Fluttershy made her way through the woods. The late afternoon sun broke through the trees, casting long shadows on the ground. She knew she shouldn't be here. She knew she was risking getting caught by Agent Shadow and her goons. Sunset had texted her, letting her know STORM was making its move and Twilight had already been arrested. Other texts had come from her friends for a while afterward, but all had gone worryingly silent. She knew she should be hiding somewhere the agents wouldn't think to look for her.
But, there was Frank.
The bear hadn't asked for any of this. He hadn't asked to be infected with rogue magic and turned into an Equestrian monster. He hadn't asked for the pain and confusion it was causing. And he definitely hadn't asked to be hunted down by a government squad of professional monster hunters.
Fluttershy frowned as she checked her phone again. Still nothing. No messages from anyone since Sunset warned them all STORM was making their move. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She had a job to do.
She found herself alongside the creek that led to the clearing where Frank's cave was. She ponied up and took to the air, wanting to get there as fast as possible.
The clearing still looked they way they had left it. A large cave in a rock face, with the clearing itself surrounded by fallen trees. Fluttershy lightly landed in front of the cave and peered in, her geode glowing as she called out.
“Hello? Frank? Are you there?” She took a few tentative steps inside the mouth of the cave. “It's Fluttershy. From the other day?”
She swallowed at the sound of a low growl echoing from the back of the cave. The geode helpfully confirmed that the “voice” was, in fact, Frank. She took another deep breath and stood so she was clearly outlined against the cave entrance.
“You need to hide, Frank. There's some people coming for you. People who aren't very nice. You met one the other night. I need you to go somewhere far away and wait for me and my friends to come find you so we can help you.”
More growls. Fluttershy shook her head.
“No, they're all... unavailable right now. And we need everyone in order to help you. I'm sorry.”
Fluttershy looked at the ground, feeling helpless and ashamed. “I wish I could help you myself, but I can't. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Frank. It's not right and it's not fair. We've been trying to deal with this kind of thing for a while now and it's getting out of hand.”
She felt her heart constrict in her chest and tears fill her eyes. She clenched her fists. This wasn't the time to go to pieces, damn it!
“And...” she sniffled. “And my friends are – “
She lost it. The worry and the stress and the fear all got to her. She fell to her knees, put her face in her hands and tried to stop sobbing. She felt something loom over her and her nostrils flared at the musky smell. She wiped her eyes and looked up at Frank's ponderous form.
He had changed even more since the other night. He was about two feet taller. His fur was a deep indigo. Patterns of stars fused together into nebulae here and there with in the etherial hairs. His fangs were longer too, almost four feet long. He towered over Fluttershy, looking down at her with pained yellow eyes.
Fluttershy, her heart racing again as her own survival instincts screamed at her to run as far away as possible and never come back, got to her feet and swallowed, wiping her nose. She looked up at Frank, who craned his head down, mindful of his fangs. They stared at each other for a long moment, then the giant bear gently rubbed his cheek against Fluttershy's shoulder, almost knocking her off her feet.
Fluttershy giggled and reached out her arms. “Can I?” she asked.
Frank didn't move, allowing Fluttershy to put her arms as far around the ersatz Ursa's neck and give him a hug as best she could. They separated and Fluttershy smiled at him.
“Okay, we need to get you as far away from here as we can. I think if we head north from here we could make it to the boundaries of Faust National Forest before sunrise. That place is huge and there's plenty of places you can hide away from humans and any other animals if you need to. I'll keep an eye out from the air and keep you going in the right direction, okay?”
Frank chuffed and snorted in agreement. Fluttershy reached up and gently scratched him behind the ear, which cause Frank to let out a pleased rumble. Fluttershy giggled.
“Oh you like that, do you? Well, maybe if you're a good boy, you'll get more as the trip goes on. Come on, let's go.”
She led Frank out of the cave. She noticed that the arch of the bear's back barely cleared the top of the cave mouth as he lumbered out. “It's a good thing I came for you. Another couple of days, and I think you'd have been stuck in there.”
Frank let out more grumbles.
“No, I am not calling you fat, silly! You know what I mean.”
She did a double take as Frank let out a series of snorts that sounded almost like a laugh. She smiled.
“Oh, stop it, you.”
They emerged into the clearing. Fluttershy put her hands on her hips and looked around.
“Okay, so north is that direction. I'm going to fly up and see if I can find a clear path for you. Then, we'll – “
Blinding lights blazed through the clearing. Powerful search lamps, the kind used in crime scene investigations, came to life, turning the twilight as bright as noon. Frank let out a roar as Fluttershy threw her hands up, shielding her eyes. After a moment, she put them down and squinted into the light. Silhouettes of large forms carrying guns were lined up behind the fallen trees. Three figures walked toward them.
Fluttershy frowned as she saw Tempest was leading two armored STORM agents. The agent smirked as she looked down at the teenager, noting the pony ears and wings.
“Not costume pieces this time,” Tempest said, grinning. She glanced up at Frank, who was growling and leaning back as if preparing to spring. “Take it down!”
“NO!” Fluttershy screamed. She sprang forward, tackling Tempest. She knocked the STORM agent off her feet, causing both of them to crash into the armored agents. Frank rose to his hind legs and roared.
“FIRE!” cried a voice. Fluttershy looked up in horror as the armored team opened fire. There were chuffs of pneumatic cartridges being fired as tranquilizer darts flew from the barrels of the rifles, peppering Frank. Most bounced off the bear's hide, but a few managed to hit, causing him to roar again and begin charging forward.
“Frank, no!” Fluttershy got to her feet and turned to help. Tempest sprang up, and wrapped her arms around Fluttershy from behind.
“No, you don't!” Tempest snapped.
“Get OFF!” Fluttershy brought her foot up and drove the heel of her boot into Tempest's foot, crushing the instep. As she did, she expanded her wings out sharply, breaking Tempest's hold on her. She took to the air to face Frank.
“Frank! It's okay! Don't hurt anyone!” she cried. Frank roared again and Fluttershy couldn't help but notice how big his other teeth were. Her thoughts were interrupted by the angry sound of Tempest's voice.
“TAKE THEM BOTH! OPEN FIRE!”
Fluttershy whirled around in the air and shrieked as the darts started flying through the air again. Which is why she didn't see Frank's massive paw come up behind her. Frank, blinded by rage, batted Fluttershy hard, sending her sailing across the clearing. She crashed into a tree and fell to the ground. Two more agents grabbed her and held her down. Fluttershy snarled and tried to get back to her feet, flapping her wings, trying to smack the agents with them. They dragged her to her feet.
Fluttershy gaspes as she saw another groups of agents rush forward with what looked like modified cattle prods. They jabbed them into Frank's side, causing him to roar in pain. He raised his paw again, but another wave of darts hit him in the side. His eyes rolled up in his head and he crashed to the ground, causing the whole clearing to shake.
Tempest turned back toward Fluttershy, running a hand through her crest of hair. She loomed over Fluttershy, who looked up at her with a defiant expression. Tempest glowered at her, reached out, and ripped the geode from around the teenager's neck. Instantly, Fluttershy's ears and wings vanished.
Tempest looked at the geode in her hand. “Interesting.”
Fluttershy's glare could cut diamond.“If you or your goons have hurt Frank, I'll – “
“'Frank?'” Tempest quirked an eyebrow. She looked over her shoulder where the squad was binding Frank's legs and muzzle with large metallic bands. She turned back to Fluttershy. “Well, that's even more interesting. I look forward to discussing this with you further, Miss Fluttershy.”
She looked at the agents. “Get her out of here.”
Fluttershy struggled against her captors, but they kept her firmly in check. As she was loaded into the back of one of the large SUVs, she looked back at Frank. He wasn't moving and the squad were moving the trees and backing up one of the cargo trucks to the clearing. She swallowed and tried to keep from crying.
I'm so sorry, Frank.