“Thank you so much for helping me move Dashie” A yellow Pegasus said as she wore a slight over side shirt with a cute bunny on it and some cute little ripped shorts. She was putting down a box in her new room.
“It's nothing, Shy. Plus, this is a pretty cool place to live in, from what I heard at least.” Dash said, As she put down a box as well.
After a few hours of cleaning and unpacking all of her things, the new house was now all completely organized and gave a nice vibe all around. “Phew, that was a workout. Come on shy I want you to meet the girls,” Dash says, whipping some sweat off her head and waits for her at the door.
“Oh okay I’ll be there… Okay Angel, you be a good boy and enjoy the new house. I'll get you some juicy carrots, okay.” Shy says, looking at the small bunny as he nodded at her and hoped away.
After Angel hops away, Fluttershy walks out, locking the door behind her and looking over at her best friend.
“So are you ready for your new life and new friends, trust me you will like them. They are totally hip.” She says, pulling Shy next to her as they start to walk into town.
“I um I guess so—gulp—” She says as she is still nervous about moving into a new town.
“Come on you’ll be fine I’ll be by your side through the tour of the town if anyone tries to mess with us they will get a can of whoop ass!” Dash said putting her hoof up in the air as a fighting motion.
They both walk into town as many pony walk by each other greeting one another as the place didn't seem so bad after all, It was quite nice and peaceful. That is during the day time. All of those who would come out of town to visit this place didn’t know the true nature of it as everything was well hidden to keep up a good reputation just so more tourists could come to town and be taken advantage of.
But the young yellow Pegasus wasn’t aware of that at the moment. All she could see were the friendly ponies greeting each other in the sunny weather—the town looked perfect and idyllic, not like one that would hold any sort of dark secret.
As they both walked downtown Dash’s friends were all hanging out in the park talking to each other as they were waiting for her.
“What do you think Dash friend is like, oh maybe she is as cool as Dash is?” A pink mare said having her curly hair up in a bun as she is known as Pinkie Pie but her friend always called her pinky for short.
“Well as long as it is not like her last friend she brought by last time” Twilight says as she's a mare with purple and fuchsia highlights as she pushes her glasses up.
“Well I sure hope this friend of hers isn’t like the last one, What was her name again Gilda?” Rarity a white mare with purple wavy hair says to the others.
“I’m sure that her friend ain't as bad as the last one” A country mare known as Applejack said they all kept talking with each other.
Soon enough Dash and Fluttershy got to the park as there were lots of other ponies hanging around or playing games like buck ball.
“ Oh look, it's Dashie! HEY DASHIE WE ARE HERE!” Pinkie yelled waving her hoof to get her attention.
“Hmmm? Oh that sounds like pinkie.” She says turning around to see her friends sitting at a picnic table at the park near a small pond. She walked along with Shy to where the other four mares were sitting.
“ Um, these are your other friends” Fluttershy says as she is a bit nervous about meeting the other mares.
“ Oh come on trust me they will like you Shy they are pretty cool.” Dash said as she walk over to the other girls “Hey you guys” She say
“Howdy sugar cube, I Burgan this is your friend here” AJ says, tilting her hat a bit to greet them both.
“Why hello, It’s quite nice to make your acquaintance.” Twilight say
“I-it's nice to meet you—” Fluttershy says but it soon is interrupted as a pink blur quickly jumps on her.
“ OH MY GOD IT SO NICE TO MEET YOU. I’M PINKIE PIE WHAT YOUR NAME? I BET YOUR COOL YOU HAVE TO BE IF YOUR DASH FRIEND AS WELL” Pinkie says as is she on Fluttershy face. As she's all excited to meet her.
“ Pinky darling watch your manners. I am so sorry about her” Rarity says, lifting Pinkie off Fluttershy using her magic to do so and putting her next to the other girls.
Dash helped fluttershy up from the floor “Sorry about that um she gets really excited when she meets new ponies.” She says rubbing her hoof on the back of her neck.
“O-oh that’s okay” Fluttershy says.
All six of them sat down and started conversing with one another getting to know more about one another. They each were building up a friendship, as this is the first time fluttershy didn’t have to pretend to be some pony else to make friends. These mares like her the way she is so far. They carry on for an hour or so until dash decides to head off and show fluttershy around.
“ Alright I’ll see you girls later gonna show Shy around town” Dash says getting up from the seat.
“Of course darling” Rarity says and all the girls wave goodbye.
“ Bye it was nice meeting you all” Fluttershy says waving bye at them.
Soon the both of them headed into town as Dash showed her around town from Sugarcube corner to town hall.
The view of the town was so mesmerizing, Every pony was happy and they all got along with each other.
“Wow Dashie, this place is great.” Fluttershy says, all excited to be in this lovely town.
“See I told you” She says taking a shortcut to a back alley.
“ Why are you taking this way?”
“Because its a shortcut I take them all the time”
“Ohhh okay so I can take these shortcuts then?” Shy ask
“Of course, anyway I gotta get going so I’ll see you later” Dash says as she spreads her wings and flies off.
Fluttershy was left all alone in town but she didn’t mind it because she felt safe in this place. She decides to explore more of the town by herself and get those carrots she promised Angel.
Before she knew it, the sun started to set. All the ponies in town started to close up shops early and started to head home as the night soon came over the town and the street light where the only thing that lit up the darkness that covered the town.
Fluttershy started to head back home as she carried a little basket of carrot on her back, her hoof step echoing in the silent night of the town. She has decided to take ‘the shortcut’ that Dash has shown her earlier in the day.
“Okay it should be down here?” She says to herself as she takes a left to a back alley as it is mostly darker then the rest of town.
“It's so dark here I can’t see anything” she said it wasn’t long before the darkness of the town made her lose track of where she was. “I have to find Spruce Street...I can get home from there.”
But she didn’t know where that was in relation to the market. She began wandering down the streets, glancing at street signs and taking turns that felt familiar...but she couldn’t find the right street. “Maybe I took the wrong shortcut…?”
There was a rattling sound behind her, and she jumped into the air, startled. A garbage can rolled out of an alleyway...and that was all. She realized with a chill how empty and quiet the streets felt...and that she had even forgotten which way she was heading as she begin to get frightened.
She turned in a circle, her heart pounding. None of the buildings around her looked familiar at all, and it was too dark now to read any of the street signs… “D-did I make a wrong turn?” she said aloud. “I thought I was following Dashie’s path…” She closed her eyes and tried to remember which way her house was…
A glint of light made her head turn, and she saw an alleyway. On the other side, there was another sign, and though she couldn’t read it, she saw an ‘S’. “That must be Spruce!” she said. With a smile, she dashed towards the alleyway...but paused at the threshold.
Something held her back, a feeling of trepidation filling her. She shook her head. “Rainbow said it was okay,” she told herself. “She takes these shortcuts all the time.” With a deep breath, she stepped forward and into the shadows of the alley.
She made it halfway through, and she finally managed to shove that worried feeling to the back of her mind. But then, suddenly, she was surrounded by magic and pulled deeper into the shadows!
She tried to scream, but two hooves clamped down on her muzzle. “Good work,” a stallion’s voice growled. “I didn’t think that flash-of-light trick would work, but you did it.”
She mumbled into the hoof of the stallion that has held her. Her heart beating fast as she was held against her will being over power by them as she was always much weaker and an easy target for anyone.
“Well what do we have here, a pretty new face we have” A pink unicorn with short wavy blue hair approached the stallion that held the young mare.
“Who cares?” the stallion holding her, a grey earth pony. It was too dark to see his cutie mark, or any of his other features. “All that matters now is if she has bits on her.”
“Then search her already,” another stallion said, stepping out of the shadows. “Before we draw any attention.” Two more stallions came out and began frisking her.
She squeaked and tried to squirm away. The pink unicorn used his magic to hold her muzzle shut, so she couldn’t scream. “But she’s really cute, isn’t she?” he said with a nasty grin. “Even if she doesn’t have many bits…”
“We’d find the bits if you would shut up and help us!” someone snapped at him.
The pink unicorn shrugged and moved forward, reaching towards her waist. She screamed, muffled by the magic, and squirmed more, flaring out her wings and beating them. She managed to startle and knock away three of the stallions.
She stumbled on her hooves and backed away, bumping into a cold brick wall before she could get very far. The grey earth stallion growled and stepped towards her, making her cower away.
“Help!” she yelled. He slapped a hoof over her mouth.
“How many times have I told you idiots to hold down their wings if they’re a Pegasus!” he snapped at the others. “Now we have to hurry it up and leave!” He grabbed her dress and began harshly tugging, searching for her purse.
“Just hand it over already!” the pink unicorn yelled when she tried to move it away from them. She shook her head, and the other stallions shushed him, coming closer.
She squirmed, but was unable to move much. The other stallions surrounded her, blocking off any chance of escape she might have had. She was about to give up hope...knowing that they would take everything, and maybe do worse. She couldn’t move or yell for help...it was hopeless.
But then, she heard hoofsteps—ones that didn’t seem to match in sound, somehow, with one more like the clopping of a hoof, the other the clicking of claws. They were fast, and getting louder.
“Jelly!” someone shouted. “Jelly Bucking Beans! You didn’t pay me back yet!”
Everyone froze, and turned to look at the bright pink unicorn. He grinned sheepishly. “You borrowed bits from him!?” one of them hissed.
“I had him do me a favor!” ‘Jelly Beans’ protested. “I didn’t know he would remember!”
“He always remembers!” the leader said, along with a few curse words. Fluttershy whimpered and took a few steps back, pressing even closer against the wall. The leader looked at her. “Okay, mare. Just hand over your purse, and none of us gets hurt.”
She whimpered and shook her head, clutching her purse tightly. “Why, you—!” He raised his hoof into the air, and she flinched, preparing for the blow.
She waited, but it never came. She cracked her eyes open slowly...and gasped at the sight, her eyes widening.
Four of the muggers were battling a creature unlike any she had seen—one with a long, serpentine body of mismatched parts. He wore a black leather jacket, and his mane was slicked back. He swung his fists at the ponies, even flicking a knife towards some of them and making them flinch away.
‘Jelly Beans’ was lying on the ground, his eyes blank and a lump on his head, as slugs and snails climbed out of his ears. The strange creature slammed another mugger against the wall, and he slumped to the ground with his friend, his fur stained with blood and...pasta sauce?
While the creature’s back was turned, the leader whipped out a knife and struck his head from behind. The creature roared, a horrible sound that echoed through the night, and made all of them cover their ears. He snorted and turned around, clutching his forehead as blood spilled from his wound, turning to glare at the ponies.
The leader’s face went pale, and he took a few steps back. The other two swallowed, one of them turning and galloping into the night. With another roar, the creature leapt forward, wrapping himself around the pony who attacked him, biting and scratching in a furious frenzy.
The other pony left tried to leap to his friend’s defense, but was smacked aside by the creature’s tail, knocked over to his fallen friends. He found himself suddenly stuck in a puddle of superglue, and struggled to escape.
The creature then tossed the leader aside like a ragdoll, covered in bites and scratches, all of them bleeding. He scrambled to his hooves, but a growl from the creature caused him to shake like a leaf and fall back to the ground.
“Take your friends,” the creature snarled. “And beat it. I’m going to take my bits, and you’re not going to stop me.” The leader swallowed and backed away as the creature stalked forward, ripping the jacket off of the unconscious Jelly Beans.
He rifled through the pockets, transferring things from it to his own, before tearing it into two halves, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Cheap guy,” he said. “Barely enough to cover what I did for you.” He tossed the cloth onto his prone body, and stood up on his hind legs, towering over all of them.
“Beat it!” he barked, his tail thrashing. The super glue holding one of them bubbled and dissolved. The trapped pony and the leader leapt to their hooves, each grabbing a fallen friend and dashing off into the night.
The stranger sighed and slumped to the ground, suddenly looking much less threatening. He sighed and massaged a few of his wounds. Fluttershy slowly stepped out of the shadows, and her hoofsteps made him straighten up, his head swiveling to face her.
Fluttershy backed away, frightened. He snorted and looked up at her with a glare, blood streaming down his muzzle. He scowled and wiped it away with his hand, and with a snort, stood up and looked around the area.
Seeing that they had left and weren’t coming back, he sighed and leaned back against the wall, using a ratty, worn handkerchief to dab at his wounds. She gulped, about to run home...but something about him seemed strangely familiar.
She remembered caring for “aggressive” animals in the past—such as feral cats who had gotten into fights. They scratched and bit, even when they were heavily injured and half-starved, and even after she helped them heal, they would leave without giving her a backward glance. But she still refused to ever ignore a creature in need.
The creature, even as scary as he was, was injured. And something inside of her compelled her to help. So with a gulp, she slowly approached.
His head snapped up, and he glared at her. “Whadda you want?” he snapped. “Beat it, mare. You’re in Iron Will’s turf. And he doesn’t take kindly to wanderers at night.”
She took an involuntary step back, but swallowed again and steeled her courage. “You...you saved me,” she said.
He scoffed. “Please. It was just a coincidence. I was going to fight them anyway.” He scowled. “They hit harder than last time…”
She frowned, seeing now just how badly he was hurt. There were bruises forming in several places along his head, neck, and arms. There was a deep gash on his forehead, where most of the blood was spilling from, and his nose and lips were bloody.
“I...I’m good at first aid,” she said. “Whether you meant to or not...you saved my life.” She stepped a little closer, but stopped when he backed a foot away. “Please...I can help you.”
He scowled at her, and she could feel her legs trembling. Her wings shivered, her instincts telling her to run or fly away, to forget about him. But she was determined to help him...even if she was bitten in the end.
His glowing eyes appraised her, scanning up and down her body. Finally, he stood up straight. “Fine,” he said. “Treat me or whatever.” He frowned and tucked his hand into his jacket. “But if this is some kind of trap...you’ll regret it.”
“No traps,” she said. “But, um...to treat you, I’ll have to bring you to my house.” She hesitated, and he kept staring at her. “Oh! It’s, um, this way.” She walked down the alley, and he rolled his eyes and followed her.
She stopped at a street sign, squinting to read it in the dark. “We’re on Sycamore,” he said from behind her. “Does that tell you anything?”
“Oh...I thought this was Spruce,” she said, her ears lowering. He rolled his eyes and pointed east.
“Spruce’s that way,” he said. “I suppose that’s the direction we’re supposed to go in?” She nodded, and he started marching in that direction, slipping his hands into his pockets. She noticed that he was limping slightly.
She hurried up to his side, flying up to attempt to support him. He flinched and recoiled, giving her a mistrustful look. “I just...you’re limping,” she says. “If you keep putting pressure on that foot, you’ll only hurt it more.”
He gave her a suspicious look. “Please?” she said. “We might be able to get to my house faster, too…”
Still with a suspicious look, he finally relented. He threw his arm over her withers and leaned against her. She wobbled a bit at his sudden weight, making him roll his eyes. But after a few moments of fluttering, she righted herself and continued forward.
They continued down the dark streets in silence, maybe only a little faster. She was just grateful that his injured leg wouldn’t be hurt any further. After a minute or so, he finally spoke up.
“Those guys are greedy,” he said. “Why didn’t you just hand over your purse and leave?” He grunted. “Unless you’re one of those ponies who thinks that their money is more valuable than their life…”
“I...I would have given them the bits,” she said. “But...there was a picture of my mother in my purse…”
He didn’t question her any further as he rolled his eyes “Look I’ll do ya a favor just this time I’ll help you out at night time...since clearly you're new to this place… and because you kind of did me a favor.” he say.
“ I did a favor?” She says looking up at him as she has a slightly better view of the creature before her, his long face with a long white beard and slick black mane. His horns, and other parts of his body, were different, but somehow she wasn’t really scared of him even with his odd appearance.
“ If you wouldn’t have refused to give your purse up I wouldn’t have found that prick, he's been hiding from me for sometime” He says and continues walking.
As they both walk along each other as the street light illuminates the street around them. She was confused a few times, but he just rolled his eyes and told her where the street she wanted was.
Eventually, they made it to her home. She dug through her purse for the key and unlocked the door, ushering the stranger inside. He limped his way inside. “Please, take a seat on the couch,” she said. “There’s no one home right now.” She didn’t have to worry about any of her family members coming in and seeing this strange creature in their home. Zephyr, her younger brother, was out with his friends in town until his bed was set up, and her dad was at their old house, making sure they had gotten everything.
She placed an ice pack against his injured lizard ankle, causing him to hiss. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just strained, but it needs to be cooled to get better faster.” She tucked a pillow under his foot, and the ice pack fell off. “Um, could you hold that in place, please?”
He grumbled, but his tail lifted and pressed the pack against his ankle.
“I can’t believe something like this would happen,” she said as she began unpacking her first aid kit. “This town is supposed to be nice.” The stranger barked a laugh, making her jump and look up at him.
“They fed you that line about Ponyville being peaceful, huh?” he said. “Well, them guys conveniently forget to mention that the peace? The harmony? That’s only during the day. This place becomes a whole new town at night, and it ain’t pretty.”
She shivered. “What...what do you mean?”
He laughed. “Low crime rates, and affordable housing? Get real. The only reason it’s so cheap is ‘cause all the crime comes out at night.” He saw her confusion, and continued, “Gangs. Turf wars. Street fights, robbery. You name it, something criminal has happened here in this town. Heck, it’s probably happening right now!”
She swallowed, almost dropping the cotton ball. "But...everything looks so nice during the day...wouldn’t there be some sign of all that happening?”
“The town covers it up,” he said. “I hope your parents bought insurance on all their stuff, ‘cause they’re gonna need it. Oh, and all the gangs, the criminals? Vanish into thin air during the day.”
“H-how is that possible?”
“They either lay low, or they put on their civilian masks and go about their day like they didn’t just smash their neighbor’s windows the night before,” he said.
“Is...is everyone in town...in a gang?” she said, finally putting alcohol onto the cotton with shaking hooves.
“Nah,” he said. “Just some. Most of ‘em come from outside town, anyway. And not everyone who roams the night streets is a gangster.” He flinched and growled as she dabbed at his forehead. “Suns, that bucking stings!”
She bit down the chastising remark she almost made, and kept dabbing at his gash. “I know,” she said. “But this is important, to keep it from being infected.”
“I’m pretty sure the bucking infection would hurt less!” he snapped, smacking away her hoof.
“The infection is more dangerous!” she said. “If some bacteria got into your bloodstream, it could travel to your eye, or even to your brain! You could get very sick, you could go blind in one eye, you could even—” She stopped and swallowed, cutting herself off.
“Yeah Die but I haven’t…why are you even—Bucking agh take it easy now will ya” He said as she started to clean some of his neck wound.
“ I’m sorry they are pretty nasty wounds and you squirm around so much… It's kind of hard to clean them, and I’m helping because it's the right thing to do. You did help me even if it wasn’t intentional” She says slowly wrapping the bandages around his neck.
“ I see…” He says as soon an awkward silence fills the living room.
“Um my name is Fluttershy by the way” she says moving her mane behind her ear.
He just sat there quietly not saying much of anything as he cleaned his wound. She is still trying to make small talk as she continues to help him.
“So, um...what are you?” she asked. His head snapped up. “I-it’s just, I’ve never seen any creature like you before…”
“A draconequus,” he said. “Don’t worry about pronouncing it right; no one can.” He glanced away again, seeming bored with this topic already.
She searched the drawers for any other bandages, but she could only find the one box. With a frown, she grabbed the box and brought it over to him, setting it down in front of him.
As she expected, his eyes narrowed distastefully at the pattern of pink bunnies. “Oh, no,” he said. “Don’t you bucking dare put one of those on me. I’d rather face the infection!”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she said, trying to sound stern even as her back legs shook. “And these are all I have, so you’ll have to deal with them!” Before he could protest, she quickly pulled one out of the box and tore off the back, sticking it on his cheek.
He growled and scratched at it, and she quickly grabbed onto his wrist. He stared at her with piercing eyes, and she quickly let go and stepped back. “I...don’t do that,” she said. “Please.”
“It’s only a little scratch!” he said. “What’s wrong with leaving it uncovered!”
“It could get infected...and maybe scar up,” she said. His eyes gleamed, and he grinned.
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” he said, reaching up again. “Scars are cool...it means I’ve been through stuff.”
“It is not good to walk around with scars all over…” She says and pauses for a moment thinking of how to convince someone like him to keep the bandage on and then it hit her. She remembers that some animals would attack those that are wounded because they are the weakest of the pack.
“You know if you have scars all over that will make others think you're the weak one and they may hit those spots again knowing that they can bring you down if they hit you there” She says and looks up to him.
His ears perk up a little almost as if she got his attention which luckily did manage to do.
“What do you mean makes me seem weak, no one think that.” He says growling ever so slightly.
“ With all these scars it no surprise that everyone picks a fight with you” She replied
“ Well I can’t have them see me as the weak one I guess I’ll have to have her around to heal me so others don’t mess with me” He said to himself gently stroking his goatee.
“Alright then I’ll stay still and let you help me” He said to her. She smiled brightly at him, cleaning his next wound. “But can you not use such...frilly bandages? If anything will make me seem weak, it’s them.”
“...I can try,” she said. “These are the only Band-Aids that I have...but the actual bandages are just a plain white.”
He grunted and leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes as she continued cleaning and bandaging his wounds. Once the deepest cuts were cleaned and cared for, she moved on to his bruises, dabbing on a bit of cream that would hopefully numb them for a while.
The last thing left was his dragon leg. She inspected his ankle, though he growled and grumbled about it. “I think it’s just sprained, thankfully,” she said. “No breaks.”
“Joy of joys,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Does that mean you’re going to quit fussing over it?”
“Well…” She frowned. “I’m going to just...wrap it up a little, so that you won’t pull your muscles the wrong way and cause more damage.”
“Fantastic,” he said, crossing his arms.
She stared at his ankle for several minutes, trying to figure out the best way to do this. But after some time, she began wrapping bandages tightly around it, tying it off firmly once she was sure it was as best as it could be.
“Now, try to keep your weight off it as much as possible,” she said as he poked at the new bandages. “Keep it elevated when you’re resting, and if it feels sore, put an ice pack or frozen peas on it again.”
“ That seems simple enough…. Do you live here by yourself.” He asked as he put an ice pack on his ankle.
“ Well I live with my family…. My dad and younger brother” She say as she put away her first aid kit
He looked at her a bit worried that he would be seen by her family. He already has a bad rap as it is; he didn’t need a new rumor going around that he's messing with a Pegasus that just moved into town not that long. “Well that's great I should get going” He says getting up and groans slightly.
“ Oh be careful, just try to relax for a few minutes.” She says trying to keep him down on the couch.
“ No no… I have to leave right now” He says.
“Wait, just be careful….” She said as he snapped his finger and disappeared into thin air.
She blinked, a bit startled by his sudden disappearance. Once she had recovered, she already found herself missing and worrying about him. She sighed as she hoped that one day she would see him again, she wanted to learn more about him.