//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Inner Thoughts // Story: The Elements of Honor // by Flanagan //------------------------------// Greatsword left town and headed for Fluttershy’s house, hoping that if he explained what happened she would forgive him. Once there, he stopped front door at her. “Why am I doing this?” he asked himself. “We met almost two months ago, we barely said anything to one another…” He thought harder on the matter. “But why did she cry when she saw Rarity kissing me? She’s in the same boat I am.” Greatsword looked over her house one more time. “Could she be HER?” he asked himself, “does she have the same visions that I have?” He raised his hoof to open the door, but it opened on its own. Greatsword opened the door even more. “Fluttershy?” he said softly, “Fluttershy are you in there?” Fluttershy stepped from behind the door. It looked as if she had been crying for some time. Greatsword took a heavy breath, of everypony he had ever met; he hated seeing her cry the most. He took a few steps closer to the entrance. “May I come in?” he asked, Fluttershy nodded her head. Greatsword entered the house, he was actually surprised how well it had been cleaned up. There was no sign of blood or anything else that would indicate that anypony almost died there. “How long was I here?” he asked her. “F-five days…” Fluttershy said, “Then six more in the hospital.” “I was out for eleven days?” Greatsword asked, slightly shocked. “Yes…” Fluttershy said meekly. “You were too unstable to move to the hospital, so I took care of you until you could be moved.” She lowered her head. “I-I hope you’re not mad…” “Why would I be mad? You saved my life…” Greatsword said lifting her head up so she could look at him. “I’m usually the one that does the saving.” “Y-you’re welcome…” Fluttershy stuttered. Turning hiding behind her mane, trying not to show Greatsword she was blushing. “Fluttershy I need to talk to you…” after explaining what had really happened to her, Greatsword turned to leave Fluttershy’s house. “I hope you understand.” “G-Greatsword…” Fluttershy said just before he walked out of her house. “Yes Fluttershy, I’m listening,” he said turning to face her again. “I-I do understand…” she said, “and I appreciate you coming here and explaining it to me.” Fluttershy made her way to Greatsword. “But maybe you could stay awhile… t-to help take care of the little animals, of course.” “I’d love to help, Fluttershy.” Greatsword said, smiling. “Where do we start?” Once Greatsword was a few feet away from Fluttershy a blur of white jumped from behind the couch onto his face, biting and clawing at him. The sudden attack caused Greatsword to fall backwards to the still open door. He quickly rose his hooves to his face and ripped off his attacker. After doing so he came face to face with a bunny, a very mean bunny. “Who is THIS charming little guy?” Greatsword asked, doing his best to resist crushing the rabbit between his hooves. “Because this rabbit’s dynamite.” “Oh, that’s Angel Bunny…” Fluttershy said. “I-I think he likes you.” She gave an adorable smile to Greatsword and Angel Bunny. “Nice to meet you Angel,” Greatsword said, extending his hoof. Angel just swung his front paw, slapping his hoof away. “Tell you what, Fluttershy,” Greatsword said while still holding Angel Bunny. “You go on and get started with taking care of all the little creatures. I’ll take care of Angel for you.” “Oh, I wouldn’t want you to do that for me…” Fluttershy said. “I’ll take care of him later. After all he can be quite the hassle.” “I already got him, Fluttershy,” Greatsword said to her, “I’ll take good care of him, I promise.” “Oh… ok, if you really want to.” Fluttershy said, walking outside to tend to the other animals. Once she closed the door, Greatsword cast a gaze of rage at Angel. “Look here, Jackalope,” he said, “I don’t know WHAT I did to you, but if you do something like that again… I’ll put you in a full body cast.” Angel Bunny tried to hit him again. “I can’t see this ending very well…” Several hours later, Greatsword and Fluttershy were done with taking care of every critter in Fluttershy’s house. “Well, that was easy…” Greatsword said, stretching his forelegs out. “I-I’m glad you decided to help.” Fluttershy said. “I do what I can, Fluttershy.” he said, “It’s a good way to get my mind off things.” “What things?” she asked. “Nothing,” he hastily answered. His reaction made Fluttershy flinch, once he realized that he had spooked her, he calmed his tone and explained calmly. “It’s nothing you should have to worry about, I’ll be fine, trust me.” “Oh… ok…” she said. “I should get back to Town Hall,” Greatsword said. “Maybe I‘ll see you again sometime, Fluttershy.” He began walking away, leaving Fluttershy standing at her front door. “Gr-Greatsword…” Fluttershy whispered, but he was too far away to hear her call for him. She didn’t bother to say his name again, he was too far gone. Her eyes began to water. She had missed a golden opportunity to ask him one simple question, and now she may never get a chance like that again. Greatsword walked into Town Hall, the other members of the defense force and Greatsword’s unit were all there. “Bro, where have you been all day?” Battleaxe asked, “I haven’t seen you since you left the hospital at 0700, and it’s almost 2030 now.” “Today was a little bit crazy, Battleaxe,” Greatsword replied. “But I’m here now, what’s the word?” “Nothing new, Greatsword,” Lug Nut said. “But when I was at the library today, I saw Rarity on one of the couches calling your name in her sleep. Do you know anything about that?” Greatsword’s face went blank as he stared at Lug Nut. “No,” Greatsword said. “I have no idea why Rarity’s acting like that…” He looked around the room quickly. “Where’s Warhammer?” he asked to change the subject. “He’s on the balcony.” Patches answered, “He always watches the moon rise before he goes to bed.” Warhammer stared into the night sky, watching the moon rise as he took a heavy sigh. “I wish I were with you, my love…” he said to himself, “me being away from you is hard.” “You are never far from me, my love.” a voice said from behind Warhammer. He turned around to see the one pony in creation that he wanted to see. “Luna,” he said happily. “I’ve missed you so.” “As have I, Warhammer,” Princess Luna said, embracing Warhammer. “How about a kiss?” Without hesitation, Warhammer kissed Luna, but once he did, darkness enveloped the two ponies. He tried to pull himself away from Luna, but she was holding him tighter than she ever had before. Then the darkness enveloped Luna, revealing The Shadow trying to force his tongue into Warhammer’s mouth. Warhammer threw The Shadow off of him, spitting and wiping his mouth while The Shadow laughed at him. “Oh come on, big guy,” he said, still laughing. “You kissed a guy and liked it, that’s love AND tolerance to the max.” “What do you want with me, cretin?” Warhammer asked angrily. “And why should I not kill you for what you have done?” “There is much you don’t know about me, Warhammer,” The Shadow said. “And I want to show you something… something very important.” “I refuse,” Warhammer said walking away. “Leave me before I MAKE you leave me.” “Too late, we’re already here!” The Shadow said happily. “Oh and where we are I’M the ONLY one that can make you leave.” “Then where are we?” Warhammer asked. “A memory…” The Shadow answered. “MY memory, if you want an exact location. We’re in the ancient palace of the Royal Sisters and the time… a little over fifteen hundred years ago…” Warhammer looked around, the Royal Guard of the castle was heavily armored, far more so than the guards of the day. He looked over to one side of the massive room and saw Princess Celestia, also heavily armored, sitting on a massive throne made of swords. The scene was very dark grey, almost nothing like how Warhammer knew a royal palace looked like. To him it was more like o fortress. “Why have you taken me to this time?” Warhammer asked. “You’re memory is almost as bad as Greatsword’s,” the shadow said, laughing. “Do you remember ANYTHING Luna tells you?” Warhammer’s eyes widened, “No…” he said, looking at the shadow. “Oh, yes…” The shadow said smiling, “we’re THERE…” “Sister!” a voice called from outside of the room. “Sister art thou in there?” “Luna,” Princess Celestia said from her throne. “Come inside, but make it quick, Buckingham was taken by the Griffons and we wish to see it in our hooves again soon, for winter is coming.” The door opened to reveal a very young looking Princess Luna, wearing a beautiful dark blue dress lined with the finest diamonds and massive pearls in the shape of the moon on its side. “Does this dress make our flank look big?” she asked. “Little sister can’t be this CUTE!” the shadow said, teleporting Warhammer and himself next to her. “Isn’t she just adorable?” Princess Celestia covered her face with her hoof, “is THAT the only thing thou wanted to ask?” she said. “Sister, thou does realize that we are at war?” “We know sister,” Luna said. “But we need an honest opinion from somepony, for we have plans for the evening.” “Thou looks fine, sister,” Princess Celestia said. “But may we ask what is thou doing this evening, other than raising the moon?” Princess Luna turned back to her sister. “He’s coming to visit tonight, and we wish to look nice for him.” “Ah, the shadow certainly seems to have been visiting more often it seems,” Princess Celestia said. “We hope thou has fun while we make way for Buckingham.” “We shall, sister,” Princess Luna said, smiling back. “And sister…” “Yes, Luna?” Princess Celestia asked. “Be careful…” She said. “We shall be sister,” Princess Celestia said. “With luck, we will return in one week.” “They BOTH knew you?!” Warhammer asked in shock. “Well, yeah…” The Shadow replied. “You can’t get close to somepony without their relatives knowing who you are. It‘s kinda how you get in good with them.” The shadow teleported himself and Warhammer into another room, a bed room. “Where are we now, monster?” Warhammer asked. “Will you shut up!” The Shadow said summoning a bag assorted candies. “The GOOD part is coming up.” Princess Luna walked into the room and used her magic to light it up. Her room was a simple one for a pony of such prowess. Large books were scattered everywhere and there were a few paintings of herself and her sister. “You should really clean up before you have guests.” The Shadow said standing on one of the many piles of books. “It shows how much you care for them if it has a good appearance.” “Thou knows we love our studies, Shadow.” Princess Luna said, smiling. “Oh, I know you do,” he said, jumping off the pile of books, “I just love the nerdy little fillies.” He made his way to the giggling Princess. “NO!” Warhammer yelled rushing to Princess Luna as the shadow leaned in to kiss her, but he just fell through her body. The shadow broke out into laughter. “Aw, how sweet,” he said between breaths. “Wait… you REALLY think you can warn her? Oh that’s just TOO rich. Remember, big boy, this is a memory. Everything that‘s happening has happened already… and not even YOU can stop it.” Warhammer looked on as the past shadow kissed Luna, but she showed no resistance. She LET him kiss her. “I-I, I don't understand…” he said. “Well, when two ponies care about each other…” the shadow said, looking to the ceiling. “I know how it works.” Warhammer growled. “You were with her?” “For nearly five hundred years, yes I was,” the shadow said. “You just don’t get friend zoned for that long without making any progress to the ultimate goal.” “So YOU and I are the only ponies in the castle?” the shadow asked, giving Luna a devilish grin. “For a whole week, yes,” Luna said, “Celestia is just getting the last arrangements for taking back Buckingham form those awful griffons.” “Well THAT gives me an idea.” the shadow said kissing Luna again, “why don’t you and I take it to the next level? Nopony will hear us.” “Shadow!” Luna exclaimed, her cheeks turning a deep purple. “Thou knows how we feel about such things.” “It only took you four and a half years,” the shadow said to Warhammer. “It took me nearly five hundred, AND I had to force it.” He shook his head. “Do you have any pointers for when I go dating again? If so, please tell me when we‘re done.” “Then I guess I’ll have to make you…” The Shadow said, raising his hoof. “What?” Luna said terrified. “You brought this upon yourself,” The Shadow said striking her across the face, sending her flying across the room. “After all, you are wearing THAT.” “NO!” Luna cried. “PLEASE NO!” “YOU gave all the signs, I waited NOW I’m taking what’s MINE!” The Shadow said ripping her dress off as he forced himself on her. He covered her mouth with his hoof so nothing could hear her scream. “Oh, look at her cry!” the shadow said pointing at Luna’s face. “She was such a baby back then, she’s-” Warhammer charged the shadow, once the two were down Warhammer began stomping the shadow’s face into the ground, not once letting up on his assault. Then The Shadow halted Warhammer’s rage with his magic allowing his wounds magically heal. “How does it feel to have my sloppy seconds?” he asked, laughing. “Furthermore, how do I taste?” “You MONSTER!” Warhammer roared. “She LOVED you, they both TRUSTED you and you did THAT to her!” “So… THIS is what it feels like when the mighty Warhammer isn’t holding back…” The Shadow said through a bloody smile. “You have a great deal of power in you Warhammer, maybe even more so than your brother,” he said spitting out blackened blood. “But you always keep it locked away. Imagine what you could do if you just let it all lose. You could have anything you want.” “I do NOT take what is not offered to me!” Warhammer roared. “Fine, if you want it that way,” The Shadow said, letting darkness envelop the two ponies while the memory still continued. “But remember this…” he drew close to Warhammer’s face as a loud scream filled the room. “I was inside her first.” The Shadow left Warhammer on the balcony, his heart full of rage for what he had just seen. “Brother,” Greatsword said opening the door. “It’s 2130, we should get some rest.” “I believe I shall stay out here for a while longer,” Warhammer growled. “I need to think.” “If you say so,” Greatsword said closing the door. “Just be ready in the morning, we all have mail coming to us tomorrow.”