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// Katniss Everdeen vs Fluttershy 
// Story: My Little Pony vs .......... 
// by Ecthelion_Yuda 
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Fluttershy shivered on the floor, too terrified to open her eyes. There was a ringing in her ears that dimmed all of the sounds of the world around her and for a few moments she could pretend that she was safe in a place of her own, far away from everything that scared her. But Fluttershy couldn’t pretend for long and she soon realised that she had to get moving. She rose to her hooves and opened her eyes. Blinking at the initially dazzling sunlight, Fluttershy began to adjust to the light and looked about her.

She was stood in the middle of a large forest, with trees growing all around her. There were some types that she recognised and others that were completely foreign to her, but all around her she could hear the whistling of birds and the hum of winged insects. Floral scents pervaded her senses and she could see her home in her mind’s eye, with the Everfree Forest right beside it. Many of the smells were the same, although there was something different here. Fluttershy watched a small blue butterfly drift lazily past her and she stared at it as it moved. This place couldn’t be very dangerous at all, could it?

Fluttershy tenderly ventured forward, navigating the dense woodland around her carefully. She trod so lightly that she barely even snapped a twig. Every now and again she heard the erratic thump-thump-thump of a deer running away deep into the forest. The trees were incredibly tall, much higher than any tree she had ever seen before. She wondered how old they were, what animals they housed, what stories they could tell. Fluttershy began to feel oddly at ease, letting herself get lost in the mighty forest that surrounded her. She was used to forests that were much scarier than this one back home, so she had no reason to fear such a kind and gentle looking woodland.

Dangling down from the branch of one of the trees was a rather large wasps nest with wasps the size of Fluttershy’s eye whizzing around it. They didn’t seem to notice the dainty yellow mare, so Fluttershy slowly backed away. Much as she loved animals, that many wasps that she didn’t know might be difficult to reason with. That was one thing that Fluttershy hoped to try at some point. She had no idea how long she would be trapped here, so she thought she might as well try to make a few friends. While it wasn’t strictly true to say that she could talk with animals, for as long as she could remember she could somehow interpret what it was they wanted and she too could make herself understood when needed.

As if on cue, a young deer bounded in front of Fluttershy. Fluttershy yelped and dashed behind the nearest tree, but the inquisitive deer cane and found her. It cocked it’s head to one side and studied the little pegasus in more detail. Fluttershy, who had brought one wing up to hide her face, lowered her wing and smiled shyly at the deer.
“H-Hi, I’m Fl-Fluttershy.”

The deer took a few steps closer to Fluttershy and stared at her somewhat expectantly, as though it was waiting for her to do something.
“Are you lost?”

Again, the deer just stared down at Fluttershy curiously. Fluttershy got back up and slowly tiptoed closer to the deer. The deer backed away a little, but with a few soothing words from Fluttershy, it had begun to step closer again. It lowered its head and Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around its slender neck. The deer nuzzled her gently as she hugged it tightly, smiling happily.
“Are you going to come with me and keep me safe?”

The deer didn’t answer, but Fluttershy surmised that it was not going to leave, so she took its silence as a yes. Shoulder to shoulder, Fluttershy and the deer trotted off into the forest together. 

Fluttershy and the deer walked side by side for about half an hour without any problems. Fluttershy had been talking and enjoying the deer’s company and had completely forgotten that her life was in immediate danger. Thankfully, Fluttershy had a keen ability to sense when something was wrong (an ability that she had picked up from her many trips into the Everfree Forest), so she knew that something was off a second before the arrow landed in the tree beside her. 

Fluttershy and the deer both yelped in fear and ran off into the forest as hard as they could. The deer was substantially more agile than Fluttershy and as such was able to dodge the trees with impressive ease, but Fluttershy made up for her lack of agility on the ground by taking off and flying just off the ground. As a pegasus, she had much better manoeuvrability in the air, even if she was only a few inches off the ground. She hazarded a glance back as another arrow flew past her head. She screamed and flapped her wings harder.

Fluttershy ducked and dodged her way around the trees, moving as fast as she could while still keeping an eye on the deer. Fluttershy didn’t want to get stuck by an arrow, but it would be even worse if the innocent little deer got hurt because of her. Thankfully, whatever or whoever was chasing them was much slower than the pony and the deer, so they were able to outrun it. Fluttershy found a cave and whistled for the deer to follow her in. At first the deer ignored her, still too panicked to really think properly, but eventually it worked out what Fluttershy wanted it to do.

In the cave, Fluttershy settled the deer down. The poor little thing was terrified out of its wits and Fluttershy spent a few minutes getting it to sleep. She then went outside and found a few birds. They were strange looking, bigger than the birds back home, and they looked like blue mockingbirds, but she thought they seemed safe enough. She sang a sweet little five note phrase to them which they immediately repeated. Fluttershy nodded and stepped back inside the cave, checking that the birds could still hear her and that she could hear them. That was vital.

Fluttershy trotted over to the still terrified little deer and lay down next to it. She gently laid a wing over it and pulled it in close, hugging it and keeping it warm and safe. Fluttershy felt the quivering being lying next to her slowly calm down and drift off to sleep. The deer snored gently and soon Fluttershy began to feel herself drifting off as well. She sang out her phrase and heard the reply from the birds before closing her eyes.

Unfortunately, Fluttershy felt herself jolt awake the second her eyes closed. Turned out she really couldn’t get tired in this existence, so she would have to be awake for every single second of it. It wasn’t a prospect that filled her with much hope, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Fluttershy made herself as comfortable as she and rested sleeplessly, holding the deer tightly.

As dawn broke over the forest, Fluttershy felt the warmth of the sun creep in through the mouth of the cave and fill the area with a calming aura of heat. Being careful not to wake her bedfellow, Fluttershy tiptoed to the mouth of the cave. She whistled her little phrase and waited for the birds to reply. But only silence greeted her. Fluttershy panicked and whistled again, but as before her echo was the only reply that she got. She dashed back into the cave, waking the deer in the process. The two huddled together by the wall as Fluttershy kept her ears open, waiting for any sound that might confirm their safety or their doom.

At first, silence deafened Fluttershy. A dull ringing was in her ears, but that was simply because she was so terrified. But then she heard something else. It wasn’t a loud noise, but it was one that terrified Fluttershy to her core. It was the gentle creak of a thin stick of wood being bent.

Fluttershy threw the deer to the ground just as an arrow slammed into the wall behind them, snapping the shaft. The deer snorted and charged out of the cave as fast as it could go. Fluttershy turned and saw their attacker properly for the first time. She walked on two legs, was almost completely hairless except for an untidy brown mane that was tied up and fell down one side of her face in a braid. She was quite pretty, but Fluttershy didn’t really care about that. In her hand was a large bow, much larger than any Fluttershy had ever seen before and at her hip was a quiver full of arrows.

“Wait!” Fluttershy was unaccustomed to shouting, so the noise came out as more of a squeak, but the effect was still the same. The monster (who had been reaching for another arrow) stopped and looked at Fluttershy quizzically. “Please, let me go. I don’t want to hurt you.” The monster didn’t move. “If-If you want, we could be friends? I’m Fluttershy.”

The little yellow pegasus barely managed to introduce herself in more than a whisper. The monster’s hand didn’t stray from her quiver, but she did grace Fluttershy with a reply. She coughed once to clear her throat and spoke.
“I’m Katniss. And I’m sorry Fluttershy, but this isn’t the first time where I’ve had to kill in this arena. I learned last time that having friends here only hurts, so I am sorry, but I am going to have to decline your offer.”

With that, Katniss reached for her arrows, but Fluttershy was too fast for her. Fluttershy barrelled into Katniss, knocking her over and removing many of the arrows from the quiver. Tears streaming down her face, Fluttershy flew as hard as she could through the gaping mouth of the cave into the forest. She didn’t check whether Katniss was following her, she just flew. The deer came into her mind momentarily,  but even Fluttershy wasn’t willing to risk trying to find the deer before she made sure that Katniss was gone. After several minutes of some of the hardest flying that Fluttershy had done in years, the little yellow mare collapsed on the ground. She leaned against a tree for support and let her eyes close momentarily.

But before she was able to fall asleep, her senses were sharpened again by the effects of the arena. Fluttershy lay by the tree for another ten minutes, just catching her breath, letting the world pass before her. She was going to die, here in this strange forest at the hands of someone she didn’t even know. A tear formed in her eye as she tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. Fluttershy wanted to go home, to be with her friends. She wanted to just open her eyes and realise that this was all one big dream. But it was all too real.

A twig snapped behind her and the yellow pegasus pressed herself against the tree, holding her breath so as not to alert Katniss as to where she was. Katniss walked slowly back and forth, sniffing the air to try and find her prey. She came closer and closer and closer, while Fluttershy began to consider running for it again. Suddenly, a little brown head popped around the tree and stared straight into the face of the terrified pony. Fluttershy masked a shriek with her hoof, but quickly calmed down as the deer leaned forward and licked her face. It hadn’t been that monster Katniss at all; it had just been the deer. Fluttershy hugged the deer and the two of them began to trot off into the forest. It was too dangerous to stay in the same place for too long.

Night fell ridiculously quickly and soon Fluttershy and the deer were completely immersed in the darkness. Fluttershy was a little bit scared, but she could see quite well in the dark. Living on the border of the Everfree Forest did have its perks sometimes. The two of them stopped in a clearing and decided to spend the rest of the night there. After making sure the deer was comfortable, Fluttershy went out to try and find some food for the little animal. She may not get hungry, but she could hear the deer’s stomach rumbling throughout the afternoon. She wouldn’t be too long.

A few minutes later she returned with a bushel of berries to give to her friend. She stepped towards the fire and let them down, beckoning the deer to come over. But she stopped suddenly and tried not to scream.
She hadn’t made a fire.

Across the flames, a hooded figure was busying itself next to the tree where Fluttershy had left the deer. A little red stream flowed towards the yellow mare and she began to understand what had happened. She could feel fear and rage building up in her body in equal measure as Katniss stood up and turned to face her. The deer had two arrows sticking out of its side and there was a deep stab wound in its chest. A glistening crimson pool was forming around the little critter and its lifeless eyes reflected the flames mixed with the fear it felt as it died.

“Ah, you’re here then are you?” Katniss reached for her quiver again and began to notch and arrow into her bow. But Fluttershy wasn’t scared anymore. Something inside her had snapped and the cruel beast in front of her had to be brought to justice. 

Fluttershy launched herself towards Katniss as fast as she could and smashed straight into the human, knocking the bow out of her hand and breaking one of her ribs. Fluttershy smacked Katniss backwards with her front hooves, howling in rage and tears of pure blind fury flowing down her face. Katniss was unable to protect herself and she fell backwards, several bones already broken. Fluttershy landed, span around and slammed her two hind hooves into Katniss’ face time after time. For several seconds, Fluttershy smashed her hooves into Katniss head until she regained control. Her breathing was deep and raspy, her legs ached and there was a cut on her leg that wasn’t there before. But what terrified her more than anything was what she had done to Katniss.

Katniss’ skull had caved in after the first kick, but every subsequent hit had reduced Katniss’ head to little more than a deep red pulp. A dark smear with splatter stains all around it was stuck to the tree like a scar and Fluttershy was bathed in the blood of her fallen enemy. She was ashamed and terrified of herself. Of what she had done. She began to back away from the scene slowly and fell backwards into the portal that had opened behind her.