The next morning, Luna awoke the others just as the first rays of the sun flew over the peaks of the mountains like beams of light at a stage show and basked the Unicorn Range in its light. The day looked set to be a bright one, with not a single cloud floating over them.
“Good morning, everyone,” Fluttershy said cheerfully as she sat up onto her haunches. She yawned loudly as she stretched out her forelegs, feeling pleasantly surprised by how good a mood she was in. ‘Supposed what happened yesterday helped.’ “How did everypony sleep?”
“Like a log, thanks,” Spike replied as he got up.
Cadence stopped stretching, and turned her head to stare at him strangely. “Like a log?”
“It’s a figure of speech,” Spike explained before letting out a yawn, spraying saliva onto the ground like a quick drizzle of rain.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of that,” Luna said as she checked their food bag.
“Me too,” Trixie agreed.
“And me,” Fluttershy said quietly. She slouched when she added in a whisper, “Sorry.”
Spike chuckled as he walked around. “Eh, it’s okay. Now you all know something new,” he said. He stopped for a second and had a look around and beyond the old campsite. “So, uh, which way do we have to go now?”
“Simple,” Trixie replied. She pointed to the west, between the two logs closest to Spike. “We go from there and find a dirt road. We then follow that road until we reach a village and from the–”
“Hold on a second, but did you just say, a village?” Luna demanded, interrupting the showmare. Trixie nervously nodded, prompting Luna to spin away and groan agitatedly. “I thought you said we won’t be going through any villages!”
“Well, I wouldn’t say this was a village; more of a hamlet, really,” Trixie explained, tilting her head to one side. “But the ponies there are kind enough and not exactly nosy. We could pass on by and they wouldn’t even interrupt except only to wish us good morning. Now I know I am not the most trusting pony around, but I believe that we can trust them.”
“But how can you be sure that you can trust them now?” Luna queried. “How do we know that they won’t turn on us when there is a price on our heads?” Luna sighed again. “We have to find another way around; we can’t risk passing through this hamlet.”
“There is no other way around it, Luna!” Trixie insisted. “We either go through, go back and head east, or don’t go anywhere at all. Your choice.”
Fluttershy watched nervously as Luna’s narrow eyes shifted in place around the ground. Finally, her eyes flicked up and settled on Fluttershy, who flinched back at the demanding tone she felt from her gaze. “We-well,” Fluttershy began, fidgeting in her spot, “I-it might be all right, Luna. If Trixie thinks those ponies are okay, then I believe her; she hasn’t let us down so far, has she?”
Luna did not respond, but Fluttershy could see from the look on her face that her words were having some affect. “Anyway, this hamlet might have no idea what’s going on outside the Unicorn Range, so we could be safe,” the Dragonlord added quickly, hopefully sealing what chance she briefly had to convince the alicorn.
After a tense moment of silence, Luna breathed deeply through her nose and out again. “Very well, we’ll do it your way,” she conceded, though the worry she felt was plain in her voice. She sharply turned and pointed a warning hoof at Trixie. “But this is all on you, Trixie Lulamoon. If it all goes wrong, then you are to blame.” Trixie swallowed as she nodded.
Once the air between them had grown warmer, Cadence sighed cheerfully as she got up from her place. “Well I’m glad that’s taken care of,” she said, smiling at everyone. Suddenly her horn came to life with magic, and soon their food bag was floating above her head. “Who’s up for some breakfast? I’m cooking.”
Luna groaned jokingly. “Hey!” Cadence snorted as she set up. “Just so you all know, I cook some of the best specialties in all of Equestria. And a lot of ponies agree with me.”
“Mmm hmm, did they tell you this the moment you gave this special of yours to these ponies, or the first time you saw them weeks later?” Luna teased. Cadence snorted and ignored her, muttering something about getting her back later. Luna only laughed.
Fluttershy looked away and snickered, biting her lower lip to keep the howling laughter crawling up her throat in place. ‘Apply water to the burn,’ she thought, while Spike and Trixie chuckled. The group slowly fell silent as Cadence began to make their breakfast.
The breakfast Cadence created – an oat porridge with a special seasoning that only the younger alicorn knew what it was – was simply delightful, Fluttershy thought as she ate her share. The sweet taste sparkled across her taste buds like candyfloss, which was a strange thing to compare with, but Fluttershy couldn’t think of anything else. She devoured the rest very quickly. “My compliments to the chef,” she remarked, licking her lips and rubbing her hooves clean of the remains.
“Why thank you, Fluttershy. At least somepony appreciates my cooking,” Cadence said, glancing at Luna with a very big eye. The other Princess dutifully ignored it with a cheeky grin and ate in silence.
After breakfast, the five companions packed up their things, went to the loo if they needed to, put out the fire and made sure no trace of their presence was left. Once they were certain they couldn’t be tracked, they followed Trixie between the logs she pointed out earlier, through the thin confines of the bushes until finally emerging at a dirt road that disappeared into the distance. The giant mountain shadowing them on the right flanked it with a thin stream running alongside of it, and another steep cliff on the left linked to the ridge they had taken yesterday.
Fluttershy looked up every now and then across the caps and peaks as they walked, praying to herself that she was just imagining things, that nothing was following them – nothing nasty anyway. But the thought would not go away. Sometimes she thought she saw eyes spewing out hatred from the cliff edge above them, and was about to call out and point it to the others, but before she could, it was gone. ‘Something is not right.’
As a filly, Fluttershy had read a book that said the Unicorn Range was named due to the vast amount of magic energy that spilled out from a tear somewhere in the Range and covered the whole area with magic. What if the things she was seeing was an illusion conjured by her own fears and hates? ‘Twilight would know,’ she told herself, her ears falling flat at the memory of her other unicorn friend.
If Twilight were here, she figured, she would be able to fix everything with a flick of her horn, and everypony would be happy and smiling together once more. Twilight might be a bookworm, but she did have wits on her that made the Dragonlord laugh sometimes, and she was always optimistic in any situation, and good-hearted all around.
Even so, there were times where she just couldn’t stand her. Twilight had a tendency to break into lecture mode and start to inform them all about something only a few of them had any real interest in. Fluttershy tended to lose track before the unicorn even stopped to pause. Even then, Twilight was sometimes really dense; oblivious to things that everypony could see that she couldn’t. It frustrated Fluttershy sometimes, even though she knew it shouldn’t. It was a part of Twilight, after all. Telling her to stop being who she was – telling any of her friends to stop being who they were – would be like telling Celestia to stop moving the sun.
She shook her head rapidly, clearing her thoughts on the unicorn, and looked towards Trixie, who was just ahead. “So, um, Trixie, what’s the Vale of the Lost like?”
The unicorn looked back with a warm smile. “One of the most beautiful places on Terra, Fluttershy Firewing,” she answered. “It is a vast place, easily the size of the Everfree Forest and Whitetail Woods combined. One large mountain dominates its centre, with a few trees growing around its base and its mid-section. And at the top is a giant ledge overlooking the whole Vale; Celestia knows how many times I have camped at its peak.
“Around the mountain, there’s cast circles of woodlands separated from each other by great meadows: some plains with very tall and edible grass, some with rivers running through its middle, and others with great lakes or ponds. Oh, and there are a few gorges as well, and even caves in the mountains penning it in like a fence; some aren’t that deep, but others feel as though you’re going to Marsapia. Oh, and don’t get me started on the wildlife there.”
Fluttershy shot over to Trixie’s side in an instant, grinning like a filly about to be told a surprise. “Really? Wh-what kind of wildlife?” she asked eagerly, her walk close to a prance.
Trixie smiled and tapped her nose. “Ah, now that would be spoiling it now, wouldn’t it? You’ll find out when we get there,” she promised.
Fluttershy’s grin vanished, but she still felt incredibly excited about what she might see in the Vale. ‘Even if I don’t see anything this time, I could always come back and look later,’ she thought.
“Sounds nice, but what about getting into the Vale? Is that a problem?” Luna asked curiously.
Fluttershy turned back to Trixie with her own curious gaze. “No, not much of a problem, really,” Trixie replied thoughtfully, looking up at the sky as she tried to remember. “We have to follow a path that nestles right up against an enormous lake and some trees, and after that we follow it into a tunnel that goes right through the mountain and out onto a small ledge on the other side. From there we go down and we’re in the Vale.”
“Okay, fair enough,” Cadence said, nodding in understanding. “So what about getting out of the Vale?”
“Again, not a problem,” Trixie replied with a flick of her hoof. “We just head north-west from the starting position and follow one of the roads until we come across a naturally built bridge of stone, which hangs over a black chasm where nothing lives.” Fluttershy felt herself shiver at the thought. “After we have crossed that bridge, we enter the mountain on the other side and follow the cave right out to the other end, where we will be welcomed by the Great Equestrian Plain and its massive fields and small lakes.”
Cadence nodded satisfactorily, followed swiftly by the others. “Well it seems as if we’ll be all right, after all,” Spike said, though his tone revealed how he actually thought that would not be the case. The group fell silent and trundled on.
Eventually, after half an hour or so, they came across a fork in the road leading three ways. The left path went south through a thick cluster of trees and another thin valley, the centre one continued through the valley and around a corner leading to Celestia knows where, and the right path headed north up a slow slope covered in trees and bushes.
“Are you sure we turn right?” Cadence asked, looking all three ways inquisitively.
Trixie looked up at her and nodded. “Of course. That path leads up to a high plain where the hamlet is. Now come on, follow me.” Seeing no other option, the four followed Trixie along the right path and up the hill, sauntering cautiously through the trees with their eyes and ears on alert.
Fluttershy’s wings twitched in their anxiety as she walked behind Luna, her mind flicking through the various possibilities of what could happen on the other side. ‘Will they greet us openly with warm embrace? Or clenched sword?’ she wondered, feeling herself begin to shake as the earth levelled out beneath them, and she could see the first signs of non-obscured light on the other side, as well as signs of houses. ‘Time to find out, I suppose.’
They finally emerged into the light of the sun and the heavy wind brushing against their coats once more, only to stop and stare in horror at the scene before them. “Wha… what happened?” Spike rasped.
The small hamlet was composed of around a dozen buildings; the majority of the buildings were large rectangular bungalows made of dark, rectangular-shaped timber fastened together with two chimneys placed at either end of their thatched roofs. The largest building was a two-storey rectangular structure of white and black with a tall clock tower at its centre. In the far right corner was a small barn with a large field of crops beside it, and on the far left corner was a large timber mill, which sat beside a thin river that flowed south westward; the mill had a large wheel rolling through the river, and a large number of recently-chopped logs on the other. It looked like a lovely place to live.
The hamlet was dead.
Fluttershy could see pieces of the bungalows’ windows scattered across the ground, tattered parts of doors hung from their hinges where they had been kicked in, and one or two houses showed signs of being on fire. She swallowed down her nervousness as she moved forward, her fear overshadowed by her curiosity to find out what happened, and if there were any ponies that needed help.
“Spread out but keep in close contact!” Luna commanded, drawing Nightbringer from her side. “Whoever attacked this place may not be too far away. And search for any sign of life!”
The others complied and began to advance towards the hamlet in a loose formation; Spike opted to stick close to Fluttershy’s side, his body noticeably shaking in fright as they neared the abandoned hamlet. Fluttershy would be lying if she said she did not feel the same way.
Fluttershy kept her eyes on the broken windows, searching for any movement that would tell her this place still has somepony left to explain what had happened here. She stopped when she felt something crack beneath her hooves. The pegasus looked down and saw to her alarm that she had stepped on to a piece of glass. She lifted her hoof up and looked for blood, but found to her surprise she had not suffered a scratch.
“Are you all right?” Spike whispered, watching her as she observed her hoof.
Fluttershy glanced at him and smiled assuredly. “I’m okay, thank you,” she said. She lightly gestured with her head to her back. “Hop onto my back; it would be safer for you if you did.”
Spike instantly took the offer and hopped onto Fluttershy’s back fluidly. With her passenger safe, Fluttershy walked on, her eyes going back and forth between the houses in her search for life. “What do you think happened here, Fluttershy?” Spike asked.
Fluttershy shook her head, her eyes never leaving the buildings and street corners, while her ears twitched occasionally to the sound of glass being smashed beneath her hooves. “I think this place was attacked at some point,” she said quietly. She shivered in thought as she envisioned the cries of the ponies as their attackers bore down on them, and the smell of smoke and fear as the inhabitants fled for their lives. “But what on Terra could have caused this?” she wondered aloud.
She stopped when she came to the centre of the hamlet, which was a large crossroads with one road leading from the main hall to the farm and another around the houses, and looked at the ground around her. The dirt road was churned out by so many hoof-prints going in every direction possible, and… Fluttershy bent over and looked closer at one print in particular, one she was not familiar with.
The footprint resembled closely to that of a large cat’s. ‘Possibly a mountain lion,’ Fluttershy figured as she analysed it from different angles. ‘But that’s not possible, surely. Mountain lions have never been seen around here.’ She raised her head and called out, “Trixie!”
The unicorn came running at the sound of her voice, and skidded to a halt when she made it in front of the pegasus. “What is it, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy pointed to the paw print beside her. “Have you ever seen or had an encounter with a mountain lion around here?”
Trixie stared at the print for a long time, before clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “Nope. Haven’t seen a wild cat around here ever,” she replied, much to Fluttershy’s confusion. “I haven’t even heard of any wild predators around here.” she tapped her chin in thought. “Could some have escaped from a zoo somewhere?”
“Think logically, you two,” Luna said flatly as she landed roughly to the ground. “How could mountain lions start fires or chase away an entire hamlet of ponies?”
“They could have killed and eaten them,” Trixie muttered under her breath. Fluttershy glared at her into keeping that thought to herself.
Luna continued regardless. “We might be considered prey to mountains lions, but they are certainly not stupid. They know we can defend ourselves with weapons and use flight and magic to our advantage. Neither would they attack such a compact hamlet such as this one.”
“Nor could they start fires, no matter how hard they try,” Cadence added as she glided down to join them. “Besides, mountain lions have never been sighted around here. Whatever attacked this place came without warning, and left very few clues as to where they came from and where they went afterwards.”
“So where did they come from?” Spike asked.
“And where did they go?” Fluttershy finished.
Cadence twisted her head away and looked all around them. “They came from everywhere,” she replied grimly, then added sourly, “and then disappeared without a trace.”
Luna’s ears flicked upwards. “What?” she yelled, causing Fluttershy to flinch back in shock. “How could the attackers have disappeared?”
“I don’t know, aunt, but I found no tracks other than pony hooves on the boundaries around the hamlet,” Cadence replied. She took a deep breath and shrugged. “I cannot understand how a creature could just disappear like that.”
“Not any ordinary creature, at least,” Luna said thoughtfully, turning away from the group.
Fluttershy took a step towards her, and lifted a hoof up in a hesitant meaning of comfort. “Luna? Is everything all right?” she asked gently.
Luna spun around in an instant and addressed Cadence, ignoring Fluttershy’s question; whether she meant to or didn’t hear her, the Dragonlord did not know. “What about the inhabitants of this quaint little hamlet? Did you find any blood or anything to reveal their whereabouts?”
Cadence shook her head sullenly. “Nothing. It was as though they were taken from the surface of this planet,” she responded.
Spike suddenly froze in fright. “Could… aliens have taken them?” he asked shakily.
It took all of Fluttershy’s willpower not to slam her hoof into her head and shake it. “I firmly believe that if aliens existed that they would not be capable of space travel,” Luna objected. “They would be more like us, wondering if they’re not alone in this universe.” She looked absently up at the sky, a pondering smile on her face as she thought about something the pegasus could not know.
Fluttershy looked perplexedly to Cadence and Trixie, who simply shrugged in response. “Um, auntie?” Cadence called, waving a hoof in her face. “What shall we do about this place?”
Luna shuddered out of her blank staring, and immediately retained composure. “Yes, well, uh,” she stammered, prompting the group to snicker. “I suppose we should move on and get out of here as soon as we can,” she eventually said.
“Or, we could wait here until tomorrow and see if the ponies come back here and find out what happened,” Fluttershy added, much to Luna’s apparent horror. “I won’t feel right if we leave here without knowing what happened to this place or its inhabitants,” she explained, gesturing with a sweep of her hoof at the ruined hamlet.
Luna looked set to say no, but then looked around at the faces of the others. Fluttershy looked, too, and saw that they wanted to stay for the night as well. With a heavy, drawn-out sigh, Luna hung her head in defeat. “Very well. Then we shall camp here and set off at first light,” she said regretfully.
Fluttershy beamed brightly at the idea. “Brilliant!” she squeaked. She pointed to the large sawmill. “Then we shall camp up there and fill up what canteens we have left and look for some leftover food; I’m sure they won’t notice if a teeny tiny bit is missing.”
The ponies and dragon agreed, and then split off and began searching for food and other supplies they could use. As she searched, Fluttershy began to feel as though she and the rest of the group were being toyed with. ‘Whatever caused all this is still out there,’ she thought as she crept into one of the bungalows, glancing behind her and towards the woods bordering the meadow. ‘And right now, they are watching us.’ Feeling more insecure every minute outside, she jumped inside the bungalow and began looking for food for spare.
The sun began to set by the time the group – their supplies doubled by their efforts – settled down and fell asleep for the night, with Luna watching over them and her sword half-drawn and ready to swing at any foe.
The day started much colder than Fluttershy thought it would, and was a grey gloomy morning with the sun but a dull yellow orb amongst the solemn clouds. ‘The days are growing darker,’ she thought, as she leaned against a pillar supporting the roof of the sawmill, overlooking the small hamlet.
The tiny village looked serenely peaceful, despite the broken glass and torn down doors and its missing inhabitants. It was the kind of place Fluttershy would love to live in, and the thought of waking up every morning with a mountain to see and the lovely farm animals to look after and help when necessary brought a pleasing smile to her face.
It was a peaceful place with no importance whatsoever, which gave Fluttershy a mild headache just thinking about it. ‘What could have attacked this place?’ she wondered, the question running on repeat in her head. ‘What could have scared or killed all the ponies that lived here?’
“You’re up early.” Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder when she heard Luna’s voice, then looked back to the hamlet as the Lunar Princess approached.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Fluttershy said grimly. She looked back at the hamlet again, lightly shaking her head. “I don’t sleep well these days.”
“Because of what has happened to Equestria? Or what happened to this place?” Luna enquired, nodding her head towards the deserted settlement.
Fluttershy pressed her lips together and glanced at Luna. “Usually it’s about what happened to Equestria, but last night it was both,” she answered. She shook her head again as she breathed through her nose. “I just don’t understand what could have happened here. Why? Why attack such an unimportant little place? None of the separated states would have done it; too small for starters.”
“That we can both agree on,” Luna said, nodding faintly in agreement. “And Celestia wouldn’t as well, less she wishes to lose more of her little ponies. No. This was the work of some external force.”
Fluttershy turned her gaze fully on Luna. “Like what? Griffons?”
Luna shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, but I have a hunch; I just pray that I am wrong.”
Though she knew she was not meant to, Fluttershy could clearly see fear in Luna’s eyes; a decade of living in fear had made her adept at seeing fear in others. “Do you think all the ponies of this place got out of here safely?”
Luna sighed as she leaned against the opposite pillar. “We didn’t see any blood yesterday, so it’s possible they all got out alive,” she assumed.
“I hope so,” Fluttershy continued, rubbing her left foreleg worriedly. “I like to think that they all reached another village in the Range, but then I get images of finding their mangled and bloodied corpses later on, like what we saw in the…” She shuddered as she allowed herself to trail off.
Luna stared at her oddly. “Why do you care so much about ponies that you haven’t even met?”
Fluttershy shot her head around to glare harshly at Luna. “How could you say that? You? You are a Princess of Equestria; you’re supposed to care about everypony in this country!”
Luna snorted quietly yet disdainfully. “I did once – I loved everypony in this country. But why should I now? Why should I care about these ponies?”
“Because they love you!” Fluttershy hissed, glancing over to the sleeping ponies and one dragon on the far side of the sawmill to make sure she hadn’t awoken them. “I know I was scared of you when we first met, but overtime, my view on you changed, and so did many others. We have all come to love you since then, and you have done so much good for us all.”
Luna scowled at Fluttershy. “Then clearly you don’t read the newspaper,” she said. She looked back at the ruined hamlet, tears in her eyes. “I guess then that you didn’t see that half of the country begged for my public execution; mine and Cadence’s. One of the guards threw the paper in on Thursday I believe, laughing.”
Fluttershy stood dazed and shocked. ‘I should really read the paper more.’ She shook her head slowly as her wide eyes stayed fixed on Luna. “Y-you know that’s not true, Luna,” she said as firmly as she could. She took a step towards the Princess. “You know now most of those votes are from states that have risen up against the kingdom to depose your sister and yourself, don’t you? Most of us loved you, like I do, and they still do; we just need to remind them, to make them remember.”
She stepped forward a bit more. “Remember what you said to me back at the castle, before we met Trixie? You promised you would help me find out what is going on around here and help me put it right. Please, Luna, please don’t back down on that promise now.”
Luna turned to face her. “I am not breaking any promises. I will help you with your quest, that’s for sure. But that does not mean I have to care for them; I am done with caring for others outside of my family,” she said bitterly. Her features turned gentler all of a sudden, as though remembering something.
“How comes you never said anything about this earlier?” Fluttershy asked.
“I thought you would have known,” Luna replied.
“If I did know, I wouldn’t have been so surprised when we met,” Fluttershy pointed out.
“Ah, that’s true. I guess I just wasn’t thinking straight,” Luna conceded. She glanced at the Dragonlord. “You still haven’t answered my question, you know: why do you care so much about ponies that you haven’t met, or never will meet?”
Fluttershy leaned her head against the pillar again, sighing softly. “I have no reason to care about them. I just do,” she replied. “Judging from this place, they were as close as family, and probably cared for one another when one of them needed it. Even though many of them were probably not related, they stood by the traditions this country was founded on. If that’s not reason enough to care, then I don’t know what is.”
Luna didn’t reply to Fluttershy, but instead looked back at the hamlet, and the rising sun. Fluttershy followed her gaze to see the sun was now above the tallest mountains in the range, and shooting its rays gracefully across the world. “You’re a better pony than I am,” Luna admitted quietly.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘Why does everypony say that?’ she asked herself. “No, Luna,” she said kindly, turning her head to face her with a smile. “You are a good pony; you’re good to your niece and though blunt, you are pleasant enough to the others. I have always believed that everyone has a bit of good in them, and that means you as well.”
“Hmph,” Luna huffed, yet her eyes revealed a new bout of respect for the young Dragonlord. She glanced behind her. “I guess we should awake the others and get moving; we can’t afford to stay here for so long.”
Fluttershy sighed, and then reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Yes, I guess we have little choice but to move on now,” she said. She got up and moved away. “I’ll wake them up. You stay there and keep watch, make sure our path stays clear.”
Luna nodded, and then looked ahead again as Fluttershy moved away to awaken the others.
A quarter of an hour later, the group groggily made their way out of the hamlet and continued to follow the road northwest. Fluttershy marched sombrely behind, watching Trixie, Spike and Cadence rub their tired eyes after being awoken so suddenly. They were all still upset upon being told they had to move without a decent breakfast, and the pegasus could not blame them.
Before they went around a bend and out of sight, Fluttershy took a good look at the hamlet one last time. Though she felt relieved she didn’t find any bodies within, she was terribly confused about how this came about. ‘Luna seems to know,’ she thought, ‘yet she won’t tell us what it could have been.’ Was she afraid that if she said it, her theory might turn out true? Or was she denying to herself what it might have been?
“Be on your guard,” Luna said as she led the group along. “If we move quickly enough, we might let our presence here go unnoticed.”
Fluttershy breathed through slightly parted lips. “I think our presence here has already been noticed,” she whispered to herself. “But by what?”
She turned away and trotted after the group, glancing over her shoulder as the hamlet disappeared from sight.
After another hour, the group finally made it through the winding and hilly forest, and stopped and stared at the road before them.
The road they needed to take weaved its way through a wide valley that looked like it was four miles long. Trees as tall as houses lined up on the left side of the road, and went right back and halfway up the mountains. The right side of the path was as bare as a newborn foal, with thin, brown grass covering it.
Fluttershy smiled thinly at the sight, beckoning her hooves to start moving again. ‘Not much longer, and we’ll soon be out of here and in Horsca,’ she thought. She would hop excitedly for joy at the thought of seeing Freya and the city of Castilian again if she could, but the reason as to why she was heading there gave the pegasus pause. She was not going there for a friendly visit, even though she had promised the Queen the last time she had seen her she would come to Horsca, but to seek sanctuary there and wait until Vidarr brings news from his dragons and a place where they could come up with a plan to save Equestria from ripping itself asunder.
Even then, and it was a thought that made the Dragonlord pale, there was a chance Horsca was suffering the same calamity as Equestria was. Fluttershy mentally shook her head to dismiss the idea. ‘Horsca is fine; you’re just making yourself paranoid. It will be fine, and we will be safe.’ Yet her words did little to keep her paranoia down.
Even as she thought that, another reason to worry sprang to her mind. ‘Will Freya still be Queen?’ she wondered as they started to follow the path. The last time she had seen the old horse was in Canterlot nearly a year ago, when Celestia summoned her to help with negotiations with Horsca on trade rights and such. Freya had looked old then, and she would almost certainly have aged more since. ‘Will she even remember me? Will she even be alive after all this time?’ She hoped, no, she prayed she was still around, or else that would make things difficult for all of them.
“Are you all right, Fluttershy?” Spike asked, looking at her weirdly.
Fluttershy quickly realised she was making a funny face as she pondered. ‘Oh, no wonder so many ponies ask me if I’m all right whilst I’m thinking.’ The Dragonlord looked at him for a few seconds in silence, and nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, thanks. I was just thinking about Freya in Horsca. I hope she’s still the Queen of the country, or that would make things harder for us.”
“I’m sure she will be,” Spike said assuredly. “I might not have met her, but you make her sound pretty awesome. Is she really the Queen of Horsca?”
“Oh yes, and one of the best friends I have,” Fluttershy replied, nodding. “She even named me a Thane of Horsca the last time I was there, the highest award for an equine in Horsca to receive. The others were named as Horsecarls, the second highest position to be anointed.” She sighed at the memory as the six of them stood proudly together with their crowns on their heads.
Spike just nodded, and then went silent. They didn’t talk again until they made it halfway across the valley. “So, um, mind if I ask you something?” Spike asked.
Fluttershy tilted her head and smiled. “You don’t ever have to ask permission to ask me something, Spike,” she said softly. “What is it you want to know?”
Spike rubbed his left arm with a claw. “I was wondering what other things Dragonlords can do,” he said. His eyes lit up with hope. “Can you guys fly into space, or shoot lasers from your eyes?”
One of Fluttershy’s eyebrows raised itself upon her forehead. “I… I don’t think I can fly into space, nor do I think I could shoot lasers from my eyes. Sorry.”
“Ah, that’s fine, at least I tried. So what other things can Dragonlords do?”
Fluttershy giggled at another memory, which coursed through her mind. “I said the same thing to my father once. Do you know what he said to me?” Spike shook his head. “He said that Dragonlords could walk on water.” She paused to laugh. “Of course, being the gullible fool I am, I believed him, even if it was only briefly. What he did say I can do now was fascinating. He said our bones are now like iron, so they cannot break as easily. Our muscles are bigger as well, which makes us stronger; strong enough to even smash stone apart.”
“Really! You are strong enough to smash apart stone?” Spike asked disbelievingly.
Fluttershy nodded, and then looked around for a small rock to demonstrate on. She quickly saw a small pebble on the ground, and then stopped and stomped on it with a grunt escaping through her gritted teeth. When she pulled it away, Spike could only gasp at the remains of the pebble. “Okay, so you can smash apart stone,” Spike said, now fully convinced. “What else can you do?”
“Oh, our wounds tend to heal quicker than usual, so they just become pink scars after a few minutes or so, and then much later are covered over by our coats.” Fluttershy paused to grimace. “Well, most of them, at least.”
Spike nodded in understanding. “Yeah, I was gonna ask about those actually. If most of your scars go over time, how comes those two haven’t?” He pointed to the scar under her eye and the one on her back.
Fluttershy absently ran a hoof along the scar under her eye. She sometimes forgot she had it. “Heimdallr’s claw sank too deep into the skin for this one to go away. While the one on my back was because a sword cut too deep, so the hair couldn’t grow back.”
Spike looked at her in horror. “You mean… a sword slashed down your back and did that?”
Fluttershy nodded sadly. “It was one of the most painful things to have ever happened to me. But that wasn’t the worst wound.”
“No? Then what was?”
Fluttershy shot her wings up, exposing her sides more. “Run a claw along my side,” she said, meekly adding, “If you want to, of course.”
Spike nodded, and then gently stroked Fluttershy’s side with a claw. When he reached a certain point along Fluttershy’s stomach, he pulled the claw back in alarm. “It just suddenly went down like a bowl! What the heck happened to your side?”
“Heimdallr hit me with a flail there, Spike. He didn’t break my ribs, but dented them badly as well as damaging both of my wings. That was the most painful moment of that entire fight. I would have died from all of these wounds, had it not been for Vidarr and his magic.”
Spike looked mortified. “I can’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’m amazed you aren’t an emotional wreck on the ground after all that, suffering nightmares and such. I know I would be.”
“Oh, but I do suffer nightmares. Constantly,” Fluttershy said glumly. “I always dream that I’m back down there, watching my friends getting butchered by Heimdallr, while I’m being torn apart limb by limb.”
She shuddered violently at the thought. “But I’ve learnt to live with what I have done, and carry on with my life as best as I can, and with my friends keeping me up and running, I know I could do that.” She looked ahead and smiled thinly at the memories that passed through her mind, reminding her of times when life was simpler and tranquil. Spike kept his silence and walked beside her, looking at the mountains around them and the tall grass, where some grass snakes watched them curiously.
Another hour later, after a quick bite to eat and such, they left the valley behind them via a gap between the mountains and moved into another one, with a huge lake making up one entire side. The lake was easily the size of Ponyville, with a small island in its centre and what appeared to be an old castle ruin on top; what was left of its tallest tower was just a collapsed heap running down the hill like stairs to the end of the island and into deep water.
The path itself ran alongside the lake, with only a steep drop like a cliff separating them from the very cold-looking water. On the other side of the path, pine trees clustered together closely as though huddling together like penguins from the cold, their gangly branches thick with leaves reaching out and creating lines of shadow across the path. And in the distance, which was just a black spot in the mountain face at the moment, was the entrance to the Vale of the Lost.
“There it is!” Trixie announced, pointing to the cave entrance on the other side of the lake. “Just a few minutes more and we should be in the Valley, then another hour or so and we’ll be out of the Range and on the Great Equestria Plain.”
“Then after that, a long walk to Strutford and through Detrots,” Luna added.
“And finally, Horsca,” Fluttershy said delightfully, grinning once more at the thought of seeing the country again. “Thank you for getting us through here, Trixie. You’ve done brilliantly.”
Trixie looked back and smiled. “It is the least I can do for what you have done for me, Fluttershy. What you have all done for me.” She looked ahead once more, humming cheerfully as she trotted, and looking exceptionally pleased with herself.
Fluttershy knew Trixie had a right to be proud of herself. She cantered past Luna and Cadence, who were discussing something or other she failed to notice, and slowed down upon coming alongside the unicorn. “I’m glad you’re proud of yourself, Trixie. Even after hearing all the others express their doubts, you ignored them and carried on.”
Trixie shrugged. “It’s part of being a showmare, I suppose. You hear some nasty things thrown at you, but you just ignore all of that and carry on. It’s something I know I wasn’t good at when you first saw me, especially after what I did to your friends.”
“Um, actually,” Fluttershy said, looking at the ground. “And please don’t tell anypony else this, but I thought what you did to them was right.”
Trixie looked shocked. “Really?”
Fluttershy nodded, though she knew her face revealed how ashamed she was of herself for thinking it. “They said that boasting and bragging is wrong, yet they went up on your stage and showed off just as much as you did, if not worse. If they wanted to prove that they were better than you, then they should have stayed put and ignored you like Twilight did. But when they went up there one by one, they became hypocrites in that regard and, if I’m honest, deserved everything they got. Besides, you’re a showmare, you’re supposed to show off.”
Trixie’s jaw was hanging loosely. “I’m… I’m surprised you think that way.”
“I hate hypocrisy, Trixie,” Fluttershy explained, her head high and proud of herself.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she asked.
Fluttershy fixed her gaze back on Trixie when she uncovered the disbelief in her friend’s voice. “Yes, I do. What do you mean? You make it sound like I’m a hypocrite.”
Trixie stared at Fluttershy for a long moment, before looking away in shame. “Well, uh…” she stammered. “You see… um, a few nights ago, after you fought me and Cadence, I remembered hearing what you said to Luna back in the castle. I remember you saying how much you hate fighting and violence to her, but then that day, you looked as though you were enjoying it fully.” She flinched in place. “Sorry.”
Fluttershy stared at the unicorn as though Trixie had just slapped her in the face. “But… but that was all just practice,” she defended herself meekly. “I didn’t hurt Cadence or you when we fought, and it was all just one big exercise.”
“Yes, but you had one large grin across your face when you were fighting,” Trixie pointed out. “If you didn’t enjoy fighting so much, then you wouldn’t have been smiling throughout. In fact, I don’t think you would have offered at all to fight Cadence or me.” Trixie stopped talking when she noticed the look of horror on Fluttershy’s face, and reached out with a hoof. “Are you all right?”
Fluttershy stepped hastily back from the hoof, making Trixie wince. “I, um… I’m fine, I think,” she said, her breathing quickening. She turned away from the mare. “I just need a minute. Keep going. I’ll catch up.”
She barely took notice of Trixie continuing to walk ahead, or Cadence and Luna’s looks of concern as she moved to the edge of the lake and sat on her haunches, staring sullenly into the water as Trixie’s words forged into her head. ‘Am I a hypocrite?’ she wondered.
She knew she shouldn’t be, especially about fighting. She hated fighting since she was a child, and hated it even more when she first started her new life as a Dragonlord. But the more she thought about it, the more of what Trixie said made sense. She never smiled when she fought Star in Detrots, or Heimdallr for the final time. But with Cadence and Trixie, she was grinning like a madmare. ‘But that was practice, though! It wasn’t real; there was no threat to any of us and though it was a good fight I…’ Her thoughts trailed off in mortification when the truth dawned on her.
She did not loathe fighting. She loved it.
She loved the thrill of the opponent’s sword coming towards her with her death written in its voice. She adored ducking and diving and weaving her way from danger, play fighting or otherwise. She loved the sound of swords clashing against one another, and most of all, she found immense pleasure in the feeling of victory.
Fluttershy buried her head in her hooves, feeling how cold she was. ‘Trixie’s right; I am a hypocrite,’ she thought solemnly. She felt like crying, but could not find the strength to release any tears. She felt false, too, like she had been wearing a mask over the times she had protested against fighting to hide the manic, lying grin on her face.
‘Oh, what am I going to do?’ She couldn’t deny she loved fighting, but she wanted to stop herself from loving it. It went against everything she was taught and went against her own morals. How could she do that, when she was expected to fight if she was needed to do so?
She looked left to see Cadence and Luna walking slowly away from her, speaking in low whispers about something or other. Fluttershy did not pry further, and looked away; she considered it would be rude to listen in on their conversation. She looked right to see Spike plodding along the cliff-line, throwing what stones he could find into the water.
Fluttershy looked back at the water again and… ‘Wait, what?’ She swung her head around in horror to see Spike throw another pebble across the water. It bounced along the top of the water, before disappearing under it with a plop. The ripples carried themselves across the water like a wave.
He picked up another, and got ready to throw it, but Fluttershy quickly galloped up to him, yanked the stone out of his claws and threw it out of reach. “Do not disturb the water,” she whispered, looking at the vast lake. “We do not know what’s down there.”
Spike looked at Fluttershy for a moment, before his ears fell flat. “Sorry,” he whispered, sounding upset.
Fluttershy wrapped a leg around him and nuzzled him gently. “That’s okay, and I’m sorry I ruined your fun. I just don’t trust that lake.” She looked at it warily for a long time, before looking at the path again. “Let’s keep moving.”
Spike nodded, and began to jog after Fluttershy, who broke into a trot to catch up to the others. As she walked, she wondered if Spike thought the same thing as Trixie. ‘Does he think I’m a hypocrite?’ She resolved to ask him. ‘Spike might be young, but he is certainly wiser than many of us.’
“Spike?” she asked as she turned her head to face him. “Do you think I’m a… LOOK OUT!” she screamed, as she watched a large, crab-like pincer attached to the end of a long, ocean-coloured tentacle lunge at Spike.
Spike turned around just in time to see the pincer, and fell to the ground at the last second. The claw missed the dragon by inches and crashed into the ground before him, showering up mud and dirt. Fluttershy wasted no time in watching and galloped to Spike’s aid. She swerved past the struggling to get out pincer, and made it to Spike’s side. “Are you all right?”
Spike looked up at her to reply, but instead jumped up and pushed her down. “Get down!” he yelled. Fluttershy felt herself fall onto her stomach, confused as to why Spike pushed her down so hard, but screamed as another pincer rocketed over her head and smashed into one of the pine trees with a booming crack. With a groan, the tree fell apart and collapsed to the ground.
“Run!” Fluttershy yelled as she picked up Spike and chucked him onto her back. With him secure, she galloped away from the pincers and raced towards the others, who were coming to their aid.
“Fluttershy! Spike!” Cadence cried, as she unsheathed her bow and prepped her arrows ready. “Look out!”
Fluttershy looked to the lake, and gasped in horror as she saw about eight more tentacles writhing above the water, with three more coming straight for her. The first claw shot down to land in front of her. Fluttershy swerved away and ran past it as it slammed into the ground, showering her and Spike with dirt. The second one swung widely at her, intending to throw her into the tree. The pegasus leapt forward and ducked under, dragging her belly across the dirt and leaving it feeling sore as she got up and galloped for Spike’s life and her own.
The third one grabbed Fluttershy’s right hind leg and pulled.
Fluttershy fell to her stomach with a yell on her lips, and screamed as she felt herself being pulled towards the water by the nipper. “Help!” she yelled.
Cadence aimed her bow at the pincer, but another appeared from the water and punched her with the strength of a speeding train, sending her spinning through the air and landing on her side with a thud. Luna tried to charge to her side, but another pincer smashed into the ground like a meteor before the alicorn, blocking her path. Trixie remained frozen in horror of what was happening.
Seeing no aid was coming, Fluttershy tried to dig her hooves into the ground, but it did nothing to stop her from getting closer. She glanced behind her and saw the edge was getting closer, and her digging became more frantic. Spike turned around, took a deep breath, and blew a large bout of green flame at the pincer holding the Dragonlord’s leg.
The creature wielding the claw screamed in agony as the flames tore into the skin of the beast, and it let Fluttershy go with her hind legs dangling over the edge. Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief, then leapt away from the edge and looked back at Spike. “Thank you,” she said, smiling gratefully at him.
Spike didn’t have time to reply before another pincer grabbed him around the stomach and hauled him into the air.
“NO!” Fluttershy screamed as she watched Spike disappear among the dozen other tentacles writhing about the place. She spread her wings and prepared to go after him, when she saw another pincer move to strike her down. She yelped in alarm as she rolled out of the way, closing her eyes as the pincer crashed into the ground, kicking up dirt.
“Fluttershy!” Cadence cried, sounding a bit winded from being pushed to the ground. Fluttershy looked around to see Cadence and Luna coming towards her, looks of alarm on their faces as they watched Spike cry for help. “I can get him down,” Cadence announced, getting an arrow notched to her bow.
Fluttershy pushed her bow to point to the ground. “You can’t! You might hit Spike!”
“I won’t. Promise,” Cadence said. “Just be sure you’re there to catch him when he falls.”
Luna slashed at another pincer as it tried to tackle Cadence. “I’ll cover you two!” she cried, as she reflectively slashed at another, ripping open its tentacle and spilling out blood.
Fluttershy and Cadence nodded, and the alicorn brought her bow up so that the arrow point was by her eye. After a moment to follow her target’s movements, Cadence drew back the string, waited another second, and then released. Fluttershy watched with wide eyes as the arrow flew through the air like a hawk, missing any strike to take it down, and hit perfectly on the pincer holding the baby dragon.
The creature groaned in pain, and the claw let go of its captive. Fluttershy instantly shot into the air and charged headlong towards Spike, who screamed as he fell to the water. Fluttershy looked right and saw another pincer charge her, and immediately dived. The pincer shot over her like a jet, missing her easily. Fluttershy smirked, and then quickly dived forward again, her wings beating faster than her heartbeat as she closed in on the falling dragon.
With a final push of her wings, she found herself under Spike and went, “Ooph!” as he landed heavily on her back. Spike didn’t have time to hold on for as soon as he was on her back Fluttershy sped off again, weaving this way and that through the air to avoid the attacking pincers.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Spike shouted, just as they shot up to miss a pincer rising from the water.
“It’s all right, Spike, I am not blaming you for this,” Fluttershy said, veering left to dodge another. “This could have happened to anypony.” The pair fell silent as they concentrated on living and getting away from the lunging tentacles.
They made it to the other side of the lake, with the cave just ahead of them and the others galloping to reach them. As soon as she landed, Fluttershy turned to Spike and said, “Get off my back and run into the cave!” She squeaked and jumped to the side as another nipper slammed into the ground beside her.
“What about you?”
“I have to help the others,” Fluttershy explained. She instinctively ducked as another pincer crashed into the mountainside before them. She got up, shook her head and looked back at Spike. “Don’t hesitate, just go!”
Spike hesitantly jumped off and ran into the cave as though a ghost was right behind him. Fluttershy’s heart jumped when a claw tried to swing at him, but Spike ducked just in time and missed the strike. He stood back up and ran into the darkness of the cave.
Fluttershy sighed in relief. “At least he’s safe,” she said to herself. She turned away and looked to where the others were, and saw them weaving this way and that as more pincers tried to take them down, but the ponies were too quick for them to keep up and hit. “Trixie, behind you!” Fluttershy yelled. Trixie heard the warning, looked behind her, and veered away just as a nipper shot towards her in an attempt to crush her. The claw missed and smashed into the ground.
“Quickly, all of you, into the cave!” Fluttershy shouted. The three ponies complied and ran into the cave, with Luna going slow and waiting for Fluttershy. The Dragonlord took a step forward to go after them, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain against her side, sending her spinning across the air and landing with a shriek against the mountainside.
It took a second later for her to realise that she had been hit. “Fluttershy, no!” Luna yelled. Fluttershy looked up to see Luna spin about and attempt to get to her aid, when another pincer pushed her inside the cave, while three more started hammering the rock above the cave entrance.
‘It’s going to collapse the cave!’ Fluttershy realised in horror.
Fluttershy tried to get up, but found that she couldn’t move. She looked left and saw to her horror that she was pinned to the rock by a pincer, which tried to push forward and crush her bones but found her body to be like ripping through a crab shell. She rolled onto her back until it was against the mountainside, then wrestled her forehooves free and began to push hard in an attempt to loosen the pincer’s hold. The creature owning it realised Fluttershy was trying to escape, and doubled its efforts to keep her pinned. Fluttershy felt her hold weaken, and thought of an alternative.
It didn’t take her long to think of one, and she sighed sadly because of it. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “But you brought this on yourself.”
She pushed with all her might, sending the pincer back a few feet, and then drew Drage Bane and Firewing and thrust them into the pincer, cutting through its flesh as though it were made of paper. The creature hollered in agony and pulled away, giving the pegasus a moment of respite. She looked down at her bloodied swords and nearly gagged at the stench of the blood now staining them. ‘It might be the first time they have drawn blood on this adventure, but it won’t be the last,’ she thought sadly.
She flicked her hooves up, sheathing the swords back into their bracelets, and turned to face the cave entrance. Her jaw fell and her eyes widened in horror when she saw that the cave entrance had disappeared under a few tons of rock.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!” she screamed as she galloped to the entrance, her heartbeat frantic in fear. She made it to the cave and began to claw at the rocks like a cat would claw at a scratching post. “Luna, Cadence, Spike, Trixie, can you hear me? Oh, please tell me that you’re all okay!”
“We’re fine!” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Luna’s muffled voice from the other side. She heard grunts from the other side, as well as attempts to remove the rubble. “Just hold on, we’ll get you away from there in a bit!”
A mix between a roar and a whinny echoed across the valley, forcing the pegasus to look behind her in fright. She looked down at the piles of rock that blocked her from her friends, and sighed as she saw the truth. “There’s no time,” she said quietly, yet loud enough to be heard by the others. “Whatever that thing is, it’s coming back in a bit. While you’re back there you are in danger from further collapses and have no way of helping me.” She turned around, her tail swishing with nervousness. “Go. All of you. Get into the Vale as quick as you can.”
“You’re joking, right? I’m not leaving without you!” Spike yelled. The Dragonlord could hear them attempting to move the rocks faster, but she knew it would do no good.
“You’ll have to!” she persisted. “You cannot help me with this. Not now. Please, just get into the Vale and get to safety; I’ll join when I can.” ‘If I can.’
“No, Fluttershy! I’m not leaving! Please, help us!” Spike pleaded.
Fluttershy clenched her eyes closed to hold back tears as she heard Spike’s futile attempts to remove the rubble. “I’m not arguing about this, Spike! Just go, now! GO!”
She heard an aura of magic take form from the other side of the rubble, followed swiftly by Spike’s screams of defiance. “Let me go, Cadence! Please let go now! No! NOOOO!” he yelled as Cadence picked him up and took him away. Fluttershy smiled faintly as she heard the clopping of hooves as the others ran, too.
“We’ll wait for you in the Vale!” Luna shouted. Her voice grew quieter. “Good luck, dear Fluttershy,” she added, before galloping after the group.
Fluttershy blew a rush of air out from her lungs, relieved that her friends, especially Spike, were safe. She looked up at the lake to see more pincers were rising from the lake, and the sound of water being swept aside as the beast itself was about to emerge. ‘Time to face this beast, and make sure it will never hurt anypony else again,’ she thought, her eyes narrowing in determination as the pincers and the tentacles waited for their owner.
She took a few steps forward, her body bent like a predator stalking its prey, and spread her metallic wings to make her look more threatening, pumping her up with courage. When her eyes came onto the rising beast itself, however, that courage drained away from her body like blood would leak from a wound. “Oh… bleep,” she breathed, paling.
It was a kraken. But it was not just any typical kraken, Fluttershy realised, it was a poseidon eel kraken.
Its head resembled closely to a horse’s with huge, circular fish-like eyes, two rows of sharp teeth like a piranha’s grinning threateningly at her, and a coat the colour of the ocean shimmering in the sunlight. A long, eel-like neck attached itself to the back of the head and went down under the water to where the main body was, which held the dozen or so pincers looking down at her.
Fluttershy’s legs quivered in fright as she stared at the horrific beast. ‘How is this possible?’ she wondered, taking a step back in fright. ‘Poseidon eel krakens live in the deep oceans, not in a lake.’ She looked at the lake again, and bit her lower lip in thought. ‘It must have come here by a river and used an underwater cave to move into the lake.’
She cleared her head of that thought. Whatever the reason, she didn’t have time to think about it. The kraken inched its head closer to her and roared. Its roar was long, and was louder than anything the Dragonlord had ever heard before. She also got a whiff of its breath, which smelt of decaying fish and other creatures that had met their end at its teeth. It was enough for the pegasus to throw up a little.
“You challenge me, pony?” the creature yelled. To another pony, the creature was just roaring, but to Fluttershy, she could understand exactly what it was saying. “A god of the ocean!”
Fluttershy resisted the urge to gag again, and merely rolled her eyes. ‘Great, a kraken that thinks itself a god. As if that lessens my problems,’ she thought. She took a step forward in defiance and spat back, “A true god does not bleed, kraken! Go back to the sea, and leave me!”
The kraken snorted in disgust. “You have disrespected your better for the last time, pegasus!” The kraken raised its pincers high into the air, ready to strike. “I will leave nothing of you in my wake!”
The kraken launched its pincers in one fell go. Fluttershy jumped to the right, missing the first, and then ducked at the second. She reared up and arched her back as the third charged her like a bull and missed. She spun away from the forth, slashing at the tentacle as she spun, and ducked again as the fifth and sixth sailed overhead.
She smiled to herself for a second, but that smile turned into a cry of pain as the tentacle directly above her dropped on top of her, crushing her under its weight. Fluttershy gritted her teeth together, pressed her hooves into the ground and lifted herself up, lifting the tentacle with it. When she felt secure enough to do so, she spread her wings out, stabbing the tentacle with her wing blades. The creature roared and reared the tentacle off of her, prompting the Dragonlord to move out of the way while swerving away from a seventh strike.
She stopped and reared up when an eighth attack sped right past her like a train, slamming into the rock of the mountain. She rammed Drage Bane and Firewing into the kraken’s scales, cutting open the appendage like a griffon would cut open a fish. The kraken roared in pain then pulled the tentacle back into the water, and then launched a few more at the Dragonlord.
Fluttershy began to gallop back along the path, missing a couple of them as they rammed into the rock face, the dirt and a pine tree. She skidded to a halt when a pincer slammed into the ground, blocking her path, and gasped as she realised she was trapped.
She squeaked in surprise as the kraken swung a tentacle like a sword at her, and ducked before it could strike her. She felt it pass over her head, her mane trying to follow it as the pincer moved away, and then got up. Just as she did, however, she felt a sharp pain in her side as another rammed her into the ground.
Fluttershy gritted her teeth as she felt some bleeding take place across her side, and she could feel her hips and shoulders throbbing with heavy bruising. She looked up, and saw to her alarm another tentacle falling from the sky, intending to pulverise her.
She rolled out of the way, missing the falling tentacle by inches, then got up, drew Firewing, and slashed open the appendage with a savage cry. The kraken roared in pain, then moved to strike her again with a few more pincers.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in fear, and she began to gallop towards the cave entrance again, missing another two charging pincers as they slammed into the ground. Just as she made it to the wider area, she felt a shadow loom over her. ‘What’s that?’ she wondered as she looked at the shadow appearing behind her.
She looked towards the lake, and cried out in alarm as the kraken charged her with its head, its mouth wide open as though ready to swallow her in one bite. Fluttershy lowered her body as though she was ready to accept her death by digestion, but at the last second she galloped to her left, missing the charging head, which crashed into the rock face with enough force to trigger a minor earthquake.
She didn’t have time to revel in her excellent timing, for another pincer punched her into the wall and tried to crush her with all its strength. The pegasus screamed in pain as she felt her back slam heavily into the wall, and the air in her lungs leave her thanks to the punch. She felt lucky her ribs and backbone were still intact from the attack, but she had other concerns.
She set all of her legs against the pincer and pushed hard, gritting her teeth together as she forced the pincer away from her. She felt it move just an inch, then another, and another, until it was as far as she could push it. She gave it one hard shove, pushing it back a bit more, and then brought out Drage Bane and stabbed the pincer.
The creature howled in pain as it hauled its head back to the safety of the water, and stared at Fluttershy vehemently. ‘I’m not going to win by just letting him keep striking me. And even if I wanted to, I would not be able to kill him on my own. I will have to use the Dragon Stare on him,’ she decided.
Then she saw a problem. The kraken’s eyes were too far apart for her to use it effectively; the stare can only work if the creature had two working eyes fixed on her own, not just one. ‘So, if I need to get it to work properly, I would have to…’ she concluded, though her body paled once more as she saw what she had to do. ‘Could I really do that? Could I do something like that?’
She looked up at the kraken again, which prepared for the second round, and bit her bottom lip in thought. What she knew she had to do was undoubtedly cruel. If she didn’t do what she had planned, however, then she would almost certainly lose to the kraken and die. And she had no intention to die just yet. ‘I have no choice. I must do this if I want to see my friends again.’ She took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and whispered, “I hope you can forgive me.”
The kraken thrust a pincer forward, roaring in determination as the pincer whistled against the wind. Fluttershy closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of contempt. Just as the pincer was about to smash into her, she spread her wings and jumped into the air, hovering over the pincer. As soon as it crashed into the ground, she tucked her wings back to the side and let herself drop onto the pincer.
As soon as she landed, she broke into a gallop and raced along the tentacle with all the strength she could muster. ‘Come on, Fluttershy, you can do this!’ she encouraged herself, galloping faster than usual. The kraken roared in horror and tried to shake her off, but the pegasus galloped firmly across the slippery tentacle as though it were a path, using her wings to balance herself.
The kraken roared once again in anger, and slammed another tentacle into its own. Fluttershy flapped her wings, taking her into the air, and continued to head straight towards the kraken, her eyes narrow and filled with tears as the wind attempted to push her back. Though she was certain the tears were there because of the regret she could already feel in her heart.
She went low as a pincer thrust itself towards, then went high as another attempted the same trick. Fluttershy saw her target and pushed herself forward, trying hard to keep her eyes open and on target as she flew, but it was getting harder to see with the amount of tears in her eyes.
The kraken growled and lunged its head forward, its mouth wide open to take her. Fluttershy stopped and waited for it to get close enough, and when it did, spun on the spot, slashing her wing blades across its muzzle.
The kraken threw its head back and screamed in pain. This was her moment. Fluttershy charged the beast, but before she could ram herself into the neck of the beast, she swerved right and up until she was level with the kraken’s eye.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, before drawing Drage Bane and then, with a half-hearted war cry, she charged forward and plunged the sword into the eye of the kraken.
The kraken howled in agony, and it hurt Fluttershy more to know that she was the one that caused such suffering. She pulled the blade out and flew back to avoid its swirling head as it roared in pain. Fluttershy’s ears fell over her head as she watched, her heart feeling as though it was being pulled apart by the beast’s agonised tones. ‘Why did it have to come to this?’ she thought sadly.
The tentacles began to withdraw, and so too did the long neck of the kraken, pulling the bloodied head down with it. Fluttershy watched with heavy eyes as the posiedon eel kraken disappeared under the water, its torturous cries of pain still echoing across the Unicorn Range.
Fluttershy flew back to the safety of land, and when she landed on the firm ground she collapsed on her rump, breathing steadily while waiting to see if the kraken came back to finish her off. She could barely make out the blood from the eye on her chest and mane.
After a few minutes, it became obvious to her that it would not be coming back, and she felt her eyes begin to brim with tears. “I’m so sorry,” she sniffed quietly, bowing her head in shame. “I didn’t want to do it, but you left me with no choice. I hope you can forgive me.” She knew it would never forgive her, though, as much as she could not forgive herself for it.
She continued to lament her actions for a long time, before finally bringing her head up and flicking her tears from her eyes with a hoof. ‘Okay. I can continue being a fool and stay here and cry over this, or join up with my friends. I think it is time to get back to the others,’ she decided. She turned around and plodded up to the huge pile of rock that blocked her path, and licked her dry lips as her eyes moved swiftly from rock to rock.
“If I find the weakest piece, then maybe the whole pile would collapse on itself,” she said to herself. With that idea, she took hold of a rock she thought was the weakest element, and pulled with all the strength she had left. After a moment, she let out a gasp of air and stopped, noticing that the rock had barely budged. ‘I thought I was strong enough to smash apart ston…’ A smirk dawned across her face when she came up with a better idea.
She jumped back, spun around, and bucked the rock with all her might. The rock was obliterated in an instant, causing others to tumble away from their holds and those on top fell forward.
Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and jumped away from the collapsing rock pile, barely avoiding one from landing on her tail, and another from crushing her back. When the smoke cleared, the pegasus could see that some of the rock from the top of the pile had fallen away, given her a way to enter the cave.
She got up and shook her body to clear the dust off, her tail flicking like a whip to remove itself of dust. After she checked herself for wounds and consistent bleeding – thankfully, all of her wounds had sealed themselves – she took to the air and began removing what rocks she could remove. When she was sure she could fit through, she fell onto her belly and crawled through the gap left open to her.
It was a tight squeeze, definitely. Fluttershy felt her back scrape painfully against the ceiling, and slowed down her crawl to take it easier on herself. When she felt her torso go through, she pushed harder, only to stop as she could feel her rump bump against the top of the cave entrance. “Oh, curse these hips of mine,” she chided herself, looking back in slight dismay. “I shouldn’t have eaten all of those cookies Pinkie Pie made.” Undeterred, she began kicking away the rocks she was standing on, which she hoped would give her the right amount of space to get her through.
After a while, the rocks below finally gave way, and she realised she had enough space to squeeze through and leap into the tunnel. She fell onto her stomach and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the ground against her belly; it made her feel like taking a nap. She shook herself out of the thought. ‘Not yet. I need to find the others first.’
She got up and trotted through the tunnel as quickly as she could force herself to. Around her, the tunnel walls were a foreboding black with slight sparkles of white, making the walls look like she was observing space. She could make out some ancient paintings, from the architect who had carved into the rock face originally and from those that had travelled through, sprawled across parts of the wall, though they had faded over time. Some of them were quite interesting, and others were enough to make Fluttershy blush and turn away in embarrassment, hiding her face in her mane. ‘Why do ponies have such dirty minds?’ she wondered as she glanced at one.
Finally, after what had seemed like hours walking through the dark tunnels, using only her touch and the echoes of her hoofsteps to get through, she turned a bend and saw to her delight the bright white gaze of sunlight ahead. Without another thought, she broke into a gallop, not stopping until the white light blinded her and she was unable to see ahead.
Fluttershy quickly covered her eyes, and blinked rapidly to get used to the sunlight. When she did she pulled her hoof away and looked up, and saw she was standing on the ledge Trixie had said they would be on upon entering the Vale. She looked further up, and her eyes widened in awe as she stared beyond the ledge. “So this is the Vale of the Lost,” she whispered.
As Trixie had said, a great mountain, though it was smaller than the ones penning the Vale in, stood at its centre, with a pointy peak at its top and a wide ledge a few feet below it. Surrounding the mountain was a thick cluster of tall trees, and beyond them were a vast array of lush meadows, forests, lakes, and rivers, all of which were scattered distantly from each other. The Vale had many sharp drops, too, with a lot of hills and slopes leading up and down all over the place, giving ponies a sharp surprise if they were not too careful. And across the Vale, connecting it together like a jigsaw puzzle, were the hundreds of roads and crossings that were accidentally created.
Fluttershy’s eyes wandered across the whole Vale, hoping she would see her friends waiting for her to join them, but couldn’t see them even from her elevated height. “Oh, where are you all?” she asked aloud.
Then she heard a shrilling scream, followed swiftly by the screams and roars of some things that she had never heard of before.
“Watch out!”
“Behind you!”
“What the heck are those things?”
“Keep together!”
“Run!”
“Spike, this way!”
“Luna, help!”
Fluttershy felt her insides turn to water at the sounds of panic. She instantly broke into a fast gallop off the ledge and down the hillside, praying she would get to them in time. She heard the familiar sounds of swords swinging, the cries of ponies and a dragon and other noises that enveloped one another in a mix of horror, fear and pain.
By the time she was in the Vale proper and racing past the trees and through the meadows, the screams had gone silent. “Oh, no,” Fluttershy whispered as the echoes faded around her. “Oh, Vidarr, Celestia, gods, whoever is listening, please let nothing have happened to them.”
After a while, she emerged from the trees to find herself by a crossroads, and her jaw dropped at the sight. The path was a mess of kicked up dirt and hoofprints that ran in every direction. Fluttershy shot her head around in the hope they were hiding in the trees or bushes and breathing rapidly, but couldn’t see nor hear them.
Her heart rate began to quicken relentlessly. “No, no… Oh, please no,” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes turning watery. “Spike!” she called out. She heard her voice echo through the valley, yet Spike did not reply. “Luna!” The Princess did not reply either, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “Cadence!” Again, her cries were answered with silence. “Trixie!”
She waited for a long time, but only the wind answered her calls. She felt tears stream down her cheeks, and she put her hooves against her mouth to help her calm down. Yet she knew the calming techniques she had learnt over the years would not help her today.
She was alone once more. Alone, and lost.