Dovahshy May Cry
Bullets and Flashbacks
Author: Draconis187
As Fluttershy walked down the deserted streets of Canterlot she saw that the Changelings were being awfully lenient with her. She only encountered two or three at the most and even then they flew off in terror when she looked at them. This made her smile though: “Barely an hour in Canterlot and my reputation precedes me.”
As she carried on through the desolate streets she found herself wondering how she could have been gone for a year? She reminded herself of the day it all started.
*** *** ***
It was a normal day in Canterlot. Twilight and Fluttershy had just got off the train and headed to the Archives. Twilight was after a particular spellbook she couldn’t find in her own library/ home. The guards let them in without a fuss, one even asked how they were doing.
“Uh, T-Twilight. What was that name of the book again? Why did you need me though? Couldn’t Spike o-or Rainbow Dash be more helpful?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight looked at her with a smile.
“It’s called an Elder Scroll, it’s not a book. Princess Celestia said that there may be one here. I read a small description about it in the library but it was quite vague. All it said was that it contains increadible magic so I want to see if the spells inside would be useful. Isn't it exciting?” She replied with cheerful glee, not answering the rest of Fluttershy’s questions. “Now you look over there and I’ll look over here.”
“Oh, o-okay” She muttered back.
Twilight was fully immersed in her little world thanks to the sheer number of scrolls, books and various loose pieces of parchment that lay around on the floor and in the bookshelves. Fluttershy on the other hoof was scared that she might break something and gingerly moved the books and scrolls apart.
“Find it yet?!” Twilight yelled from across the hallway. Twilight went through 16 bookcases and Fluttershy had only just finished going through one.
“Not ye- um Twilight?”
“Yes?!”
“Is it a rather large scroll with a sun marking in the middle and gold in colour with some purple gems on it?”
“That might be it. Bring it over here and I’ll take a look.”
Fluttershy tried to grab the scroll but it was pretty heavy for the weak Pegasus. Whether it due to the weight, the poor hold she had on it or one could argue that it was fate, she dropped it. As it hit the floor with a resounding clang it rolled open. As it did a bright light started to envelop the entire room. Fluttershy screamed and Twilight tried to run to her aid but the blinding light hindered her movement and she collided with a bookcase. Fluttershy stopped screaming and as the light dissipated Twilight knew why: both the scroll and Fluttershy were gone.
*** *** ***
Unbeknownst to her while she was reminiscing, the Changelings were lining up in the streets and rooftops ahead. They were carrying crossbows, bows and one had a ballista that they disguised under a small tent. Some others were hiding behind dustbins in the alleyways carrying cudgels and axes amongst other melee weaponry. They were muttering to each other, wondering if the rumour they heard was true: that she killed every Changeling in Ponyville by herself and if they stood a chance against her. They feared that this creature was not even a pony but a demon sent to eradicate the Changeling race. She was certainly had the abilities for it.
The Canterlot Gardens were a few short kilometres away from Fluttershy’s current standpoint. She had the odd feeling that she was being watched by something but she couldn’t find it. Readying her pistols, she flew up to the roof of the nearest building for a better view of the area.
“BUCK!!” she shouted as a crossbow bolt whizzed past her, taking a small lock of her pink mane with it. She turned around and saw a – now quite physically shitting himself – Changeling across the street on a rooftop with a crossbow in its hooves. It fumbled to reload the crossbow only to receive a well placed bullet to the skull. Its head exploded, splattering green blood and whatever was left of its brain all over the rooftop.
The other Changelings came out from under cover and attacked. Three pulled the tent off the ballista and aimed it at the maniacal Pegasus. The ballista fired and Fluttershy noticed it hurling towards her. Taking out her greatswords, she jumped and landed on top of the ballista bolt and by using her wings and swords to change the bolt's direction, she rode it towards a group of changelings. She sliced them apart as she flew past them, creating a shower of blood and body parts on the ground below.
The Changelings cut their losses again and fled, leaving the ballista behind. Fluttershy continued to ride the bolt until it crashed on the other side of Canterlot. She jumped off it before it made contact with the ground, shattering into splinters of wood and glided down onto the street. Even this side of Canterlot was deserted, nopony anywhere. She tried to open one of the doors and found it unlocked.
The room was deserted, no signs of struggle and yet the place was fully furnished as if there were tenants living inside. As she wandered through the empty home her mind went back to the events just after she vanished.
*** *** ***
A Redguard named Baral was on his way to Whiterun to request guards to help protect the small town of Riverwood. The reason was that the nearby keep Helgen was destroyed by a large black dragon that made fire fall from the skies. He walked on the road along the river, dealing with the odd wolf that popped up but something caught his eye. On the other side of the river bank was an odd, yellow creature he had never seen before. He waded through the river in order to reach it and found it resembled a horse albeit it was as tall as his abdomen and it… had wings?
As the dark skinned Redguard examined it he saw it was covered in bruises and a few cuts, “either from the journey through the river or from whatever caused it to wind up in the river. Better not leave such a strange creature to be eaten, Divines know what it could be worth.” He thought. Picking the pony up he found she was relatively light and carried her all the way to Whiterun. He got to the stables and asked the owner to look after it until he got somewhere to put it. The owner agreed and promised to not sell it, after Baral removed his sword from his throat.
*** *** ***
Fluttershy snapped back to reality, remembering she still had a job that needed to be finished. Pulling herself away from the various family pictures, she looked to the castle through one of the windows on the second floor.
“Hang on girls, I will be there soon.” She muttered under her breath. Pulling out a jammed round from Fool she looked around the second floor and found something that brought a tear to her eye. Laid on the floor was a filly’s doll, it looked like the filly had hoofstitched it herself. The family’s rush to leave must have made the poor filly forget her doll; either that or they got taken by the Changelings. Putting the doll in one of her pockets inside her coat she brushed her hoof past the Elder Scroll that started this mess.
She left the house through the door she came from. Wiping the tear from her face she told herself: “No crying, you still have a job to do. You can cry when your friends are free.” Closing the door behind her, she set course for the castle once more.
*** *** ***
A Changeling came into the throne room, informing Chrysalis of the failed ambush. Twilight and the others were looking at each other, their eyes filled with hope for the first time in weeks. Chrysalis on the other hoof was worried that this pony might actually get to the castle. She sent out every single Changeling, including three of her Elite which left six to guard the throne room. She also sent a small group to call the rest of the invasion force back to Canterlot, she needed this pony dead NOW. She made for the observation tower outside and looked feverishly for this Pegasus and after two minutes she found Fluttershy leaving the house. Further up the street by one of the larger plazas another ambush was being readied with one of her Elite coordinating the attack.
*** *** ***
Fluttershy continued her trek through the streets heading obliviously towards the ambush. A small flash appeared off in the distance somewhere around the castle and caught her eye. She searched for her spyglass inside her coat and pulled it out. She extended it and searched around the castle’s towers and battlements. She saw Chrysalis staring back at her from the observation tower Luna and Celestia use. The two didn’t move or do anything else other than stare at each other for a few seconds. Deciding to react first she put the spyglass away and pulled out Kalina Ann. She aimed for the tower and fired a rocket.
*** *** ***
Chrysalis spied this metal object whistling as it flew… directly towards her. She flew off the platform in time to watch the rocket fly straight past where she was just standing. Finally realising the extents this pony was prepared to go, she felt she was still shaking. She realised she was experiencing true fear for the first time.
*** *** ***
Fluttershy kept her eyes open this time and her pistols in her hooves, prepared for an attack. She checked through the alleys as she went by but found them completely vacant. She eventually arrived at the plaza and stopped near the centre. She looked around at the various buildings in the plaza, thinking that there was something weird about the fact that she hadn’t seen another Changeling. Shrugging off the feeling, she moved on towards the castle.
As she got to the edge of the plaza a strange wind blew, making Fluttershy feel uneasy. She turned around to see a single Changeling standing in the centre of the plaza. It looked very sure of itself but that changed once Fluttershy aimed at it. Before she could fire, a voice said: “Hold it!” The source of the voice came out from behind a sign saying: ‘Buy one cone get one free!’ It was a changeling unlike the rest. As it came out more Changelings came out of various hiding places, some were aiming at her with ranged weapons from the rooftops like earlier.
This Changeling stood slightly taller than the others and her; its chitinous plating was a pale blue and covered a greater portion of its body. The only unnatural armour was the steel kettle helmet it wore. It stood on its hind legs like Fluttershy but it looked as if it was hatched that way. It was bulkier than the rest and carried a large double sided axe over its shoulder.
“No further. You will not reach the Queen.” It said in a very deep voice. Fluttershy kept her guns pointed at the changeling and smiled at it.
“And how do you think you will stop me?” It grabbed its axe and slammed it into the ground. The force cleaved the ground apart, the crack continuing past Fluttershy and collapsing the building behind her.
“Try me.” It replied with a snide smile.
Fluttershy opened fire, bullets deflecting off its chitinous armour. The bullets that did connect with its body didn’t deter it from getting closer. Cutting her losses with bullets, she took out her greatswords and blocked the axe that came at her. The Elite was standing over her, trying to force the axe through her swords but to no avail. They were made in the Skyforge which made them tougher than regular Ebony weaponry. The Elite then brought its leg up, kicking Fluttershy in the gut and sent her flying backwards into the three story building behind them.
She crashed through three bookcases before hitting the wall. Slightly dazed, she saw the Elite coming for her again. Knowing this thing was prepared to fight dirty, she decided to treat it with the same conduct. She picked up her swords, got into a battle stance and inhaled deeply.
“ZUN HAAL VIIK!!” she shouted. A powerful wind blew up and hit the Elite, sending its axe flying backwards. The axe stopped after it collided with an unfortunate Changeling, cleaving its head and body in two. The shocked Elite took one look back at its axe, then back at Fluttershy and charged at her. He brought his hooves down in a double overhead haymaker but Fluttershy dodged it by rolling backwards and sliced into the air. The waves on lightning and fire found their mark, scorching it around its forelegs.
Enraged further, the Elite came at Fluttershy with another double overhead haymaker, this time it missed again but it he continued until his attack collided with the ground. The shockwave it created shook the building to its foundations, creating cracks all along the supporting walls. Fluttershy noticed this occurrence and had an idea. She stood in front of one of the supporting walls and put her swords away. She raised one hoof and made the universal ‘Bring it on’ sign. The Elite charged and just before it got too close, Fluttershy shouted once more.
“WULD NAH KEST!!” she shouted, thrusting herself forward at incredible speed. She appeared a short distance behind the Elite who crashed into the wall. Fluttershy bolted out the hole she made earlier as the building collapsed on the Elite. The other Changelings watching the fight outside the building took a step back and continued to do so as Fluttershy stepped forward. Their fear was so thick she could cut it with her dagger. She pulled out Kalina Ann and slammed it into the ground, burying the bayonet in the plaza’s gravel-covered ground. She smiled at them and pressed the third trigger near the back of the rocket launcher. The butt fired a salvo of mini missiles at the Changelings who tried to flee in terror of this new attack. The missiles homed in and blew up several Changelings into a shower of green blood and body parts.
She put Kalina Ann back and took out her pistols. The remaining Changelings that were too stupid to leave were killed in the resulting hail of gunfire. Fluttershy put her guns away and looked towards the rubble of the collapsed bookstore. The Elite didn’t come out, clearly crushed underneath three floors of bookstore.
“Twilight would kill me if she knew I did that on purpose. I wonder if there are any more of those strange Changelings?” She said to herself as she dusted her coat off and checked for jams in her pistols, ejecting the current rounds in them to be sure. She began her trek towards the Canterlot Gardens as the castle lay just beyond them.
*** *** ***
Baral’s meeting with the Jarl went well, Riverwood was getting its support and he was being given the task to retrieve a Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow which lay in the mountains between Riverwood and Whiterun. He was warned that the Ancient Nords defend their tombs as undead known as Draugr. Baral went to the stable to see how the creature was doing.
When he got there he found the creature went missing. After interrogating the owner he found out that it woke up and spoke in plain English! Terrified, the creature ran off to the south, in the direction of Bleak Falls. Sighing Baral went off in search for the creature.
He found hoofprints too small to be a normal horse and followed them. As he neared the mountain he spotted a pack of wolves acting in a strangely bizzare manner. They saw him but seemed to be more concerned with defending their den. He had to go in since the hoofprints went in. As he got closer the wolves started to growl at him. Drawing his blade in one hand and raising his shield in the other, he readied himself for combat.
As one charged for him he attacked with a back-hand slice. He caught the wolf’s head, taking its lower jaw clean off. He then kicked it into the rest of the pack and shouted: “Who’s next?!”
The wolves dispersed, leaving him to search their den. Laid in the middle, caring for an injured wolf was the creature. It was speaking to it.
“There, there.” It said in a soft female voice. “Now you just stay off that leg for a few days and you’ll be right as rain.”
She turned around and saw Baral standing there with a blank expression on his face. Not only was this creature moving but it spoke like the stable owner said, and was treating a wolf like one of the Priestesses of Kynareth do for the sick. They stood there, looking at each other in silence. Baral decided to break the silence.
“Who are you?” he said slowly.
“F-Fluttershy.” She replied softly.
They spent the next few minutes getting acquainted with one another. Baral found out that Fluttershy was a Pegasus pony from Equestria and Fluttershy learned she was in Skyrim. Baral told her of how he found her laid on the river bank, unconscious and said that was how she was in the stables. She seemed scared when he told her about the dragon that attacked Helgen so he proposed that she should journey with him and he will help her find her way back home as well as protect her. She accepted and as the two left she saw the wolf Baral killed. After he explained what had happened she still decided to go with him since he seemed like her best chance at going home. A few off the wolves came back and decided to follow them. Baral was apprehensive about it but Fluttershy promised they would help and not attack them. With three wolves ready to help, they set off for Bleak Falls Barrow.
*** *** ***
She saw the Gardens weren’t too far anymore and kept her pistols ready. Her thoughts were now centred on freeing her friends and nothing was going to stand in her way and live.