind her. “Are you alright Fluttershy?” he asked, taking in her unkempt appearance. “I’m fine thank you” she mustered. Silence fell between them as the two bag carriers went to load her belongings into the chariot. “No, I’m not alright” admitted Fluttershy, leaning into him and feeling a gentle foreleg around her. “Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked sympathetically. “No. But I would like to see you again.” At those few words, his heart soared. He realised he would never understand her, but at least she felt something for him, as he did for her. “Ready?” he asked, with a lump rising in his throat. “Ready” she confirmed, and the two walked carefully down the steps, her leaning on him for support. He helped her up into the chariot and as she settled down, was rewarded with a beautiful smile, that dazzled as if to eclipse the moon itself. Standing back, he waved her farewell and watched her disappear into the brightly spangled sky, already beginning the countdown as to when he could see her again. From her Royal Balcony, a midnight blue alicorn looked down at the lovelorn unicorn and spared him a knowing smile before turning to resume her duties and leaving him to his thoughts. The night air was warm, even up in the deep indigo chariot as it raced through the darkness, but its troubled passenger didn’t notice, nor did she care. The pressure of her decision driven by her sense of responsibility was dragging her down. She was pinning her hopes on Chrysalis reforming with all the dedication and love she could give her. If she was successful, then Equestria would be safe from the changeling threat for years to come, but if she failed, then the changeling army would rise again, and it would all be her fault. As she was now committed to saving her former enemy, she could only hope she could be reformed, and swore to herself she would be unstinting to make it happen. The charioteers’ excellent night vision allowed them to judge their landing within the confined space of Fluttershy’s back yard with precision, touching down with barely a bump. Fluttershy didn’t feel strong enough to offload her bags and especially the heavy transit case in which the birds had travelled, but couldn’t risk either the Bat Ponies coming into the cottage and finding Chrysalis, or the animals in the cottage helping, just in case some clue about her high profile patient was accidentally leaked. She spoke to the birds sweetly and asked if she let them out they would all go and perch on the roof of the cottage while she offloaded. They agreed immediately and she opened the front of the case, allowing them all out. One by one they fluttered their wings and hopped or sprang into the air to muster on the roof as requested. Once they were all clear, she pushed the empty transit box out of the chariot like a cuckoo pushing an unwanted egg from a nest, and winced as she heard it splinter on the ground. “Is everything alright, Miss?” asked one of the charioteers, concerned at the sound of breakage. “Yes, everything’s fine, thank you” she lied. “We would be happy to help if you need a hoof” offered the other. “No, I’ll be fine, thank you” Fluttershy repeated, pushing the heavier of her two bags out and listening to it slam onto the broken remains of the transit case. Then she descended with the last of her bags and put it down beside the partially demolished pile that constituted the rest of her baggage, and walked round to thank the charioteers for their trouble before waving them off for their journey back to Canterlot, breathing a sigh of relief as they disappeared from her sight. She braced herself. She now stood alone with her mission laid bare in front of her, and knew it would be demanding. She savoured the precious memories of yesterday and then straightened up, parking them to one side as she crossed the few steps to her back door with determination and resolve. She wanted to wish for help in the name of Celestia and Luna, but knew in her own mind that would have been heresy. She was on her own. A sliver of light appeared to one side of the back door as she approached, and a large dark paw pulled it back revealing the inside of her cottage still lit at this time of the early morning. Harry stood in the doorway and growled softly then caught sight of Fluttershy and opened his arms for a hug. She smiled and embraced him happily, but the moment was short lived as he released her to come and look at their newest arrival. Chrysalis was laid out on the floor in front of the range, with all but the very bravest animals keeping a respectful distance. The fire was out because none of the animals knew how to start one nor tend to it once it was alight, but they all knew it was the cosiest spot to be, so had placed Chrysalis there in the hope of helping her recovery. “Oh my” said Fluttershy as she saw the state of Chrysalis for the first time in the light. She conducted an examination, noting the large number of serious looking impact injuries. There were blood stains over the carpet coming from abrasions and lacerations on her legs, neck and body, and even her chitinous armour had been fractured, but what worried her more was the blood coming from her mouth, pointing to internal injuries that she could not hope to diagnose. She had a good idea of how mammals and reptiles worked, but had never had to work on a changeling before. However, blood coming from internal organs couldn’t be good, whatever animal it was. In practice, she lacked the knowledge to do more than apply dressings and bandages to stem the blood loss, and set about her task with Harry helping turn the unconscious body over as needed. When she had finished, very little of Chrysalis was visible through the bandages, but Fluttershy knew there was now only one thing she could do to help with her recovery, and lay down, extending a protective wing over her, providing her willingly with a source of love to feed from. Harry then turned the light out and all the animals in the cottage set about grabbing what sleep they could. All too soon, the sun rose, and the animals awoke having enjoyed, at most, only a few hours sleep. They were all respectfully quiet as they tried to manoeuvre around those that were still asleep following a very interrupted night. Fluttershy stirred, her wing feeling stiff from being unfurled at an awkward angle all night. She dared to look and saw Chrysalis’ chest moving with shallow, but regular breaths. She hadn’t died in the night, so she reasoned there was every chance for a recovery. Fluttershy allowed a small smile to cross her face, but knew Chrysalis was only one of the many visitors for whom she had a responsibility, and slid carefully away from her side to get up on her hooves and prepare breakfast. Although very tired and feeling emotionally drained, she set about her duties, all the animals choosing to be respectfully patient as they could see the difficulties she was facing; all except for one. A grim faced white rabbit stared accusingly at her as she approached and drummed his rear foot irritably, acting out a dramatic mime that emphasised his fears about dying imminently of malnutrition. Harry looked at him disapprovingly and wagged a claw, but the precocious rabbit was unrepentant and turned away, raising his head snootily, dismissing any and all criticism. The animals all tried to help out with the chores around the cottage as best they could, but sometimes their enthusiasm to help caused more mess and actually set things back, but before long Fluttershy was free to turn her attention back to Chrysalis. She started by changing the dressings and replacing the bandages before settling down beside her and allowing her to feed once more. Although the animals on the whole tried not to be too demanding, some of the younger ones were starting to get restless, so Harry offered to lead them on a walk where they could run off their surplus energy. He left his mistress snuggled up close to her patient, casting a final eye around for any last volunteers before tiptoeing out and closing the door quietly behind him. Fluttershy felt herself doze off again. It had been a long night, but also she was aware that Chrysalis was drawing on her too, and as a result she was feeling much more tired than usual. She didn’t mind; there was a lot at stake after all, and a little sacrifice on her part would make Chrysalis’ reforming all the more assured. She sensed another draw on her energy, like a foal suckling on its mother, and felt comforted that Chrysalis was growing stronger, so allowed herself to drift off to sleep and allow her to take what she needed. *** “You OK in there?” she heard, accompanied by a loud banging on the door. Through the mists of deepest sleep, Fluttershy struggled to wake and pull herself back to reality. She recognised the country accent and gave a little “Eeeep!”. Applejack was at the door, and so probably were her other friends too. She suddenly realised that Harry wasn’t there; he would have ordinarily fielded any calls, but must still be out walking the younger ones. Now she was on her own, and she knew she couldn’t be found with Chrysalis. Her mind flew into panic and she got shakily to her hooves, heading to the window to close the drapes before anypony looked in. Having afforded herself the barest minimum of protection, she headed for the door and reached for the handle just as Applejack banged on it again. “No, Applejack, maybe she’s still asleep” came a more respectful voice that sounded like it had come from a lilac unicorn. Fluttershy realised she had been given a way out by Twilight’s off the cuff comment, but the downward momentum behind her forehoof was unable to stop before it hit the door handle. She froze, hoping that her friends hadn’t heard. “Oh wait, she’s coming now” announced Applejack, who had heard perfectly. Fluttershy cursed herself inwardly, but very politely, of course. However, she knew there was no way out of meeting them now, so braced herself to tell them the first of many lies. “Hello girls” she said, cracking the door just sufficiently to peer around. “Oh hey, Fluttershy” greeted Twilight enthusiastically, “We heard you got your bird back, but you’d left before any of us had got up this morning, even Applejack, so we just wanted to see if you’re alright.” “I’m fine, really I am, but I had a very late night and I was trying to catch up on my sleep.” “Oh quite so. One simply cannot go without one’s beauty sleep or you‘ll get those unsightly marks under your eyes” agreed Rarity, wincing at the thought of ever being seen in public in any state that was less than perfect. “Hey, we’ll let you get your shut-eye and catch up later, OK?” agreed Rainbow. “Thank you for being so understanding girls” she said, letting out an exaggerated yawn. “OK then” Twilight announced, “We’ll catch up when you feel a bit more like it.” The friends all departed, leaving Fluttershy to heave a sigh of relief. She watched as three ponies walked back towards the centre of town, the fourth hovering above them, joining in loudly with their conversation as they recounted favourite moments from the wedding. Fluttershy was especially thankful that Pinkie Pie hadn’t been with them; her Pinkie Sense was more likely to uncover her secret than any other pony, short of an all-out frontal assault on her cottage. She turned back and saw the pathetic form of Queen Chrysalis lying in just the same position as she had left her, only the slightest rise and fall of her chest providing any evidence that she was still alive. Fluttershy knew what she had to do and, shutting the door softly behind her, tiptoed back to her patient and lay down beside her once again so she could feed when she needed. Fluttershy cuddled up close and considered what she was doing. She was driving a wedge between her friends and herself, and for what? - to be a wet nurse for one of Equestria’s deadliest enemies. How could it possibly be worth it? She felt the helpless changeling beside her, possibly the last Changeling Queen and therefore the last in her line; once she died, her entire race could become extinct. She couldn’t allow that to happen, either morally or ethically, especially as her own distant ancestor had saved the same race in the first place. She gave up with philosophising and set about doing what she knew she had to do to fulfil her destiny, and snuggled in tighter with a contented smile on her muzzle. Fluttershy fell into a routine of devoting herself to providing Chrysalis with round-the-clock nursing care while Harry stepped up to take on as many of her chores as he was capable of. All the animals in the cottage helped out as best they could, but Angel Bunny remained as demanding as ever. He continued to hang jealousy onto guarding as much one-on-one time as he could, even if that meant dragging his mistress away when the carrot he had been given wasn’t quite the right shape or the lettuce wasn’t as crisp as he wanted. Many was the time that Harry wanted to swat him out of his sight with a hefty swipe of his paw, but knew that if he did, the petulant little critter wouldn’t touch the ground until he had been propelled into the next zip code, and such an act would be unlikely to endear him to Fluttershy. Instead he limited his responses to wagging a threatening looking claw and the occasional growl. Her friends came back, and each time she answered the door it was with another lame excuse as to why she couldn’t come out, and each time they saw her, she looked more and more haggard. They could all see that something was wrong, but Fluttershy became increasingly defensive, and the more they pushed, the more scared she became.