//------------------------------// // Diamonds and Butterflies // Story: Welcome to Ponyville! // by CharcoalShift //------------------------------// Pinkie is running in circles and has no clue how to escape. Shadow is staring at the sky from the giant hole that is in the ceiling. In her mind she can obviously see the way out, but she has a bit of an issue that she never had a chance to deal with. Pinkie turns towards her and shakes her. "Come on Shady! We have to find a way out!" Shadow comes to her senses and looks around the room real quick. There are several windows that can be used for escaping. Oddly enough, the glass hasn't shattered despite prior events. She begins to charge towards the window in hopes of breaking them. "No wait!" Pinkie cried out. Shadow slammed against the window and bounced right back onto the floor on her flank. She stumbles up and grits her teeth. "What the hay was that?!" Shadow grunts. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. We put safety glass on these windows because there are foals around here that throw rocks at them." Shadow sighs and looks around again. The front exit was obviously blocked, and there was no way of getting out through the back. "Hey Pinkie, isn't there a window in your room?" "Well... yeah, where are you getting at?" She pulls Pinkie up the stairs and opens the door to her room. There is a gaping hole where her bed used to be and the rest of the floor is barely standing with the support beam below it. The glass on the window has already been shattered, and the hinges are broken. Shadow tries to open the window, but it's stuck in place. Pinkie then pushes her out of the way and bucks the bottom half of the window, sending it spiraling out of the room. "There we go! Problem solved!" Pinkie has that cheeky smile across her face and hops out the window, disregarding any safety precautions. Shadow follows up and jumps out the window as well, only to crash into the bushes below. She peeks out and looks at Pinkie, who is staring at her with a mixture of seriousness and anticipation. "What are we gonna do Shady? Everything is going all crazy and I don't know where the other ponies are at." She frowns and Shadow gets up and places a hoof on her shoulder. "We can fix this, and we'll find the others." Shadow smiled, bringing the cheer back into Pinkie's face. As they trotted along, Shadow had filled her in on the situation between Discord, Charcoal, and herself. "So who are we going to find next?" Pinkie looked straight ahead, planning out schemes in her head. "Charcoal is going after Rarity and Twilight since we'd be powerless to their magic. So that leaves us with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash." Shadow said half-heartedly. It wouldn't be a big deal getting Fluttershy back to normal, but with Rainbow's arrogance it'll be much harder to coax her back to her usual self. Applejack and Charcoal took a step back at what they saw. Sweetie Belle was huddled in a corner, frightened by Rarity, who was hoarding what seem to be several giant rocks. She prances around them as if they were trophies and has a wide grin stretching from ear to ear. Applejack turns to Charcoal, feeling a bit weirded out by it. "Has Rarity lost her marbles?" Applejack said, worried about Rarity. "Probably a repercussion. More likely a side effect from the memory wipe, though not all of you were affected by it." Charcoal starts to trot forward to assess the situation a bit more. He suddenly gets Rarity's full attention and she quickly trots up to him and examines him thoroughly. "My my, what have we here? Such a handsome stallion and well dressed too! Tell me darling, do you hail from Canterlot?" Charcoal refuses to answer, and Applejack steps up, a bit uneasy considering the face that Rarity is trying to steal her stallion. "Now look here missy, Charky's with me and he ain't gonna fall for some uppity mare." She grits her teeth, Rarity looking at her and scoffs. "Quite the contrary little farm mare. I can't see him going out with some mare that is so uncouth like yourself." "Little farm mare? Ah have every mind to buck you upside the head if ya keep talkin' like that." If this keeps up Charcoal might not be able to use the memory spell on Rarity after all; which was good for him considering the fact that he didn't want the chronic headache that followed. The two mares continued bickering, and Charcoal went up to Sweetie Belle. She was still frightened a bit and he sat next to her. "What's got you so shaken Sweetie Belle?" She looks at him and calms down a bit. "I have no idea what happened to my sister! When she left, she said that she had important business to attend to. After she left, she came back an hour later and it's as if she never knew me." Rarity must've taken the brunt of the spell. She's been wiped so clean of her memory that it goes as far back to where Sweetie Belle wasn't born yet. "I'm sure we'll snap Rarity back to normal... one way or another." Charcoal sweats a bit. It's either let Applejack buck Rarity, or use the spell. More likely it'll be the latter of the choices he had in his head to turn her back as he sees the argument between the two mares escalate. "You fiend! How dare you call my fashion trends dull and frou frou like?! You lack taste, as your farm mare attire has long since been expired decades ago!" "What! Ah'm a hard workin' mare that needs none of that fashion gunk to get the stallions to look my way!" Charcoal gets a bit jealous by that remark. "Hmph, that poor stallion is so blind as to fall for such an ill-mannered country mare!" "What?!" Applejack turns a bucks Rarity. With a loud bang, she flies across the room and flips over the rocks that she so delicately placed in the center. Both Sweetie Belle and Charcoal cringe and trot up to check on Rarity. He looks up at Applejack, who tilts her hat up and pouts. "Don't get mad at me, she had what was comin' to her." Pinkie Pie and Shadow Blast are on their way to Fluttershy's home. Trotting down the path however, most of the animals that she cares for are all loose on the fields. The same dark clouds that swirled above Sugarcube Corner now hover over Fluttershy's house. The two mares galloped as fast as they could, seeing all of the cages smashed, the chicken coop in pieces, and the animals becoming more scattered as they get closer to the house. Angel was spotted at the door, frantically trying to get in, nails protruding from the wooden frame as if it had been barred from the inside. "Angel! What's wrong?" Pinkie looks at him with worry. The white bunny motions with signs, saying that Fluttershy went crazy and that she has several animals tied up inside the house. Shadow bangs on the door and calls out to Fluttershy. "Hey! Fluttershy! We're here to help you! open up!" There was no response, only a light sound of psychotic laughter can be heard. Pinkie's face gets serious as she positions herself. "Don't worry, I got this!" she gallops and rams into the window, flying inside. Shadow climbs in and gasps at what she found inside the yellow pegasus' house. Unconscious animals were bound against chains and metallic tables. The room was only dimly lit, and the walls covered in tiny droplets of blood. Fluttershy was in the corner, her hair messy and her yellow coat a bit discolored. She giggled as she turned towards them and had an evil grin across her face with bags under her eyes that ruined the pretty face she once had. "The animals were naughty, oh so naughty. I had to teach them a lesson." she turns towards a small squirrel who regains consciousness "A gentle skinning would put them in the right direction." she grins. "Fluttershy have you lost your mind?!" Shadow begins to flip as Fluttershy grabs a knife from the floor. "Pinkie we have to do something!" she turns to Pinkie, who looks down, her face turned from sweet to unbelievably sour. Fluttershy walks up to the squirrel, and gently runs the tip of the blade along its cheek. "Don't worry little one. Your lesson will soon be learned." The squirrel struggles in a panic as it flails about in chains. Out of nowhere, Pinkie tackles Fluttershy, sending her across the room near a vacant metallic table. As Pinkie trots towards the once gentle pegasus, her hair begins to straighten out and a wicked grin stretches on her face from ear to ear. "P-Pinkie...?" Shadow stammers. She's stricken with fear as the atmosphere in the room grew as cold as ice. "You think you've gone mad Fluttershy?" The pink pony growls in a low tone "Then I feel bad for you, for you have yet to taste the true insanity Tartarus has to offer..."