//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Last of the Dragonlords // by Fluttershy20 //------------------------------// The night sky disappeared, giving way to the sun. It rose slowly over the mountains in the east, its life giving light shining down on Equestria, and in particular the six ponies that had camped out somewhere in the wilderness. Applejack’s eyes flickered open and she stifled a yawn. She raised her head and looked around, checking to see if everyone was okay. She saw Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie sleeping soundlessly; Twilight though had her mouth open so wide to catch moths, and Rainbow was flicking a wing as if she was flying. Where Fluttershy was she had no idea. ‘Probably woke up and went to the bathroom,’ she thought. She got up and stretched her legs, and then walked over to the side of the lake to have a drink. A gentle breeze filled the air and it sent ripples across the lake, making it livelier than it looked yesterday. Applejack walked to the bank and took a sip. It wasn’t the best water, she concluded, but it was good enough. She drank for a while before sitting down on her haunches and gazed at the scenery. In all honesty she could stay here forever; it was so relaxing, with the wind in her mane, and not a single pony save her friends in sight. She was so relaxed she didn’t hear Twilight sneak up behind her and poke her on the side. “Morning, Applejack,” she greeted her friend. Applejack jumped with an, “Ah!” and looked at Twilight. “Blooming eke, Twilight, ya gave me a scare there.” Twilight looked at her apologetically. “Sorry, Applejack, I just thought you could hear me.” “I was miles away, sugarcube. Anyway how are ya, slept well?” Twilight nodded. “Very well thank you. Did you?” Applejack nodded, and then opened her mouth to speak but before she could utter a word she had Rarity in her face. “Sorry, darlings, but I must get in the water and clean my mane after it’s been in that hideous grass.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Rarity, could ya go for one day without washing your mane?” Rarity looked at her as if Applejack had asked her to jump off a cliff. “Good heavens no! This mane took me ages to style and I’m not going to let some little putrid bugs that might have crawled in there to lay their eggs ruin it!” With a huff she jumped into the water and disappeared under the surface. “I wouldn’t let Fluttershy calling animals putrid if I were you. Speaking of which, were is that gal?” Rarity re-submerged and looked at her alarmed, so did Twilight. “You mean she wasn’t here when you got up?” Twilight asked. Applejack nodded. Her eyes widened as she came to the same conclusion the others had come to. The three ponies raced back to the campsite and woke Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. They quickly informed them Fluttershy was missing and soon they all were calling out her name in panicky tones. “I’m here,” came the sweet voice of the other pegasus. Five pairs of eyes looked confusedly in every direction, before Rainbow pointed towards where the campfire was with horror in her eyes. A large lump was in place of where the campfire was last night. It quickly rose up and its eyes flickered open, revealing Fluttershy’s cyan eyes. “Good morning, everypony,” she greeted them softly with a smile. Fluttershy was completely covered in ash, with only her white teeth the only thing clean about her. “Oh, sorry if I kept you waiting. You could’ve wok… why are you all staring at me like that?” Pinkie fainted, Rainbow looked like her jaw would drop off, Applejack was horrified, Twilight was sniggering at everypony’s reaction, and Rarity had a hoof on her chest, hyperventilating. “Fluttershy! I thought of all ponies on this world you should know better! Sleeping in a campfire can’t be at all good for your complexion!” “It's actually very relaxing,” Fluttershy remarked. “But I wouldn’t recommend it to you all, you might get hurt.” Twilight giggled. “Thanks for the sound advice, Fluttershy. Now get yourself cleaned up, then we can get going.” Fluttershy looked down on herself and gasped. “Oh my!” She quickly galloped past the stricken ponies, covering some of them in ash and dust, and then jumping and diving into the water. When she emerged, her yellow coat and pink mane shone as bright as the sun. She swam around a bit before getting out then shook the excess water off her body, and then joined the others who were getting ready to set off once more. “Ready, everypony?” Pinkie asked a while later. Five heads nodded and they soon set off, leaving the remains of the campfire behind. As they made their way back onto the main road, Pinkie started to sing. “On the road again.” “Just can’t wait to get on the road again.” The others quickly joined in, singing in complete harmony. “The life I love making music with my friends, and I can’t wait to get on the road again…” The four hours that passed by once they got on the move was without incident. They passed small woodlands, stopping at Fluttershy’s request to watch a small group of bunnies with young ones. After an hour or so they had to literary drag her away, and they were soon back on the move. Eventually the came across a large forest with dark green leaves and really old trees, with a small path that went through the middle. “The map states Detrots is in the middle of this forest,” Twilight said. “We shouldn’t be much further now.” The walked cautiously through, going at a quick trot so if they get in any trouble they could gallop fast towards the city. “It's okay, there’s only owls and small, harmless creatures in there. I can hear them,” Fluttershy said. The others relaxed and continued. After a while they rounded a long bend and were soon within sight of Detrots. The city wasn’t viewable from the outside. A great stone wall around twelve feet high surrounded the city, which was accessible by a long wooden drawbridge that was split in two halves, which were raised up at the moment. As they came closer to the bridge, they spotted a guard standing by the raised bridge, looking slightly bored. When she saw the six ponies come closer, she spread her wings and lowered her spear. “Halt! Who are you?! State your business in Detrots!” she called to them in a gruff voice. Twilight stepped forward. She gestured for Fluttershy to follow close behind. “Good afternoon. We’re here on important business with permission from the Princess herself,” she said. The guard raised her spear slightly. “Do you have proof?” she asked. Twilight nodded and gestured Fluttershy to come forward. The pegasus walked up next to Twilight and, not once looking at the guard, showed her leg with Celestia’s bracelet on it. The guard examined it, then nodded, seemingly satisfied with the evidence. “Hey, Silver Shield!” she called to the battlements. “Lower the bridge. We have six ponies here bearing the mark of the Princess!” The drawbridge creaked as it lowered, both sides coming down evenly and ending together perfectly connected. “I’ll escort you inside,” the guard said and walked into the city, the ponies following close behind. With more creaking the front gates of city opened upwards. “Enjoy your stay here in Detrots,” the guard said, and watched them enter. As she walked out of the gatehouse and back over the bridge she gestured one of the pegasi guards on the battlements to come down. “Inform the commander of their arrival. Tell him a yellow pegasus with a pink mane bears the mark of Celestia. And send somepony to follow them so we know where they go.” The pegasus nodded and took to the air. The city of Detrots was much like Ponyville in a way. The structures were wooden in build and the area was pretty flat. But that’s were any resemblance ended. The buildings were a white with vertical black stripes in colour, the ground was soft and muddy from a few days of rain, and there were around twenty ponies in the street the six friends walked through. Applejack grunted with every step she took, since Rarity jumped on her back in fright of getting her hooves dirty. “I think first we should find somewhere to stay, Twilight. We were only lucky last time they had a room for six,” Rainbow suggested. “I agree, the sooner we’re off this muddy road, the better,” Rarity said from Applejack’s back. They soon started looking around; anywhere they would be able to stay for a day or more. Pinkie was the first to find a place. “Girls! Girls! I found somewhere!” she exclaimed as she hopped around them. “Where?” Twilight asked. Pinkies hopped a few feet, turned and pointed to the left. They saw a large wooden building with a plain wooden sign outside that gave it away as an inn. “Good work, Pinkie,” Twilight commented. They trotted after Twilight and went inside the rectangular building. The inn was very medieval in appearance, a long table in the centre with smaller tables along the side, squared up in boxes. Along the walls were ceremonial swords, spears and shields, and between each were torches that lit up the place. At the far end was the innkeeper behind the front counter, cleaning up a tankard with his magic. He was a unicorn, with a light blue coat and a lighter blue mane and tail, his cutie mark was a tankard and his eyes were a dark green. He turned around when he heard to door close. “Welcome, ladies,” he smiled and greeted them. “I haven’t see any of you here before, have I?” “Nope, we’re all the way from Ponyville,” Pinkie said joyfully. The bartender’s eyes widened. “Ponyville?! My hometown?!” The ponies nodded, the blue-coated unicorn beamed. “Why ladies you’re all very welcome to ‘The Shield Mares’ Inn. Sorry I have yet to put the name up. I should do that soon as a note to self. Anyway, name’s Brewman.” He walked out from behind the bar and greeted them all with a hoof shake. “Nice to meet you, Brewman, I’m Twilight Sparkle.” “I’m Rarity, might I say it’s a pleasure to meet you.” “Howdy former Ponyvillian, I’m Applejack,” Brewman’s eyes widened in surprise. “Of the apple family?” Applejack nodded. “Wow, Is old Granny Smith okay? Is she still making those zap apples?” Applejack nodded with a grin. “Yep, and I’ve been learning as well.” Brewman nodded and turned attention to Rainbow. “I’m Rainbow Dash, most awesome pegasus in Ponyville.” “I can doubt that,” he muttered quietly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He moved to the next pony, who shook his hoof at an alarming speed. “Hi I’m Pinkie Pie, party pony of Ponyville, you used to live in Ponyville!” She paused to gasp. “I may remember you, but it’s difficult if you know every pony names in the whole town, except those that don’t live in Ponyville or those who move away, and that makes me sad, because they’ll miss some of my spectacular parties I put on and yeah it’s nice to meet you.” When Brewman was finally able to move his leg away, his hoof felt a bit numb. He gave it a quick shake before turning to the quietest member of the group. “And who might you be?” “I’m Fluttershy,” she said quietly. She drew out a hoof and shook his. “It’s nice to meet you.” Brewman smiled warmly. “It’s nice to meet you too.” He walked back behind the counter. “So what could I do for you all?” Fluttershy spoke up. “Could we have a room to stay for the night please? If it's no trouble that is.” “And do you have one for the six of us. Separate beds of course,” Twilight added. Brewman chuckled. “It’s no problem at all, and I have one with eight beds in that room there.” He paused to point at the plain black door with a bronze handle. “I could use the business as well, to be honest. It’s real slow here.” “Really?” Twilight cocked her head to the side. “Yep, all the customers I get are usually the soldiers that are posted here, and some travellers who took a wrong turn.” He poured them all a drink. “Here, have this on the house.” They sat down by the long table and drank. “Wow,” Rainbow said. “What is this drink? It’s delicious!” “My own little recipe. A plant grows by the river here that tastes wonderful, I managed to concoct it into a drink. Don’t worry its non-alcoholic; never sell anything here that gets ponies drunk. If some of the soldiers got their hooves on it, I dread to think what it will do to my business,” he said. As Brewman finished cleaning his tankards, the six mares rested their legs and drank their drinks, cheery and glad that they made it here at last. “So what business brings you all to Detrots?” Brewman asked. “I noticed, Fluttershy, you have a bracelet with the mark of Celestia.” As he just finished his sentence when the front door opened, startling everypony in fright. A unicorn and pegasi guards walked through, with grim faces. Brewman walked up to them. “Afternoon, gents. What could I do for you?” “We’re here for the yellow pegasus. Commander Star wants to see her.” Everypony looked towards Fluttershy, then back at the guards. Rainbow stood in front of Fluttershy and spread her wings out defensively. “Why can’t we all go?” she enquired. “If Fluttershy goes somewhere, I’m going with her.” The guards took to an aggressive stance and looked like they were about to charge. Fluttershy put a calming hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder and gave her a warm smile. “It’s okay, Rainbow.” She gently pushed Rainbow to the side and walked up to the guard. “I’ll go, take me to your leader.” She giggled. “I’ve read it so many times in books I can’t believe I just said it for real.” The guards looked at each other awkwardly, then gestured Fluttershy to go outside and follow them. Before she left, she waved a hoof at her friends. “I won’t be long,” she said comfortingly and left. “If I find out you’ve harmed one hair on her, you better prepare yourselves for a world of pain!” Rainbow called out to them. She looked back at the shocked faces of everypony in the inn. “What? I meant every word as well you know.” Fluttershy was led though the streets, gaining some unwanted attention by some of the few ponies that lived in Detrots. The two guards flanked Fluttershy on either side, and she felt slightly unnerved by their size and rather aggressive expressions. What if they threw her in a dungeon for something she didn’t commit? ‘What if they took me away to get to my friends?’ was one of some of the rather ridiculous thoughts and accusations rang through her mind. She scolded herself for starting to think like Twilight and Rainbow, with their rather ridiculous thoughts on what the Princess would do to them and her in the past. They approached a large stoned building built directly into the wall that surrounded the city. The two guards stopped and turned around completely, facing the city. “Go right inside. Commander Star will be in the door on the right,” the unicorn guard said. Fluttershy nodded and slowly walked inside. There was a door on the far right, which Fluttershy reckoned the commander was in. She opened the door and peeked inside. “Hello?” she whispered. A pony raised his head from below the table and looked towards the door. Fluttershy instantly jumped back and hoped he hadn’t seen her. “Come in. I saw you peeping over the door,” he ordered sharply. With a squeak Fluttershy slowly walked in and closed the door behind her with a hind leg. She walked with her head down, avoiding the eye contact with the pony. He was a dark grey pegasus with a long black mane and short tail. His eyes were a turquoise colour and were locked on her in a way that made Fluttershy feel uneasy. “Sit down on this chair please?” he offered. Fluttershy complied and sat down, still looking at the ground. “What is your name?” he asked. It took a while for to respond but eventually she said it audibly, “I’m Fluttershy.” “I’m Commander Star of the 412th Equestrian Royal Guard.” Fluttershy put a hoof out to shake his, but he stared blankly at it, so she put it back down. “You know, in the ten years of being commander of this post. I have never had an inspection from Canterlot before.” Fluttershy looked up and shook her head. “But we’re not here on inspection.” Star looked at her with his cold eyes. “No, so why are you here?” he asked sharply “Me and my friends are looking for a pony.” “Right, so that could be one of any pony in this city,” he said sarcastically. “He’s a pegasus-” “That narrows it down to around seventy pegasi,” he cut her off again. “His name’s Firewing.” Star froze and looked at her with a scared expression. “What do you know of Firewing?” “All I know is that he came here and I want… I need to find him,” she said, correcting herself. “How do you know him?” “I see,” he ignored her question. “I take it the Princess must have sent you, since you have that bracelet.” Fluttershy nodded. Star put a hoof to his chin. “Come on then,” he stood up. “I’ll show you where he is at this moment.” Fluttershy face lit up. “Oh thank you, thanks so much!” she squealed with delight. She fell quickly behind Star and followed out of his office and up a spiralling flight of stairs. ‘This is it,’ Fluttershy thought. ‘We have come all this way, and once we’re done here we could go home, and I could live my life anew.’ They arrived at the top of the stairs and Star pushed the door open. Fluttershy barged past him and looked around. They were at the top of the tallest tower along the battlements. Fluttershy could see beyond the boundaries of the northern side of the city; the land ahead was a large group of forest, and standing above, proudly soaring up into the sky were a range of mountains the stretched across the horizon. Fluttershy looked back towards Star with a confused face. “Where’s Firewing?” He walked up next to her and pointed to the mountain range. “See those mountains?” Fluttershy nodded. “He’s there somewhere, left to go over there about a month ago”. Fluttershy ears lowered and she faced Star. “What’s over those mountains?” “Those mountains are what separate Equestria from Horsca,” he replied. “He packed what things he had and left the city to go into Horsca, saying something important needs to be done there.” “Did he say what?” Star shook his head. “Did he say how long he’d be?” “Look, he’s probably dead. Most ponies that go into Horsca never come back.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she shakily asked, “Why?” Star sighed. “The southern side of Horsca don’t like Equestrians, they catch one and they’re dead. Most ponies that are lucky to pass them head straight to the north.” Fluttershy looked at Star with a confused expression. “North and south? What’s the difference?” Star facehoofed himself. “Of course! Equestria doesn’t know what’s been going on over there. Well we do. Do you want to know?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, miss Fluttershy, Horsca has been a divided country for nearly two hundred years. The two ruling families, the Palominans and the Andulusians, use to live and rule the country together. But broke off after a pathetic disagreement and have been fighting over the country ever since. The wars have been going on and off, but always brutal and savage, with neither side giving mercy,” he finished. Fluttershy jaw had lowered to the ground and her eyes widened through the story “Then why doesn’t this book on Horsca we have say any of this?” she wondered aloud. “Probably because the darn thing is never told, for some reason it’s kept a secret. Only the Princesses knows about the war, and us, and that’s it.” Fluttershy nodded her head slightly in understanding, although she was still confused about why it was kept a secret from the rest of Equestria. “So what about Firewing?” Star shook his head. “Not a chance, and even if he did get past the Andulusian soldiers, I still wouldn’t recommend it. Its suicide for the six of you to go in there. You’ll all be killed on sight.” Fluttershy’s ears dropped onto her head and her bottom lip drooled. Suddenly an idea came to her mind, one that filled her with disgust and shame for even thinking of it, but she needed to get to Firewing. “What about one pony?” Star thought about this for a moment, then shrugged. “Fifty fifty, the chances are higher than the six of you going. But I still wouldn’t recommend it.” Fluttershy turned her gaze towards the mountains again, determination written on her face. Star saw this and shook his head. “Oh Nononononono, I’m not allowing you to go out there by yourself.” “I have no choice. If I don’t go alone we all die. If I do go alone, I could die, but I would have a better chance. I must find Firewing so he can help me, and if I have to go into Horsca then so be it. I’ve come too far to give up now.” Star was about to object to this, but could see it was hopeless. “What about your friends? I take it they could’ve stayed at home but instead they came with you, so what makes you think they’d let you go alone?” “They won’t, that’s why I have a plan.” Fluttershy explained it to Star, who raised an eyebrow at the end. “You would go that far?” he asked. Fluttershy nodded sadly. “You must think I’m a monster.” Star shook his head “I’ve heard and seen worse things, Fluttershy. That ain’t any of them.” He paused to sigh. “Very well, there’s a shop that sells some stuff down the road. Head left when you exit this building. The shop has a red sign above it, can’t miss it.” “Thank you,” Fluttershy said softly and walked towards the door. “By the way, you’ll need a fifty bits to get through. Firewing did so, I won’t let anypony through unless they’d willing to pay.” He called to her. Fluttershy heard but didn’t respond as she walked out and headed left like Star said. “I hope you girls could forgive me,” she whispered aloud. “Pinkie,” Applejack said. “Hit me.” Pinkie nodded and raised a hoof, then slung a card over to her, which Applejack caught with her mouth, and placed neatly with the other two cards in her hooves. The five ponies had relocated to the largest room in the inn, made for eight ponies to sleep in. It was very spacious with a large table for the five of them to play cards on. “Um…” Rarity pondered. “I think I’ll stick,” she declared, putting her cards down. Pinkie nodded. “Hit me,” Rainbow asked. When she got the card she slammed her head down on the table. “Darn it! Over twenty one, again!” “Oh don’t take it too hard, Rainbow,” Twilight said. She scanned her cards and put them on the table. “I’m sticking.” “I’m sticking too,” Pinkie said. Applejack nodded in agreement and as one the four ponies flipped over their cards, Pinkie had eighteen, Applejack and twenty, Rarity had seventeen and Twilight had twenty-one. “Wahoo!” she punched the air, giggling with joy. “I never won a game of Blackjack before! Well I only played once before but still!” “Well done, Twilight. Say, do you want to shuffle this one?” Pinkie asked, Twilight nodded and got the group of cards and shuffled them with her magic. Then shot out two cards each to the others, giving her two. They all looked towards the door expecting to see Brewman if they wanted a drink, but instead had Fluttershy coming through the door. “Oh, I’m sorry am I interrupting?” she asked. She was met with beaming smiles. “Hey, Fluttershy!” Pinkie greeted her. “Want to play cards?” Fluttershy declined with a shake of the head. Rainbow got up and walked around her, giving Fluttershy an inspection. “Yep, no harm done,” she declared and gave Fluttershy a quick hug. “How was it?” “Yeah, what did they want?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy sat up on one of the free chairs and gave them all a great smile. “Oh it was fine, Star, the commander of the garrison here, showed me where Firewing was.” “And did you meet him?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded. “And have you been… treated?” Fluttershy nodded with a beaming smile. The ponies cheered. “This is brilliant, we could go home!” Pinkie beamed. “And have a super smashing party that rivals any and every party that’s ever been or is happening!” Fluttershy nodded. “And I thought we should celebrate it with this.” She got out a large cider bottle along with six cups. She noticed Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and Twilight’s eyes widening and lips starting to drool. “This is hoof made apple cider from a village about five miles away, it’s one the best apparently in Equestria… the best is Applejack’s of course,” she explained, looking at the farm pony who smiled with a faint blush. Fluttershy went around the table pouring the cider into the cups she’d given them and went back to her seat. Taking the tankard in her hoof. “Girls,” she began, “coming on this journey with you has been great. I’m glad we went together, and I’m glad that we’d finished it together. I would never had done it with good friends by my side.” She paused to control her voice, which she felt was on the point of breaking. “So thank you, for being the best friends a mare could have.” The six ponies put their cups together and gulped down their drinks. Fluttershy however didn’t take a sip, she grimaced as she watched them drink, her heart was racing and she could feel tears in her eyes. ‘What have you done?’ a voice, her voice, in her head said. They put their glasses down and licked their lips “Whoowee! Don’t tell my family I said this, but that was mighty delicious!” Applejack commented. “Thank ya, Fluttershy for that.” She looked at Fluttershy, who smiled as best she could. Applejack could see though something was wrong. Fluttershy lips were trembling as if she about to cry and her eyes seemed watery for some reason. Before Applejack could ask her what was wrong, she noticed in the corner of her eye Pinkie falling to the floor, snoring loudly. She felt her eyes starting to feel heavy and tried her best to keep them open. “Oh… my,” Rarity yawned. “I feel… sleepy,” she said before collapsing on to the ground, next to the snoozing pink earth pony. Rainbow started to see something was wrong and gazed coldly at the yellow pegasus, whose cheeks were soaked from her tears. “What have you done!” she barked, pointing an accusing hoof at her. Fluttershy merely shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she choked out. Rainbow then fell to the ground, Applejack followed suite. Twilight was still holding on, her hooves were on the table as she stared at Fluttershy in shock and wonder, but her eyes were feeling heavy. Fluttershy looked at her dolefully, then leaned over and hugged the unicorn. “Twilight, do me a favour. When you get home, remember me, please?” she whispered into the unicorn’s ear. Twilight’s eyes closed and she fell asleep, collapsing into Fluttershy’s embrace. Slowly and gently, Fluttershy set her down to the ground and let go of her. Once that was done, Fluttershy buried her face in her hooves and began to cry. When all that was left was sniffles, Fluttershy wiped her eyes and began dragging the five ponies one by one to their beds. Once they were all in she wrapped them up under the duvets and listened to the faint sounds of breathing coming from her (former) freinds. She turned away and brought out a scroll from Twilight’s saddlebag, one she knew the unicorn was planning to use to write to the Princess incase they discovered a friendship lesson. She knew they deserved a reason as to why she did this to them, so she wrote down what her intentions were. She was going into Horsca, and she will be going alone. When she finished the letter she wrapped it up and placed it neatly on the table. She left out her blanket for Rarity and packed enough things to keep her alive in Horsca, and then headed to the door. Before she opened she looked back, and seeing her five friends sleeping peacefully, she smiled. She couldn’t help but smile, and in those few seconds, she looked back at the things they did together, and the things they may never do together again. “I love you, girls,” she whispered, and opened the door, leaving her friends for a long sleep. Star and Brewman looked her way when Fluttershy closed the door behind her, closing it gently incase in awakens the sleeping ponies. “Is it done?” Star asked, Fluttershy looked towards Brewman, whose face she couldn’t read, but if he had any resentment towards her now, she wouldn’t blame him. “Yes, it’s done. They’re all asleep,” she said, staring back at Star. Star nodded. “Do you have the fifty bits for the toll?” Fluttershy nodded and gave him a large bag of bits. “I kept my end of the deal,” Fluttershy said. “Now pinkie promise me that you’ll make sure that they all get back to Ponyville safely.” She pointed to the door where her friends were sleeping. Star sighed. “Do I have to do that?” Fluttershy nodded. “Exactly as I taught you to. It’s so I know I can trust you.” Star sighed and raised a hoof. “I promise that I will get Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash back home safely.” He paused as his eyes darted around incase any soldiers were nearby. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he said, with all the gestures as well. Fluttershy nodded satisfactorily, then leaned closer into his ear. “If I find out though a single hair on them is hurt, then I will make sure the Princess will know, and you will wish you hadn’t met me,” she whispered to him. She pulled back and gave him a smile that although didn’t look it, felt extremely threatening and sent a shiver down Star’s spine. He didn’t really want to know if she would carry out that threat. ‘If she makes it back,’ he reminded himself. “Of course… um… shall we?” he asked, heading to the door. Fluttershy followed suite. “Fluttershy,” Brewman called, Fluttershy looked around to see him staring at her, not coldly, but in pity. “What you did. Don’t you think it’s a bit… cruel?” Fluttershy stared at him for a while, and then nodded. “Yes. But sometimes we got to be cruel to be kind,” she answered. “Take care of them for me, please?” Brewman nodded. “Of course. Just promise me you stay safe, and get back to them.” Fluttershy didn’t answer; instead she continued to walk out the door. Brewman sighed and opened the door to see Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie sleeping in their beds. “Come back to them. They care about you just as much as you care about them,” he said aloud and then closed the door. “You know, that sleeping drug you put in the cider is used on injured ponies. It should knock them out for two days or so,” Star said. “I know,” Fluttershy said as they walked through the streets to the city gate that led towards Horsca. “But I should be in Horsca then, shouldn’t I?” “Yes. Like I said when you returned to me, it should take you a day and two nights if you leave now.” He paused. “You want to get into Horsca when it’s dark, there’ll be less patrols then. Once you’re in Horsca, head straight for Castilian and do not stop for anything.” They arrived at the back gate. The gate was large brown with black iron bars that were arranged around the edge of the gate, and to Fluttershy’s left a pony stood guard with a lever that opened up the gate. “Now before you leave, do you know how to fight?” Star asked her. Fluttershy looked at him with wide eyes. Fight? She’d never had a fight before, even with those that picked on her, and neither with animals. She shook her head and Star sighed. “Well, I think you will need to learn to fight if you want a chance to live in there.” He pointed to beyond the gates. Star gestured a pegasi guard to come over. In his teeth was a bracelet of some kind. “Are you right or left hoofed?” Star asked Fluttershy. “Um… I’d could use both quite well, but I’d prefer my right hoof to hold things,” she answered. The soldier placed the strange bracelet on the right leg on Fluttershy; once the pegasus had moved the bracelet the Princess had given her to her left leg. Fluttershy examined the bracelet; it stretched from her hoof to her knee joint, and the back end reminded her of a sword hilt, the centre of the bracelet was a golden unicorn head. On the end was a little slit that Fluttershy couldn’t make out what was in it. “I wouldn’t do that, could poke your eye out. Now lift your leg in the air and think that you need to use it.” Fluttershy nodded and lifted her leg to her chest. She closed her eyes and thought of a dragon attacking her friends, and she needed a sword by her side. When she opened her eyes again, a two-foot long blade flew out of the slit and it shone the low sunlight. Fluttershy mouth was agape in awe; it forced a chuckle out of Star. “Unicorn magic,” he said, explaining Fluttershy unspoken question. “They’re forged in Canterlot by unicorns. Once they’re equipped they will respond like a living thing to a pony. It will know when to draw and will sheathe itself too.” “But I thought we used swords in our mouths?” Fluttershy asked. Star shook his head. “Oh no, not enough grip. A swipe from griffon claw or horses hooves will knock the sword right out of our teeth. Plus a few teeth with it. No, they’re more for ceremonial purposes than combat.” Fluttershy nodded. “But… I don’t know how to use this.” “And that’s what I’m going to teach you,” Star said. He rose up his right leg to his chest and a blade drew from the bracelet he was wearing. “Now, I will start slow and attack you, and you will block my attacks. I will go faster as we go along, ready? He asked. Fluttershy hesitantly nodded, pressing her right leg to her chest and waiting for the first strike, her gaze not avoiding his. The first one came slowly; he walked forward on three legs and raised his right one to strike down, Fluttershy raised hers and blocked the first strike with ease. “Good,” Star commented. He stepped back and then swung his leg to his left. Fluttershy stepped back and parried the blow. “Very good, now let’s try a little harder shall we.” He charged at her much faster, but Fluttershy was surprisingly quick. She stepped out of the way and smacked him on the flank with the side of the sword. He turned and raised his sword and leg to strike, but Fluttershy lunged forward on her own attack. He was surprised but quickly recovered. Star blocked the first strike, and the second, before Fluttershy backed away. “Wow, I’m impressed,” Star, said. He paused to breathe; he could feel the sweat on his brow. “You learn fast, so fast I don’t think we need anymore practice duels. So now for the final challenge. See if you could force me to yield.” He went into an aggressive stance and his wings spread wide, Fluttershy followed suite and waited. Star swung his right leg, aiming to catch her off guard by feinting an attack to the right when he would move to the left, Fluttershy raised her sword leg to block, but realised her mistake when she saw Star moving his leg to the left, before he could strike, Fluttershy recovered and blocked the feinted attack. Star gasped. Fluttershy grinned as she moved forward on an attack of her own, going right and left quickly, Star made a strike at the same time, the two ponies crossing swords for a few seconds, before finally Fluttershy being pushed back and Star coming forward to make his move. But she blocked blow after blow, always able to dodge at the right moment, and at the speed of a trained soldier. By now, a lot of ponies were watching this duel go on with great interest. They watched intensely as the two ponies moved away from each other and started to circle. Fluttershy then decided to give an offence herself and end this. She charged Star, swinging attacks with such speed that Star was barely able to block them. Finally, she slammed her sword onto Star’s with such force it swung his right leg right out of the way. She placed the tip of her blade right onto Star’s neck. “By Celestia’s mane!” he exclaimed, his own blade, sliding back into its scabbard. Fluttershy was breathing fast, so was Star, and he couldn’t help but feel humiliated. A civilian who only picked up a sword today had beaten him, a veteran of the army. “Well…um… yeah, I was going easy on you… well done…” he said, trying to keep some dignity. “You could put the blade away now.” Fluttershy looked down and noticed her blade was still on his neck, she quickly moved it away and it sheathed. “Oh… right… sorry,” she said, looking bashfully away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I could do that.” “It’s okay, but that was amazing all the same. I think you won’t have a problem with fighting, but just know this.” Fluttershy looked back into Star’s eyes. “The horses over there won’t yield like I did, they believe to die fighting is the greatest honour. So you may have to kill some horses if you run into some that threaten you.” Fluttershy nodded and looked towards the gate. “Am I ready now?” Star nodded and stood beside Fluttershy, who turned to face the gate. “Are you aware of the risks that you may encounter beyond this gate? Fluttershy nodded. “I do.” “Are you also aware of the possibility that you will not come back from Horsca?” There was a long pause. “Yes.” “And if you have any doubts, any at all, then feel free to turn around now and walk away.” Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, after a few seconds she raised her head high and puffed out her chest. “I will not turn back.” “Very well,” Star said. He turned his head so he faced the pegasus by the lever. “Open the gate!” he ordered. The pegasus nodded and pulled the lever forward, the gate ached and groaned as it opened, the dust that formed between the giant doors fell as the gate swung inwards. Fluttershy gulped as she saw what lay ahead. The trees were so tall they blocked out the sun, and the shading made them seem terrifying in nature, and the branches stretched out across as if the trees were embracing each other. “Good luck, Fluttershy. And may Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon guide you,” Star said. Fluttershy bowed her head to him and walked slowly forward. “Okay, I can do this. Just one hoof after the other, just like Twilight had taught me,” she said to herself. She felt the shadow of the gates cloud her as she left the confines of the city and was now in the forest. She looked back, and saw Star looking at her with a somber expression, as the gates closed behind her. Star raised a hoof goodbye before the gate slammed shut, locking behind her. Now there was no going back. Fluttershy looked back in front of her. The woods were far darker than she thought they were. She started to walk slowly, her ears right up and her eyes darting around, trying to make out anything that could harm her. But nothing, not even birdsong, and that worried her the most. She decided to pick up the pace and broke into a trot, thinking the sooner she was out of this wood the better. “You think she may come back?” a pegasus guard said to Star once the gate had shut. Star looked at her and nodded. “I think so. She’s a special pony that one. All of them are.” He walked away from the gate. “Keep watch on the inn. If those five ponies wake up I want to know pronto. And someone order a carriage to take them home in two days,” he ordered. The pegasus saluted and ran off to carry out her appointed task. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief when she finally exited the forest and breathed the sweet fresh air that came with it. She looked around and noticed the sun would soon be down so decided to walk a bit further before settling down for the night. She wondered what she would find over the border. What the horses look like? Would they have cutie marks like ponies do? How will they react to her arriving in Castilian like Star told her to go to? She had the map Star had given her when she went back to see him after getting the sleeping drug in her saddlebag. She told herself to read it when she settled down for the night. That soon came around. She found herself getting more and more tired and decided to call it a day. She moved so that she was off the dirt road and in a clearing, below a tree so that if it rained she won’t get that wet. She went out and found some sticks and made a fire. Using the light she brought the map of Horsca out and looked at it, examining every detail. Horsca had several mountain ranges, one in the far east, another making up most of the southwest, another in the centre, and one more making the border between the two countries. A long river snaked its way from the northeast down to the southwest, splitting up into smaller rivers that worked their way across the country. Forests teemed most of the landscape it seemed (she didn’t know how old this was so it could be wrong), while there were two vast plains, one in the east and one in the centre, surrounding Castilian. A large red mark split the country in half, letting Fluttershy know where the southern rule ended and the northern one began. And finally, there were the cities. There was four in the south and three in the north, all marked by big black dots. Fluttershy noticed the one city in the south she would least want to run in, and yet go in her path, was one called Andulusia. “I should avoid that,” she said to herself. She placed her hoof on the place she would enter the country and made a path, firstly going forward, wide berthing Andulusia, go through a small wood, then head west to Castilian. “It’ll be perfect,” she said with a nod of her head to herself. She wrapped up the map and placed it back in her saddlebags, and then fished around for her blanket. She stopped and sighed sadly when she remembered she left it back at Detrots, for Rarity to have. Her ears fell flat and she rested her head on the ground. She had gotten use to her friends constant chatter throughout the nights, some of it about where they were going, other conversations were about random things like what they found, or what they wanted to do in life. For the first time in ages, Fluttershy was alone, really truly alone, and she hated it. She would give everything to hear one of Pinkie’s cheap jokes, Twilight blabbering on about something, cheering on Rainbow Dash, helping Applejack with apple bucking, seeing Rarity at the spa every week. But she knew she can’t turn back now, they wouldn’t, so why should she? Besides, she thought, when they wake up, they’d probably never want to see her again, and she wouldn’t blame them if they did. She closed her eyes and fell to sleep, feeling cold, lonely and miserable. Fluttershy awoke early the next morning. Unsurprisingly she didn’t sleep well, having bad dreams of her friends seeing her again when she came back, and then completely ignoring her as if she never did. One such vision saw them yelling at her. ‘If I return to see them,’ a dark thought went through her mind. She shook her head, and told herself not to think like that. She will return and live the life she wanted. Slow and peaceful. She packed her bags and trotted out the clearing back onto the dirt road and headed right, after seeing her hoof tracks were still in the road from last night. She kept walking, stopping occasionally to sniff some extraordinary flowers she’d never seen before. The time went quickly, and Fluttershy soon found herself under the shadow of the mountains, where beyond this was the land of the horses. She saw the dirt road change into a pebbled road on a curve up the mountain and, with a sigh, started the climb into Horsca. The path wasn’t steep thankfully, so she didn’t have much difficulty climbing. When she made it to the top though, she couldn’t help but gasp in wonder at the beautiful sight before her. Miles and miles of forests, plains and mountains dotted the landscape, low clouds covering the top of the highest peaks and the sun cast it’s light down upon it. A fresh, gentle breeze kept her long mane flowing gently with it. She sat down on the ground, deciding to take this moment to view the country and get her bearings right. “Welcome to Horsca, Fluttershy,” she said to herself. She watched and waited as the world went by, until the stars started to show and the last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. She started to follow the path down. “Now let’s find Firewing. Come on, you can do this.” Before she started her descent she licked a hoof and reached it towards the sky; the wind was strong, too strong for her to fly in, so annoyingly she would have to do this the hard way. She began the descent down the mountain and into this foreign country. It was truly evening by the time Fluttershy made it down onto the flats. She looked around but all she could make out in the darkness was trees of various types alongside the stone path she was now on. She broke into a trot, hoping to keep a good pace and get across the southern border by morning, the idea of camping out here sounding too dangerous to her. She came across a small stone bridge and trotted over. The river below sounded nimble and rough. With the river behind her, she came across old shacks that were abandoned, either too old or destroyed by fire. They looked like they were good places to camp out but Fluttershy’s determination to get over the border beckoned her onwards. A few minutes later her ears suddenly twitched as they began picking up something, a sound that was so alien and yet, thanks to Star’s training, all too familiar to her. The sound of steel clashing into steel, and the cries of horses fighting. She began to move a little faster, hoping the sounds would grow distant as she moved. Unfortunately they moved closer, she could start to pick up muffled calls and shouts from the horses. She then stopped when she heard the sound of hooves touching the ground, coming towards her. Without hesitation, she dived through the foliage and hid in a bush, and waited till the horses went by. She didn’t see them but they sounded awfully close. Thankfully though after a while the galloping faded and the sounds of battle dimmed, until silence. Fluttershy crept out of the bush and looked around, she didn’t see a silhouette of a horse or any other threatening creature. So Fluttershy ran, faster than she had ever run in her entire life, going completely straight, praying that she wouldn’t meet a Horscan patrol. A while later and still there were silence and her nerves calmed a bit. She raised a smile and thought she would actually make it. She didn’t know where it came from, but a sharp hit on her face sent her crashing to the ground with a yelp. She tried to stand but her vision was blurry and her ears were deafened from the impact, and her head was screaming in pain. She felt herself pinned roughly to the ground and was rolled over onto her back, and saw with terrified eyes what had struck her. A dark brown horse loomed over her. The horse was in dark grey armour that went from its shoulders down to its flanks. It had the cold breathe of the air bellowing from its nostrils. Metal horseshoes that had small spikes on the end covered its hooves, and its helmet had horns pointing upwards like a unicorn’s horn, with smaller spikes like dragons that flowed down to it’s neck. “Welcome to Horsca, Equestrian,” the horse snarled. Fluttershy whimpered silently and tried to force herself free from the horse’s restraint. The horse chuckled evilly, and then slammed another hoof into her face, blacking out the world.