Fluttershy was a little delirious from being poisoned in her battle with Lightning Dust’s bandit troupe, but she thought as her eyes fluttered open that she was catching a bit of her second wind. But quickly she realized no, she was still poisoned.
She tried to get up regardless, but she couldn’t move. She moved her front paws, then her back paws, but she couldn’t get up. And as she struggled, she realized her front and back paws were bound with rope and tied together.
Fluttershy’s eyes snapped wide open and she tried to scream, but only a muffled moan escaped her lips; there was a large chunk of wood caught between her teeth, with rope binding her muzzle shut on top of it to keep her quiet.
Trying to stretch her wings didn’t fare much better; they were bound tightly to her chest, and she was leashed by one more rope that kept her shackled to the wall of the cave so she couldn’t even try to crawl away. The ropes used to bind her were enchanted; she couldn’t break free no matter how much she squirmed around in them or tried to force them to snap.
Maybe she could have if she had been at full strength and could use her magic, but the poisons running through her veins were depriving her of both.
Fluttershy looked around; the thirteen pony bandits were all sitting around the cave Fluttershy found herself in, some watching her closely with weapons drawn or close to it, others were entirely disinterested in her ordeal. Judging from the light peeking in from the cave’s entrance, Fluttershy guessed it was likely late afternoon, close to sundown.
And based on that, the weary look on many of the bandits, and the fact that Fluttershy was even still alive and Lightning Dust was nowhere to be seen, Fluttershy figured that she hadn't been unconscious for very long.
Not that it mattered much; the way she was now, she was completely helpless.
Though it turned out Fluttershy spoke too soon about Lightning Dust being nowhere to be seen, as a large dragon landed in front of the cave, all of the bandits perking up and turning their attention to the entrance as Lightning Dust limped inside, bloody stump where her left hand used to be.
That sight at least made Fluttershy smile.
“Boss! Your hand—”
“Shut up,” Lightning Dust spat. “This is nothing. I can fix this no problem, I know a guy, it doesn’t matter. What matters-” Lightning turned her focus to Fluttershy, whose eyes widened in fear as Lightning flashed a grin of blood-soaked teeth “-is our little meal ticket here.”
Lightning slogged over to Fluttershy and put a claw under her chin. Despite her bravado and claims to not care about her injuries, she was breathing heavily and looked pretty pale. But Fluttershy could barely focus on that past the cold sweat dripping down her face as Lightning looked her over.
“You and your bitch friend have really put me through a lot today,” Lightning sighed irritably, and the sound of it was like acid poured on Fluttershy’s ears. “Pissed me off way more than any mark has in a long time.” Lightning flashed a sadistic grin, and Fluttershy whimpered into her gag. “So how about I take the pieces of you I need, while you’re still alive?”
Fluttershy cried and tried to plead, but of course all she or anyone heard were the muffled moans of a muzzled captive, and her struggles to squirm out of her bonds didn’t do her any favors either, and only got her laughed at by Lightning Dust and her gangs, which just made Fluttershy embarrassed and blushing on top of all the other humiliation.
“Tell you what,” Lightning said, pinching a feather on Fluttershy’s wing, “I’ll be merciful! I’ll start with the feathers instead of your teeth.”
“How about you start by taking your claws off of her.”
Rarity’s voice echoed through the cave, and all eyes were on her as she stood in the entrance, setting sunlight shining behind her like a perfectly heroic radiant backdrop.
“Rrrty!” Fluttershy squealed happily, stunned in utter disbelief and relief that Rarity actually came to save her.
“How the hell did you find us so fast?” Lightning growled, her eye twitching.
“I’m a skilled diviner,” Rarity said flatly.
“Did one of you screw-ups leave a trail behind?!” Lightning barked at her minions, who cowered away from her.
“You shouldn’t blame them,” Rarity said coolly, “it wasn’t their fault. They couldn’t have known the significance of this.” Rarity held up Fluttershy’s green dress, the one she had dropped when she first transformed, and Fluttershy’s eyes lit up to see that she had helped Rarity find her.
“It doesn’t matter!” Lightning pounded her remaining hand on the stone ground and roared. “IT DOESN’T MATT—”
Rarity teleported in front of Lightning with a crack of her magic, thrusting her sword toward Lightning’s breast, but the dragon buffeted her wings, disorienting Rarity and tearing apart the meager furniture and supplies of the cave hideout, before flying out of the cave in an obvious panic, leaving her gang behind.
Speaking of said gang, there were still thirteen of them and only one Rarity, and as they clamored for their weapons, Fluttershy moaned and her ears flattened against her head; she had a bad feeling about this.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rarity said coldly, standing perfectly still. “You may outnumber me, but I bested your boss with my own hands. Do any of you sincerely think you stand a chance against me? And is that belief worth risking your life over?”
Rarity’s words gave the bandits pause for just a moment; enough time for Rarity to grab all of their weapons in her blue aura and lift them into the air, before splintering and shattering them all into pieces, the shards of wood and metal raining on the ground in a grim display of Rarity’s power.
“Leave all of your gear and supplies here,” Rarity said, glaring knives at anyone bold enough or foolish enough to look her in the eyes, “and leave immediately. Get the hell out of this forest, and never come back.”
Left with little other option but to try and restrain Rarity with only their hands— a proposition no one seemed fond of for some weird reason— the bandits did as they were ordered; they removed all of their gear and left it on the ground before solemnly marching out of the cave.
And with no weapons, no armor, and no Lightning Dust, they were far more helpless now than Fluttershy was.
Rarity waited a moment, watching the entrance like a hawk as her hoof jittered against the stone floor of the cave. Once she was certain that the bandits were gone, and that they weren’t returning, she relaxed a little, and Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.
The worst was over.
And then Rarity collapsed to the ground, vomiting a bright rainbow-colored fluid. Fluttershy gasped as she recognized the trademark signal of magic exhaustion; a state that was devastating for dragons, but almost certainly fatal for ponies.
Rarity attempted to stand to her hooves, but she collapsed again, spewing another splash of rainbow fluid onto the ground, even more leaking now from her eyes. Fluttershy whimpered and cried, trying to struggle out of her restraints and do something, anything, to help Rarity. But even if Fluttershy could manage to escape, which she couldn’t, there was nothing she could do.
Rarity dug her nails into the stone floor and pulled herself forward. She dug her hand in a second time and pulled herself again. She clambered to a rough, hunched standing position but, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stand fully, threw herself to the ground a few inches from where she had been, causing another expulsion of rainbow fluid to evacuate from her mouth.
What was Rarity doing? Fluttershy didn’t understand.
Until Rarity locked eyes with her, and Fluttershy could see the determination in Rarity’s icy blue eyes as pulled herself forward by her nails one more time— toward Fluttershy.
Fluttershy wished desperately that she could squirm or wiggle her way toward Rarity, but she couldn’t break free from the rope around her neck that kept her leashed to the wall of the cave. All she could do was whisper muffled prayers that Rarity could survive.
Why was Rarity even so desperate to reach Fluttershy anyway? Did she think Fluttershy could help her? Fluttershy had no more magic left, there was nothing she could do. Why was Rarity even bothering?
Soon enough, Rarity was able to crawl her way toward Fluttershy close enough that she could grab the fur on Fluttershy’s paw and pull on it, giving her leverage to stand on her hooves, though she quickly collapsed and had to lean against Fluttershy for support.
She sidled her way over to Fluttershy’s bonds, but she fell to her knees. She wasn’t deterred; she pulled herself up by Fluttershy’s fur and tightly grabbed ahold of the knots keeping Fluttershy’s front paws restrained, and with a lot of effort, with a lot of panting and wheezing and vomiting, she was finally able to undo it right before she collapsed again, falling face-down onto the floor.
With her front paws untied, Fluttershy was quickly able to untie her gag and her leash and her wings and her hind paws and her tail, until finally she was cradling Rarity’s near-lifeless body in her hands.
“Rarity, I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy sobbed. “This is all my fault, and there’s nothing I can—”
“Your ‘fault’?”
Rarity… laughed?
Laughter was not the expression Fluttershy was expecting, and she was left a wee bit bewildered.
“Sweetheart, it’s your ‘fault’ that we won.”
“But now you’re going to—” Fluttershy sniffled, her eyes pouring out tears, and snot dripping from her nose, and even drool pooling in her mouth and dripping down her chin. “You’re going to—”
“I’m going to rest,” Rarity lightly patted Fluttershy’s paw pad. “Nothing more, nothing less. I just need to recover from this exhaustion.”
“B-but—” Fluttershy blinked, and used her free paw to wipe away tears but more just came and replaced them. “But magic exhaustion is fatal for ponies.”
“Most ponies,” Rarity grinned and gave a weak but proud chuckle. “Not Slayers. We’re taught to deal with any worst-case scenario, and that includes magic exhaustion. Building up a sort of tolerance for it is part of our training.
“I’m going to be laid out for a bit, but I will survive.”
Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. She felt somewhat foolish for assuming, but mostly she was just so glad Rarity was going to be okay, and she burst into a fit of weepy giggles.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Fluttershy sniffled.
“And are you okay?” Rarity asked.
“Mmhmm,” Fluttershy nodded, grinning ear to ear. “Thanks to you. Thank you, for rescuing me.”
“Darling,” Rarity smiled sweetly, and it warmed Fluttershy’s heart, “I would never let anything happen to you.”
“Rarity,” Fluttershy whispered as she curled up along the ground, creating a makeshift bed with her tail, pillow with her paw, and blanket with her wing that she gently placed Rarity in and helped her get as comfortable as possible. “My magic may be gone for now, but I am still a dragon. I will protect you, no matter what, while you rest and recover your strength.”
“Fluttershy, darling, thank you,” Rarity sighed as she cozied up in Fluttershy’s fur and fluff.
Rarity’s next words, the last ones she spoke before she drifted off into snoozetown, moved Fluttershy’s heart and caused her to start weeping again, but in a good way this time.
“I trust you.”