Universe 99999
Fluttershy let out a pained squeal as she collided with the ground, her body hitting the floor with a resounding thud. Rolling for a few meters, she felt disoriented and woozy, struggling to regain her bearings. As her vision cleared, she recognized the familiar cityscape surrounding her—it was Baltimare. The buildings' top reached higher than the ones in Ponyville, that was for sure, but it still wasn’t on the level of Manehattan or Fillydelphia. What was she doing here?
At least, the world didn’t seem to be in danger or anything… It seemed that the stone Twilight had been studying had transported them to different locations. If it was simply a teleportation, then that provided some relief. Fluttershy tried to reassure herself that her friends would be able to find their way back to Ponyville without too much difficulty... unless, of course, they were no longer even in Equestria. Given the challenges they had faced in the past when venturing beyond their homeland during the Storm King's invasion, she couldn't dismiss the possibility that their journey back might prove arduous.
The best course of action would be to seek assistance from Princess Celestia in Canterlot. However, something peculiar caught Fluttershy's attention. Everyone around her was dressed in a uniform, all wearing the same navy blue attire with pale blue shoulder pads and buttons. The uniform featured a symmetrical pattern of small doves facing each other. What truly astonished her was the embroidery on the uniforms—an exact replica of her own cutie mark, as well as those of her friends. Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie—all of their cutie marks were intricately embroidered around the doves.
Was that a new style that was trending that she wasn’t aware of? Did Rarity design them? She nearly forgot she had been teleported just a second ago, but before she could even remind herself of departing for Canterlot right away, she finally noticed something else. Everyone was staring at her. Nervously, she swallowed and shied away as she scanned the onlookers, wondering what could be causing such a reaction. While she was aware of her growing fame for her heroic deeds in saving Equestria, she had never experienced this level of scrutiny before. Many faces displayed shock and surprise, which she anticipated. Some were in complete admiration, too. However, what truly made her step back was how some of them seemed terrified of her, which they didn’t let show on their face. So much so that they didn’t dare meet her eyes, but still stared at her legs. If one looked into their eyes, they would, quite easily, find out they were afraid.
As for their expressions… They were all smiling. Many of them were obviously fake, considering some barely hid their fear of her. Why were they smiling so widely? It reminded her of Starlight’s town in a way…
Suddenly, as if their brains finally completely registering who they were staring at, they broke out of their trance and bowed. Fluttershy breathed out in surprise as her eyes darted from side to side.
“L-Lady Fluttershy! We are honored by your presence!” One of the ponies exclaimed with his head low, unwilling to meet the pegasus’ eyes.
“Uhm…” Fluttershy uttered in confusion, blushing nervously since she wasn’t used to getting so much attention so suddenly. “You… Don’t have to bow…” She managed to mutter, which the pony who spoke to her managed to hear.
“I-I thought this was standard protocol… Did we do something wrong, my Lady?” The pony asked in confusion, sweat rolling down his cheek as Fluttershy stepped back.
“P… Protocol? I… No, you didn’t… I-I have to go!” The pegasus replied before taking off the ground and flying away as fast as she could.
The ponies on land stood up, watching her go before looking at one another.
“That was scary… Never saw one of them for real…” One of the ponies mumbled while wiping sweat off his forehead.
“She was pretty…” A female unicorn added dreamily while staring into Fluttershy’s back.
“That’s weird… Why wasn’t she wearing that element of harmony thing?” Another pony inquired, confused.
“Who knows, but if one of them is here, then I bet there’s another Equestria-ending threat! And it’s right here! I’m getting out of the city until it’s taken care of!” A stallion shouted before running off.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy breathed out in relief as she sat on a rooftop, finally feeling far enough from these weird ponies. She knew they had fans, but she never received a welcome like that! Sure, she was flattered, but mostly embarrassed more than anything. Although their uniforms may have been for a parade or an event. Which was what she thought before seeing all the other ponies in the streets dressed the exact same way. What was up with all of them? Yet again, she wondered if that was a Baltimare tradition.
“I shouldn’t waste so much time thinking about this. I can talk to the others about that later,” Fluttershy muttered before noticing a small bird flying past her and landing behind. “Well, at least you’re not wearing anything weird, Mr…” The yellow pegasus giggled as she turned around to look at the bird, only to gasp in surprise.
All this time, she had been standing in front of an even bigger building than the one she was sitting on. However, it wasn’t the building itself that shocked her, but the gigantic painting on the wall. It was a painting of Twilight, as a unicorn, and the rest of their group of friends. All six of them wore their elements of harmony and were standing tall while looking into the distance. They were framed in a light blue rectangle with the words “Harmony. Security. Happiness” hanging above their heads.
She shook her head in disbelief and incomprehension, then flew somewhere else until she saw similar paintings and posters in smaller sizes. One of them depicted Rainbow Dash, looking serious and pointing at the viewer as “We Want You in Equestria’s Air Force” was written under her in bold letters.
These in themselves weren’t scary or anything like that, yet they sent a shiver down Fluttershy’s spine. When were these made? And why? She ignored the looks ponies were giving her and the way they were bowing to her, then swiftly flew in a random direction until she came across another poster. This time, the posters were of Pinkie. She was smiling as widely as ever, which was usually a good thing when it came to this earth pony in particular. However, the message written on her posters was a little bit… unsettling. “MUST! SMILE!”
She took a few steps back only to feel her hindquarters bump into an object. Startled, she turned around to see what she had bumped into. It was a statue of herself! A fountain to be more accurate. As she struck a pose, water sprayed from her mouth, accentuating the confident gesture of her hoof raised towards the sky, gripping a statue of a majestic bird. There was an inscription on the fountain too. Bold letters saying “KINDNESS TO ALL CREATURES”. Well… That was actually a nice message! She liked the statue but honestly didn’t think she needed one. Moreover, it was slightly embarrassing. And again, she wondered when this was built.
She tried to look for posters and paintings about Rarity and Applejack but found none. Maybe they had statues, like her, but if there were any, she hadn’t seen them. There were some posters with only Twilight in them, but she didn’t bother reading what was written on them. What surprised her was the fact that her friend wasn’t depicted as an alicorn even once.
She had been one for years, so she doubted some ponies didn’t get the memo yet. Furthermore, in every depiction of her and her friends, they were wearing the elements of harmony, which was something they hadn’t held for quite some time now.
“This… I’m starting to think this isn’t the Equestria I know… But this would be silly…” Fluttershy whispered to herself as she decided to fly in the direction of the nearest train station while avoiding crowded places. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened earlier. Her main plan was still to go to Canterlot. However, the moment she flew off after making sure no one was around, a net was launched from below and caught her as if she was an animal. “Kya!” Fluttershy squealed as she held onto the ropes until she hit the floor.
“Shouldn’t have gone off alone and without your element!” Someone shouted as the yellow pegasus swiftly surveyed her surroundings in panic while she struggled to get free.
“Quick! Get her!” Another pony yelled as multiple earth ponies tried to hold her down.
“No!” Fluttershy managed to kick one of them as she finally took a good look at her ambushers.
There were four ponies, all earth ponies, and stallions of varying colors. Unlike the rest of the ponies she had seen until now, they didn’t wear a uniform. Their eyes only held hostility and anger, as if they had been planning on killing her. She didn’t want to stay here to find out if that was true.
The stallion she kicked away rubbed his snout in pain as the others attempted to get a hold of her wings. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded or looked. Fluttershy didn’t seem like a strong and athletic pony, but after everything she went through, four ponies wouldn’t be enough to restrain her. Even with a net.
“Let me go!” She shouted as she struggled against the net, managing to get her wings out of the way of their hooves and even kicking one of them again. As quickly as she kicked him, she successfully got all her limbs through the net’s holes and ran ahead to headbutt another enemy in the chest.
“You little-” The one she didn’t hit yet groaned as he dashed in her direction and jumped to tackle her. Still, Fluttershy wasn’t a huge fighter, so she did the first thing that came to her mind… She charged at him. The stallion was thrown against a wall after their heads collided.
“Don’t underestimate her! She’s a member of the Council of Harmony, after all!” One of them shouted as Fluttershy rubbed her head in pain.
“The council of what?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow before quickly moving out of the way to dodge another stallion trying to catch her. “Y-You mean, bad ponies!” She cried, then flew away, escaping with success.
She was still trapped in that net, but as long as she had her limbs out, she could fly and run away. The element of kindness had no idea who these ponies were supposed to be or what they wanted with her, but she was unwilling to fight and get the truth out of them. They mentioned something strange, too… The Council of Harmony. She never heard of that. Maybe that was what they called her and her friends?
“Oh, hey!” She exclaimed as she noticed a bird perched on a nearby roof. Thankfully, her soft and gentle voice had attracted the bird’s attention without frightening him. “Do you think you can help me out of this?” The yellow pegasus gestured to the net she was trapped in. However, instead of responding in agreement, the bird chirped loudly and flew away. Fluttershy had no time to ask herself what happened before something slammed into her back. “Oof!” She breathed out in pain.
“Where do you think you’re going?” A gruff female voice asked. It was a pegasus!
Fluttershy wanted to chastise herself for not checking if she was being trailed or not! She shouldn’t have assumed they didn’t have pegasi helping them! Both she and the pegasus that slammed into her plummeted on the rooftop, sliding on it and badly grazing Fluttershy’s belly. She couldn’t help but release a distressed grunt.
“S-Stop! Please!” Fluttershy pleaded as the enemy pegasus wrapped up her wings with a rope. “You’re hurting me!” She added with teary eyes as the other mare showed no mercy.
“Oh, so you’re beggin' now? Not so high and mighty anymore, are you?” The mare questioned as she tightened Fluttershy’s bindings. “Do you know how long we’ve waited for an opportunity like this? Until one of you was alone and without your elements? That was pretty stupid of you, by the way. But I guess you finally got too arrogant!”
“Somepony… Help! Rainbow Dash… Twilight… P-Pinkie!” Fluttershy desperately cried out as the other pegasus wrapped a rope around her mouth, too, muzzling her.
“Nope! You’re not calling for your little council friends!” The mare yelled, finally tying up the yellow pegasus so much that she couldn’t even move a muscle. “Now… To make you sleep,” Those were the final words Fluttershy heard before receiving a hit on the top of her head and being surrounded by darkness.
All she could do was hope and pray that her friends would somehow find her and get her out of this before… Before it was too late. What did she even do to be so hated by ponies she had never met before?