The Crystal Castle of Friendship, which Twilight owned, is the main attraction in all of Ponyville. What was fully expected, because it’s very external structure says that it does not belong to this small town. And earlier, when the six ponies defeated Tirek, local ponies and tourists at first thought that the Ruling Sisters were expanding their residence. Or some thought that Equestria and the Crystal Empire had a cultural exchange. And it took a long time to fully convince the ponies that the appearance of this building is a sign of the complete consolidation of Twilight's power as the Princess of Friendship. Since then, Equestria has had several political ruling geolocations. Because some administrative and state matters passed through the consideration of the purple alicorn. There have been instances where the mayor of Ponyville has sought Twilight's help to better prepare the conditions for peace delegations with other countries. Yes, Celestia has done this before and she continues to do this. It's just that it's easier for both princesses to control the situation from many fronts. There are cases when several delegations come on the same date and the Sun Princess has to give "practical tests" to her former student. She will meet some foreign representatives in Canterlot, and Twilight will negotiate with the other, since she is one of the Elements of Harmony, she can even surpass Celestia in her skill to maintain a "friendly" environment. Moreover, this will benefit her in self-development, yet someday in the future she will replace the older alicorns.
Sometime in the future...
These words have been following the Princess of Friendship for more than a month. She sits on her throne in front of the Table-Geomap of Harmony, propping her cheek with her right hoof and bowing her head. Old memories flashed through the mare's mind again. She took a small breath. She remembered that solemn day, a day full of great accomplishments and victories. She, her friends and other good ponies, dragons, sirens, changelings were able to completely take control of those bonds of love and friendship that bound them all and defeat the great evil. Equestria and the world are saved. The intercultural unity between different beings was stronger than ever before. They succeeded. She did it. This out-of-control mad test of the draconicus was able to determine the latent power of the ruler in Twilight. A ruler who responds to the call of his subjects and builds a wonderful future with their will... She thought she was worthy... She thought that Celestia would be proud of her.
But... something went wrong.
After a grand victory, everyone and even Discord were sure that this was the final point in Twilight's journey. Against the background of all the events that had taken place, the thought was more obvious that the princesses would officially make the young alicorn a full ruler. But Fate had her own plans in this regard ... Celestia declared in front of everyone that she would continue to rule no matter what. She caused a lot of resentment with her decision, especially from her sister and niece. The moon pony was in an angry shock that her sister could so suddenly say something that went against what they had all been working with all this time. Their goal is to create a decent future, but for some reason Celestia had her own plans. Luna did not like the fact that such a serious decision was made without her participation. As if the daytime ruler did not fully trust her own sister. All incredulous statements fell on the white alicorn, who accepted criticism with a calm and sad face. To explain her motives, she said that she saw a vision that said that this was not the end and that Equestria could not do without all the alicorns in the near future. Something is coming and it is something she and her sister must see for themselves. It would be hard to tell what state Twilight was in then. On that day, her world collapsed. It was completely reduced to elementary particles. She saw her mentor's eyes as she explained her motives and saw there something else besides concern for the future.
This is a disappointment.
Suddenly, the pony abruptly cut off the memories when she felt that she was ready to "explode". She raised her head abruptly and wiped the little tears from the corners of her eyes and tried to occupy herself with thoughts so as not to think about it anymore. But it wasn't easy.
Now the princess looked at other parts of the table where around it were the same thrones as hers. Nearly all of her Elemental friends sat on these thrones. It was eight o'clock in the morning and the ponies once again gathered in an emergency council. Or rather, she allowed them. Forty minutes ago, Fluttershy wrote a letter to her asking her to gather all her friends in order to solve a very important issue that was similar to the problem of Chrysalis or Discord. Twilight was naturally frightened by such an unexpected request, but still listened to the pegasus. She nervously wondered what could have happened that a quiet and unassuming pony like Fluttershy herself was requesting an emergency meeting.
Now they sit and wait. And everyone did it differently.
Rarity stared intently at her left hoof and polished it with a file, holding the tool with her pale blue magical aura. She sat with a disgruntled emaciated face and tried to notice the smallest irregularities on the outside of the hoof, even going so far as to ask Twilight for a magnifying loupe. Spike, of course, did not stand aside. He waved a large fan at Rarity to create a cool blast of air. The unicorn was so focused on her appearance at the moment that she was able to sweat a little. Of course, the lavender alicorn had seen such a cute scene more than once and always knew that her "little brother" was not only her personal assistant. But the truth is a little different now. Rarity practically did not look at the dragon and only communicated with him with short comments and requests. The pony herself, with her lifeless and tired eyes, looked only at her little business with a hoof, trying not to be distracted by anything. Spike was not stupid and understood everything. He himself experiences similar feelings.
Twilight sighed heavily and imperceptibly for everyone and looked at Rainbow, near which Pinkie is standing and trying to say something funny. The pink pony herself sometimes jumps on the table, then jumps around the fastest Pegasus and proves something. At the same time, not forgetting to laugh ... laugh ... The Princess of Friendship knew that when Applejack announced information about Sugar a few days ago, Pinkie took this information much more painfully than the rest of the six. This is not surprising, because both of these ponies loved sweets, loved to bake pies and cakes, enjoyed the fun of customers when they tried their dishes. And now she's gone. And while this mare gallops energetically next to the multi-colored pony, telling her the next jokes, it's hard to imagine that this pony took a little vacation after finding out the truth. Pinkie's mane was not smooth and even like Fluttershy's. But even now, the princess could observe that the former splendor and randomness of her friend's mane was lost. Although she should say thanks to her friend, the candidate, for the fact that even in this dark hour she did not deviate from her goal. To give joy and laughter to the surrounding ponies. From the moment he enters the castle, she tries to cheer up everyone she sees. Though half unsuccessfully, she continues to try. Behind the half-mad gambling look and stupid sincere smile hides the same pain that every inhabitant of Ponyville has.
As for Rainbow Dash, everything is more or less simpler. She is the most impatient of all Twilight's friends. The rainbow-maned pony is an elite flyer in the Wonderbolts, which means she's not the type to waste time waiting. Although the alicorn said that she had gathered everyone here much earlier than the official meeting time, it seemed that the blue pegasus was the least worried about this. Like everyone else, the news of their friend's death took a toll on her. But only in her case it was more anger and shock than screams and grief. According to Twilight's information, Rainbow was very angry with Big Mac. Just as her farm friend broke the news about Sugar Bell a few days ago at night, the pegasus rushed at the Sweet Apple Acres at transonic flight speed. There, she had a very serious conversation with Apple's older brother. She blamed Big Mac for everything, her eyes wet with tears. She screamed that he was acting irresponsibly when he did not give her a chance. The fact is, according to Shining, Big Mac, through the help of the Inland Rescue Command, prevented Rainbow from joining the rescue of Sugar. Pegasus desperately tried not to sit idle and personally help a friend. She applied fifteen times to join the Sky Guard squad. And every time her recommendations were canceled, regardless of her past merits. Big Mac, in some way Twilight could not understand, was able to influence the decision of the leaders of the rescue operation. Each time, he convinced them that Rainbow was incompetent at their job and that she would be of little use. The motives for such actions on the part of Applejack's older brother were not clear to the alicorn. But when she talked about it with her brother, the Prince of the Crystal Empire said that he fully understood his red friend. He took his own case as an example. The captain of the royal guard said that he had similar feelings with Cadance. When she and he became the rulers of the ancient empire, their government meetings with other dominant subjects of power only became more frequent. Cadance had to go to numerous meetings with ordinary ponies, with the elite of the empire, with the Supreme Court. There she communicated and resolved important issues to improve the life of the crystal ponies after the dark ages before returning to the real world. Shining himself acted as her main replacement, saying that he was also a prince and that he should also participate in the political sphere, albeit knowing little about it. The stallion battle mage had to organize delegations under his direct command and with his close stallion guardsmen. So he attended those royal meetings where his wife was not present. He explained to her that he just wanted to help her. But only in a conversation with his sister, he revealed the truth. Shining really wanted to help his special pony, but for a secondary reason. According to the stallion, small fanatical factions remained in the Crystal Empire who did not agree that the Crystal Empire became a protectorate of Equestria and that the Equestrians took the throne. They sought to convince society that the last reign was better and that HE was a much better king than any other. Of course, these fanatics did not pose a real threat. Shining's special soldiers caught these criminals day and night. But the fear of the stallion did not die away. He paranoidly thought that these crazy ponies could cross the line at any time and encroach on the life of his family. To weaken the position of the country-it is necessary to eliminate its ruler. And this ruler was his beloved wife. He knew that alicorns were much more powerful than ordinary ponies. But this did not convince him. Shining told his sister that he was still taking over half of Cadance's work to keep her safe. So he defends the opinion of the Big Mac. Apple's actions and motives for the captain are very clear - Big Mac does everything possible to prevent her little sister's friend from getting into trouble in their adventure where the danger can be very unpredictable and that an incident can happen where Rainbow can’t be helped by her phenomenal speed. He understood the risks of their rescue operation and was prepared for the worst case scenario...but he wasn't prepared for another loss. Returning to reality from her memories, Twilight snorted contemptuously and sighed doomedly, because now and then she could not come up with counterarguments to her brother, although she was sure that the help of her rainbow-maned friend would be invaluable at least in terms of aerial reconnaissance of the territory. But what's done can't be taken back. She looked at her Pegasus friend. Rainbow Dash was still sitting, frowning at the geomap table. She was occasionally distracted by Pinkie. Twilight wiggled her front hooves awkwardly and let out a low, nervous laugh. She probably won't tell Big Mac's true motives, otherwise the proud Pegasus might send the stallion to the highest part of Cloudsdale, from where he might not return.
Speaking of the elder brother of the Apple family, the princess looked at her wheat-orange friend, who had not said a word all this time. Not a single letter, except for "Hello" or "How are you." The earth pony simply sat on her throne and covered her face with her hat, her front hooves crossed over her chest. Nobody was going to judge her for it. Everyone understood everything. Although Rainbow was a little... unpredictable. At first, she looked at her friend with an annoyed and embarrassed face, raising an eyebrow. Then she wanted to correct the feelings of the earth pony that now is not the time to "stomp rotten apples out of anger." But Rarity stopped the lively Pegasus in time with a light blow to the tail to avoid unnecessary problems. But Twilight, looking at the farmer, understood that she was trying to keep all the pain in herself, not wanting to disturb her friends once again. But soon the former unicorn and the rest will still have to bring this topic up with Applejack. Remind her that pain can be shared with others.
The princess wanted to say something to her friend, but she was suddenly interrupted by a noise from the other end of the hall. The rest of the ponies were also distracted and looked at the source of the noise. The huge doors to the Hall of the Harmony Meeting opened the two paws of a lion and an eagle, from which multi-colored lights rained down for a theatrical effect. The Elements of Harmony could recognize this being anywhere in the world. The Spirit of Disharmony himself came to them, next to him on the right, a pink-maned pegasus walked quietly and with inaudible steps. The ponies did not immediately notice Fluttershy, since Discord is a big fan of drawing all the attention to himself.
"Greetings, my dearest and most beautiful mares. May my presence be a shock to you. But know that this most noble and humble dragonicus is ready to make his small contribution to the benefit of his second home," his every word was insincere, theatrically mocking. And when he said all this, he managed to fly around all the ponies that were sitting on their thrones. He hugged someone, he put on a clown wig and nose for someone, he levitated someone in the air and then put him in his place. Rainbow, he generally reversed the color of the mane and coat. True, Pegasus, with a blow to the head of the spirit, persuaded him to return everything back. He did not approach Applejack.
"Let's not move Discord," the alicorn snorted, rolling her eyes, and magically removed her clown attributes, "The letter said that the matter is very urgent and therefore we would like to resolve it as soon as possible"
"Yes!", Rainbow flew up and hovered over everyone else in the center of the table, "Flutters, what the hay? So suddenly and early in the morning to call us. I already thought that the Wendigo wanted to freeze us"
"Fluttershy!", Pinkie stood up from her throne and pointed her hoof at the pegasus while making a fake serious expression, "Do you feel like someone lives in your closet again?"
"Ahem, let's not create unnecessary chaos ahead of time," Rarity raised her hoof, looking at Rainbow with a little annoyance. The unicorn guessed the reasons for their convening, "I guess Fluttershy wouldn't call the Trivia Council. Am I right, Twilight?"
"Why don't you like chaos?" Draconicus made a quiet and resentful comment as he turned away and crossed his legs over his chest.
"Definitely, Rarity," the princess said loudly and solemnly spread her wings, looking with an interested look at her friend who was looking awkwardly at the others next to Discord.
Applejack moved her hat slightly so that she could look at Fluttershy with one eye. She didn't say anything.
"Well...erm..Remember that Rarity and I went to Manehattan a few days ago?" Fluttershy said softly, trying not to make eye contact with any of her friends. The situation was too stressful for her, "We were solving a problem with Rarity's friend's pet."
"So what?" the blue pegasus asked impatiently, still hovering in the air.
"I've made the decision to take her pet because Miss Coop says her little friend is hardly fit for city life," Rainbow's short question served as the impetus that helped the pegasus to continue the pegasus. Her friends listened attentively, looking at each other along the way, not understanding the mare's nervousness.
"But in order to sort out the problem and help her pet adapt in our Ponyville and my shelter...I would like you to help me if I encounter a problem that is beyond my veterinary knowledge," Fluttershy took a deep breath and looked up at her friends, trying not to take a long look at each of them.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, slightly wrinkling the bridge of her nose and raising her eyebrow, "We are always ready to help you. It's true. But does working with animals require, for example, my knowledge as a professional magician?"
"Oooh... You have no idea," Discord drawled out the last syllable melodicly and dramatically.
Fluttershy touched her hoof lightly to the paw of the draconicus and smiled affectionately, asking him to let her finish. The Chaotic Deity darkened his face slightly and turned away from her mysteriously. Pegasus continued, "Her pet...an unusual creature unknown to me"
After these words, the Elements looked at each other a little scared, except for Applejack and Rarity. Even Pinkie fell silent in mute nervousness. But then they looked at Fluttershy in disbelief. But before Pegasus had time to say anything, there was a surge of magical soft purple energy in front of her, Twilight appeared from the back, which came very very close to the veterinarian. Her face was a mixture of things that Fluttershy couldn't exactly identify. Twilight's eyes widened and gleamed with scientific interest, her wings twitching, her face contorted into a wide and wearable smile. Twilight chuckled a little, and the pegasus took two steps back in fear.
"A-Are you saying that this animal belongs to an unexplored species?" The alicorn asked with a bit of disbelief at the words of the pegasus, Twilight's voice itself was... very awkward. It sounded like the impassioned voice of the horny mare she last felt like when she casually saw Flash toweling off at the hot springs three weeks ago, soaking wet. But now there was another case, her voice was still mixed with a deeper timbre, like Applejack’s, “If there are still unknown species of living organisms on our lands, then it is a great honor to enter an individual into the bioclassification of living organisms. To study its physiology, endocrine system, magical channels, belonging to a certain genus of animals, genetic relationship with others, mutational phenomena. Oh, if her pet is still and a mystical ancient species, then..."
Before the distraught alicorn wanted to complete her sentence on the “necessary” topic. The yellow-sand pegasus lightly, almost without touching, covered her scientist friend’s mouth with her hoof. She didn't do it of her own free will. The fact is that with every word Twilight said while exploring her little friend, the alicorn came closer and closer to the frightened pegasus. So she had no choice but to lean back a little, close her eyes and bring her hoof to her friend’s face.
"Hey, Twily, chill out. Spare Fluttershy's life," Rainbow said with a mixture of irritation and mockery, trying to pull the princess into the air from the poor pegasus.
“Ohhh...unusual animal,” Pinkie looked somewhere above Fluttershy, making her eyes more innocent and childlike when she began to think hard, then she instantly brightened up and looked at the pink-maned pony with a wide smile, “Does this look like a reptile? My Gummy would be very happy to meet a fellow friend! Oh! Can he shoot lasers from his eyes? Fly without wings? Hear over long distances? Does this little beast like to wear red capes? I really, really, really, really want to see it!"
At that moment, Fluttershy saw how the pink candy boy was jumping joyfully on her throne. And...it made her happy. Perhaps Pinkie forgot for a while what situation they were all in now and allowed herself to return to the past... to the past without tragedies. Surprisingly, during all this, Applejack didn’t say anything, but just looked at Fluttershy with interest. Her emotionless gaze was a little filled with something other than emptiness. The farm mare expects continuation from the pegasus. Rarity reacted to all this noise with only a doomed sigh. She understood where this was all going. The white unicorn closed her eyes and lowered her head, and then she looked up at the pegasus and nodded slightly. Fluttershy took this as a sign, a signal that told her it was time to act. An impulse of confidence ran through the pony's body like an electric current. Her confidence noticeably outweighed her fear.
“I hope, Flutters, you won’t speak in riddles,” Rainbow said in a frivolous and impudent voice, flying up to the pink-maned pegasus and leaving alone the lavender alicorn, who decided to sit back on her throne and, with her left hind hoof twitching, wait for pleasant news from the veterinarian. Rainbow continued, “Otherwise I feel uneasy when I realize that only Rarity is ahead of us.”
"I'll take that as a compliment, darling," Rarity said charmingly, batting her eyelashes and straightening her wavy mane, "It's always nice to know how insightful I am."
Rainbow sharply turned her head towards her fashionista friend and looked at her with such a grimace as if a plate of sour two-week milk had been placed in front of the blue pegasus, she stuck her tongue out at Rarity and with a look told her that such words sounded very ridiculously pathetic, which should not be in real life. Rarity chuckled and turned away. She slightly wrinkled her nose and proudly raised her chin, showing with all her appearance that Rainbow should be ashamed and embarrassed to show such primitive childish tricks. But she quickly calmed down when Spike approached her. The little dragon developed the skill of intuition during the time he lived in Ponyville. He, thanks to the characteristics of his species, can determine what emotional state his interlocutor is experiencing, combining information about the intensity of breathing, body temperature, the smell of emitted feelings, and the frequency of heart pulsation. The princess's first assistant can now perfectly adapt to a certain situation when communicating, and, if necessary, communicate with another pony on his terms if the conversation has reached a critical point. A similar incident happened with Rarity. And to somehow cheer her up, Spike brought her a large glass of cold strawberry cocktail. Obviously, such a noble gesture on the part of the purple dragon instantly destroyed all the tension in the mare and she instantly took this drink with her telekinetic magic, not forgetting to give her little knight a long kiss on the cheek. Fluttershy has always been touched when Spike wags his little tail out of excessive joy. No matter how many such “gifts” he received from Rarity, from the outside it always seemed as if each of his help was the first for him. Such sincere and innocent reactions from a child who had just begun his journey in life made this huge, rich and divine castle more comfortable and... simple... family-like. It's as if no one stole magic from Equestria and no one destroyed the Golden Oak Library.
Everything that she saw before her eyes was unlike the consequences that happened just a few days ago. Pinkie's hyperactivity, Rainbow's brave audacity, Rarity's noble behavior and Twilight's scientific obsession, Discord's playful mockery. All this is there for a reason. Fluttershy looked at the behavior of each of her friends and closed her eyes in understanding, this time smiling not at just one, but at everyone. She understood what her friends were trying to do. They want to cleanse their souls and Applejack's soul from all the filth that prevents them from living normally. The Sugar Belle incident shocked all the residents of the previously peaceful small town, the tragedy and burning pain of loss gripped the minds of almost all of Ponyville. After all, many personally knew how kind and responsible the pink baker pony was. And the very possibility that her fate would turn out to be so cruel...no one expected this. That is why almost all the Elements are now trying as much as possible to behave as if no tragedy had ever happened, trying to restore the previous atmosphere of a pure, friendly spirit of adventurism. Sugar would not want her to become the cause of negative and irreversible changes in her family.
“Okay, girls, I’ll call him now,” Fluttershy said with notes of relief and excitement in her voice, when absolutely all the ponies and Discord and Spike looked at the modest pegasus, “Fang... come out please.”
After half a second, the shadow of the yellow pegasus became noticeably darker. Only Spike noticed this and with bulging eyes, he was about to say something to Twilight when the words froze in his mouth. The shadows rose sharply and rapidly in swirling waves to the height of Fluttershy's withers, energetic clots of black energy began to expand from the pegasus in different directions, forming an uneven spherical surface of changing shape. Twilight was the first to come out of her daze and wanted to shoot magic at the danger that surrounded her friend. But the horn charged with magic was never used. The alicorn's widened eyes looked at a rather creepy and interesting sight. The cropped sveric dark field began to form shadow tentacles on all sides of the pegasus and its tips closed above the veterinarian’s head. Soon, all the unholy energy that had formed in the shadow of the pegasus began to be drawn into this point in space, and a large cat had already gathered together there. He softly landed on Fluttershy's head, then, after stomping a little on her mane, he jumped like a sliding shadow onto the floor of the castle next to the pegasus. His black fur transformed into a small smoky, writhing aura of darkness that from a distance it seemed as if his body outline was blurred. With his poisonous green glowing eyes without pupils, he examined a new place for him, while carefully maintaining a calm and semi-impartial gaze. Fang mewed towards Discord, raising his slightly bent right paw. Of all the new ones, he recognized only him.
"N-Now I'll start, if you don't mind. I..."
"GIRLS! NO!", Rarity jumped out of her seat, pouring her drink onto the table and jumped towards Fluttershy, looking somewhere to the left.
Fluttershy instinctively sat on her hind hooves, hugged the black cat to her and, with her wings pressed in from fear, watched the following scene in horror. Applejack and Twilight jumped towards her. The alicorn flew up from the left and charged her horn with some kind of spiral purple energy, her gaze was filled with determination and fear, while flying to her friend, she feverishly and with clenched teeth tried to aim better so as not to hit her friend, but at such speed it was almost impossible to do. At the same time, Applejack was holding a salmon in her teeth, her gaze was not as chaotic as that of the youngest alicorn. The earth pony looked at her "target" without showing any signs of doubt. Bloodthirsty coldness emanated from her eyes, all her attention was occupied by this creature, she did not even look at the pegasus. In order to simultaneously reach the shortest distance from the beast with Twilight, she, with a sharp contraction of all the muscles of the hooves, impulsively “shot” herself in a jump where she steps forward with her front hooves. While Twilight flew with her hooves pressed back.
Fluttershy didn't have time to think. She closed her wide eyes and rested her head on her shoulders. She needed to do something, do something to avoid unnecessary damage. There's nothing nearby. The half-empty hall did not provide any prerequisites for hiding Fang. She was thinking for herself at that moment. Instincts took over her. Pegasus jumped back a little and turned one hundred and eighty degrees away from the two ponies and covered her little animal friend with her wings. Now she sat with her eyes closed and trembled violently. Expecting the worst in her mind, the pegasus was ready to take the entire attack upon herself and not allow anything unforgivable to happen here. She understood the responsibility; it was she who brought Fang here. We should have predicted this outcome and acted more carefully. Fluttershy begins to cry quietly, now she will have to keep her friends away from the supernatural animal as much as possible. This is difficult, given Twilight's magical power and Applejack's physical strength...
“Oh, what a difficult situation,” a hoarse and slightly serious voice was heard somewhere behind, which seemed to reset everyone’s minds, diverting attention from the suspicious cat.
Fluttershy recognized this voice from this whole "battle". She quickly and with surprised eyes turned her head towards Discord, who now stood a little closer to her and crossed his paws on his chest. He sighed a little with relief when, through eye contact with the pegasus, he made sure that she was okay, then his face transformed, it lost the remnants of carelessness and was replaced with coldness and irritation. The Lord of Chaos looked at the two ponies who were trying to do the stupidest thing in their lives. Fluttershy calmed down a little and stopped her tears, then she looked worriedly and fearfully in the direction where her draconicus friend was looking. The sight was truly shocking. Fluttershy opened her eyes wide when she saw that Twilight and Applejack were stuck in a thick sugar-cloud mass that stuck to the side walls of the hall and the area in front of the yellow pegasus. Twilight's horn went out and was covered in this pink goo, her wings and hoof were also wrapped in a sticky embrace of chaos magic. The same thing happened to Applejack, only she, unlike the alicorn, was wrapped in a cocoon with her head open.
“Discord!” Twilight moaned pitifully, trying to no avail to summon magic in the sticky horn, “Let us go immediately!”
"Don't provoke me, Discord," Applejack growled in irritation, hitting the walls of the cocoon, causing large hoof-shaped protrusions to form there.
“Okay, the situation is heating up. Girls, we all need to calm down. I understand you, but...”, Rarity began to say, until her speech was interrupted by a gust of wind flapping her blue wings.
“CALM DOWN?! What do you mean calm down?!”, Rainbow shouted at Rarity and at the Spirit of Disharmony, trying to get past Rarity, who put her hooves in front of the fast pegasus.
Fluttershy looked in shock at Rainbow behind her, whom she did not expect to see there. Apparently, when the pegasus turned away from the alicorn and the earth pony, the rainbow-maned pony wanted to take this opportunity, fly up and snatch Fang from her hooves while the veterinarian closed his eyes. Fluttershy hardly suppressed another surge of trembling from the realization that she was not told that she was lucky that Rarity closed her, otherwise...
“What do you think you are doing?”, Applejack said this in a calm and cold voice, completely devoid of any feelings, she turned to Discord but continued to look at the little monster, “I advise you not to joke with me.”
"NO! Fluttershy, get away from this," Twilight said frantically, looking at the cat with a mixture of horror and anger; then she bit her tongue from the realization that she had given her friend a dangerous instruction, "Or no, stop! Just stay calm and don't make sudden movements...I...I'll try to lure it with dark magic now..."
“ENOUGH!” Rainbow got tired of waiting for this beast to do something and took the white unicorn into her arms and flew up. Fluttershy and the others didn't even have time to raise their heads when the blue pegasus spun around the steel and very roughly sat Rarity in her place. The fashionista felt bad from such a terrible load and bent down under the table, preparing to “release” her breakfast. Discord just grinned darkly and pointed his lion's paw at the pegasus, who was flying at full speed towards the shadow creature. But suddenly, Applejack's salmon grabbed Chaotic Deity's wrist and pulled him down. Discord's hand went below Rainbow and turned the floor into a huge mass of white cotton candy. The fastest pegasus was already half a meter away from Fluttershy, putting his hoof forward and preparing to carefully knock out the monster without hitting her friend, but... What happened?
The oily-colored pegasus opened her tear-stained eyes, thinking that now another massacre would begin in the castle... But nothing flew into her. She stopped her body from trembling. She had never seen Rainbow control her flight so well at high speeds in a small space. The veterinarian, suppressing dark thoughts about the future that fortunately did not come, began to look for her friend with her eyes and understand what had happened. But she couldn’t look at Rainbow because a sound entered her left ear... a very scary sound. The sound of a cat growling.
Fluttershy sharply lowered her gaze to her left hoof, which was hugging Fang and holding him above the ground. The cat remained in place and did not move an inch. During this battle, he only tensed up and pressed himself closer to the pink-maned pony. But he didn't do it out of fear. The cat tensed his facial muscles to the maximum, making a grimace of pure rage. Fluttershy broke out in a cold sweat, and she almost dropped the cat in her daze. She knew that her new friend might be capable of this, but...she couldn’t imagine that up close it would look very ominous. She pressed her lips harder when she heard Fang growl hissingly...in a demonic manner. His voice was like a deep ghostly sound, consisting of two voices superimposed on one sound. The black beast looked somewhere ahead, its eyes again began to emit violet energy and small black flashes began to flash around each eye. His new owner felt trapped. In her cottage, she could not observe the manifestation of his abilities. Just as she imagined in her worst fantasies, Fang's powers are truly terrifying. Pegasus didn’t even imagine that he could do something like that. She did not observe any signs of anger towards other living creatures in the cat, because from the moment of their arrival, Fluttershy actively began to educate her new shadow friend. Her plan stated that before she would place him in her animal sanctuary, Fang must undergo a course of adaptation to his new place of residence and not show unreasonable aggression towards others. Because he is an "unusual" animal. She made this a priority. And the results of the training were very positive, which made the Element of Kindness very happy, because she expected more resistance from the cursed beast... And today could undo all her efforts. The way Fang turns into a terrifying monster and even threatens her friends makes Fluttershy very sad. In a panic, she tried to figure out how to calm him down. She didn’t know for sure that caresses like ordinary cats could calm Fang down. She doesn't know anything. But the situation does not allow her to give up. After all, she won’t be able to hold the cat for long and the animal may not have enough patience not to try to grab Rainbow’s throat, who was trying to get him.
Rainbow.
Fluttershy quickly raised her head forward to look at the place from where the pegasus was flying towards them. Due to the powerful dark manifestation of the cat, the veterinarian almost forgot about her friend... But what she saw did not make the situation better... The rainbow-maned pony was no longer flying. She sat on the floor half a meter from the yellow pegasus. She didn't move at all. Fluttershy widened her eyes, her pupils became small dots in shock, and she covered her mouth with her hoof to hold back screaming and crying. Pegasus couldn't believe her eyes, she refused to accept the reality that was in front of her. Others also saw this and they all looked at the blue pegasus with the same reaction. Discord suppressed his excitement and just looked sadly at the fastest pony. But soon Twilight and Applejack began to shout something, either towards the Spirit of Chaos, or towards Fluttershy. But the pegasus did not hear them. She looked with a detached and hypnotic gaze at what her previously brave friend had become. Rainbow's wings did not stay close to her body and hung down. Her pose was frighteningly disgusting: her hind hooves were twisted in the wrong sitting position, her front hooves were twitching strongly in impulse twitches, but what attracted attention more was her face - a distorted grimace of horror with an open mouth from which saliva was dripping and with flowing tears. Rainbow didn't hate seeing herself like this. She didn't want to appear in front of her friends like that. She tries with all her might to overcome such signs of weakness so as not to appear weak. But Fang made this nightmare come true. What did he do to her?
"RAINBOW!", an unexpected cry brought the pegasus out of their thoughts; Pinkie, who was hiding behind her candy cannon and not wanting to fight, suddenly jumped out in front of Fluttershy’s eyes and she began to shake the blue pegasus, which with its red pupils and green sclera looked at the shadow cat with a doomed look, “Come on, silly, wake up... "You're scaring me... DISCORD, TWILEY! HELP!"
“Please everyone, silence!”, unexpectedly for everyone, the hall with the thrones of the Elements was cut through by the loud and thin voice of a shy pegasus, for a strong effect she took a step towards the alicorn and the farmer, the pegasus’s chest quickly contracted from the high frequency of breathing, she lowered her head down and closed her eyes , “No one will dare do anything...at least until I finish talking.”
Complete silence hung over everyone. No one dared to say or even do anything. The situation was beyond Twilight's control and therefore she found herself in the same trap as the others. Now we need to adapt the situation to their needs. If the beast has not yet attacked, then she and her friends have a chance to get out of this trap without loss or damage. While Fluttershy controls the creature, you need to remain calm and prepare for the next surprises.
Fluttershy took a deep breath and stood up from her seat, letting Fang fall to the floor. Discord immediately covered Applejack's mouth with duct tape to prevent her from making the situation even worse. Pegasus looked sadly at the silent Rainbow and at the tear-stained face of Pinkie, who hugged the blue pegasus and looked at the veterinarian with the hope that she knew the solution.
“Fang, please, let go of the pony with the rainbow mane,” the yellow pegasus said emotionlessly and quietly, looking down at the cat who sat down by her front left hoof.
The black beast tilted its head to the side in confusion, not understanding the meaning of his caretaker’s request. He slowly turned his head towards the other pegasus, looked at her with a calm gaze, then raised his head again to the veterinarian and... his eyes no longer emitted any violet energy or black flashes. The cat raised his right front paw to his face and began to lick it, he licked each claw thoroughly as if thinking that the floor of the royal castle was not clean enough. The pink-maned pony's facial features softened and small sparks of joy sparkled in her soul. He listened to her and she didn't have to use her "gaze" on him.
"Rainbow! Oh Celestia"
Fluttershy turned her head in the direction of the sudden scream and without realizing it, with a quick movement she found herself next to the source of the noise. The blue pegasus suddenly fell exhausted onto the shoulders of the pink pastry chef. Her eyes were closed, her body was limp and her front hooves swayed on Pinkie's back like vines in the wind. Fluttershy's eyes widened again in fear and with trembling hooves she grabbed Rainbow under her wings, which hung casually and touched the floor with their tips. The pink pony at first looked at her friend in confusion, but then immediately understood her intentions and, fighting off another onset of tears, helped Fluttershy take the pegasus to the harmony card table. Both Elements laid their unconscious pony on her left side and began to feverishly examine her body for damage and something worse. She was breathing - that's the most important thing. Pinkie Pie blinked very quickly, trying to suppress her tears. She, like the others, was not ready for all this. And the yellow mare understood her in this. But her case was a little different. Fluttershy was mentally exhausted and devastated. She didn't have enough strength to simply cry like her friend. All she did was silently examine the body of the sports pegasus: she felt the skin to look for possible pathologies, opened her eyelids, looking at the shape of the pupils, brought the side of the pony’s body to her ear and counted the heartbeats, and the pegasus also put a hoof on her friend’s chest, determining the breathing rate . And Fluttershy did all this, mentally praying that now she had not made the worst mistake in her life by bringing Fang here... But fortunately everything is fine. She and Pinkie did not find any open or hidden injuries. Rainbow was just sleeping and nothing else.
"That's quite a change of events, if you ask me," Discord said sarcastically and worriedly, ignoring the angry look from Twilight, whose mouth he also covered with duct tape, "Fluttershy...is everything okay?"
The pony slowly turned her head towards the draconicus and, together with her pink friend, carefully moved away from the lying pegasus. Pinkie turned around to look at the pony with her worried eyes again, convincing herself that everything was fine. Fluttershy stood next to her chaotic friend and looked at her immobilized friends with a calm and tired look: “Discord, can you check Rainbow’s body for traces of magical influence?”
Maybe the unpredictable Deity was careless and childish at times, but he did not lose the acquired social knowledge over the centuries of his life. Discord knew perfectly well what Fluttershy wanted. And he is ready to help her with this without hesitation. He nodded silently to her and floated through the air to where the fastest pony lay. A second later, the slimy masses where the alicorn and the farmer were stuck disappeared in a flash of white light. Twilight and Applejack fell awkwardly on their tails in front of the yellow mare. They quickly shook off their fur and stood up on all four hooves. Silence hung between them all. The duo, who were trapped by the draconicus, stared at Fluttershy with expectant and worried eyes. They all wanted to solve this problem in their own way, but the current circumstances say that they will have to look for a solution in a way that is unfavorable for everyone. Twilight looked seriously and sympathetically into the eyes of the pegasus and took a step forward, spreading her wings. Applejack could not calm down, she continued to look with great hostility at the creature that sat down near the veterinarian's right hoof. Her salmon was still straightened and continued to be held in the teeth of the angry Element of Honesty.
Fluttershy tilted her head slightly and sighed softly. After all, next they will have a very serious and difficult conversation.