Pinkie Pie and Twilight stood together at the control terminal. The fear from the events of a few days ago had worn off. After the first true angel attack, the mood around headquarters became more serious. Most of the rubble from the attacks and explosions had been cleared. The lives of the citizens had returned to normal. Twilight and Pinkie watched Fluttershy as she practiced with a virtual Eva.
“Well she seems to be doing better than before,” Pinkie commented.
“What do you have her training to do?” asked Twilight.
“Baking a cake, of course.”
“I’m not sure that’s going to help against the next angel attack, Pinkie. We might have to prepare for a fight.”
“Fight?! Why would we want to do that? That would make the angels all sad and you saw what happened last time they were all sad.”
“I’m not sure that happened because they were sad. I don’t think angels are able to exist in the same environment as us for very long.”
“Then why are they coming here?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to do more research. How is Fluttershy fitting in with that class I recommended and at home?”
“Well, even though we are the best of room-mates ever, I kind of thought we’d be a bit more chummy. I try to make her feel special and important with confetti cannons and surprises that go off everyday, but she doesn’t seem to like them much. She also doesn’t talk much either. She keeps waking up looking for an angel but then gets all sad when she sees me.”
“It sounds like she’s struggling. She might suffer from the hedgehog’s dilemma.”
“Hedgehog? Don’t be silly Twilight. Fluttershy isn’t a hedgehog.”
“No Pinkie, it's a metaphor. The hedgehog’s dilemma is a mental problem ponies face. It means they feel pain the closer they get to others. They fear they are causing others pain at the time. Hedgehogs are covered with spines that can hurt as others get too close.”
“So we have to wrap Fluttershy in bubble wrap so she doesn’t get hurt or feel like she’s hurting others.”
“Again metaphor. She just feels like that.”
“So what do we have to do in order to make her feel super comfortable?”
“I don’t know. I think it might be best to just let her settle in.”
***
Fluttershy sat at her desk at school, in the same class as the other pilot, Maud, as it turned out. She didn’t feel like going to school after the terror she had been through, but the researchers thought she could use more social interaction.
The yellow pegasus glanced over at Maud. Fluttershy had tried talking to the unusual grey mare before, but never got more than a blank stare or maybe a blink or two in response. She sighed and resigned herself to silence.
The silence broke when an orange earth pony in a black tracksuit and cowpony hat sauntered into the room. Flutteryshy watched the pony give a hoof bump to an orange unicorn wearing glasses and clothes just like Fluttershy’s. She knew the unicorn’s name was Sunburst. She couldn’t help but turn an ear towards their conversation.
“Where have you been, Applejack?”asked Sunburst. “You’ve been gone nearly three days.”
“Ma sister, Apple Bloom, got hurt in that stupid robot fight,” replied Applejack. “She’s stable, but can’t leave the hospital yet. Ma Grannie doesn’t have time to visit her so Ah have been staying with her.”
“Oh man, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“To make matters worse, it was that bucking robot that caused her to get hurt. Ya know the one that’s supposed to be protectin’ us. It was that stupid pilot. If Ah get ma hooves on them Ah’m going to give them a talking to.”
“You might have your chance. Have you seen the new student? She transferred in around the same time as the robot battle.”
Fluttershy could feel Applejack’s eyes shift to her. She tried to ignore them and shrink until she disappeared. Instead, she just stood out even more..
An old grey stallion walked into the classroom. His face was a bag of wrinkles underneath thick black glasses. His eyes were set in so deep that they all but disappeared. A pink pony dressed in the traditional school sailor uniform with a green school sash stood up. Fluttershy heard her name was Starlight Glimmer.
“C’mon guys, show some respect for our teacher,” Starlight scolded the stallions in the corner ogling some poor filly.
The old pony tapped his tail against the desk for attention. He jumped into the lecture as if their interim was only a few minutes rather than an entire day.
“Around that time Yakyakistan was frozen, then a large meteor struck it and melted the ice and changed the land of Equestria. One third of the pony and griffon populations were completely eradicated. The yaks were almost completely destroyed.”
While the old pony droned on, a small note floated onto Fluttershy’s desk. Fluttershy opened it carefully with her wing. The note asked,“Are you a robot pilot?”
Fluttershy stared at it wide eyed as if it just asked if she was a werewolf. She looked around at the class trying to pick out the masked questioner. Maybe it was supposed to be a secret. She didn’t want to lie to anypony or let them down either. A light blue unicorn with a darker blue and silver mane caught her eye. Fluttershy could see the askance on her face and figured she wrote the note. She looked at the unicorn and gave a little nod. The unicorn gasped and placed her hoof over her mouth. The class erupted as ponies assaulted her with a barrage of questions. She tried to answer as many as she could while trying to find a way to escape as fast as possible.
“What’s it called?” asked one voice.
“They call it Evanstallion Unit-01 but I think class is still…,” Fluttershy tried to answer.
“How did you become a pilot?” another voice asked.
“My friend Discord asked me to pilot it, but class…,”Fluttershy desperately tried to redirect.
“What was it like fighting that angel?”asked the teacher.
“Scary and terrifying, I think class is… hey why aren’t you teaching?”
The bell rang its soul-freeing tone as Fluttershy caught Applejack and Sunburst exchanging glances. Fluttershy ran for the door tailed by large mass of questing ponies. All the sounds and expectations would surely overwhelm her. She shrank into the fetal position when a voice called out.
“Alright everypony move,” shouted Applejack. She made her way through the crowd. Most saw her expression and wordlessly backed away. “Me and her need ta talk.”
Fluttershy suddenly missed the crowd as the orange mare loomed silently over her. Applejack directed Fluttershy outside with a commanding hoof. Fluttershy’s ears drooped and she obeyed.
Applejack, Sunburst and Fluttershy walked out of the school into a nearby field. No other pony dared to follow. Applejack turned and measured up the diminutive pegasus. Fluttershy could feel Applejack’s eyes piercing her soul .
“So yer the one that piloted that robot,” Applejack guessed. “Ah’m sorry ta make yer acquaintance but ya have to take responsibility fer what ya did.”
Applejack nodded once then suddenly pushed the pegasus over with very little effort. Fluttershy immediately curled into a defensive ball. Applejack was about to shove her again but found she hadn’t gotten up from the first attack.
“Do ya realize what ya done?,” the orange cow pony began to scream. “Ma sister is sittin’ in a hospital wit’ a tube down her throat ‘cause of you. That buckin’ robot o’ yers done crushed the entire building she was in. What were you thinkin’? What kind of pilot are ya?”
Fluttershy didn’t say anything. She looked miserably at the ground. If her robot had hurt another pony then she felt it was deserved. She hoped that the pony would feel better after hitting her.
“She’s not that tactful,” explained Sunburst,” but she doesn’t hide her feelings.”
“I didn’t want to do it,” whispered Fluttershy.
“What!? What did ya say?,” asked Applejack angrily.
Fluttershy was too nervous to respond. She opened her mouth and very little came out.
“Seriously, what did ya say?”
Fluttershy tried to respond but even less came out.
Applejack pushed the little pegasus down again and walked away. Sunburst looked at Fluttershy hesitantly, then ran off after his friend.
Fluttershy felt that the ground was the best place to stay. It was cool and refreshing. She had never been bullied like this before and wasn’t sure how to respond. It seemed like Applejack had a good reason to be angry: if she, Fluttershy, had a sister who got hurt by a giant robot, she might feel differently about Eva pilots as well.
Fluttershy looked up at the sky and watched clouds float by to calm herself. The clouds were so far removed and so complacent. She wished she could be like the clouds just slowly floating along wherever the wind carried them: no monsters to fight, No ponies to hurt. If Fluttershy were a cloud, she might even see a real bird.
A silhouette blocked the sun as Maud appeared above. Her necklace dangled in Fluttershy’s face with a bright blue glow.
“We are called,” Maud said coolly.
“Oh, ok,” nodded Fluttershy as she rolled to her hooves.” What are we called for?”
“An angel attack,” answered the grey mare’s flat tone.
The two pilots made their way to CAKE headquarters. Fluttershy tried to think of something to say, but the guilt and anger over hurting some pony’s family weighed heavily on her mind. It wasn’t something that she wanted. She told herself that she would fight harder to keep ponies from getting hurt.
***
“We’ve spotted the target about 30 miles away and closing,” informed Bon Bon to the eager Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
The command central bustled with activity. The normal staff were at their posts while Pinkie and Twilight oversaw. A large purple bug-like creature hovered into Ponyville 3 on invisible wings. It seemed to head straight towards headquarters.
“It looks like a giant bug,” said a disgusted Lyra.
“Bbb...bug?,” stammered Twilight instinctively backing away from the screen. “Wha, wha, what kind? How many eyes does it have?”
“Umm maybe one, kind of like a giant cicada. Those annoying bugs that make screaming noises all the time.”
“Fluttershy are you ready to party?,” asked Pinkie through the intercom.
“Party?,” asked Fluttershy in confusion from inside her Eva.
“Eva launch,” screamed Pinkie and fired her party cannon.
“This is going to get old very fast,” snarked a confetti covered Bon Bon.
***
Meanwhile in a secured bunker Applejack and Sunburst sat and waited. They had made their way to a shelter after the sirens sounded. It was a small room where ponies huddled together in terror. Some pony kept screaming, “the horror the horror,” with each shake of the ground.
“Come on AJ,” pleaded Sunburst. “I just want to see one in action. I’ve read what I could in books but I always wanted to see it up close.”
“Are ya sure?,” Applejack wondered and rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. “Ah mean it might be a fright dangerous up there. Ah never even heard of these evanstallions before.”
“What if that pony you pushed earlier loses her nerve and refuses to fight?”
“Why did you bring that gold darned thing up for? It ain’t my fault the pilot is yella.” Applejack couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. She wondered about her actions now that the heat of righteous anger had burned off.
“But yellow or not if she doesn’t fight we’re history. If she saw us out there cheering her on she might feel better and fight harder. It works in sports doesn’t it.”
“Ya got a point there. But this is still dangerous.”
Sunburst and Applejack crept away from the crowd and officials. The curious unicorn snuck to the exit hatch that led to the surface and slowly opened it. He peered outside and nodded to his orange companion. Together they crept outside.
They found themselves on a large open hill overlooking the city. The sound of metal scrapping announced a large portion of the hill had opened next to them. Unit-01 rose from the hole.
“Oh my goodness, there it is,” screamed Sunburst excitedly.
“Oh land sake’s, there that is,” Applejack said as she pointed at the angel. The earth shook as the massive body landed in between two buildings. The multi-segmented thorax rose up like a praying mantis. Its large concave eye turned towards the Eva’s direction. It began to walk on its large spindly legs towards the hill sending debris and refuse into the air. Wire shaped antennae whipped up on top of its head and began to touch the buildings around it. They sounded like the flapping of a flag on a flag pole.
“Go get them, new pony,” shouted Sunburst.
“Umm is that such a good idea?,” Applejack questioned.
“We’re supposed to be cheering her on, remember.”
“But that insect might hear us!”
***
Unit-01 lumbered towards the giant insect. The gait was a lot smoother than Fluttershy’s prior attempt. She let out a small squeal of triumph with the improvement. Then she focused on her new plan. She knew it was foolhardy but she had to try. She crept closer to the creature who watched carefully, its antennae waved wildly. As she got close to the angel she lifted one fore hoof then the other. The insect responded in kind. Large purple ropes of electric bands unrolled in place of its forelegs. Then Unit-01 hugged the monster.
“Whaaa fool thing is she doing?” asked Applejack.
***
“What are you doing?”, shouted Twilight into the intercom.
“What sort of creature would turn down a hug?” Fluttershy asked earnestly.
“Yeah! You hug him Fluttershy!” cheered an excited Pinkie.
“No! Pinkie, the Angel is trying to hurt Fluttershy and the rest of the city. Also the proximity to Unit-01 might cause the Angel to explode again.”
“New plan, don’t hug him Fluttershy,” reprimanded a stern looking Pinkie.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” asked Fluttershy.
“Remember your training. The cake ingredients are in that building over there,” the party pony shouted.
Twilight facehoofed and said, “How did you get that much ingredients into..? You know what? Never mind. You’re supposed to fight, Fluttershy, for Equestria.”
“Fight! I’m not sure I..”, the timid pilot began.
The large bands of electricity wrapped around Unit-01’s rear leg and threw her toward the hill with Applejack and Sunburst on it. Fluttershy screamed as the Eva crashed next to them. Applejack and Sunburst found themselves right next to a house sized hoof.
“Ah told you this was a bad idea,” berated Applejack as she clung to Sunburst.
“I didn’t mean to get this close,” wailed Sunburst.
The angel wrapped its electric arms around Unit-01’s power cord in its tail. Current arced as it burned through and separated it from its main source of magic.
“Oh no that cord thingy is cut,” pointed out Pinkie.
Fluttershy noticed her classmates by her rear hoof as they clung together in fear as Unit 0-1 sat up. She leaned Unit-01’s head closer to make sure and noticed it was the angry pony from earlier.
“Oh my,” she said through the loudspeaker with a voice that sounded like she was talking to a small animal. “I hope you’re feeling better Applejack but I don’t think you should be here. It’s dangerous.”
****
Twilight beheld the quivering pair on her monitor.
“Who are they?,” asked Twilight.
“I think it’s the classmates we just met in the last scene,” explained Pinkie.
“What?”
“They are in Fluttershy’s class.”
“What are they doing there?” cried Twilight.
“Ooh maybe they’re the Fluttershy cheer squad.”
“They need to get out of there. They’re in danger.”
“Then Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to hear them cheer, silly. I have the best idea ever,” Pinkie said and bounced to a intercom.
A speaker on the back of the Evanstallion back crackled to life. “Hey, Fluttershy cheer squad,” squawked the cheerful voice of Pinkie.
“Is she talking ta us?”, asked Applejack.
“Yeah, get in.”
The back of the Evanstallion opened and the entry plug slid out. The hatch opened invitingly. Applejack and Sunburst glanced at the approaching angel then scrambled into the entry plug.
“Yuck it’s wet,” complained Sunburst as he slashed into the orange water.
“What is this stuff?,” demanded Applejack.
“Quit whining and get in,” growled Pinkie.
They held their breath and plunged into the orange liquid. The hatch closed and the plug inserted into the matrix again.
Sunburst unconsciously opened his mouth in awe as the panels and display simmered to life. He suddenly realized he wasn’t drowning and looked at his orange companion in wonder. Applejack was fighting for dear life as stars appeared in front of her eyes.
“Applejack breath!”, commanded Fluttershy as she noticed the two behind her. “The liquid doesn’t hurt at all but it does take a little getting used to.”
Applejack finally opened her mouth and found she was as safe as one could be plugged into a giant battle robot about to fight an angel.
***
“Pinkie, what are you doing?,” demanded Twilight.
“Now they will be safe and she can hear them,” explained Pinkie with a satisfied nod. “Now you don’t have long Fluttershy. You should come back here with your new friends.”
“I don’t think I can make it,” explained Fluttershy.
The bug crawled in between the Eva and the launch hatch. Fluttershy’s Eva tried to climb to its hooves but started to slip in the muddy hill.
“No,” cried Fluttershy. “I’m slipping.”
The angel laughed as the legs of the Eva fell forward towards it.
“Wait, I can’t keep it..”, whined Fluttershy.
The Evanstallion continued forward and fell right into the angel. The angel had no time to deploy its AT Field but felt the Eva’s horn pierce the large crystal in its chest.
“Noooo! Backup! Backup!” screamed Fluttershy. She started to strike various buttons in an effort to right the Eva. A loud screeching noise filled the air as the horn began to drill further into the crystal.
“No, no, stop, why is it drilling?” Fluttershy asked her cheer squad in a panic.
The screeching continued as Fluttershy frantically looked for the off switch. A loud crack told her the crystal had shattered. The Eva’s power failed and the drilling stopped. The bug stood still. Its arms hung limp. The crackle of energy that rippled off them ceased. The large multifaceted eye of the beast turned cold and lifeless.
“No, no, no, I hurt it. I think I killed it. Why? Why couldn’t I stop it?” the yellow pilot bewailed.
Fluttershy had tears streaming down her face as she moved her controls again and again in an effort to back away from the horror. Sunburst and Applejack looked at each other uncomfortably.
“Isn’t the point of this thing to fight and hurt the angels?,” asked Applejack.
“I was going to try to convince it to leave,” Fluttershy sniffled.” Not everything is solved by fighting.”
“Sometimes things unfortunately can’t be talked over, Sugarcube. In those times ya have to look for what’s best for all.”
“But I killed it. I killed it,” the gentle pegasus sobbed.
“Ah’m sorry but ya saved Sunburst and me. That’s gotta count for somethin’”, reassured Applejack.
Fluttershy collapsed in a heap of sadness. She wailed and weeped in a small fetal ball.
Sunburst and Applejack looked at each other uneasily.
***
Three days passed since she was in the back of the Eva and Applejack felt worse about the situation. She hadn’t meant to mentally scar the little pegasus. She had such anger in her and it seemed that Fluttershy truly was the cause of it. But it turned out she hadn’t meant to hurt Apple Bloom and it was hard to stay mad at some pony for an accident.
“Still no Fluttershy,” sighed Sunburst and looked at the empty desk.
“It’s been three days,” replied Applejack. “Ah don’t know if she’s coming back. Ah just feel awful.”
“Then you should apologize,” explained Sunburst.
“I suppose I’d better at that. But how? What if she doesn’t come back to school?”
“You could ask the class rep for her address,” teased Sunburst knowingly.
“Ya know she is yer childhood friend,” Applejack blurted defensively. “Why don’t you ask her?”
“I think this is something you need to see through yourself.”
“Consarn it,” Applejack threw her hooves out in defeat. “Alright, alright, Ah’ll go.”
Applejack sauntered as casually as she could over to Starlight’s desk. Starlight’s face lit up as she approached.
“Oh, um, hi Applejack, lovely day we’re having hehe,” she began nervously.
“Umm right. It’s ok, Ah reckon. But Ah was wonderin’ if you have Fluttershy’s address.”
“Oh,” Starlight sighed letting her enthusiasm out. Applejack rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “Here,” she coldly gave Applejack a large paper packet. “And you can drop her papers off while you’re at it.”
***
Applejack and Sunburst found the address easily enough. “This is the place according to class rep,” said Applejack.
“You mean Starlight,” teased Sunburst but was cut short by the loud rap of Applejack’s hoof. Minutes stretched on but no answer came.
“No pony is answering,” sighed Applejack,”guess we’ll have to come back sometime.”