At first there was nothing but darkness in front of her, until she saw a small, bright white light at the end of what seemed to be a tunnel. That light started to become brighter and brighter, and she felt like she was running towards it. The light was now so close she thought she could reach out and touch it, but just as she about to be engulfed in it, she felt something like a great gush of wind come towards her and she was quickly pushed back and the light quickly disappeared, and darkness returned.
A moment later, she thought she could hear voices, familiar voices calling out to her in concern, begging her to come back and join them. But as soon as they appeared they were gone, and she heard nor felt nothing again.
A while later she felt her senses return to her one by one, and she slowly opened her eyes. At first she could make out a plain grey but blurred ceiling above her, so closed and open her eyes several times until her vision cleared. She saw it was definitely a plain grey ceiling, but something about it seemed familiar to her, as if she’d woken up with it above her once before.
“Where… where am I?” she called out to the world.
“Hush, my dear friend,” a voice said, seemingly from beside her. “You’re in Castilian, Fluttershy. Safe.”
Fluttershy twisted her head to her right to see who was it that spoke. Her eyes widened when she saw the old grey mare sitting beside the bed in which she laid in. “Freya?”
The old horse nodded. “Yes, my dear, I am here. And you are lucky to be here, too. You were more or less dead when you arrived. But you amazed us all with your recovery.”
Fluttershy brought herself up with a groan as she felt pain down her left side and her back. “Please, my dear, stay down,” Freya said, as she gently pushed the weakened pony down flat onto her bed.
“But… what happened? I remember flooding the chamber and drowning Heimdallr, but after that I remember nothing.” She suddenly let out a gasp as she remembered the boat’s disappearance, and her friends stranded on an island where the water was rising around them. “What about my friends?! Are they all right?! Where are they?!…”
Freya raised a hoof to silence her. “Fine. They’re all just fine. A bit shaken after what they and you have been through but otherwise okay.”
Fluttershy relaxed a little, a small sigh of relief escaping her mouth. “But how? The boat was gone and with it our chances of escape. How did we all get out of there?”
Freya smiled. “It seemed you had a guardian angel close by, Fluttershy…”
The water was now coming in at all sides. The boat, which they came in, had now drifted away; so far that Twilight couldn’t get a hold of it with her magic. They were trapped; with no way out, and worse, Fluttershy had slipped into unconsciousness and if she didn’t get help soon, she would die. ‘She’s probably the lucky one, though,’ Twilight thought. ‘She won’t drown like the rest of us.’
“Well then,” Applejack said as she watched the water filling up the island, “I guess this is it, girls.” The five ponies had dragged Fluttershy up to highest point if the island as the water began filling up the banks. They looked behind to see the water filling up the stairway that led down to Heimdallr’s prison, which had now become his tomb.
“It’s been great, you know,” Twilight said with a sad smile. “I’m glad to have known you all.”
“You make it sound as if it’s the end, Twilight Sparkle,” a voice called out from the heavens. The five ponies looked up and gasped with joy and relief as Vidarr descended from the sky towards them. He landed before them and got onto his belly. “Quickly, Equestrians, onto my back!”
“What about Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked as she took to the air. The other four ponies quickly jumped up and clung onto Vidarr’s back.
“No worries, Rainbow Dash. I’ve got her.” He picked the unconscious pony in his claws, and took to the air, just before the island disappeared under the rising water. The five ponies and one dragon watched as the water stopped flowing from the mountains, and the Horscan Sea returned to its calm nature once more. It was as if nothing had happened. Satisfied, Vidarr swooped around and headed east.
“We have to get Fluttershy some medical attention, Vidarr. Now!” Twilight shouted, trying to make herself heard to the sound of Vidarr’s wings as they beat against the air.
“I’m taking you all to Castilian, Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy Firewing shall receive medical attention there,” Vidarr replied.
“But she won’t survive the journey there!” Rainbow called up from her place next to Fluttershy. She had a hoof on the pegasus’ cheek, and was trying to hold back the tears as she felt her friend going colder by the second. “She needs help, now!”
Vidarr could feel the last of the Dragonlords’ lifeblood fading in his claws. Rainbow was right; Fluttershy would not survive the journey there, so he would have to take matters in his own claws. “Can you do anything to help her, Vidarr?” Pinkie asked, sniffing back tears.
He looked down and saw a large clearing, large enough for him to land in. He looked back at Pinkie and smiled. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, just you watch me. Hold on!” he bellowed to the ponies on his back. Without another warning he plummeted towards the ground, then levelled back up before hitting the ground. He dropped Fluttershy to the ground, and then took back to the air, hovering just a few feet off the ground.
Rainbow shot to the ground and ran up to Fluttershy to see if she was all right from the tumble. Her heart broke when she felt her friend was now cold – too cold to still be alive. She put a hoof to where her friend’s heart was, and felt nothing. Her heart forgetting to continue beating, she moved a hoof to where a pulse would be, and again felt nothing.
Fluttershy was dead.
“Rainbow Dash,” Vidarr said delicately. “Stand aside.”
Rainbow turned around to face the dragon, her face revealing her complete devastation. “There’s no point, Vidarr. She’s dead.” The ponies on the dragon’s back put hooves over their mouths in shock, even as tears poured down their faces.
“Rainbow Dash, I’m asking you to stand aside please,” Vidarr persisted.
“There’s no point doing anything if she’s DEAD!” Rainbow shrieked, tears pouring down her face. “I failed her. I said I’d protect her, look out for her, and she in turn would look out for me. And now she’s dead.”
“I can still save her, Rainbow Dash, but if you don’t get out the way now then she would be truly dead, and only yourself would be to blame,” Vidarr said, getting angrier by the second. “So get out the way!” He growled when Rainbow still wouldn’t move, too broken in her grief over the loss of her friend. “I need you to trust me, Rainbow Dash. Like Fluttershy Firewing did. Can you do that?”
Rainbow looked from the ground to the dragon with a look of shock. He was right; if Fluttershy, a pony who was terrified of dragons since she had known her, could trust him, then so could she. “Okay, Vidarr, I trust you,” she said, nodding her head in approval.
“Then please move away from her. We don’t have much time left.” Rainbow galloped out of the way to stand below him. She sat down and put her hooves over her mouth, even as tears still spilled from her eyes. With Rainbow out of the way, Vidarr then raised his head to the sky and began to chant, supposedly in Dragonian. The others had no idea what he was saying, but Twilight could tell it was something like a spell being cast, like the mages of old.
He suddenly stopped chanting, his eyes lit up with an unnatural fire, then a jet of golden flame erupted from his mouth and covered Fluttershy’s body. A minute later, he stopped jetting out flames from his mouth, and with a swipe of his claw extinguished the other flames around the Dragonlord’s body. The others watched and waited as Fluttershy lay on her side, not moving; they weren’t even sure if she was still breathing. Suddenly a shrill gasp escaped from Fluttershy. Her eyes shot open and her chest rose and fell in quick succession as the pegasus got her breath back.
Rainbow started galloping over to wrap her in a hug, but stopped when Fluttershy’s chest fell again, silencing her heavy breathing, and her eyes closed as she drifted back into sleep. Rainbow looked from Fluttershy to Vidarr with a fierce glare. “What did you do?!”
“I saved her life, Rainbow Dash. She will be in a deep sleep for about a week while her body recovers from her ordeal. Her injuries will need some caring for but other than that she will live,” Vidarr said calmly. He gently picked Fluttershy up once again and took to the air, making his way to Castilian.
“How… how did you do that, Vidarr?” Twilight asked. “I thought healing magic on that scale didn’t exist.”
Vidarr chuckled at this. “Magic is a force of energy that has no limitations, has no master, and is entirely unpredictable. Noone would ever completely understand it, and noone would be able to truly master it. Not even Princess Celestia Solaris and Princess Luna Nocturnus Solaris, and I know them to be the most powerful mages in all of Terra.”
“Wait, you know the Princesses?” Twilight asked.
“I know of every ruler on this world. But those two have always had a special place in my heart,” Vidarr replied, a thin smile on his lips as he remembered them.
They fell silent once more as they left the mountainous regions of the west and were flying above a large flat plain. Rainbow was still flying close to Fluttershy, to make sure she was all right still. And sure enough, when Rainbow placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s cheek, it was warm rather than cold, and that made the pegasus’ heart slow in pace as her fears over her friend’s well-being resided.
Soon they caught sight of the great city of Castilian. “Rainbow Dash, would you be able to go down there and tell them I mean them no harm, and I have six ponies who need medical attention, please?” Vidarr asked.
Rainbow flew into Vidarr’s face, saluted, and then raced off into the distance towards the city. As she closed in she could see several of the inhabitants start to flee towards the large building at the top of the hill, while guards were setting up defences. Rainbow noticed Freya giving out commands to others from the large building at the top of the hill. She dived right down and landed right in front of the old grey horse. “Stop! Don’t shoot him!” Rainbow cried.
Freya looked shock at seeing Rainbow Dash here, and if she was here, Fluttershy was here also. “Everyone, stand down!” she yelled out into the city. With reluctance, the crossbow horses and horsecarls stood down, allowing Vidarr to fly over their heads.
Vidarr hovered over the courtyard, then lowered the claw holding Fluttershy to the ground, allowing the pegasus’s body to roll off his claw and onto the ground. Freya covered her mouth with a hoof in shock at the sight of Fluttershy’s injuries. A horse came at Freya’s beckoning and with some difficulty, carried Fluttershy on her back inside the hall. “She will live, Freya Palomino of Horsca, but her wounds will take a long time to heal. So try to be careful with her, and make sure none of them reopen.”
“Thank you, dragon, for bringing her here,” Freya said.
“One more thing, could I leave her friends in your care as well? They have been through a great ordeal.” He leaned his head closer to whisper. “And may need some help to get over it.”
“I understand. Thank you again,” Freya said, bowing her head to the dragon. The dragon bowed his head in return, and then let his other passengers off.
“How did you know we were in trouble?” Rarity asked.
“I heard your voices as you shouted your goodbyes to the world, Rarity Turquoise,” Vidarr said with a smile.
“Well we owe ya our lives, partner,” Applejack said.
“It was my duty as a Dragonlord, nothing more. Now, I will let you rest. Goodbye for now.” Vidarr took to the air and was soon gone, just a sun like spot in the sky.
“After the dragon had gone, I gave you my room and the other guest rooms to your friends, and that’s how it’s been for the last week. Your friends have hardly left your side,” Freya finished.
Fluttershy tried to sit upright again, but only made it halfway when her body screamed out in protest. She gritted her teeth and went back down on her back with a sigh. She tried to spread her wings out, and found she couldn’t spread either. She felt her right wing was okay, but her eyes widened in horror when she couldn’t feel her left. “My wing! What happened to my left wing?!”
Freya gave her a sad smile. “It’s fine. Just tightly bandaged around you body.” Fluttershy pushed off the covers to see she was right. Her left wing that Heimdallr’s flail had smashed was beneath a heavy number of bandages that was wrapped around her belly and her back. “We were able to save it thanks to Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle and their knowledge of pegasus wings. You won’t be able to fly yet, but you will. I’m afraid, however, that you might not be able to fly as well as you use to. It was in a bad state when you got here,” Freya explained.
Fluttershy smiled half-heartedly. “It’s okay. As long as I can fly then I should be all right. I don’t know what I would do without them to feed my flying animal friends.”
“But what happened to bring it, and yourself, in such a state?”
Fluttershy looked from her bandages to Freya, and smiled. “It’s a long story.”
Suddenly they heard the sound of the door opening. Fluttershy looked to the door and smiled wide when the heads of Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity appeared through, their faces holding large grins at the sight of their friend awake. “Girls!” she squeaked in joy.
The five ponies rushed over and jumped Fluttershy in a hug, tears of joy in their eyes and talking all at once. Fluttershy felt tears in her eyes, but whether it was from the sight of seeing her friends again, or the pain running down her back, she didn’t know or care – it was worth it just to see her friends again. “Don’t you ever worry us like that again, you hear me?!” Rainbow cried, embracing the pegasus even tighter.
“I won’t,” Fluttershy replied. They all sat around the bed, grinning away like it was Hearths Warming Eve, and talking all at once.
Beside them, Freya smiled at the warming scene in front of her. “Well I’ll let you all get on,” she said as she got up from her seating position. “I’m looking forwards to hearing this tale of yours.” She turned around and left the six ponies together.
“Are you girls alright?” Fluttershy asked once Freya had gone. Fluttershy had a good look at them all. They all had small pink scars from cuts where they were too slow to avoid swings and such, but were healing nicely. Rarity had the remnants of a black eye ruining her left eye, and a large bruise on her cheek, but she was grinning.
“We’re fine,” Twilight said. “A bit sore in places but otherwise good.”
“Yeah, it’s yourself you should be worrying about more,” Rainbow said. “How the hay could you take whatever crushed your side and still be here?”
“When you were examined by a doctor about your injuries, he was amazed to see that your whole left side had basically been crushed, and you were still alive,” Twilight explained. “With me and Rainbow we managed to save your left wing from being amputated.”
“I know, and thanks to you both I’ll be able to fly still,” Fluttershy said.
Rarity leaned up on the bed. “No, darling, thank you. You saved us all with your actions, and gave us all a better world.”
Fluttershy smiled at her. “It was a team effort, Rarity. Without any of you I don’t think I would have gotten far, or even fought and lived to tell the tale.” She leaned back flat on the bed. “So what’ve you all been up to while I was sleeping?” she asked, in a bid to start up conversation.
The five mares looked at each other, slightly taken aback by the question. “Fluttershy, we’ve all been here looking after you and making sure you were alright,” Rarity said.
“Yeah,” Pinkie added. “We never left here except for eating, going to the bathroom, and sleeping.”
Fluttershy looked at them all in shock. “You didn’t have to do that, girls.”
“Sugarcube, we couldn’t explore the city and enjoy ourselves knowing the state you were in,” Applejack said.
“We knew you would be fine,” Twilight said, “and that you would wake up sooner or later. But it didn’t change our minds on leaving your side.”
“Yep,” Rainbow said, nodding in agreement. “Besides we had fun together. Told jokes, a few secrets and crushes we once had, or have, and had a all round good laugh.”
“That cheer died down when we looked at you, and we all went super saddy for a moment. But then we cheered up again knowing that you would wake up and they’ll be hugs and tears of joy and everything would be alright with the world,” Pinkie finished.
Fluttershy smiled at each of them. “I appreciate that you all stayed with me. But I bet you don’t want to be cooped up here while there is such a beautiful city to explore.” She gestured to the door. “Go and have some fun. I think I’ll be alright from now on, really.”
They all looked at each other, wondering whether they should or not. Eventually, Applejack sighed. “Will ya be alright? Truthfully?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course I will. I’m awake now so you have no reason to be worried about me anymore, and I don’t want to be a burden on you.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “You are never a burden on us, Fluttershy, and we will always worry about you, even if you are some genetically augmented super warrior.” Rainbow looked to the door, then back to Fluttershy with a cheeky grin on her face. “You won’t go anywhere, will you?”
Fluttershy looked at her with narrow eyes and a small smile. “I was hoping you would resist the temptation to say that.”
“How could I?” Rainbow asked with a smirk. “We’ll be back later then, okay?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, now go and have some fun,” she said to them. Although still unsure, the five ponies said their goodbyes and filed out of the room. “Oh, and Twilight?”
The unicorn turned around and walked back to the bedside. “What is it?”
Before she could understand what was happening, Fluttershy leaned over and wrapped her forelegs around the unicorn. “Thank you. For saving my life in Heimdallr’s prison.”
Twilight chuckled and gently placed a hoof around the shoulders of her friend. “You are most welcome.” She pulled away. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“I’m sure,” Fluttershy said with a dismissive wave of a hoof. “Besides, I bet you wanted to study the Horscan language a bit more.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t do it properly knowing the state you were in.”
“But you can now, right?”
Twilight shrugged. “I suppose. We won’t be long.” She hugged the pegasus one last time and then cantered out the room, leaving Fluttershy to relax.
“Okay,” Fluttershy sighed to herself. “Now I can just relax and let the day go by.”
A few hours later Fluttershy found herself banging her head gently against the back of the bed, trying to overcome the agony of boredom. She was resting on her right side after discovering that being on her back for a while made it begin to feel like a hundred thousand pins were piercing her back. “Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored,” she said every time her head met the headboard of the bed. Being a pony that loved animals she was quite active most of the time, so being confined to her bed usually felt like sitting in detention back in school.
Even when she was confined to her bed, she usually had a book she could read to let her imagination run riot. Now, she didn’t even have that. Most of the books, like Twilight said, were in Horscan and as such were impossible to read. She wished Dragonlords had the ability to read every language ever made, then that would make the hours flow by nicer.
After what felt like another hour, but was only a minute, she finally had enough. “Now I know how Rainbow felt when she was stuck in hospital. Then again she had a Daring Do book with her,” she said to herself. Her eyes wandered around to think of something to do other than lying here looking like she needed some sympathy. As much as she loved her friends, she didn’t want them worrying over her on every whim she wanted because she couldn’t do anything. Besides, it gave her some time to think alone without them.
She looked at her back and suddenly came up with an idea. She realised this would probably hurt, but she wanted to know what Heimdallr had done to her when he brought his sword down her back. Gritting her teeth, she moved a leg out of the bed and brought it onto the ground. She pressed down to be sure it won’t hurt, and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn’t. “Part one okay. Time for part two.” She shifted herself so that her front half was off the bed and both her forelegs were on the floor.
She breathed another sigh of relief to feel they were okay, so began to move slowly out of the bed and get on all fours. Her legs felt achy and she thought they might begin creaking, but she was glad they all seemed okay. She began moving to the bathroom in the hope to find a mirror, but stopped when she felt a sharp pain coming from her left hind leg. She lifted her hind leg and limped heavily into the bathroom, gasping in pain every time her left hind leg had to come down.
The bathroom was decorated with around ten beautiful tapestries of rearing horses opposing each other on all the walls. In the furthest corner from the door was a large wooden bathtub big enough to fill her and all her friends. In opposite corner was a hole for a toilet, and arrayed against the wall closest the door was a large mirror, with a dark bronze frame with the head of a horse on the edges facing each other. It was set up so a young horse the size of Fluttershy could look at him or herself.
She gasped when she saw the three pink scars that ran along her left cheek, with one barely missing her eye, and one running to the corner of her mouth. She was surprised none of her friends quoted something about it. ‘Probably so not to upset me,’ she thought. She didn’t know if would be covered up by her coat once it had re-grown, but she couldn’t help but think it made her look cooler in some way. She giggled lightly at the thought. “I’m beginning to think like Rainbow Dash.” Her eyes moved from the scars to her back. ‘That’s one piece of the damage,’ she thought. ‘Time to see what he did to my back.’
Fluttershy brought up a hoof and began removing the bandages down her back, taking care not to break the ones that held her wing together. Eventually she felt the last piece of the bandage peel off her coat, feeling like it took some of her coat with it. She turned around, reared up, with only loose pressure on her hurting leg, and when she looked in the mirror she gasped at the wound.
It was a long, pink scar that ran right down from between her shoulder blades to the tip of her tail. She realised if it got any deeper it probably would have cut her in half, and shuddered at the thought of dying that way. She ran a hoof right along the scar. Although it looked, as she figured how Rainbow would put it, pretty awesome, she couldn’t help but wonder how long would it be there; a few days, weeks, months, her entire life?
She turned around again and saw a part of her left side seemed abit out of shape compared to the right. It was barely noticeable, however; the only reason she saw it was because of her amazing eyesight. “I’ll ask my friends if they notice it.” She set herself back on all fours and turned around, preparing to get back to bed, but stopped when she saw the bathtub. She smelt herself to be sure and realised she did stink. “I could do with a bath.”
She found a stepladder that was kept aside for foals, tall enough to allow her to clamber into the tub with some minor difficulty, and was able to get the tap to work with, again, some minor difficulty. Soon she was sitting in a large pool of warm water that felt as comforting as wool. She let out a relaxing sigh and rested her head on the bath edge, glad that now it was over and she could be allowed to mourn her father.
Her eyes snapped open as she remembered the promise she made to herself the day he was killed. Just as that thought came into her mind, her eyes began to glitter with tears, and then another thought came to her mind. ‘I never said goodbye,’ she thought sadly. ‘I never even told him I loved him.’ With that thought, the dam suddenly split open and all the emotion she held in since that day spilled out onto her hooves. She felt like she could cry for hours, and didn’t care if anyone said otherwise.
A minute later, her ears twitched at the sound of the door opening and the concerned voices of her friends. Twilight looked in the bathroom, and upon seeing Fluttershy in tears, raced up the ladder and lovingly embraced her around her neck, Fluttershy returning the gesture quickly after. “Just let it all out,” Twilight cooed softly, not rubbing her back incase it puts her in more pain.
“I just remembered… I… I never even told him I loved him,” Fluttershy sobbed. She tightened her hold around the unicorn and she cried even more fiercely then before.
“I don’t think you needed to, Fluttershy,” Twilight said softly. “Love emanates from your eyes. I’m certain your father would’ve known.” Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity and Pinkie came in quickly soon after, and joined the comforting hug as they allowed the pegasus to finally grieve for her father.
After what seemed like an hour, all that was coming from Fluttershy was just little sniffles and droplets like rainwater dripping down her cheeks. She removed her face from Twilight’s chest to reveal her bloodshot eyes after crying so hard, and her wet cheeks that glistened in the low light. “Thanks for that, girls,” she whispered, wiping her eyes with her hooves. “I really needed that, I think.”
“Of course you did, darling,” Rarity said softly. “After what you’ve been through, I think you’ve earned it.” The four ponies beside her nodded in agreement. Fluttershy smiled gratefully.
“Anyway, what are you doing here?” Rainbow asked. “You should be in bed resting.”
“I got bored, and I realised I started to smell, so I wanted a bath and relax a bit,” Fluttershy replied.
“But what about your wounds?” Rainbow persisted. “Were you okay getting up? Were you in pain?”
“Rainbow, I was fine, really. I limped a little but otherwise I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not fine. You said yourself you were limping. Come on, out you get so you can go back to bed and rest.”
Fluttershy was touched by Rainbow’s concern over her well-being, even if she felt it was unnecessary. She truly was the sister Fluttershy never had, and that meant an easier pony to tease.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Rainbow asked, noticing the predatory grin appearing on Fluttershy’s face. “Why is she looking at me like that?” she asked the others, who looked just as confused. “Okay, seriously, Fluttershy, you can stop now.”
Before anyone knew what happened, Fluttershy flung herself onto Rainbow, and then pulled her into the water with her, laughing while Rainbow screamed like a little filly. The four ponies outside the tub looked perplexed at the sudden move, but then one after the other, began to laugh.
A second later, Rainbow emerged from below the waterline, spitting water out of her mouth and looking at Fluttershy with a glare. The other pegasus didn’t care, or notice, for she was too busy laughing. “I never heard you scream like that before, Rainbow,” she got out between breaths.
Rainbow’s glare softened into a smirk. “You’ll pay for that.” She raised a hoof in the air and splashed water over Fluttershy, who instantly stopped laughing upon feeling her face get drenched. She looked in shock at the other pegasus, who began to laugh.
“Oh, it’s on,” Fluttershy said with a grin, and began splashing water in Rainbow’s direction, who in turn began splashing water in hers, all the while both ponies giggling like little fillies.
“Oh, do be careful, you two,” Rarity advised. “I would hate you to hurt yourselves, not to mention ruin your beautiful manes.”
The two ponies stopped splashing at each other, and then looked at Rarity emotionlessly for a moment, then back at each other, then back to her with the same grin Fluttershy gave to Rainbow before she tackled her into the water. As one, the two ponies got hold of a hoof each, and pulled Rarity into the water, the unicorn giving a cry of alarm and plead to the others for help. They just laughed as Rarity emerged once again soaking wet and her mascara running down her face. The unicorn looked at the two pegasi, and grinned. “It, is, on.” She lifted both her hooves in the air and crashed them into the water, splashing the both of them, and Twilight behind her.
“Hey, if that was a challenge then it’s been accepted,” Twilight said, and jumped in also, laughing.
Applejack took off her hat and placed it on the ground. “Best ya stay out of this one,” she reasoned with it. She jumped in the air, crying out, “Geronimo!” as she did so, and belly diving in, while being careful not to hit Fluttershy and hurt her even more.
“A water fight? Without me? I’m insulted!” Pinkie exclaimed. She jumped in the air, froze, and rolled into a ball and did a cannonball into the large bathtub. The six ponies laughed as they jumped about each other, splashing each other, and basically celebrating their victory and survival with good cheer.
After a quarter of an hour, the splashing died down, and the six ponies each went to a corner of the bathtub, out of breath from laughing so hard, and their forelegs were aching from exhaustion. They grinned at each other, with no words needed to say what was on their minds; it felt good to be alive. At least, that was on Fluttershy’s mind anyway. She imagined her father wouldn’t want her to be mourning him for the rest of her life, no matter how long that will be. So instead of grieving for him, she will remember him, as she knew him – kind, fierce, an evil humour, but most of all a loving father, who would go to every length to keep a promise he made to her mother.
“So what do we do now?” Applejack asked.
Twilight let out a relaxing sigh and sunk a little into the water. “I think we should just relax, and enjoy the water.” She turned her head around as if to call to Spike to do something for her. She stopped halfway and her ears fell flat when she remembered he was back home, safe.
Fluttershy inched closer, gritting her teeth as she moved to hold down the pain, and patted the unicorn on the shoulder. “We’ll see him soon, Twilight. In fact, would you all like to go home now, while I stay here until I get better?”
“That is never going to happen, sugarcube,” Applejack said, shocked at the suggestion.
“We came into Horsca to look for you, and we are not going to leave without you,” Rainbow said.
“I just thought… if you’re missing your families… that…”
“Oh, darling, we know,” Rarity said. “But then we didn’t know if we would see them again. Now, we can relax, and recover from our wounds, knowing that we will see them again.”
“Oh… well if you’re all sure,” Fluttershy said, looking at each of them.
“We are. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been surer of anything than this,” Twilight said. With that, the six ponies sunk till only their heads were above the waterline, relaxing and enjoying the tranquillity of the bath, and the pleasure of each other’s company.
Fluttershy’s ears suddenly twitched when she heard the room door opening. “Hello? Fluttershy, are you in?” Freya’s voice echoed from the other room.
Fluttershy turned her head to face the door. “Freya, in here!” she called. A moment later Freya emerged through the bathroom door, looking tired but had a small smile on her face. Her head rose in surprise when she saw the others in the bath as well.
“Hello… everypony. Is that how you say hello to multiple ponies back home?” Freya asked. The six ponies nodded their heads. Freya breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. It wouldn’t look good to visit Equestria and make myself look an idiot.”
“You’re planning to visit Equestria?” Fluttershy asked, excitement at the idea plain in her tone.
“Oh, yes,” Freya answered with a nod. “With the reunification of the country, I must start planning with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on re-opening the trade routes into our countries. They are the rulers of your country still, aren’t they?”
“Sure are, ya majesty,” Applejack answered.
Freya nodded. “Well that’s good.” She moved to put more weight on her left side. “Anyway, as I have some time off and have nothing else to do for a moment, I was wondering, Fluttershy, if you were willing to share your story with me.”
Fluttershy’s grin faded slightly and she looked back at the water. It would be hard to go through it all, especially the most horrid moments of the experience, but she thought it might be liberating for her. She looked back at Freya and began telling her what happened just after leaving her in Castilian, and flying off towards the Ragged Mountains. She talked of the catacombs that lie deep in the mountain range and that it was a Dragonlord fortress. She talked of meeting Firewing and him and her heading into the Frozen Steppes and where she discovered her heritage as a Dragonlord, and her father.
“Firewing… Firewing’s your father?!” Freya exclaimed. Fluttershy nodded. Freya blew out a lot of air. “I find that hard to believe, to be honest. I mean, the resemblance between you two is practically non-existent.”
Fluttershy didn’t take offence to the thought. “At first I found it hard to believe, also. I was angry at first, and yelled at him. It was only after he showed me this picture of him and my mother that I couldn’t deny it anymore.”
“I’m surprised he’s not with you. So where did he go?”
Fluttershy’s eyes veered away from Freya’s gaze. “He…he died. The dragon that attacked Andulusia killed him, and I killed the dragon in return.”
Freya’s mouth hung open and her ears fell flat. She brought a hoof up. “My dear, I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Fluttershy smiled warmly. “Don’t worry about me, Freya. Just worry about your own loss. Besides, my father wouldn’t want me to cry over him.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” Freya said. “So what happened next?”
“Um… there is something I didn’t tell you when I last met you,” Fluttershy said, her eyes downcast. “You know that I said that there were two reasons as to why we were at Ironhoof fortress?” Freya nodded in response. “Well… the first reason was inside the fortress itself.” She went on about how she and her friends swam down the river into the sewers, and from the sewers went into the keep itself, and how she and Rarity met Baroness Velenta and how she fought her after hurting Rarity.
“Wait, you were the one that gave those wounds to the Baroness?!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the mention of the horse’s name. “What happened to her? Is she all right?!” Freya’s eyes lowered and her ears fell flat. Fluttershy didn’t need to be told anymore. “I… I killed her,” she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You had nothing to do with the Baroness’ death, Fluttershy,” Freya said.
“I didn’t?”
“No. The wounds you gave her were not deep enough to be considered fatal. She took a heavy dose of sleeping tablets in the end. She killed herself rather than let herself be captured by my soldiers. Sad really. Did you know she lost her entire family in that dragon attack on Andulusia?”
The six ponies gasped. “I… I never knew,” Fluttershy said. She wished now she could go back in time and help and comfort the poor mare, rather than bring out her swords and try to kill her. She looked back up again at Freya and saw something in her eyes when she looked at her. Was it disappointment? Or something else? “I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about going into the fortress. It’s just… I don’t know. I didn’t want you to get involved, or hurt at my expense.”
Freya nodded. “I’m not mad, just confused. Why did you need to go in there?” Fluttershy began telling the story of Heimdallr, and the five thousand year old war between him and the Dragonlords. Freya’s eyes widened in horror as Fluttershy told her how he committed genocide, burnt entire cities, wiped out armies, and even after he was supposedly killed, continued to do so. “I needed to get inside the fortress because the fifth key that had the ability to block Heimdallr’s magic was inside,” Fluttershy finished to pause for breath.
Freya nodded in understanding. “So these keys. Did they work?”
Fluttershy’s eyes lowered. “Kind of,” she replied. She went about her and her friends faced him in his prison, and how he had tricked them and duplicated himself so he could walk out through the front door. She talked of the battle that followed and how she managed to fight her way through, and her final duel with Heimdallr. The five ponies behind her never knew what happened between her and Heimdallr, so when she began telling the final duel, their jaws dropped in horror when she went on about how she had her side crushed, or the scratches on her face, or the large slash down her back.
By the time Fluttershy was done recounting her story, Freya’s jaw hung off her mouth and her eyes were wide. “That was incredible. That truly was the stuff of legends.” Freya closed her mouth and formed a smile. “You are amazing, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy blushed, and bashfully looked away. “I’m not that amazing. Not as amazing as these ponies.” She swam back from the edge and put her forelegs around them all. “I wouldn’t have even made it without them. I probably wouldn’t have even fought if they weren’t there to put me back on my hooves.”
Freya’s smile grew a little wider at that. “So modest, and so brave. If more equines were like you and your friends, then this world would be a better place.” She turned towards the door and began to walk out. Before she left, she looked back and looked at her with a huge, loving smile. “You have done more than save Equestria, Fluttershy. You’ve saved the world. You have my sincere gratitude, and my love.” She waved to them all, then turned around and headed back to the main hall.
Once Freya was gone, Fluttershy let out a long yawn. “Well time to go back to sleep. Yeah, sleep sounds nice right about now.” She swam to the edge of the tub so she could jump out. She only made it halfway when a number of gasps came from behind her.
“Darling! Your back!” Rarity cried.
“Oh… yeah, that.” She looked behind her and could barely make out the long scratch that now scarred her back. “Do you think it would stay like that forever?”
Twilight moved closer and gently ran a hoof along it. “Does that hurt?” she asked.
“A little,” Fluttershy replied with a nod.
Twilight grimaced and pulled her hoof away from it as if it was on fire. “Then I’m not so sure, to be honest,” Twilight said. “It will probably stop hurting after a while. But whether or not your coat will grow over it I don’t know.”
“All the same,” Rainbow said with a small smile. “That does look pretty awesome.” The other ponies glared at her. “What?! It does! Nopony back home is probably going to believe a dragon with a sword gave that to you, but still. And you look pretty cool with those scars along you face.”
Fluttershy only giggled. “I had a feeling you would describe them like that.”
“You know me far too well,” Rainbow chuckled. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but the water’s getting too cold for me. I think I’ll head out as well.” She swam to the edge jumped out, and helped Fluttershy down, taking her by the shoulders delicately. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack soon jumped out as well and dried off, while Rainbow re-made Fluttershy’s bed and cleaned it up. Once done, Fluttershy hopped up and laid down, shifting about until she felt comfortable.
“Right, if you’re happy then we’ll set off for bed. I can’t believe how quick the day has gone,” Rarity said. “We’ll see you tomorrow then.” The others waved at her, and then turned around to head to their own rooms.
“Wait!” she called out. They turned back to look at her. “I was just wondering… if you want to, that is… could you stay with me for just this night please?” she asked them, her tone suggesting she was pleading for them to.
The others looked at each other. The last time Fluttershy was alone after waking up from a horrific experience was when this all began, and that night she had the nightmare that started her journey. Rainbow had heard about this and was determined for it never to happen again. Without a word she hopped up on the bed and settled down next to Fluttershy, the other pegasus smiling in thanks. Rainbow then spread her wing out and used it like a shield, covering Fluttershy. The wing was surprisingly soft, much like a duvet that she had back home, but just as comforting.
Fluttershy looked to her side to see Twilight snuggling up on the large pillow next to her, and smiled in thanks to her. Applejack jumped up next and set herself down next to Twilight, and Rarity and Pinkie moved to lie next to Rainbow. “Thank you, girls,” she whispered, before drifting off into sleep, surrounded by her best friends.
“Hey, ponies, I was wondering if you would like some dinner…” Freya said as walked through the door with a tray of food on her back a while later. She cut herself off when she saw the six ponies lying on the bed fast asleep, huddled together. Freya smiled; they truly were the bestest of friends, inseparable even in sleep. She tiptoed over to the wardrobe, opened it, and got out a huge spare duvet for the bed.
Carefully she lowered it onto them, taking care not to drop the tray of food on her back and wake them. Applejack and Pinkie, stirred a little but otherwise were untroubled by the slight disturbance. “Goodnight, my little ponies,” she whispered sweetly, before turning around and walking out the door, leaving the six ponies to their slumber.