//------------------------------// // Chapter 3A // Story: My World Is Empty Without You // by McPoodle //------------------------------// My World Is Empty Without You Chapter 3A Fluttershy put down her quill and frowned at the pages, as Angel waited on baited breath. “Well?!” Angel growled. “Her old friend is going to assassinate her, right?” “Why in the world would Crow’s Foot kill Daring Do?” Fluttershy sighed. “She’s furious, but she’s just going to tell the Chancellor where Daring is. Maybe what she’s planning, I’m not sure how far she’ll go but it’ll be off screen, so…” “Why is Crow’s Foot blaming Daring for so much?” Ryooki finally asked after a long silent pause. Fluttershy bit her lip, rocking back in her chair before looking back towards the closet full of memorabilia. “So… I was able to go to the last Fic-Con, I was asked to be a speaker but I… I don’t… I couldn’t stand being in front of so many ponies. But I did sit in the crowd while some ponies talked about my books. Most of what I heard was praise, but some of it… There was a pony from the Southern Lands. She was descended from the Ink-in ponies, and she talked about how Daring Do came into her culture, stole and destroyed, and everything she touched died or was hurt. I don’t think she was wrong.” The silence wasn’t just awkward now; it was heavy, oppressive. “They’re just… fiction books,” Angel said incredulously. “If ponies are so weak that they can’t stand a fictional pony going on a fictional adventure, well… That’s their fault.” “No, Angel, this isn’t about them standing it,” Fluttershy said gently, turning to face him. “This is… This is about making a good story. If I wrote a story where the good guy killed every friend they had, that wouldn’t make sense, right?” Angel slowly shrugged. “It wouldn’t be,” Fluttershy decreed. “And I’ve kind of done this. Just… well… She’s not killing them, they’re getting killed. It started out being like… It’s dangerous, it’s really dangerous, so sometimes ponies will get hurt. Then, well, Daring Do can’t get too badly hurt, because she’s carrying the books. So the sidekick gets hurt, or… killed. Then, the adventure series is all about finding a valuable important thing, and… If the locals want it, but it’s dangerous, Daring Do takes it, and…” Fluttershy wiped a few tears from her eyes, scowling at her closet. “It’s ok, Fluttershy,” Ryooki said softly. “It’s just a book series, do these people know that real creatures die every day?” Angel asked incredulously. “And they’re freaking out because the jungle ponies didn’t get to keep a doomsday rock?” “Thanks, Ryooki,” Fluttershy sighed, embracing the cabbit as Angel groaned a little. But Fluttershy clearly wasn’t done, she felt like she had to say these things now. “I created a book series with adventure and hope, but instead, it just became a story of everyone Daring Do meets being horribly hurt and every culture that she tries to help being robbed. So now… I have to have a clean start, I have to. Daring Do has to die,” She said the last sentence with a rare surge of determination. She didn’t see Angel’s dark grin as he nodded. “Somepony,” he whispered. “If not all these ponies, have to die.”