The Unicorn Range was the most reclusive and mysterious place in Equestria, second only to the Everfree Forest. First explored by Clover the Clever during the first Equestrian expansion, it was named as such when the brightly talented unicorn had ventured deep into the Range after hearing strange reports from other explorers.
After venturing warily through the Range and into one of the mountains through ways the unicorn never explained, she discovered one of the many mysterious tears that leaked out magic from between the Three Realms inside, spilling it across the Range like a wave and coating it in mostly harmless magic. To this day, anypony that went inside the Range to find the tear came away without ever gazing upon it.
Despite the lack of danger, it made many ponies fearful of walking into it, out of fear that they would get taken away by the powers that dwelled within, or get lost among the many hills and mountains that made up the Range.
Eventually, after many years of living under its vast shadow, the ponies of Equestria got used to the Range and were able to construct small paths that ran through it, whilst simultaneously mining the Range for what it was worth. Finally, after centuries of work, the mines ran out of resources to dig up, so they were gradually abandoned and the vast tunnels and small villages that housed the miners were given back to nature. The Range is barely used in the days of Celestia and Luna, with only a few farmers tending to the land and isolated homes and villages for those who wished to live there and away from the rest of Equestria.
The Range, as a whole, was sublime. That was the only word Fluttershy could think of to describe it as she looked at the walls of ancient rock around her while looking for a suitable place to relieve herself. From where she was, the dark stone walls of the gorge looked as though they were tilting downwards towards her, threatening to topple over at any moment and crush her like a hoof would tread on an anthill. There was a vast beauty about the Range, yet there was something twisted and evil about it as well.
At that moment, and she was unsure why, she felt as though the Range was looking at her with hungry eyes. Her heart started to beat a little faster at the thought of so many eyes gazing on her hatefully. She soon found a dark corner out of the way and, not wanting to spend longer than she needed alone in this place, she galloped into it, disappearing out of sight from unwanted gazes.
She soon finished and began to trot back to where the others had set up camp. Fluttershy’s uneasiness steadily grew as she walked through the thin gorge, her eyes shooting from one side to the next, looking for anything that could be a potential danger. “Oh, get a hold of yourself, Fluttershy,” she chastised herself. “There’s nothing here that could harm you. All those that want to would never find you here.” However, she knew it would take a lot more than her words alone to pull herself out of her fear.
She froze when she caught with the corner of her eye something looking down at her with white eyes that dripped with hatred. Before she could get a better look at it the creature retreated from the side and into the shadows. She decided not to investigate what it could be, and galloped as fast as she could back through the gorge. She breathed a sigh of relief when the gorge’s closing walls suddenly broke away from each other, and found herself looking at her exhausted companions.
The five of them were camped in the middle of the gorge in what looked like a large bowl, with a smaller crack – what once was a small stream connected to a large lake – in the walls heading westwards and deeper into the Unicorn Range.
Their first walk through the Range had been easy for all of them, yet it was still tiring after a long day. They followed the thin, rocky paths over and between gently sloped hills, and passed an old abandoned farm with rotting food left beside the ruined farmhouse. Regrettably, the group walked by, realising that there would be no consumable food left there judging by the smell alone.
Despite the lack of new food, the group was in mostly high spirits, Fluttershy noticed. Luna and Cadence wore pleasant smiles, Trixie was healthier and stronger than she was the day they had met, and Spike was happy as well about their current location.
“If the Range is going to be as easy as these hills, then I’m ready for it,” the little dragon had boasted as they climbed down another hill.
Trixie looked back at him and smirked. “You know nothing, Spike Draconis. This is just the warm up. Wait until you see the western side of the Range.”
They walked for many hours more before Fluttershy could feel the sun starting to set, and they agreed to find a place to camp for the night. They walked for another five miles through the gentle hills of the eastern side of the Range heading west until they came upon a gorge. It wiggled through the Range like a river – Luna said that it was a river once, before the lake from where the water flowed from dried up and the river simply faded away.
Beyond the gorge, and a few more hills and high plains, the mountains beckoned them closer. They were intimidating, to say the least. Tall as towers, and with pointy caps like spears, they were an impressive sight to see. Fluttershy, however, did not take kindly to the idea that she would be walking in their shadow at some point tomorrow, but kept it to herself.
After a brief moment of discussion, they all had unanimously decided and agreed to camp down in the gorge that night, for the smoke from their campfire could be obscured by the high walls of the gorge and the cloudy night above them.
“Are you all right, Fluttershy?” Cadence asked. The others looked at her with concern. Fluttershy quickly realised she had been standing where she was for a minute or so now while she had brooded on the afternoon.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts of the past, and then trotted up to them with her head held low, and her eyes shooting from one corner to the next. “I think so, thanks,” she replied with a little smile. “I just feel like we’re being watched.” She paused to have a look around the edges of the bowl, spying for anything that could be looking down at them. “And followed.”
The others had a look around the edge of the gorge as well; Luna and Cadence loosened their weapons from their scabbards in a flash of magic. “I don’t see anything,” Trixie said.
“Me neither,” Spike concurred. The two winged unicorns looked back at Fluttershy and shook their heads to confirm Trixie and Spike’s belief, sheathing their blades fully once more.
Fluttershy visibly relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good, I guess,” she said as she moved to sit next to the campfire, between Spike and Trixie. Yet she couldn’t rub off the feeling that malicious eyes were watching her and her companions constantly, anticipating the moment to strike.
The five lapsed into a warm, companionable silence for a moment, listening to the cackles of the flames as they broke up the twigs they had found close by, and the swift but gentle breeze running like a river through the Range.
Spike suddenly let out a long, content sigh, and then fell onto his back with his head resting on his crossed arms. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starting to like living like this,” he said with a small smile. “It’s so peaceful here, and somewhere where I’m not bossed around to do something for the sake of somepony else.”
Trixie hummed in agreement. “I can agree with you there, Spike. This is why I love travelling: seeing the incredible sights Equestria holds, meeting new and interesting ponies, and finding your inner peace out in the wilderness.” She sighed contently. “This is the life for me, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“But surely there must be some point where you want to settle down,” Cadence said, shifting herself to lean heavily on her left side. “I know there were times when I was a Princess where I just wanted to get away from it all and be normal for once, and have a faithful husband and a foal of my own…” She stopped herself before she could start crying, knowing that such a dream now was crushed. Luna slung a leg over her shoulders to comfort her.
“There was one time, Cadence – mind if I call you that?” Trixie asked. Cadence shook her head. “Well, Cadence, there was one time where I wanted to stop travelling and settle down. I met a nice stallion in Vanhoover – well, he seemed nice enough. He came to all my shows nearly every day without fail, and he even let me stay at his house for the time I was there. Naturally, I began to fall for him. He was just so handsome and kind, and that is rare to find in a stallion. I told him this, and he said he loved me as well.”
Everyone looked at Trixie, their eyes sparkling with interest. “Well, what happened between you two?” Cadence asked, gesturing with a hoof for her to continue after the unicorn had gone silent.
Trixie’s ears fell flat. “He kicked me out of the house for no apparent reason, and told me to never come back to Vanhoover. Terrified, I left Vanhoover quickly, and never went back. Been travelling ever since.”
Fluttershy brought her hooves up to her mouth to cover her gasp. “That’s horrible,” she said, her eyes glistening with tears. “How can ponies be so cruel?”
Trixie smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. I had my vengeance; Trixie never forgets a wrong done to her. I learnt a bit later that he was a pony of etiquette, somepony who was recognised and respected by the higher class of Equestria. And he had a lovely wife. A model, she was, one highly respected by loads of ponies. If word went out that he had an affair, the scandal would be immense.”
She paused as a smirk that made Fluttershy feel uncomfortable crawled across her face. “I wrote a letter telling his wife that him and me had an affair while I was in Vanhoover, and put enough evidence with the letter, like love letters to me that I had kept, to prove it. Needless to say, his climb up the ladder was brutally cut short.”
Fluttershy’s mouth opened in shock, yet she could not help but feel impressed. Anypony that did such a thing to another pony only brought such misery on themselves, she believed.
“Wow, seeing that in the paper must have been awesome,” Spike said, a wide smile on his face as he looked at Trixie with admiration.
Fluttershy noticed at a glance the look on Spike’s face, and grinned wryly to herself. ‘Maybe there is hope between the two,’ she thought pleasingly.
“Oh, trust me, young Spike, I felt highly satisfied afterwards,” Trixie said with a grin. “To see such a pony brought low felt very rewarding.” Her smile vanished quickly as she bowed her head. “But that experience taught me a valuable lesson; never trust anypony, for they could ditch you just as readily as they accepted you.” She finished by briefly glancing at each of them with wary eyes.
Fluttershy’s grin disappeared as she looked into Trixie’s distrusting gaze. ‘She doesn’t trust us.’ She could understand that an experience like that could change a pony’s view on life, but she believed that such experiences should never do so. ‘Trust and faith is important, especially for us to get along,’ she thought.
She quickly got up, walked through the fire, and sat next to Trixie, who stared at her in awe. “I think you can trust us, Trixie,” she said warmly, putting her hoof on top of the magician’s. “I promise that we will never betray you, or abandon you to whatever fate. We will always be here to help you, and help each other.”
She paused to look at each of them as an idea came into her head. “Isn’t that right, everypony?” She drew her hoof off Trixie’s, and hung it in the air over the fire. “We are all together in this, right until the end? We trust each other, and look out for one another, no matter what?”
Spike was the first to put his claw on Fluttershy’s hoof. “Till the very end.”
Cadence looked at them both for a second, before lifting her leg up and placing her hoof on top of Spike’s claw. “To the end, and beyond.”
Luna looked at the set of hooves and claw in front of her. “I’m not sure I follow with what you are all doing.”
“You put your hoof in the middle here, aunt,” Cadence explained. “It signifies that you are part of a team now. We fight as one, we live as one, we love as one, and we die as one.” Fluttershy and Spike nodded in agreement.
Luna’s mouth formed an O in understanding. “Oh, I see, well why didn’t you say so.” she put her hoof on top of Cadence’s. “To whatever end.” She paused to giggle delightfully. “Huzzah! Now I feel like I’m in a wolf pack.” The four of them looked to a very uncertain Trixie, who seemed to be fighting against what she believed in and what she ultimately wanted. It reminded Fluttershy of herself when her friends banded together to rid Ponyville of Trixie when she had enslaved the town.
Eventually, Trixie sighed and then placed her hoof in the centre as well. “Very well, but don’t give me any reason to regret this,” she warned them.
Fluttershy beamed brightly as joy filled her weary heart. The five of them were certainly the weirdest collection of travellers she had ever seen or read about. One Dragonlord, two Princesses, one baby dragon and a magician. All of them brought together through circumstance, and forced to stick together in a world consumed by hatred and under the growing threat of war.
Yet, for some reason, Fluttershy would not have it any other way. ‘They are my friends now, just as much as my Ponyville friends are,’ she thought. However, to her they felt more than friends. She felt like she was part of a pack of wolves, and with that thought the old proverb came into her mind. ‘The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.’
Luna was right. They were a pack. Alone, they could be defeated and destroyed. But together, they could be unstoppable.
“Um, mind if I remove my hoof now?” Trixie asked. “My leg is starting to ache.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened when she saw that they were still holding their legs over a rather fierce looking fire; not a problem for her or Spike, but the others she wasn’t so sure about. She quickly brought her leg away from the fire and set it back to her side, as did the others. “Sorry. Just got a bit carried away there,” she said sheepishly, blushing in embarrassment.
“I noticed,” Luna said, chuckling. “So anyway, I suppose we better plan our next move from here before we retire for the night.” The group collectively nodded in agreement.
With that, Luna lit up her horn, and from its tip sprouted a dark blue bubble, which formed and kicked about until it was as large as a pony. Luna gently moved it across the air, until the bubble splattered across a part of the gorge just behind Spike. After a moment, the face reformed till it was a perfectly presented map of Equestria. Luna got up and moved to stand in front of it. The others followed suit, and soon they all stood in a line facing the map, which Luna changed with her magic until only the whole of the Unicorn Range was viewable.
“Right, Trixie,” Luna said, turning her head to face the unicorn, “you know this place better than any of us. So would you please inform us of how to get to Horsca from here?” The others looked to Trixie for an answer.
Seeing it as her turn in the spotlight, Trixie raised her head, and walked up to the map to get a closer look at it. “Hmm,” Trixie pondered to herself loudly as she surveyed the map, while the others looked on expectantly.
‘I know you can do it, Trixie,’ Fluttershy thought as Trixie pointed and waved her hoof all over the Range, looking for the right path to take and which ones to avoid.
“I think I’ve got it!” Trixie proclaimed suddenly, jolting Cadence and Spike awake – they had fallen asleep while they waited for Trixie to give them an answer. “Right, so I have narrowed down our options to just two.”
“Out of how many options?” Luna enquired.
“Out of five potential ones, actually,” Trixie replied with a smile. “So, our options are as follows: we could either go east, this way.” She paused to drag a hoof along the map to the eastern side of the Range, just below Cloudsdale. “And then head up north.” She paused once more as she ran her hoof quickly up and off the map. “Or, we could head west, wiggle our way through the Range until we get to this point, which is also the quickest way out: the Vale of the Lost.”
Fluttershy felt a shiver crawl up her spine at the mention of such a name. “And what is the Vale of the L-l-lost, exactly?” she asked shakily.
“It is the most mysterious place in the whole Range; a large valley that stretches out along the northern edge of the western side of the Range,” Trixie replied. “It is a place that is riddled with paths, made up by those who became lost within its high rocky walls, and were driven mad by the isolation and the solitude they found.”
Trixie paused to chuckle, not seeming to notice their anxious faces. “Of course, that is just a made up tale. The road builder who was responsible for building the roads across the Range got lost within the Vale and created roads going all over the place, bless him. Embarrassed, he made up the name just to make the place sound creepier. But it is the quickest and safest route to take once you know where you are going, which I do,” she added boastingly.
Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof. “That still leaves us with very little options should something occur on route,” she observed. “Isn’t there any other way to head directly north from here?”
“There is,” Trixie replied, nodding, “by flying over the Range.” Spike’s eyes and her own widened in the hope that the three fliers would fly them across, saving time and energy.
Cadence, Fluttershy and Luna shook their heads. “I don’t think I could endure flying for such a long time with Spike on my back,” Cadence said. “No offence to you, Spike.”
“None taken,” Spike said, waving it away with a sweep of his claw.
“And I got exhausted by trying to get up to the clouds. I’ll probably be knackered by the time we get to the other side of the Range,” Fluttershy chipped in.
“Then it’s settled – we’re not flying over the Range,” Luna decided, with the other winged ponies nodding in agreement.
“Fine,” Trixie relented, looking defeated, “so that just leaves us either going east or west from here. Your choice.”
Luna shook her head. “Not mine, or any of ours. Fluttershy’s,” she said, looking to the Dragonlord.
Fluttershy noticed they were all looking at her, and silently gulped. “I-I don’t mind it really if we all make this choice. I would prefer it if we all have a say in this,” she stammered shyly, backing away a bit and hiding her face with her mane in the hope they would ignore her.
“Well I say we head east,” Spike said, raising his claw. “The faster we get to Horsca, the sooner we can relax.”
“I vote west,” Cadence said. “It will be longer and more gruelling on our legs, but it would be a lot safer.”
Luna sighed and rolled her eyes. “And what of you, Trixie? Which way would you prefer?”
“Preferably, I would vote east,” Trixie said. “Like Spike said, it will be quicker and easier to navigate through.”
Luna nodded. “Well I vote west,” she said, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “So that just leaves you to make the final say, Fluttershy. Which way is it going to be?”
‘She did that just to get my vote, I just know it,’ Fluttershy thought, glaring at Luna. “Sure,” she said sweetly, while silently cursing Luna’s name. She walked over to stand next to Trixie, and carefully studied the map with wide eyes.
She knew one of the things expected of a leader was to know the land around him or her. If she was going to lead them, Fluttershy also knew she had to learn fast on how to understand the land around her, how to exploit it to their advantage, and how to accept the consequences if it went wrong.
Luckily, however, she was very adept at getting to know rough places very quickly. “Well, um, looking at the map, I can see that going east is a bad idea… um, no offence to you, Trixie, or to you too, Spike,” Fluttershy declared, looking at each of them apologetically. “You see, going east would take us too close to Canterlot, and would also bring us directly under Cloudsdale, which I haven’t heard a peep from since this all began.” It scared her to know nothing about the fate of the greatest city in the sky. Had something terrible befallen it? Had it crumbled from the sky and taken everypony with it? She shook her head to clear such thoughts, knowing how silly they sounded. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, stop drifting off and concentrate,’ she thought. ‘Everypony is counting on you to lead them right.’
“But if we head west, it will take longer, as Cadence pointed out kindly, and take us into a potential war zone with threats all around us. However, from both routes, I would say that we should head, um… west,” she decided, slamming a hoof on the mountains to the west of them. “I can only see it as the lesser of the two evils. It potentially will be dangerous, but if we go that way, we could slip through the war unnoticed. My friend Applejack once said in Horsca, ‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm’. It is the last thing anypony will expect us to do… well, at least I hope so.”
The others looked at her with surprise etched across their faces. “That actually makes a lot more sense than I thought it would,” Luna said, scratching her head. She set her hoof down, and grinned at Fluttershy delightfully. “I think you pretty much nailed it with that argument. So it is decided.” With a flick of her head, the map exploded into a mass of bright little lights that floated into the air and then popped like bubbles. “Tomorrow morning we set out from here and head west through the Range.”
With that agreed on, the five travellers settled down and one by one – except for Luna – went to sleep. Before she closed her eyes and fell asleep, Fluttershy was only briefly aware of the unfriendly eyes watching over them from above.
The group was awake before the sun had fully risen over the horizon. After a quick breakfast to keep their strength up, they packed the remaining food away, put out the fire, and walked out of the bowl through the crack in the wall heading westward.
Trixie was up front, muttering soothing words to herself as they slowly walked through in a narrow line, taking care not to scrape their bodies across the sharp rocks. ‘I didn’t know she was claustrophobic,’ Fluttershy thought upon hearing Trixie’s voice. She chuckled to herself. ‘Silly. You don’t know much about any of these ponies.’ Luna was in front of Fluttershy, while Cadence and Spike were behind, looking around at the ancient, rough and glittering walls. The ground was covered in rough pebbles, probably from back to when the chasm was a stream and flowed gently into the Range.
They soon made it out of the gap, and walked through what used to be an old apple orchard that ran along the centre of a small valley. To the disappointment of the group, however, no apples grew on the trees. No leaves graced their crumbling branches, and the trunks were a rotting brown covered with woodlice scavenging food from the rotting wood. Fluttershy smiled as her eyes caught sight of a large group of woodlice tunnelling into the old wood. ‘Eat well, little cuties,’ she thought as she walked past. She looked ahead again, and swallowed when she saw the tallest mountains of the Range getting taller with every closing step.
At the end of the valley, they came across a thin, dirt road heading east and west, flanked on either side by tall pine trees and sloping hills. Trixie looked both ways, as though she were making up her mind on what to do, before simply turning right and heading west. The others silently trotted after her, hoping that Trixie would remember where she was going.
They followed the road swiftly, passing old abandoned homes that were mostly just a floor and some resemblance to frames, and eventually stopped in a large open field for a while as they stared at what was ahead. The road weaved like a river up the largest mountain in the Range, following the gentle climb up to where the path disappeared from view altogether.
After a quick lunch break, the group continued up the mountain, knowing that they should make it to the other side before nightfall.
Fluttershy breathed in some of the fresh, cool air as they found themselves a quarter of the way up. “I wonder how high up we are from sea level?” she said as she looked around. Even at the altitude they were, the view was incredible. Lumpy hills and small mountains littered the land around the larger mountain, with small woodland areas, elegant rivers and waterfalls, large lakes, and steady rock formations scattered everywhere between them.
“I think we are about four hundred feet above sea level,” Trixie replied, glancing over her shoulder. “I might be wrong, though. The Unicorn Range is more known for its beauty and mysteries than its heights.”
Fluttershy nodded, and then looked around her once more. Trixie was right; this place was stunningly beautiful. From what she could see of it the Range stretched right back to the horizon in almost every angle. ‘It looked so much smaller and thinner on the map,’ she thought. To see the many hills, plains, woods and mountains that made up the Unicorn Range in its entirety made her feel so small. Even though she was halfway up a mountain, she still felt terribly lost. She looked ahead at Trixie, who led the group up the mountainside. ‘At least we have a guide with us,’ she contented herself. At least, she hoped that was the case.
Halfway up the mountain, however, they began to see how difficult it actually was. The path heading to the top suddenly shot up at a steeper gradient, making it almost impassable. “I’ll be right behind you, Spike,” Fluttershy whispered to the little dragon as Trixie, Luna and Cadence began the climb up at a crawl.
Spike nodded, and after he fell onto his front claws he began to make the climb as well. Fluttershy watched him go for a moment, and then spread her wings and took to the air. Her wing blades hummed like a hummingbird as her wings flapped against the high winds, and her fore-hooves were stretched out ready to catch Spike should he slip and fall.
About halfway up, Spike set a foot down on the wrong pebble, which broke off and fell away. With a startled cry he began to slip and fall backwards. Before he could fall properly, however, Fluttershy raced forward, put her hooves around his waist and held him until his feet found something to stand on again.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and then looked back at the Dragonlord with a kind and grateful smile. “Thanks, Fluttershy,” he said.
Fluttershy smiled in reply as she let him go. “You’re welcome. Just be more careful,” she said, as she fluttered away from him, yet close enough to catch him should he fall again.
A few minutes later, they all made it to the top of the steep gradient, and saw that the path flattened out once more and weaved gently upwards, through the low clouds and out of sight. After a quick break, they continued to follow the path as it passed a small lake at the base of a large collection of mounded stone, and hundreds of little rocks scattered across the swaying grasslands.
After following the path for nearly three hours up the mountain, they finally arrived at its peak, and none of them could keep their jaws from dropping or their breaths being taken away by the sight. The top was connected to the others around it by a low ridge, which acted like a road. It gently sloped downwards until halfway where it evened out and zigzagged across other peaks, or went down to the pits between the mountains, where the sun could not shine thanks to the varying heights of the mountains dominating the Range.
“I take it we follow this ridge right along till we reach the end of the Range?” Cadence enquired with a hopeful tone in her voice.
“I wish so, but no,” Trixie answered. “This ridge slopes down until it ends just behind the cap of that mountain there.” She pointed to a mountain in the distance with a peak that appeared to be as sharp as the point of a sword. “It goes down to the base of the mountain, where it is also a good place to stop for the night. A few miles west of there the path splits up into several others, with some leading to the north and another further westward past the Vale, another one leading to a few closely connected villages here, and this one heading back.”
“Well that narrows it down then; we can’t go back, we can’t take shelter in any of the villages, so we just have to go from there,” Luna said.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “If we can get to that mountain by nightfall, then we may be all right,” she said. With agreement from the others, the five continued to trek carefully across the ridge. Though it did not look like it, the ground beneath them was worn down after many ponies walking across it, making it safer and more comfortable to travel across than what first appearances would say.
“Wow,” Spike gasped a while later as he looked right at the line of mountains in front and around him. “I wish I travelled more than I have done.”
Trixie looked back at him with inquisitive eyes. “Then where have you been?” she asked curiously.
Spike looked at his brow in thought. “Well, uh, four years ago I went to Appleloosa to help plant a tree. Whilst there I watched a war and the desecration of so many pies.” He briefly paused to sigh as he lamented the loss of such beautiful pies. “I went to the place the dragons migrate to every thousand years or so. And just a few months ago, I went to the Crystal Empire to help Tw-” He cut himself off when Trixie stood in front of him with delighted eyes and a big grin.
“You have been to the Crystal Empire?” Trixie asked disbelievingly. Spike just nodded. “Oh. My. Gosh! I’ve always wanted to see the Crystal Empire – when it returned, of course, and when I heard about it for the first time. But since then I have always wanted to see it! The beauty, the shine, the castle, the crystal ponies, the handsome Prince, so much and more I want to see from that place! Oh, and to get the chance to dazzle so many ponies with my incredible magic skills!”
Spike rolled his eyes. “I’m sure they would be dazzled, considering they have a Crystal Heart that’s fuelled by their magic,” he muttered under his breath. Trixie didn’t hear him, but Fluttershy did, and couldn’t help but giggle quietly to herself.
Trixie turned to Fluttershy. “What about you, Fluttershy?” she asked, making Fluttershy tremble a little now that she was in the spotlight. “Been anywhere nice?”
Fluttershy looked up as she thought about all the places she had been to. “Um, four years ago I went to Appleloosa with Spike and tried to prevent a war between the ponies and the buffalo. And like Spike said, I had to watch a terrible pie fight. I’ve been up the Smokey Mountain, and um, been to Dodge Junction once, and Canterlot several times. Oh, and two years ago I went to Horsca to find a pony named Firewing, who turned out to be my father, so I would know what was happening to me.”
“Hold on,” Spike interrupted, “Sorry, but you went to Horsca to look for a pony that turned out to be your father and may or may not have known what was happening to your body?” Fluttershy nodded. “Why him?” he asked. “Surely a doctor, or Princess Celestia would have been better to tell you what was wrong.”
“I went to see Celestia about it before I went to Horsca. She didn’t know, but she reckoned Firewing might; she must have trusted him dearly to think that he would know what I had become.” Another thought that came to her mind was whether Celestia knew Firewing was Fluttershy’s father, and brought about the events that transpired by merely guiding her to him. ‘Did she see my likeness in him somehow?’
She couldn’t quite believe that. Fluttershy and her father looked nothing alike. Fluttershy had more of her mother’s features than her father’s, except the fact that Firewing was as a poor flier as she is, and that he was a Dragonlord. Nevertheless, Celestia surely must have seen something in him she must have recognised in her. She decided the next time she spoke to Celestia, she would ask her about it.
“So, uh, why did you go to Horsca to find him?” Spike asked. “I don’t think you ever said.”
“Because in the Canterlot archives below ground–”
“You mean the one they cleaned out and sealed up a year ago?” Spike queried.
“Yes, that one. Anyway, Twilight and I went down there to find a diary Celestia said was left down there to be kept safe. We found it, and deciphered that he might have headed north to Horsca. So we both agreed to head north and track him down. The rest of the girls quickly agreed to come with me once I told them about it.”
“That sounds like a very risky choice, Fluttershy,” Luna said, turning her head around to look at her. “Firewing could have easily headed south instead. In fact, he may not have even known what was going on with you.”
“I know, but I was so desperate, Luna; more desperate than I ever have been,” Fluttershy replied sullenly, her ears folding as her eyes fell onto the rocky ground beneath her. “I was changing into somepony that even I couldn’t recognise. I felt tougher, I could sleep in fire, I could speak another language, and I had better hearing and greater eyesight than I did before. I was becoming somepony that I didn’t want to be. I wanted to be who I was before I was killed by a dragon. Therefore, when Celestia told me about Firewing and that he could possibly know what was happening to me, I took the chance without even thinking about the outcome.”
Her four companions nodded in understanding. “Ah,” Luna sighed sadly, her head bobbing rapidly. “Desperation. The one thing that drives us to do things we know we would later regret in life. Am I right, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy nodded, though she couldn’t make out whether or not Luna meant something. “And what about you, Cadence?” Trixie asked, looking to the Crystal Princess as the subject changed back to earlier. “Have you been anywhere exciting and exotic?”
Cadence shrugged as she put a hoof to her chin to ponder. “I can think of a few places, like Saddle Arabia with my aunts.”
“Wow, you’ve been to Saddle Arabia!” Spike repeated delightfully. “That must have been so cool!”
“It wasn’t cool, it was hot as a furnace,” Cadence replied. “Just thinking about it makes me feel sweaty all over.”
“I know how you feel; I was the same when I went there by myself on a diplomatic mission two years ago,” Luna said. She continued talking about what happened on that particular mission, while everyone listened intently to a rather fairy-tale style story. As they listened to Luna’s tale, Fluttershy could not help herself but grin delightfully at what was happening, and at the unicorn responsible for making it happen.
‘Well played, Trixie. Well played,’ she thought as she glanced at the unicorn. Rather than keep thinking about the strife around Equestria, Trixie turned the rather solemn mood on its head and started a rather random conversation. It not only kept their minds clear for a moment and focused on a different subject, but to also get to know each other better by learning where they have been and what they wanted to see in the future. It was a great idea, and definitely an excellent way to bond with each other.
“And that was how I managed to save the Saddle Arabians from the great Colossus,” Luna finished with a small smile in remembrance, bringing the Dragonlord back into focus.
The others looked at her disbelievingly. “Wow,” Trixie oozed. “That must have been some strength in magic to pull something like that off.”
“It certainly was, little Trixie,” Luna agreed. “I must have collapsed afterwards, for the next thing I remember is that I was in the Arabian King’s tent and in his bed.” Fluttershy, Cadence, Trixie and Spike looked at her slyly. “Nothing happened, honest.” They all looked at her as though they did not believe her.
“So tell me, ponies and dragon, anywhere you want to go and see later on that you all might not have seen before?” Trixie enquired.
“I know for certain that I would love to see Neighagra Falls at some point,” Cadence said a moment later. “I hear the water shines like crystals, and if you drink from the water it makes you feel younger than you are.”
“I actually tried that once when I was younger,” Luna said with a chuckle. “Jumped right in and slurped a lot of it. Didn’t work, sadly, but I got Cele’s mane she spent hours getting ready on drenched. Ha, those were some great days.”
Fluttershy giggled at the image of a younger Luna dive-bombing into the lake at Neighagra. “I would love to see that place as well, Cadence,” Fluttershy said. “I heard there are some fish there that are the rarest in Equestria. To see them would be a treat.”
“Then why don’t we go there at some point together?” Cadence suggested, a smile growing on her face at the thought. “Once this is all over and our names are cleared, you and me go on a girls’ day out to the Falls. How does that sound?”
Fluttershy grinned brightly. “That sounds wonderful, Cadence. I’m already looking forward to it.” She just hoped they lived long enough to see it together. She kept such a thought to herself, and looked ahead again to see that the ridge path evened out once more for half a mile or so before heading back down again. She kicked a stone off the ridge and watched it tumble down the mountainside, the sound of its bounces echoing across the Range.
“Oh, that sounds nice,” Luna said. “Mind if I join you, ladies? I wouldn’t mind a good soak in the lake there.”
“I would like to come as well,” Spike added hopefully, a small, pleading grin on his face.
“And me,” Trixie said, raising her hoof like a student in class.
Cadence grinned at them, practically leaping at the thought. “That sounds fantastic! We could stay up late, watch the moon and the stars soar across the sky, and in the morning, I will make us some waffles.” Everyone cocked an eyebrow at her, to which the young alicorn wilted at. “I love waffles,” Cadence added sheepishly, shrugging.
They all shrugged it off with a laugh, and continued talking as they worked their way down the ridge, and towards the mountain Fluttershy and Trixie had suggested they should camp beside for the night.
“Go,” Fluttershy ordered, bracing herself for the attack.
At once, Trixie sprang forward with a fierce war cry, thrusting her short sword forward in an attempt to skewer Fluttershy like a griffon harpooning a whale. The Dragonlord calmly spun away from the attack, barely missing the tip of her sword, and cheekily slapped Trixie’s rump with the flat of Drage Bane as the unicorn ran past. “Ow! What was that for?” Trixie asked once she had stopped and checked where the sword had hit her, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Fluttershy blushed as well when she realised what she did. “Sorry. It’s something I did with my old friends when we practiced sometimes. It’s a bad habit I can’t get rid of.” She shook her head to clear it of thought, and pointed to her with Drage Bane. “Anyway, that wasn’t bad, but you need to keep what you’re about to do obscured. You tend to give away where you are about to strike with your eyes.” Fluttershy set herself down on three legs, and held Drage Bane close to her chest. “I’ll charge you, and you must predict where I’m going to strike.”
Trixie nodded, and brought her short sword into a low guard, pointing up to the air with the hilt gripped tight in her magic. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes and studied the unicorn closely. Then, with a plan in mind, she broke into a canter towards Trixie, who braced herself for the attack as she looked for where the pegasus was going to aim for.
Fluttershy looked left at her friend’s shoulder, then slowed herself down, reared up, brought Drage Bane into the air and then swung it towards Trixie’s exposed shoulder faster than a cat’s pounce. Trixie stepped back and deflected the strike with her sword, the two blades ringing out the sound of steel as they clashed together.
Trixie grinned in triumph. “Ha!” she cried delightfully as she spun away from the Dragonlord.
Fluttershy smiled at her as she backed away. “Well done, Trixie,” she said sincerely. “I’m glad we made some progress.” She bent her front half forward again and prepared to fight once more. “Now, I am going to try again, but this time you need to keep one eye on me, and another eye on my swords.” She put some emphasis on the last word, hoping Trixie would understand what she was hinting at.
From the looks on her face, however, Trixie was too excited to understand a word. “I’m ready, Fluttershy. Bring it on!” she shouted, raising her sword above her head.
Fluttershy nodded, and without a second thought she charged forward on three legs and Drage Bane pointing towards her opponent. Just as she was within striking distance, she stopped inches away from Trixie and reared up, switching Drage Bane with Firewing as the first attacking sword.
Fluttershy brought Firewing down towards Trixie’s right shoulder. Trixie deflected it easily with a swing of her own sword, and grinned in triumph as she watched it move away. But that grin vanished when Fluttershy placed the cold steel of Drage Bane on the other shoulder.
“Dead,” Fluttershy stated sympathetically, as she pulled herself away from the unicorn.
Trixie groaned and backed away. “But that counts as cheating,” she complained.
“The art of war and combat can never be considered cheating,” Luna corrected her from where she sat on a large log with Spike beside her, who watched eagerly as the sword practice took place. “The real art of war is the feint, or the ruse. The ability to trick your opponents into thinking you are doing one thing when they go for another alternative.” She looked at Fluttershy, who went back on all fours for a moment, and bowed her head respectfully. “And dear Fluttershy has managed to perfect that trait with apparent ease.”
Fluttershy smiled bashfully at the praise. “Oh, i-it took a while, but I got there in the end; I’ve been reading a lot about military history and tactics for the past two years,” she explained, twirling a piece of her mane between her hooves. Luna chuckled at her bashfulness. “I figured I should get ready for when the time came.”
“I still think it counts as cheating,” Trixie persisted, pouting. She picked her sword up once more and swung it around, listening to the thin blade hum against the wind. “But, if I am going to get better at this, then I better practice with the warrior pony herself.”
Fluttershy smiled proudly at her. “I know you will get better, Trixie,” she said encouragingly. She reared up once more, and let Drage Bane and Firewing shoot out of their scabbards. “Okay, let us see if you can hit me this time; remember, be deceptive,” Fluttershy instructed. “And try to dodge my attacks rather than parry them. You tend to block my attacks with your sword, and that will tire you out much quicker than avoiding the attack altogether.”
“How so?” Trixie asked.
“Think about it, Trixie, you’re putting all your strength and energy into the block to make sure it won’t come down on you. Your strength against your opponent’s. If your opponent is stronger than you then you do not stand a chance. That’s why dodging is easier.”
“But they do that all the time in the action movies,” Trixie noted as she swung her blade around her head to prepare for another duel.
“If you haven’t notice, Trixie, we are in the real world,” Luna said flatly, looking annoyed at Trixie’s narrow-minded thought. “In cinema, any fighting in any film is choreographed and done with professional stunt ponies, so all the fighting is done harmlessly. Here, however, you may come against ponies who may actually want to kill you, and kill you quickly. Parrying a blade will tire you out and leave you a more open target. While avoiding the attack altogether will leave you fresher than your opponent, who will be exhausted after swinging his or her blade about.”
Trixie nodded at Luna’s words, and in a blur she charged Fluttershy, swinging her sword to strike at her throat. Fluttershy, surprised and impressed by the sudden attack, drew her head back, avoiding the slash with ease, and pushed Trixie’s blade away with Firewing while thrusting Drage Bane at Trixie’s chest. At the right moment, and a moment that surprised Fluttershy and everyone else, Trixie rolled out of the way, sending Fluttershy forward too quickly.
Fluttershy knew she had to act fast. Trixie stood up again, and then leaped forward and swung her sword from over her head, hoping the flat of the sword would hit Fluttershy’s backside and return the favour.
It never hit the pegasus.
Before Trixie’s sword came down, Fluttershy extended one of her wings behind her at what looked like a painful angle, and parried the sword away.
Using the moment, Fluttershy spun around to face her opponent once more, and backed away a few steps to get ready for the next attack. She could feel sweat pour down her face as she concentrated, yet a small grin crawled across her lips as she realised she was having the time of her life.
‘Come on, Fluttershy, you can win. You’re a Dragonlord, for Pete’s sake,’ she encouraged herself. She figured if she were an ordinary pony, and the Fluttershy she once was, she would have let Trixie win by now, or given up before the fight began. Now that she was a Dragonlord, she wanted to win and show everyone who was the best.
She shook her thoughts out of her head, and looked up, only for eyes to widen as Trixie charged her with a swinging sword. Fluttershy blocked the attack with Drage Bane, and moved to tap Trixie with Firewing. Trixie stepped back and managed to block the attack with her sword, forcing Firewing away from her, but leaving the unicorn open for her second sword.
With a light swing, she tapped the unicorn on the shoulder with the flat of Drage Bane, and ended the fight between the two.
Luna and Spike clapped in praise. “Bravo, bravo!” Luna cheered, grinning as she clapped her hooves together. “’Twas a good fight!”
“I cannot agree anymore, that was amazing!” Spike said. “Fluttershy, I didn’t know you were so awesome like that!”
Fluttershy blushed at the praise, even as she wiped her sweaty brow with a hoof. “Oh, that was nothing. Trixie did a superb job,” she said modestly. She turned to the sweating unicorn. “For somepony who only picked up the sword a few days ago, you’re swinging it like a pro.”
Trixie smiled, even though she looked disappointed at not beating the Dragonlord. “I just have a good teacher,” Trixie remarked, making Fluttershy’s blush grow fiercer. Fluttershy jumped back a little when Trixie went into a fierce fighting stance once more. “Again?”
Fluttershy held a hoof up to stop her, and shook her head. “Not yet, I wouldn’t mind a rest and a bite to eat for a moment. I’m starving after all that walking.” She walked over to the log and sat down by it next to Luna, who passed her a delicious looking sandwich. Fluttershy smiled gratefully at Luna as she took it in her hooves, and then begun to nibble on her lettuce and cucumber sandwich.
As she ate, the Dragonlord looked back to the afternoon and the time that flew by in their company.
After many more hours of walking along the ridge, which was not so bad now that the group had grown more comfortable around each other, the five travellers found themselves in the shadow of the mountain Trixie had pointed out earlier. After journeying down the mountain carefully and upon arriving in its shadow, they soon found a large area surrounded by bushes and old trees, and four old, smooth logs resting about in a circle, and a small stream running from under the mountain and past the camp for them to fill their remaining canisters and flasks of water. It did not take too long for them to realise that it was an old camp for pony scouts.
While Cadence had gone to follow the stream and possibly a place to bathe in, the others sat around to get a campfire going, and some food ready for dinner. As they waited, Luna decided to see how good Trixie was at fighting, and Fluttershy decided to teach her some things she had learnt from her time training herself. Spike was annoyed when he was not asked to learn as well. “You are a baby dragon, Spike; only a child. I cannot place such heavy knowledge on you,” Fluttershy had said gently. Spike still sulked for a while, but quickly forgot about it when Trixie and Fluttershy started play fighting.
She snickered to herself at remembering Spike’s pout face, and bit into the lettuce and cucumber inside the thick brown bread. Fluttershy licked her lips and moaned as she swallowed. “Gosh, this is lovely, Luna,” she remarked.
“Why, thank you, dear Fluttershy,” Luna said as the pegasus stared hungrily at the half-eaten sandwich in her hooves. “It took me a while to prepare, but I like to think it turned out all right in the end.”
“That it did,” Fluttershy agreed, before she began to devour the rest of it greedily and messily. Once she was finished, her lips and hooves were covered in pieces of lettuce and cucumber, and breadcrumbs stuck to her coat as though glued there. “Um,” she moaned pleasantly as she licked and sucked her hooves clean. “That was beautiful.”
With a hoof in her mouth, she looked up once more to see that Luna, Spike and Trixie were watching her with amused expressions, and blushed fiercely in embarrassment while hastily brushing the crumbs off her coat. “Um… excuse me?” The four of them laughed.
Just as the laughter died down, Cadence emerged from the bushes. Her mane and tail were neat and straight once more, and her pink coat glistened with the low sunlight that managed to shine its way through the mountain range around them. “Hey, everypony, did I miss something?” she enquired as she looked from the smiling faces of the ponies and dragon.
“Oh, not much. Just finding ourselves amused by Fluttershy’s eating habits,” Luna said with a wave of her hoof. The pegasus in question covered her face with her mane, hoping not to be seen. “You look rather fine this evening, dear niece,” Luna observed as she inspected Cadence’s shining coat.
“Oh, I just found a nice little lake to have for myself for a moment. A bit chilly, but very relaxing once I got used to the cold. If you all get a chance, you should all go down there and have a bath.” She set herself down on her stomach, and took a deep breath of the fresh, mountain air that clung to the Range. “It is so relaxing out here.”
Trixie nodded in agreement. “And isolated, too. We can keep on walking for days through the Range, and never see another soul.”
“I would like to see at least one pony or other creature out here, though,” Spike said. He jumped off the log and pressed his back against it. “Just so I can know what’s going on outside the Range.”
A grave silence fell amongst the group, with each of them beginning to wonder what was going on outside the Range. Other than the camp they had past outside the Unicorn Range, they had no idea on how Equestria was doing. Was it at war with itself already? Did everypony suddenly reconsider hating each other and everything went back to as normal as living in Equestria could be considered normal?
‘Hopefully we will find out something upon getting out of the Range,’ Fluttershy thought. Whether or not she liked what she was going to discover, however, was up to her.
“So, um, what’s for dinner?” Cadence asked, breaking the tension. “I am starving after all that walking.”
“Well let’s see,” Luna said as she peered into the food bag. “Ah, we do have two lettuce and cucumber sandwiches that I made and a lemon to spare.”
“I do not mind what so long as I eat,” Cadence said, shrugging while licking her dry lips. She picked up the sandwiches and lemon with her magic, and began to eat just as greedily and hastily as Fluttershy did. She stopped when she briefly noticed everypony’s eyes bore onto her, and looked up just to confirm that. “What? You look as though you’ve never seen a Princess eat before?”
“We’ve all seen a Princess eat before, Cadence,” Fluttershy said politely, not sure how to say what was on her mind.
“Just haven’t seen a Princess eating without proper manners before,” Spike finished for her. Fluttershy glared at him, while Cadence just chuckled.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Cadence said comfortingly. “I know I don’t eat with the etiquette of the ponies of Canterlot, but I don’t care. I am still a pony that was raised by earth ponies; they were the family I’d always had, and nothing, not even growing this horn, is going to change that.”
The five went silent as they ate their meals, and listened to the trickle of the stream that flowed beside the campsite down towards the lake, and the hoots and screeches of owls as they set off in search of prey.
“So,” Cadence spoke once more, ruining the silence, “What have you all been up to whilst I was having a bath?”
“Me and Fluttershy were having a practice duel on how to fight,” Trixie replied. She looked to the Dragonlord with a small smile. “She said I fight like a pro; shame I couldn’t beat her, though.”
‘And you probably never will, Trixie. I am a warrior by blood,’ Fluttershy wanted to say, but quickly shut her mouth when she saw how rude that sounded. She saw many moments where Trixie could have beaten her in their last fight, and the only reason she saw that Trixie didn’t win was that Fluttershy was too quick for her. ‘Maybe I should have gone easier on her. I should have let her win at least once.’
“Fluttershy!” Cadence shouted, making the pegasus jump in fright. “I’ve been shouting at you for a while now.”
“Oh, so-sorry, Cadence,” Fluttershy said. “I went into my own world for a moment. What was it you were going to say?”
Cadence looked to the ground worriedly and stroked it with a hoof, as though she was afraid the pegasus would not comply with whatever she wanted to request. “I was just wondering if… well, you know, if you’re up to it, of course, if you and I have a duel?” she asked. “It’s been ages since I picked up a sword last, and I want to go up against somepony who is a master of it.”
Fluttershy looked at her flatly for a long time, before letting a warm smile crawl across her face. “I wouldn’t mind at all,” she replied kindly.
Cadence’s lips parted in surprise. “Really? Yo-you don’t mind?”
Fluttershy shook her head, smiling kindly. “Oh, no, of course not. Besides, it might be quite interesting to face somepony trained by Celestia herself.”
Cadence grinned in delight, and with a burst of magic strapped her sword back to her side. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get fighting!” Fluttershy jumped off her log, and walked over to the opposite side of the campsite, while Cadence moved to the other side, and Luna being in the middle.
“When was the last time you practiced with a weapon, Cadence?” Fluttershy queried.
“Before I was married, I think,” Cadence replied as she stretched her forelegs out. “Oh, and another time after the changeling invasion.” She gestured with her head at Fluttershy. “What about you? When was the last time you practiced?”
Fluttershy looked up at the darkening sky in thought. “Well… not exactly too long ago,” she replied. She remembered briefly a few months ago that she used straw built statues of different creatures as opponents when she felt in a bad mood one day – the same day Discord was released from stone once more to be reformed. Applejack had come by to ask for her aid in removing some beavers that had constructed a dam on a river running through one of her orchards, and had watched as Fluttershy destroyed all the statues nearly effortlessly.
Fluttershy sighed when she broke out of her memories. That morning with Applejack showed her the reason why she missed her honest, hard-working friend so much. Her honesty was always welcome in whatever Fluttershy did, as it helped her when she realised she was getting out of hoof, like the one time in Horsca when she nearly killed a horse in psychotic rage for hurting Rarity.
Despite Applejack’s good points, there were a few things about the earth pony that Fluttershy was glad she didn’t have to put up with. Her stubbornness was the main one, for when she said no to something, she stuck to it, even if it was the wrong decision, like running to Dodge Junction to hide from everyone. As well as that, and as much as Fluttershy hated herself for it, sometimes Applejack’s strong southern accent made her difficult to understand. Yet worse of all, when Applejack lied, it was painfully obvious. ‘Like that day,’ she thought sadly. ‘She said they would all be there for me when I take up arms again. And yet, they’re not here.’
“Fluttershy?” Cadence called, waving a hoof across her face. “Are you all right? You looked like you just zoned out for a moment… again.”
Fluttershy rapidly shook her head to clear her thoughts on Applejack, and remembered she was about to face Cadence in a duel. “I’m fine,” she said, nodding. “Just remembering something, that’s all.” ‘You have to concentrate on this, Fluttershy,’ she told herself. ‘You’re up against a Princess who had been trained to fight by Princess Celestia herself.’ “Um, can I ask a question before we do this: can I use both my swords, or just the one?”
Cadence looked to Luna for an answer, to which the nightly coloured alicorn responded back with a nod. “Whatever you think is easier for you,” Cadence said with a smile.
“Oh, good, because I prefer using both of my swords,” Fluttershy said. She reared up and with a flick of her hooves, Drage Bane and Firewing shot out of their long bracelets. She pointed both swords to the ground, making them glitter in the lowering sunlight.
“Nice swords,” Cadence remarked, her loving smile giving way to a contesting smirk. “I do like a good challenge.” She drew out her own sword from its sheath, prompting Fluttershy to step back in surprise, for she had not seen the weapon drawn out before.
The sword was about four foot in length, and had a bright blue blade with a crystal shine, much like the place it was strangely forged from. Its cross-guard was forged to look like the heads of a pick-axe, and its dark green hilt was bejewelled with red hexagonal crystals. Its head, however, made Fluttershy feel fearful, for just below the narrow point was a flat circle with about a dozen or so small spikes sticking out from the edges, almost like the head of a mace. ‘Note to self, avoid that head at all cost,’ she told herself.
Fluttershy suddenly felt a tingling sensation flow across her body, making her shake as though a cold gale had swept through her. When she felt it pass, she looked towards her opponent and her eyes widened as a dark blue flow of magic enveloped Cadence in a ball, making the Princess shudder, and then disappeared.
Both ponies looked to the caster: Luna. “What I have given to you are magical shields that would protect your body from even the most fatal blow,” Luna explained as she looked to both of them. “The first pony to destroy your opponent’s shield will be the winner. There will be no holding back in this duel; fight as though you are enemies. Though I don’t want to see any kicking or biting; just use your swords.”
“Actually, if you don’t mind, Cadence, but I don’t mind being kicked in this,” Fluttershy said. When Cadence looked at her in shock, the pegasus explained, “I’m a big girl, Cadence, I can take being kicked about, though if you don’t want to then that’s fine.”
Cadence’s shocked look turned into a respective smile. “If you want to be kicked, then it would only be fair if you kick me as well,” she added kindly. She turned to Luna. “We agree with the rules but for one.”
Luna nodded, seemingly surprised both ponies were up for that. “Very well, then the rules are now set in stone.” Having stated the rules, Luna lifted a leg high in the air, prompting both ponies to tense up and prepare with their opening moves.
After a moment to be sure the combatants were ready, Luna swooped her hoof down quickly. “Begin!” she declared.
Cadence began with a straight-on charge at the pegasus, swinging her sword low to knock Fluttershy off her hind-legs. Fluttershy jumped back, missing the swing, and fell onto three of her legs, while keeping Drage Bane poised above her head. Cadence tried swinging it again, this time aiming for her neck. Fluttershy lowered her sword and ducked at the last instant; she could feel the blade sweep over just inches from her head.
Cadence swung her sword back over her head, and then brought it down in one fell swoop. Fluttershy rolled away from the sword, allowing it to harmlessly hit the ground. Fluttershy saw then that was the moment to strike. She got up and leaped forward, thrusting Drage Bane into the Princess’s side.
Cadence picked up her sword and spun her body away from the attack, so Fluttershy could only stab the air. Cadence then thrust her sword to hit Fluttershy’s back, which was now exposed to the Princess’s sword. Fluttershy shot out her wing and parried the sword with her wing blades. She pushed it away, and spun back and thrust Firewing forward to strike the alicorn’s chest.
Cadence used the lower blade and hilt of her sword to deflect the strike, and then kicked Fluttershy in the chest. With a startled squeak, the Dragonlord flew through the air and landed on her back. She shook her head to clear her dizzy senses, and then looked to see Cadence standing idle, waiting to see if she was okay. Fluttershy rolled onto her stomach and shot back onto her hooves, grinning eagerly for the next strike.
Cadence smiled happily upon seeing Fluttershy was okay, and then leaped at her like a deer, swinging her sword down onto the pegasus. Grinning, Fluttershy jumped forward, spun around and lightly kicked with her hind legs into Cadence’s stomach, sending her spiralling forward. She landed on her head and rolled around before finally coming to a stop against one of the empty logs.
Fluttershy backed up a bit, her face heavy with concern as she watched the alicorn carefully. ‘Oh, I hope I didn’t hurt her too badly,’ she thought, biting her lower lip. She glanced at the others watching, and saw they too were concerned about Cadence. “Cadence?”
At once, the alicorn jumped up and brought her sword back to her face, grinning madly. “That was pretty good, Fluttershy,” she commented. “Though I’m not sure if you used your legs or your muzzle for that; I just felt a light tap, that’s all.”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at the light insult. “Oh, those were my legs, certainly. And as for your kick, well, was it a kick? Felt more like a tickle.”
Cadence giggled playfully after a brief but tense silence. “You know, I think I can safely say we are both terrible at throwing insults at each other.”
Fluttershy giggled also, nodding in agreement. “Oh yes. I don’t like insulting ponies anyway, so I don’t mind.” She lifted up her right leg and let Drage Bane emerge once more. “Let’s settle this the only way warriors know how: fight.”
“Ladies first,” Cadence replied, before charging the Dragonlord with her head low and her horn pointing at her chest like a spear.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise from the sudden use of a horn, but quickly recovered and rolled away from the charging pony. Cadence stormed past her, but managed to control herself and was able stop and turn around before she ran into a log. “Can you use a horn as a weapon?” Fluttershy asked as she got to her hooves.
“Mmm hmm,” Cadence replied, nodding. “In the past, unicorns placed steel points over their horns so when they charged, they could break a line up and disorganise the enemy’s ranks. It worked quite often, according to what I have read.”
Fluttershy nodded in interest, and then charged forward, her eyes darting from left to right and back again as she tried to think of an exact place to attack. Her eyes finally settled on Cadence’s long legs, and prepared herself.
She stopped just short of barrelling into the Princess, and then dived low and swung Drage Bane at her legs. Cadence caught it and deflected the strike with her sword. Fluttershy then used Firewing to strike at the alicorn’s exposed side, but before her sword could hit Cadence used the lower end of her sword to deflect the sword down. Cadence pushed Fluttershy back with her whole body, and then swung her sword at an angle.
Fluttershy spun away from the attack, and then kicked out with her hind legs. Cadence jumped up in the air and missed the legs completely, sending Fluttershy tumbling backwards and falling onto her bottom. Cadence brought her sword up and over her head, and then swung it down to strike Fluttershy’s head.
The pegasus jumped up, went low and quickly spun around and parried the attack with Firewing, while stabbing Drage Bane at Cadence’s exposed chest. The alicorn hastily recovered from the attack and parried Drage Bane down to the ground, and then swung upward to hit Fluttershy’s lower jaw.
Fluttershy brought her head back and reared up just to miss the head of the sword. ‘That was close,’ Fluttershy thought as she watched it fly into the air. She pushed the blade further upwards with Firewing, and then swung with Drage Bane at Cadence’s neck. The alicorn reared her head back and missed the swing by millimetres, and then spun away from the corner she had placed herself in, missing Fluttershy’s next attack. She backed away from her opponent and took a few deep breaths, her sword close to her chest and looking at Fluttershy with a small, almost evil grin.
Fluttershy grinned back at her as she planned her next move, her eyes wandering over Cadence’s body to look for a weakness. ‘She tends to keep her sword resting against her right shoulder,’ she observed thoughtfully. ‘That would mean she’s more comfortable with her right hoof, so it would mean her whole left side would be more exposed, and – Oh, goodness, she’s coming at me!’
Fluttershy reared up quickly and blocked the swoop of Cadence’s sword with Firewing. Before she could strike with Drage Bane, however, Cadence stepped back, swung her sword above her head, and then brought it low, aiming for Fluttershy’s crotch.
The pegasus rolled away from the attack, allowing it to only hit the wailing air. “Do you mind? That area is private, Cadence,” Fluttershy said breathlessly when she got back up on her hooves, blushing when she realised how exposed she was.
“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” Cadence replied. She giggled at something. “If you’d like, I could tell you some rather embarrassing tales involving Twilight as a foal later on.”
Though she felt it wrong to know such things, the images of a younger Twilight in her head sounded too cute to pass by. “I’ll think about it,” Fluttershy replied, as she got ready to fight once again.
Noticing Fluttershy was ready to fight again, Cadence leaped forward and swung her sword over her shoulder and down on Fluttershy’s head. The pegasus brought up Drage Bane and blocked it; the force made the Dragonlord grimace in pain as she felt the power of Cadence’s strike run down her leg.
She thrust forward with Firewing, but the alicorn backed away and blocked that as well. Fluttershy charged forward, then swung Firewing, then Drage Bane, and then Firewing again, and Drage Bane once more, each attack aiming differently and to put Cadence off balance. But every attack Cadence managed to block without fuss.
Fluttershy reared up once more, and this time swung both of her swords over her head and brought them down towards each side of Cadence’s chest. Cadence blocked, yet she couldn’t bring her sword away from the two swords; Fluttershy was too strong. Cadence gritted her teeth and with all her strength tried to wrestle the swords away from her. Fluttershy felt her gain an inch, and gritted her teeth as well as she pushed back, hoping for Cadence to give way. ‘She has to give way, she just has to,’ Fluttershy thought as she looked into the Princess’s eyes.
Both ponies remained locked in place for a few long minutes, none of them daring to look away, talk, or even breathe as they fought for dominance. Their coats were dark with sweat, their eyes were fixed on each other’s, and despite using all their strength none of them could break through and hit the other. ‘I’m wasting time here,’ Fluttershy decided. It was time to break the stalemate.
She pushed with what little strength she had left, sending Cadence’s sword away from her, before spinning away from the Princess and taking a few steps back, Drage Bane held close to her chest. Cadence recovered, then charged forward and swung her sword at Fluttershy and then thrust it forward, but the pegasus managed to dodge it with a few flicks and ducks of her head. Cadence drew back her sword once more, and then swung it in a lightning fast strike that almost caught Fluttershy off guard.
Almost.
Fluttershy arched her body back so that the blade ran right beside her neck, too fast for Cadence to gain control of it and stab it forward. Fluttershy could hear it whistle her demise as it sped past her head. It was quickly away, and left the alicorn open once more. Fluttershy took that chance and dived forward, thrusting both her swords at the alicorn.
Princess Celestia, one of the finest sword wielders on Terra, however, had taught Cadence on everything she knew. She was prepared. She ducked her head and body low so that Fluttershy shot over her, and then used a foreleg to lightly kick Fluttershy in the chest and pushed the Dragonlord to the ground.
Fluttershy rolled about in the dirt for a moment, before coming to a sudden stop with a dazed and confused look on her face. She looked up and saw to her alarm Cadence charging at her once more, with her sword above her head and ready to bring it down and end the duel. Fluttershy rolled to her right, missing the sword head by an inch, and swung Drage Bane upwards to strike at Cadence’s leg.
The Princess flew her leg up, scarcely missing the attack, and then brought her hoof down and pressed it on Fluttershy’s right leg, pinning it to the ground. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she realised that she was about to lose. She tried to break it free, but Cadence’s hold on her leg was firm, and she knew the alicorn would not let go any time soon.
She looked up in horror to see Cadence drawing her sword back, ready to thrust it forward, finish the duel, and win a great victory as well as having plenty of boasting material for later.
Fluttershy acted fast.
Just as Cadence thrust her sword forward, Fluttershy swung Firewing left, deflecting Cadence’s blade. With her sword out of the way for the moment, Fluttershy reared up and head butted the alicorn in the chest, hard enough to push her back but not too hard to hurt her – or so Fluttershy hoped, she barely knew her own strength.
Cadence staggered backwards, unable to keep her balance and forcing her to drop her sword. Fluttershy saw her chance. She leaped forward and made a feint attack on Cadence’s left with Firewing. Cadence picked the sword up just in time and deflected it away from her.
She noticed too late that she was put out of position.
Fluttershy swung Drage Bane and slammed it into Cadence’s exposed shoulder. Instead of the sound of metal hitting the flesh of the Princess, however, it sounded like a ball smashing through a window. When the pegasus pulled the sword away, the area around Cadence’s shoulder fractured and splintered like glass.
The cracks around the small, nearly invisible hole where Drage Bane hit grew and grew, until they enveloped Cadence entirely. Fluttershy backed away in fright, fearing for a second what she had done.
She relaxed when the glass-like shield dispersed and turned into bubbles, which started popping one by one. Cadence stood unharmed, but stunned and breathless from a tiring and long fight. Fluttershy was breathing heavily as well, yet she couldn’t help herself but grin. ‘I did it,’ she thought. ‘I beat a Princess.’
She looked over to their spectators, who stared at them with wide eyes and open mouths for a long while, before suddenly exploding in a round of applause. Fluttershy and Cadence smiled at them, and then bowed their heads. Cadence lifted her head up, and then turned to Fluttershy with a wide smile. “That was brilliant,” she remarked, moving to stand in front of the pegasus. “You were brilliant.”
Fluttershy smiled bashfully and looked at the ground. “I-it was nothing, really,” she said modestly. “You did great yourself. For a moment I actually thought you were going to beat me.”
Cadence chuckled, and put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “So did I,” she said, earning a giggle from both of them.
The two turned around and walked slowly to the others. “I didn’t hurt you when I head butted you in the chest, did I?” Fluttershy asked worriedly. “I didn’t mean to if I did.”
Cadence shook her head. “Not to worry, Fluttershy, it would take far more than a head butt to put me down,” she said assuredly. “Nice trick, by the way.”
“It was nice trickery from both of you,” Luna commented, smiling as her eyes moved back and forth between the pair. “You both fought gallantly and nobly. I wish some of my guards or even my army were like the pair of you.”
“Yeah, that was so awesome!” Spike yelled excitedly. “The way you were like swinging your swords at each other and blocking and deflecting and rolling about it, it was all so awesome I felt like I was watching an action movie!” The little dragon jumped up onto the log to try to re-enact the fight, but instead lost his balance and fell off the log and onto his back. “I’m okay, guys, thanks for asking,” he called, making everypony laugh.
“Nice little re-enactment, Spike,” Cadence remarked as she settled onto her stomach, while magically setting her sword away. “Though I don’t remember being that clumsy on my hooves.”
Fluttershy giggled as she sat on her haunches, tucking her tail around her legs. “You were fine, Cadence,” she said. “A better fighter than most, I should say. Even better than Rainbow Dash was.”
The five travellers continued talking about the duel, as well as other things, long into the night, until their eyes grew heavy with fatigue. Fluttershy watched as the group fell asleep with blissful smiles, before setting down and using her hooves as a pillow. As she felt her body drift off, a smile grew on her face as she remembered the duel Cadence and herself had, and the time she had to get to know her companions better.
She did not know if they would have more time like that in the days to come, but she was happy that they did for just the one.