//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Salvation a la Mode and a Cup of Tea // by Commander30 //------------------------------// Fluttershy tried her very best to smile through the ceremony of celebration the next day. Because of course there was one. And everypony was just so happy, who was Fluttershy to rain on their parade? Even when she tried to slip out unnoticed after Celestia’s accolades, the entire town descended upon the six repeat heroes, enough so that each pony had her own individual group of fans to crowd her and heap their undying praise and adoration upon her. “Fluttershy! You’re a hero!” “We’re so proud of you!” “You stopped evil right in its tracks!” “You’re the best pony!” Fluttershy tried to politely nod and smile at her crowd of adoring fans while simultaneously pushing her way out, but only one of the two was possible, and unfortunately, her brain was hard-wired to let politeness win out. “And you have another stained glass window! What an honor!” Fluttershy winced, but the ponies surrounding her all glanced at the newest, um, “honor”, and Fluttershy found her eyes flittering towards it as well. It was in many ways similar to the pane depicting Nightmare Moon’s defeat, with Fluttershy and the rest still posed in serene, calm positions (which, at least in Fluttershy’s case, was even less accurate than it had been in the Nightmare Moon pane), all surrounding a twisted, shocked Discord. And seeing it again made Fluttershy’s stomach lurch. “Uh… excuse me, please!” she blurted out, very suddenly pushing her way away from the throng of admirers and down the hall, nearly galloping, out of the hall entirely and towards the bathrooms. She only barely made it to the toilet before vomiting. And even after seemingly everything that she had eaten the past day had been expelled from her, she still heaved as she clutched the base of the toilet, tears pouring from her eyes without even any sobbing to push them out. She gasped as her stomach continued to churn violently, both from intense anxiety at the crowds and horrific guilt at herself. A hoof loudly banged on the stall door. “Fluttershy?” It was Rainbow Dash. “Are you alright?” Fluttershy heaved again through her loud gasps. “I—I need to go home,” she croaked out. “I don’t feel good at all…” “Then I’ll take you there,” Rainbow said instantly. Even through the stall, Fluttershy could hear the worry in her voice. She quickly flushed the toilet, wiped her mouth, and pushed open the stall door, smiling genuinely (albeit weakly) for the first time in days. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.” … “This is a fearsome monster,” Twilight said, although she was smiling confidently as she said it, “but we know what to do by now. Nothing can withstand the power of the Elements of Harmony!” The monster, who was ten times their size and covered with scales and claws and spikes, looked blankly at Twilight. “Twilight, wait,” Fluttershy spoke up in a small voice. “He’s not hurting anypony. Why don’t we just—“ “ACTIVATE THE ELEMENTS!” Twilight proclaimed in an authoritative voice. “Wait!” Fluttershy cried again. “Whee!” Pinkie Pie cried gleefully. “Take a bite of our friendship sandwich, punk!” Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy tried to hold back, but she could already feel the power from the necklace clasped against her neck pulsating furiously. She turned her head and closed her eyes, the pure power from her Element sending shockwaves through the air. BOOM! Horrified, Fluttershy’s eyes flew open. The monster was gone, but chunks of scaly flesh were raining from the sky. “NO!” she screamed. “Look at our power!” Rarity exclaimed with a fierce glint in her eyes and a pleased smile on her face. “We can obliterate anything that stands in our way!” crowed Applejack. “NO!” Fluttershy screamed again, chunks of the monster’s body falling around her like a horrifying snowfall. Pinkie suddenly held out a soft-shell tortilla filled with bits of the monster’s flesh, topped with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. “Tacos!” she proclaimed, an insane grin on her face. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” And Fluttershy jolted awake from her bed, drenched in sweat. Gasping for breath did nothing to alleviate her terror—in fact, it only stoked the nausea coursing through her body, and she zipped to her bathroom and vomited in the toilet again, sobbing and gasping and crying and hyperventilating. It was a dream. It was just a dream. But who was to say that it couldn’t become a reality? What if, the next time they had to use the Elements, they actually killed? Fluttershy could do nothing but gasp as she clutched the toilet again, because she was utterly unable to answer that question. … “Please, Mr. Duck, take your medicine. You’ll feel better, I promise.” Fluttershy hovered near the small pond in her yard, holding out a spoonful of medicine to a stubborn, sick duck. He had been sick for days, and Fluttershy had finally brewed a medicine that she knew would alleviate his illness, if not cure him entirely, but the duck was not willing to take it. In fact, he scowled at her and quacked out a very rude retort indeed. “Mr. Duck!” Fluttershy gasped, taken aback. “There is no need to use those words with me! I’m only trying to help you!” The duck, petulant, simply stuck its tongue out at her and turned away. Fluttershy shook in anger. “How… how dare you?!” she hissed. And the duck suddenly petrified into solid stone. Fluttershy gasped, dropping the spoon. “Your anger is quite powerful, isn’t it, Fluttershy?” a voice called out. Startled, Fluttershy spun around, and found herself face to face with the statue of Discord, still frozen in that terrified, awkward expression. “No!” gasped Fluttershy. “I didn’t mean it. I swear! I don’t want anyone trapped in stone! I swear!” “Empty words,” sneered Discord, even though he was a statue and his mouth (and everything else) wasn’t moving. “You did it anyway. Medusa.” “No!” she screamed again, and she flung out a foreleg to accentuate her point, but suddenly it froze in place, hard and granite and unmoving. “I didn’t want any of this! I don’t want to trap anyone like this! I don’t, I don’t, I don’t!” “How does it feel?” Discord taunted. “How does it feel to lose your mobility? How does it feel to be trapped for all time? Which is precisely what you did to me, by the way…” Fluttershy couldn’t move her foreleg. She couldn’t move anything. She was frozen in place, forever, a bizarre display with the frozen duck and the frozen draconequus, being simultaneously the reason for their imprisonment and unable to do anything to save them… or herself. “Please!” she pleaded, although nothing came out of her solid, still form. “Please let me out!” “Why should you get that privilege,” Discord said mockingly. “This is no more than what you deserve for what you’ve done. ‘Element of Kindness’, and yet you destroy lives.” “No!” “DESTROY!” “NO!” And Fluttershy bolted out of bed once more, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. And once more she hurried to the bathroom and deposited all of her agony and suffering into the porcelain throne. When it was all done, she fell against the hard, unforgiving floor, desperate sobs wracking her small body. The words “it was only a dream” weren’t even any comfort to her, seeing as this was the second time in as many nights that she’d been thrust into such a horrible nightmare, and waking did nothing to soothe her. A small noise came from the doorway. With great effort, Fluttershy turned and saw, through her tears, Angel Bunny. His face was crumpled into an expression of pure confusion and concern at the sight of her. “I—I’ll be alright,” she croaked out at him, although it felt like a lie the instant the words left her lips. For how could she be alright when the source of all her nightmares was her own actions? … “You must use the Elements of Harmony once more! You must!” Celestia pleaded. “But why?” Fluttershy questioned desperately. True, there was a bear in the palace hallway. And true, the bear was huge and had sharp teeth and claws. But it wasn’t doing anything harmful. It was just… “It just wants to look at the stained glass windows!” And indeed, the bear was simply looking at the colorful windowpanes, all of them showing Fluttershy for some reason. “We can’t take any chances, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “He could be dangerous. We have to use the Elements against him to keep everypony safe!” “No!” Fluttershy said in a voice louder than she knew she could speak. “I won’t do it! I refuse!” “You can’t refuse,” Celestia sneered at her, her eyes and mouth hard and stern. “DESTROY THE MONSTER!” Twilight commanded. “No!” Fluttershy screamed, but there was nothing she could do. As if it had a mind of its own, the ornate necklace that choked around her neck lifted her up, glowing ominously with untamed power. “Kill. Kill. Kill!” Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack all chanted around her. “NO! PLEASE NO!” Fluttershy screamed. But it was for naught. The power from the Elements rippled through the palace like an atom bomb. A deafening blast swelled through the hall, the sound of breaking glass the only noise to rise above the din, although it was only the glass around the pony figures that broke, for every image of Fluttershy remained. Chunks of bear littered the palace hallway, the largest landing right in front of a beautifully ornate windowpane depicting Fluttershy gleefully about to crush an ant. “NO!” Fluttershy screamed again, tears gushing from her eyes at the destruction she’d unwillingly been a part of. “I don’t want to hurt anyone! I don’t want this! I never wanted this!” “But do you want TACOS?!” Pinkie screeched, holding out a bear-meat taco in front of Fluttershy’s face. Fluttershy shrieked and vomited all over the taco and the pink hoof that held it. Another deafening crash of glass sounded through the hallway. Discord’s statue had fallen through the window of Fluttershy stepping on an ant. “I want one!” he screamed, unmoving. “I want one! But I can’t move my arms!” “TACOS!” Pinkie screamed, shoving a taco in the statue’s wide-open mouth. “And Fluttershy,” Celestia said, unnervingly calmly, “could you please do something about the ants in the kitchen? With your hooves, I mean.” And this time Fluttershy fell out of bed with a thump, screaming and gasping and screaming and gasping and heaving and heaving and heaving…. And for the third time in three nights, she raced to her bathroom and violently vomited in her toilet. Her face fell against the seat when she finally finished, too weak to cry and yet she did anyway, sobbing and sobbing and sobbing until she felt like she would never be able to move again. She heard Angel’s terrified squeak and heard him jump on the top of the toilet, his usual spunk and arrogance completely washed away by honest worry for his caretaker. Tearstains marking her face, Fluttershy finally managed to look at him, barely able to speak and yet she did for him anyway, because she knew what she had to do. This was clearly not good for her digestive system… nor her emotional state. “I need to talk to Princess Celestia…” … That morning, Fluttershy caught the first train to Canterlot. Normally she would be mortified to intrude upon anypony, much less royalty, in such a way. But she knew she couldn’t go on like this. She couldn’t be plagued by these nightmares anymore. And there was only one thing she could do. Though, of course, when she’d arrived at the palace and asked to speak with the princess, she’d been told to wait in the throne room. The throne room with all of the stained glass windowpanes. Her image was only shown in a handful of panes, true. Nothing like her latest nightmare. But Fluttershy still felt sick to her stomach at her glassy depiction. Although, in some way, she was almost glad for the blatant, physical reminder of her deeds. It was enough to quash her usual reticence to rock the boat and voice her concerns… enough to remind her just why she was there, just why she had to stay and be awkward and perhaps rude, because if she didn’t, there would inevitably be another quest and another stained glass windowpane and another nail in her coffin. Another reason to prolong her nightmares for the rest of her life. Trying to ignore this thought, she looked down, her eyes settling on the panel of text below the pane displaying the defeat of Nightmare Moon by her and her friends. THE VICTORY OVER THE FEARSOME NIGHTMARE MOON BROUGHT ON BY THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY APPLEJACK, THE ELEMENT OF HONESTY FLUTTERSHY, THE ELEMENT OF KINDNESS PINKIE PIE, THE ELEMENT OF LAUGHTER RARITY, THE ELEMENT OF GENEROSITY RAINBOW DASH, THE ELEMENT OF LOYALTY AND TWILIGHT SPARKLE, THE ELEMENT OF MAGIC FRIENDSHIP IS STRONGER THAN ANY FOE Fluttershy winced at the words, although something clicked into place for her upon reading the blurb. So this is how Discord knew our names, she thought to herself. He had clearly read the panel. Of course, though, seeing the windowpane and thinking of Discord made her feel queasy again, as it was the implications of all of that that led her to seek such drastic measures like this in the first place, and she forced herself to look at the other, Fluttershy-less windowpanes while waiting for Princess Celestia’s arrival. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait for long. “Good morning, Fluttershy,” Celestia’s kind voice rang through the hallway as she entered, alone, majestic and otherworldly. “You wished to see me?” Fluttershy tore her gaze from the windows and towards Celestia, bowing reverently and politely out of habit. “Y-Your Highness,” she stammered, “I have a question to ask of you… I mean, a request, a, uh…” Celestia stood, unmoving and without the hint of confrontation, her eyes crinkling with the slightest hint of concern. “And what is your request?” Fluttershy gulped, and suddenly the words exploded out of her like a cannon. “Please find somepony else to bear the Element of Kindness. I don’t want it anymore.” And then, abashedly, she added, “That is, um, if it’s okay with you…” Celestia blinked, betraying the smallest sign of surprise. “That’s quite the request,” she said levelly. “What brought this on?” “I, uh…” Fluttershy turned her face into her mane, feeling her face burning up with shame. What could she say? What was there to even say at all? “I’m scared,” she finally said in a voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t say of what, because she wasn’t sure if she could adequately explain that what she was most afraid of was herself. “Of what?” Celestia asked. Of course she’d ask. “I—I’m scared of… of myself,” Fluttershy squeaked out. “Of what the Elements can do. I—I understand that sometimes hard decisions have to be made, but—but I don’t want to be a part of them.” Tears leaked out of her eyes. “I don’t want to be a part of condemning anyone to… to any kind of punishment. I can’t handle it. Please.” She looked down at the ground, unable to fight her sobs. “Please. I don’t want to have to do this again.” Silence rattled through the hallway, and it was so unnerving that Fluttershy, once her tears were spent, lifted her head and looked at Celestia again. The princess didn’t look upset, or confused, or anything that Fluttershy had been expecting. Instead, she looked… sympathetic. And sad. And understanding. “Fluttershy,” she said softly, in a voice that nearly reduced her to tears again, “have you been suffering?” The floodgates opened. “Yes,” Fluttershy gasped out through her sobs. “Yes. Please. I can’t do this. I can’t—I can’t—now that I know what the Elements are capable of—please understand,” she added hastily, “I’m not questioning what you and Princess Luna did a millennium ago, I know…” And she suddenly felt stupid for how she thought that she and her friends would help Discord rather than just imprison him again, because after all, wasn’t using the Elements exactly how he had been trapped the first time? “Maybe—maybe Discord was beyond help, you would know better than me, but---but I can’t live with myself after what we did to him. Because no one—because no one even tried to help him. And knowing that I have the power to—to condemn him, to condemn anyone, without even trying to help—“ And Fluttershy gasped again with a choked sob, and her face fell to the floor, and she felt like dying right there—“I don’t want that kind of power. Please, please find someone else to wield my Element. I don’t want it. I—I can’t do this again.” She didn’t know how long she wept after this. She didn’t know how long Celestia regarded her after this confession. It felt like an eternity. But finally, the princess said, still with that air of compassion and understanding that completely destroyed Fluttershy, “Oh, Fluttershy… I’m sorry. I really am.” Fluttershy looked up. “But you understand, don’t you, that even if I wanted to pass on the Element of Kindness to somepony else, that I couldn’t? Because what you just said to me encompasses kindness more than anypony else could.” Fluttershy blinked through her tears. “Showing compassion towards your greatest enemy…” Celestia suddenly shook her head, her waving, regal mane rippling with the unexpected disruption. “There is a reason that the Element chose you, Fluttershy. And right now, that reason is exceedingly clear.” Fluttershy looked down again, tears still stinging her eyes. This hadn’t been her intention. She hadn’t wanted for Celestia to double-down on her horrible assignment. But, well, she had, and Fluttershy couldn’t very well argue with the opinion of a princess, could she? But still, she tried. “Your Highness,” she squeaked in a tiny voice, “I’ve had nightmares ever since… ever since what… we did. I can’t live with the knowledge of what… of what I can do…” Celestia sighed sadly, the compassion and pity in her countenance too strong to ignore. “I truly am sorry that I am unable to grant your request, Fluttershy. I know that kindness is one of the most difficult Elements to bear.” “Then…” Fluttershy whispered, raising her eye level but not her head, still crouched and small and miserable. “Then at least tell me that I’ll never have to use it again? Please?” Celestia sighed again, redirecting her gaze towards the other stained glass windows. “I wish I could. And I sincerely hope that you never have to use it again. But there is evil out there… true, pure evil, the likes of which you have never seen. The fate of Equestria, of the entire universe, may very well rest in the hooves of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I may have to call upon you again. Not because I want to, but because I feel that I simply have to. Do you understand?” Fluttershy closed her eyes in defeat, trying to stop the tears from starting up again. “I… I understand,” she whispered. Because what else could she say? If the fate of the world, of the universe, really depended on her, then she would do whatever she needed to. Just… “Just… can you tell me how to deal with the nightmares, then?” she asked softly. Celestia didn’t answer right away, and Fluttershy’s eyelids fluttered open to see her continuing to regard her piteously, her mouth lightly twitching back and forth in thought. “My sister has been training on how better to serve our subjects in her nighttime realm,” Celestia finally said. “She is very close to being able to walk amongst dreams. You may see her there, and she will help you.” Gulping, Fluttershy nodded, although the thought wasn’t very comforting to her. Her dreams were very private matters, after all. “And until then…” Celestia finally smiled again, softly and comfortingly. “Your friends can help you, if you let them.” Fluttershy nodded again. That probably was the best, the only option right now. “Thank you, Your Highness.” … Upon returning to Ponyville, Fluttershy didn’t go straight home. Instead, she made a stop at the Golden Oak Library. “You’re looking for… what, now?” Twilight asked her in confusion. “Any information you have on apocalyptic events of the past,” Fluttershy repeated. “I need to know that they won’t happen again.” “Well, that’s a cheery search subject,” Spike remarked from a ladder behind Twilight. “There’s information about events like that in some of the ancient history volumes…” Twilight’s voice trailed off in thought as she glanced back towards the other end of the library, presumably to the prevalent section. “Excellent,” said Fluttershy. “Could I borrow some of them?” “Uh… are you sure?” Twilight blurted out. “They’re not exactly uplifting reading, even with the eventual happy endings.” “I need those happy endings more than any others,” Fluttershy answered with conviction. “I think that’s the only way my nightmares will stop.” Twilight hesitated as a look of understanding flashed across her face. “Oh. Nightmares?” Fluttershy gulped. “Please… don’t tell anypony else. Well, you can tell Princess Celestia, I’ve already talked to her…” “Follow me,” said Twilight, trotting towards the section she had previously glanced at. Fluttershy did so. “I have some general history tomes that provide an overview. They’d probably be best to start with, and if you want more details later, I can get that for you.” Twilight’s horn glowed, and three decently large books floated off the shelves, Spike already grabbing them and placing them in a bag for Fluttershy. “But hopefully this will be enough.” “I hope so too,” Fluttershy admitted. “Your nightmares,” Twilight started, a bit hesitantly. “Are they… because of what happened with Discord?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well…” Twilight smiled at Fluttershy with compassion and confidence. “I’m not sure these books can help much with that, but I can tell you that you don’t have to worry about Discord, or another threat like him, ever again. We now know just how powerful the Elements of Harmony really are. We have nothing to fear from a threat like that.” Fluttershy gulped, not really wanting to explain that her nightmares weren’t exactly due to Discord’s actions, but rather her own. “I know. I just need… reassurance that it won’t even have to get to that point again,” she finally offered in a quiet voice. Twilight chuckled at that, with a bit of an undignified and most likely unanticipated snort. “We’ve already saved the world twice. The chances of anypony even doing that once are pretty slim, I’d imagine. Three times? It practically borders on nil.” “Nah, it’s happened twice,” Spike remarked, handing the bag to Fluttershy. “That means it’s probably your destiny or something.” “You’re not helping,” Twilight hissed to him. “But I’m sure these books will,” Fluttershy quickly said, fastening the bag around her. “Thank you, Twilight. I’ll return them as soon as I can.” “Take as long as you need!” Twilight called out to her as she flew out the window.