//------------------------------// // Bonus 1 - Flitter (Original one-shot) // Story: Flitter // by Nyerguds //------------------------------// Flitter Bonus One Flitter (Original one-shot) The sound of shattering glass filled the sky. The giant purple shield surrounding Canterlot crumbled, its huge shards of solid magic crashing into the ground before they had a chance to dissolve. "Swift Star!" the green pegasus mare yelled. "We have to go! Come on!" The unicorn she was addressing didn't respond. He was looking up, terrified. He knew those black shapes. He knew them all too well. "They shouldn't be here," he said, looking at the mare in desperation. "They can't do this, it'll upset the whole balance!" "Swift, honey? What do you mean? You know these creatures?" Swift Star nodded, and started running. "Let's go." * * * Their run was a futile exercise. The black creatures swarmed in from above, and spotted the runners easily. Within minutes, the two were surrounded. One of the black creatures approached the pair, a wicked grin on its face. Swift Star bared his teeth. "You shouldn't be here!" he yelled. The black creature didn't respond. It glanced at the others behind them, and nodded. One by one, they were engulfed in green flames, half of them transforming into copies of the female pegasus. The other half collectively blinked, and stared at the unicorn they had failed to copy. "What are these things?" Morning Rain asked, terrified. "Changelings," Swift Star replied. "They survive by taking the appearance of a loved one and feeding on love they are given." The mare's eyes widened. "What? But..." One of the creatures that had failed to transform walked towards the pair. "What are you doing?" it said, in a hissing voice. "The Queen commands us. Why do you disobey her?" "I know no queen!" the unicorn yelled. "You're deranged! You can't just destroy the Old Ways!" He looked back as he heard a hoofstep behind him, and noticed Morning Rain had taken a step back. She stared at him with a bewildered look in her eyes. "You... you're one of them?" she said. She looked pale. "Morning Rain, please," Swift Star said. "It's not like that!" "Where is he?" she said, anger and desperation flashing over her face. "What have you done to him?!" The black creature tilted his head. "Contain her!" it hissed. "What are you doing?" Swift Star threw him an angry look, his normally orange eyes flaring with a violent green. "I'm keeping a promise," he said. He swiftly turned around, and bucked the creature into the others. Before they had time to react, he grabbed the green mare in his forehooves and flew straight up, insectoid wings appearing out of nowhere as he did. "Who are you!?" Morning Rain yelled, terrified. "Someone who loves you," Swift Star replied, as he flew into one of the windows of the high palace towers. * * * "What are you doing?!" Morning Rain yelled at the not-Swift Star. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm saving you!" he yelled back. He pulled her through the corridors with his magic, desperately trying to avoid the swarming black creatures. As he became more frantic, his horn changed, turning black and curved like those of the creatures that were chasing them. "But you're like them!" she said. Swift Star opened a door to his right and quickly slipped into it, floating the mare behind him. Swiftly but silently he closed the door behind them and locked it, leaving the two alone in a large obscured room. He gently lowered Morning Rain to the ground, and released her from his magic grip. "So what if I am?" he whispered. "Does that really matter?" "Of course it matters!" she replied. She lowered her voice as she heard the buzzing of wings outside the door. "You're... you're not Swift Star." The unicorn-shaped changeling smiled, and folded his insect wings onto his back. "That's debatable. Sure, I'm not the pony you fell in love with. I can't deny that. But I think I've done quite a good job filling in for him." "What did you do to him!?" she said, anger flaring through her voice. "I tried to save him," the changeling replied. "And I failed." Morning Rain frowned. "And then... you took his place?" "Such are the Old Ways. We take the place of lost loved ones." Morning Rain walked towards him, and sat down. "And you've been... him, for how long?" "You had only just met him. That foolish journey past the ravines. He never made it back." "But you did." The changeling nodded. "It is what we do. I asked him, as the Old Ways dictate. Love is a powerful emotion. I would keep you happy, instead of heartbroken over a lover that left on a foolish journey and never came back. The choice, to him, was obvious. He couldn't stand to make you unhappy, not if there was any other choice." Morning Rain stared at the floor, and shook her head. "Twenty years. You've been lying to me for twenty years." "I've kept you happy," the changeling said, looking away uncomfortably. "With a lie!" she said. "How could you do that to me?!" "What?" He turned back towards her and glared at her. "I've turned your silly crush for a stallion you really only barely knew into a life of happiness! I married you! And now you blame me for keeping a promise to that stallion. I promised him I'd take care of you. I promised him I'd keep you happy! And that's what I did." Morning Rain sighed. "But it was still all a lie." "I love you. And that's not a lie. He never asked me to marry you; that was all me. I don't know what that crazy queen out there is trying to accomplish, but love isn't something you can simply harvest. It takes love to get love. The only thing she's harvesting is terror. And as someone who has fed on emotions his entire life, let me tell you, that stuff tastes foul." A groan suddenly came from further in the room. A sleepy head with rather large horn appeared from under the covers. "Hmm? Tia?" the dark form said. She then promptly turned over, pulling the covers over her head. The two figures stood still as statues, before very carefully stepping back to the door. The thought that the Moon Princess could help defeat the menace outside didn't even cross their minds. In fact, at that very moment, they'd forgotten all about the changeling swarm. The only things they knew, at that moment, were the fact they had accidentally snuck inside the bedroom of the Princess of the Night, and the fact they did not want to be caught doing that. * * * Silently, they made their way up to the Royal Observatory. Like much of the Palace, it was empty, and the changeling swarm had long checked it out and left it behind. The unicorn-shaped changeling looked down at the chaos on the streets below, and shook his head. Morning Rain looked at him, thinking over the words he'd said to her. "So... who are you, then?" He sighed. "I've been Swift Star for more than half of my life. Does it really matter? I'm still the same, you know. I still love broccoli, still loathe alfalfa, and I'm still good at music spells. Please don't ask me to throw that away." "I'm not!" she said, defensively. "If those things... are really you, then they're not Swift Star, are they?" The changeling blinked. "I... guess not." "So, what is your name?" she asked. He frowned. It had been such a long time. He'd grown so used to being Swift Star. "Flitter," he said. "That's the name I had." He gave her a pleading look. "Do I really need to take it back?" She nodded. "I'm sorry. I can't keep calling you Swift Star." She joined him at the balcony, and looked down at the chaos below. The changeling swarm was apparently occupied by a team of half a dozen ponies that seemed to plough through everything in their way. "So... where do we go from here?" she asked. "We're getting out of here. We can't do anything to help. Princess Celestia is down there, and so are the Elements of Harmony. The only thing we can do is get caught." "That's not what I meant!" she said. "What about us? The two of us?" "I know what you meant," Flitter said, pulling himself away from the balcony and walking towards the other side. "And it'll have to wait. It seems our rampaging ponies have been caught. Come on, let's go before they notice us." Morning Rain glanced at the swarm of changelings below, who were focusing their attention on the six ponies they held. She gasped, and ran after Flitter. "Those were the Elements! They captured the Elements!" Flitter stopped. "Are you sure?" "We saw them perform the Heart Warming Eve play, remember?" Flitter ran back to the balcony overlooking the city, and peered down at the six equine forms dragged along with the mass of black changelings. He shook his head. "We can't help them. We're just two ponies." "You could help them, couldn't you? If you change back, you'll look just li—" "NO!" he yelled, cutting her off. She threw him a confused look. "I can't change into a pony that doesn't live any more!" he yelled. "Don't you understand?" "You... you'd be stuck in your normal form?" "Don't call it that," he said, focusing his attention on his wings and horn, and restoring his complete Swift Star form. "Once I change back to my Changeling form, Swift Star will be gone forever." "I don't mind," she said, hesitantly. "I don't care what you look like." "But I do!" he yelled. "Don't you see?! These changelings have made themselves enemies of Equestria! I can't be one of them! I need to be Swift Star to be with you!" Morning Rain sighed. "If their queen wins, it won't matter anyway. Wasn't that what you said? It'll upset the balance?" Flitter groaned, and nodded. "If this mad Queen actually manages to defeat Celestia, the balance of Night and Day will be disrupted. Whoever she is, she obviously hasn't thought that far ahead. Already they're terrorizing ponies to feed on their love. Soon, nothing but terror will remain in their hearts. By the time she notices what she's done, her power won't even be enough to keep the solar cycle going. And then, it's all going to Tartarus." "We have to go back and wake up Luna," Morning Rain said. "She's their only chance!" Flitter nodded. "Yes. Let's do that." An odd feeling stopped him, though. He felt a shiver crawl up his spine, and looked back over the balcony. Morning Rain clearly felt it too; her ears perked up, and she looked at him. "What is that?!" she asked, looking at the bright light shining out of the wedding hall. "Love," he said. Then, he frowned. "But it's channelled... into a spell." His eyes widened as he saw the purple sphere expand from where the white glow had been. "Oh no." He backpedalled away from the balcony, spread his insectoid wings once again, and flew away from the oncoming shield. Morning Rain followed him without hesitation. "Flitter!" she yelled, flying after him as he tried to get out of the shield's reach. Unfortunately, the expanding shield didn't stop where the old one had been. It blasted on, pushing all changelings with it. His own speed prevented Flitter from getting blasted away as violently as the others, but still, the shield reached him, and as the purple wall smashed into him he felt his pony form scorch away in purple flame. He looked at his hooves in pure desperation as the last glimpse of yellow coat disappeared, making way for the dreaded black of his original form. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Swift Star was gone, forever. He stopped struggling, and allowed the shield to blast him away. It was all over. As he looked at the ground approaching him with deadly speed, he noticed that, ironically, he was going to end up in the same ravines where Swift Star died. And now, he'd die there again. "Don't you dare leave me!" a voice came from behind him. A green blur shot over the ground into the ravine, collided with him, and shot back up. * * * A pony and a changeling were lying on the dusty rock next to the ravine. Both of them were utterly exhausted, thoroughly shaken, and glad to be alive. "Flitter?" the green pegasus asked. "Yes, Morning Rain?" the changeling replied. "Where do we go from here?" Flitter smiled, got up, and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. His big icy blue eyes looked into her purple ones. "Wherever we want, my love."