//------------------------------// // Fluttershy // Story: Episode 1: Nightmares and Lunascapes // by mr lovecolt //------------------------------// (Well, this is the chapter that has what could be considered graphic content. It's not necessarily gory, but it does have some physically cringeworthy images, I guess. Is that how these warnings go?) The traffic had long since died down on the streets of Manehatten to the point that now, anypony’s hooves could be heard as they clacked on the pavement. Luna’s moon still hid behind a wall of clouds, and it left the lamp posts to shed whatever little light they could. The darkness was punctuated with golden circles of light, and each revealed a small vignette which Fluttershy watched from the window of her and the girls’ suite. A large stallion stood at a lamp post; he had a bandage wrapped around one of his hooves, and a scar ran down the side of his leg. He looked back and forth, until his eyes came to rest at the occupant of another circle of lamp post’s light. In that one, a zebra mare stood and slowly ran her hoof through her mane. Though the patterns on her body were black and white, she had died the white stripes of her mane and tail purple. She had headphones on; she was apparently listening to music. Fluttershy watched as the large stallion slowly left the light of his own lamp post. She could hear his injured hoof as it trailed just behind the other three. Clop, clop, clop… clop. Clop, clop, clop…clop. The stallion emerged from the darkness and was now in the circle of light of another lamp post, just a few away from the zebra, who now rummaged through her saddlebag, completely unaware that a stallion approached. Fluttershy wanted to call out, but she had no idea what she was watching, and in any case, no sound could escape from her lips. She watched as the stallion moved another circle of light closer toward the zebra. Clop, clop, clop… clop. Clop, clop, clop…clop. Finally, the stallion now stood in the same circle of light as the zebra. Fluttershy watched as the zebra slowly looked up from her bag, her eyes darted from side to side, and then she slowly turned around and looked up at the stallion that now faced her. The lamp posts on the street flickered for a moment, and then went out. Fluttershy squeaked and ducked below the window, but then regained her composure after a few moments and looked out the window again. The lamp posts were back on, but the zebra and the stallion were nowhere to be seen. Fluttershy turned to the small table that stood next to the window. On it sat a small glass unicorn that she had bought from a vendor near Central Park. She still remembered how she tried to remember the way Rarity taught her to haggle. She remembered Rarity blushing and Twilight staring with her mouth agape as she said that the vendor was attractive and attractive ponies are always nice to other ponies who want to buy their wares. Fluttershy should have realized that it wouldn’t work on a mare vendor, but she was too nervous. Looking back though, it was still funny, in the end. Fluttershy touched the small unicorn with her hoof and held it for a moment. It was perfect for her collection. She already had a pegasus, a griffon, a dragon, and even a manticore glass figurine. Soon, she would have all of the creatures for her collection. Fluttershy turned to her nightstand. There, within another circle of light, sat the book. The book was blue, and lettering of the words “Nightmares and Lunascapes by Edger Allegore Poeny” scrolled through the cover, the serifs of the letters curled towards the edges of the book like tendrils. She inched closer towards the book, half expecting it to lift itself up by the tendrils and move away from her. In the other room, she could hear the sound of the girls as they sighed in their sleep. Fluttershy finally moved close enough to the book to where she could touch it. She lifted her hoof to grab the book, but then moved away at the last second. She shook her head, then grabbed the book and opened it. She flipped through the pages as quickly as she could until she got to the story marked “The Offering”. A few pages later, she had reached the part where Edger had left off. ***** Helioselene Enas alithinos theos mas katharisei apo ti̱n amarti na mas kanei katharo gia sas Cold water splashed onto Tiller’s face. He shivered and blinked as his body spasmed into wakefulness. As he rubbed his eyes and looked around, he realized that he was back in the barn. His first thought was not that he had been captured again, nor was it even what he knew was about to take place. His first thought was that he had failed Forge. He failed Forge again. Forge… “Where is Forge?” Tiller demanded. Apiaris moved from behind his elder and walked toward Tiller. A moment later, a hoof landed heavily on the side of Tiller’s face. “Forge is none of your concern.” “Apiaris!” Elder Smith shouted. “Sorry, elder.” Apiaris stared down at Tiller, and Tiller hoped that the outburst meant that Forge had gotten away. Apiaris went back to where he was standing behind the elder. Tiller looked around and saw the other three elders with their enforcers. A table rest in the middle of the room, and another stallion stood by it, looking over the metal tools that rest on a smaller table next to him. He watched as the stallion slowly lifted each tool, as if inspecting each one. He lifted a cloth to each one to shine them and then set them back on the table. The corners of the table had ropes tied to them, and a fifth one where a stallion’s neck should be placed. “For years,” Elder Smith said, clearing his throat, “We had treated you well. Your birth as a unicorn in this village was seen as a blessing, a sign of the return of the One True God, the Twenty-Hoofed One, and the Purifier.” Ag and Iron moved from behind their elders and went to pick Tiller up. They grabbed his shoulders and yanked him from the floor. Tiller attempted to struggle, but after a nod from one of the other elders, Ag lifted a hoof and punched him in his flank. Tillers legs went limp and they continued to drag him to the table. “You have sullied that blessing.” Elder Smith continued, “And we will now make an offering to him so that he will know that we did not intend to present such an abomination to him for a vessel.” “What do you mean ‘vessel’?” Tiller asked, “Why won’t you tell me?” Tiller's question was ignored as he was strapped to the table. The four elders stood by and glared at him, and behind them stood each of their enforcers. He tried, for a long time, to get one of the elders in particular to look him in the eyes, to see his eyes pleading for him to do something. Daddy, daddy please, help me. “You knew the punishment for what you did, Tiller.” His father said, “This is my punishment as much as yours. I am to watch because that is my punishment for siring a coltcuddler.” “Father?” “You are not to call me that ever again.” Tiller’s father tapped his hoof against the floor, and Ag immediately came from behind him with a bridle. Tiller could see the look of glee on his face as he forced the bridle into his mouth and tied it behind his head. Finally, Tiller looked up as tears streamed down his face. There would be no one left to help him. The first incision elicited a howl of pain from Tiller, whose legs had been strapped down with rope. The rope already bit into his skin as the scalpel edged its way down his testes. He felt a warm liquid run down his thigh, but he wasn’t sure if it was blood or if he had urinated on himself. The smell that wafted through the barn a few moments later let him know it was the latter. He could already feel himself become woozy. He saw out of the corner of his eye one of the elders nod her head, and a bucket of cold water was thrown on his face. He jittered from the shock. “You are going to be kept awake through this. This is the punishment of being failed offspring.” Failed offspring? Tiller looked over to his father once again. He remembered tilling the soil with his father, every planting season. Was he a failed offspring then? He looked over at the elders. He remembered helping them build the village with his father, lifting up this very barn. Had he failed at that? Vessel… vessel… Tiller thought of these words as he looked around the room. Above him, Tiller finally noticed the drawings. Somepony had drawn a large image on the roof of the barn; the image was of a large monstrous creature that held a sun in his left fore hoof, a moon in his right fore hoof, a star in his left hind hoof, and the world in his right hind hoof. Each hoof was surrounded by four other hooves, and they each held a combination of weapons and plants. His body, too, splayed out, and each hoof, as well as his head, formed the points of a star. Helioselene… The ice water had worn off and he once again was forced to focus on the pain occurring between his legs. He looked down and watched as skin around his testes had been splayed open on the operating table using scalpels. His legs spasmed, but each spasm just ripped it open even more. The sight became too much for Tiller, and he vomited without realizing he still wore the bridle. The vomit remained in his mouth, and he turned to his side and started coughing to get as much out through his teeth as possible. Finally, he gave up and tried to swallow the rest of it back down. “Where are the emasculators?” The stallion at the table looked around, and Tiller watched with wide eyes as a thin, metal object moved above his head that looked like a metal griffon claw. More tears fell from his eyes as he watched the emasculator get closer and closer to his testicles. They opened slowly, and he watched as the stallion in front of him looked on coldly. To him, this was nothing more than a task to perform. Tiller whinnied and felt more of his testes rip, and he finally gulped on his dried vomit and remained still, his chest heaving up and down. The emasculator clinked closed with a pinch. He saw his vision begin to tunnel. He would be out, and they couldn’t do anything about it. Another cold splash of water hit his face, jolting him back to consciousness. He looked back and forth for a moment and wondered if it had all been a dream. He looked around but saw the same elders surrounding him, the same stallion operating on him, and his father, whose face was now inscrutable. All of the energy was gone from Tiller. Hey Till… Tiller looked up and saw Forge standing over him. His face smiled down at him, his brown mane draped over his blue eyes. I’m sorry, Till. I’m sorry this happened. Tiller shook his head but then looked back up to the stallions eyes. I had to save myself, Till. I had to tell them that you used some sort of magic on me. See? Forge spun around to show him his backside, which had been covered with lashes. They only gave me lashes. Tiller only nodded. That’s right, he thought, that’s what I told you to say. I told you to save yourself. Do you remember what we said to each other? Alone, in the ruins, when we kissed? We were both so alone and we knew that nopony knew us for what we were? Do you remember how we made a list of reasons why everypony needed us? How we could show that list to everypony and they could just look past what we were to each other and instead what we were to them? Tiller only nodded again. I love you, Forge, he thought. Forge smiled at him and opened his mouth. There was another splash of cold water on his face, and Tiller looked around. Forge was gone, as was his father and most of the elders. He tried to call out to Forge, to his father, to anypony, but he was still restrained by the ropes and the bridle. Had he not just said those things? Had Forge not just been there? Tiller looked down between his legs. His testes were gone, and the stallion was busy sewing the skin back. Each thread pricked at his skin, but for some reason, the pain was gone, or numb, at least. Just a little prick and the sliding of the thread made its way through centimeters of skin. He didn’t struggle anymore. It was over. Tiller closed his eyes. A searing pain grew against his side, and he turned and saw a branding iron pressed against his flank over his cutie mark. Tiller screamed one last time, but he tried his best not to struggle as the heat burned through his skin. The branding looked almost like horseshoes, but after a while he was able to identify them as two c’s. The bridle was removed and the ropes loosened. His legs trembled, but he didn’t kick. His eyes burned but he didn’t cry. All of that was gone from him now as he looked up into the eyes of the final elder in the barn. “You have until sunrise to leave Flatts. If you are seen, you will be killed. Your name is to be wiped from your family tree so that their shame does not live on… and to think that your father was so proud to have sired the one unicorn. We won’t make that mistake again.” Tiller rest his head on the table, unresponsive to the sounds of the elder who made his way through the barn and out the door, leaving him in the darkness. The only thing that Tiller could see was the face of the creature that had been painted on the roof above him. Its mouth hung open and it revealed several teeth sharper than any pony’s. But the eyes simply stared at him. Tiller wondered if these were the true eyes of Helioselene – cold and vacant, able to view anything that anypony did with the same flatness that it would to view the sun or moon. Tiller hobbled off the table and limped out of the barn. The darkness slowly embraced his head, then his forehooves, then his barrel, then his hind hooves, until finally, even his tail disappeared into the darkness. ***** Fluttershy closed the book and set it next to her on the bed. She looked around the room and slowly made her way to her suitcase. Fluttershy knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, so she decided she may was well finish packing her things. She pulled out the dresses from the closet, one by one, and folded them into the suitcase. Each movement was slow and deliberate. Each movement had to be controlled. Fluttershy didn’t want to make any noises to wake up Rarity or Twilight. Fluttershy reached out for the book that she had been given. Fluttershy shook her head and placed it into the suitcase. Finally, she turned to the small table to pick up the unicorn. Fluttershy’s mind imagined staring down at Tiller as he struggled against the restraints. Her breath hitched and a small sob escaped from her lips. A tear fell down her cheek and her hoof trembled. Fluttershy could only watch as the small unicorn tumbled out of her hoof and landed on the floor. In the silence, a tiny snap reached her ear, and she bent over to pick up the unicorn. She inspected it and saw that the horn had broken off and now lay on the floor next to her. Fluttershy picked up the broken horn and held both pieces in each hand. She joined the two pieces together again, then pulled them apart, and repeated this a few more times as more tears fell from her cheek. “What is truly broken can never truly be fixed, can it?” Fluttershy mumbled to herself.