//------------------------------// // Chapter XVII // Story: A Dash of Shyness // by TM2 Dinobot //------------------------------// Chapter XVII The voice; that voice! The same voice from three years ago. Fluttershy's eyes went huge as she flashed back. She couldn't make out the conversation, but she could hear the tone. Posy stood at the edge of a clearing, speaking loudly with... something. Something that killed her. Something that was going to kill her daughter. That voice haunted her dreams for years. She'd managed to forget it. Rainbow Dash had chased the fears away. Except now they weren't just memories that couldn't hurt her; they were real. Dash, who had never heard the immortal sound of Apollyon before, was certainly struck by his power but was by no means locked in a backwash of fever dreams. If anything the fact that he spoke made him less terrifying. If he could speak than he wasn't all evil... right? "What do you mean?" Dash piped up, mustering every last reserve of courage she held. She'd probably turn into a fainting goat after this. "How did she escape?" "She had help." "I don't understand. From who?" "You." "What? That's impossible." Confusion and curiosity began to override fear. "I just met Fluttershy last year. She's my best friend, but I didn't even know her when her mom died, let alone help her!" Apollyon never took his eyes off Fluttershy. They no longer worked, but predator programming was hardwired in, and his eyes would zero in on prey. Now though he shifted his attentions to the smaller pony, the one who smelled of manure. Leaning in close Apollyon smelled the other pony as well, sniffing hard. It was Dash's turn to have her mane caught up in the sudden whirlwind, snapping back and forth. She stood her ground, leaning into the breeze. And then just like that it was over. "Not you. Half of you." "What?" Dash didn't understand. "What do you mean half of me? How can half a pony save any pony? Realization snapped inside Fluttershy. The last piece of the puzzle fell into place. There were nightmares and horrors in the world, sure. There were terrible and awful things that happened to ponies. And there were terrific and awesome things that happened to ponies. Eventually the nightmares leave and are replaced with other dreams. Dreams of hope and love; of sailing away on fluffy pink clouds. "Your mother." she breathed, finally realizing the truth. "What?" "'Half of you.' He means your mother. She was there that day. Firefly saved me." "Firefly..." Apollyon rumbled low and long. Fluttershy and Dash both covered their ears, cowering. "Tell me, Half of Firefly. Where is your progenitor, so that I may thank her?" "Thank her?" "SHE did this to me." Apollyon gestured back to his unmoving tail. His wings twitched. Rainbow Dash could believe her mother doing many things. Saving the world, taking out the garbage, beating up thugs. Even standing before Princess Celestia, all in stride. But crippling him?! There was a limit to even Dash's belief. "I don't--" "Understand, yes, I know. Much you do not yet understand. Your short life is still ahead of you, while mine is all but finished. Tell me, Half of Firefly, is life precious because your time is short? Or is your time short because of the preciousness of life?" "I... I don't..." Dash trailed off again, not wanting to anger the unseeing dragon. She stepped back again, further shattering the green glass under hoof. Finally she drew the courage to speak freely. "All life is precious. Time has nothing to do with it." "Time is everything, child. I have given rise to a hundred kingdoms and razed thousands to the ground. I have led armies that blotted out the sun, and I have brought goddesses to their knees in fear. I have birthed hundreds, protected thousands and slaughtered millions. I have seen countless eons pass while you? You have but seen days. Time is everything." "No, I... I don't think so." stammered Dash. "Every pony's life is precious. It is what you do with it that makes your special; who you help, not hurt. What you remember, not regret. That's what my Mommy tells me anyways." "And what do you know of the world?! Have you seen your brood trampled 'neath an equine heard? Have you seen your kind driven before the rising sun like dust the wind? I have, my little pony, and I stood not ideally by while our oppressors lorded over us. I made those mares take notice of me; of dragon kind. Every one of your 'precious' lives that I took ensured my kind would stay safe forever. And I spat in Celestia's eyes even while she blinded my own." "That's awful!" Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Should I? Do you know why I came back to Equestria? Do you know why your mother crippled me, Half of Firefly?" "No..." Dash crossed her legs. Was this dragon just crazy? "I came to watch the fall of Celestia at the hooves of her greatest failure. I came to watch the planet die, wrapped in eternal night." "My mother stopped you!" Dash thought she had it. "No. Your brood parents tricked and bloodied me, stoned and crippled me. Time is the one that stopped me. Your life is too short to understand eons; mine too long to understand years. I was thirty years too soon. I was here for this forest's creation, when the magic was ripped from the very fabric of this world. Now you shall outlive me unto the death of your 'Princess'." "What does Princess Celestia have to do with this?" "Celestia? Nothing. Your parents? Everything." "Our parents?" Dash looked to the still-as-death Fluttershy. "Firefly and the Wonderbolts and their Apple friends and so many tasty morsels sent to finish Celestia's dirty work. They burned with Dragon's Fire; they grew sick with age" "Sick?" Dash shuddered, picturing her mother in the hospital. Her mind flashed back to class and the question of 'what eats ponies?' "Your mothers thought to bargain my knowledge for useless trinkets of gold. I struck an accord more to my liking. I offered my knowledge of a cure in exchange..." Apollyon turned his full attention to Fluttershy. "For you." "What... what happened?" Dash asked carefully. Had she crash landed Fluttershy back into the jaws of death for a second time? "Firefly. Once again that accursed flyer snatched victory from my grasp. I would have had them both if Posey had not interfered." "How dare you? What do you know about my mother?!" Fluttershy demanded, speaking up for the first time. She stamped her hooves into the ground, staring up at the cruel smile spreading across the dragon's lips. "Only that she was DELICIOUS!" Horror found its way into Fluttershy's heart that day. Before she believed that there was some good in all creatures. Now she realized the truth. What dragons were truly, undeniably and without equal; evil. Apollyon lunged, ready to taste longed-for horse flesh for again. Fluttershy screamed, Rainbow Dash bucked, Apollyon hunted. His massive head moved with unearthly speed, as fast as a snake. He caught Dash by the wings, tossing her high into the air. He wouldn't even bother chewing with this one. With a snap Dash was gone. Fluttershy didn't see. She couldn't see anything but the ground and the air and the blood covered glass as she rolled along. Apollyon moved, lunging hard for her. He missed, sending her skidding further along. Inside the putrid rotting hold of the dragon's maw Dash fought to hold on. If she went down that wet firestorm of a throat she'd be dead. Sliding further backwards down the slime coated through she dug in with everything she had, refusing to die without a fight. Through the jagged, gapped teeth Dash could see Fluttershy running every time the dragon snapped at her. Finally he reared back, Dash's view going skywards. She began her final decent into the very heart of death. Run. Just run. That was what her mother told her, so that's what she did. Fluttershy had no idea how to outrun Apollyon; not again. Not without help. Firefly had saved her from those final snapping jaws last time. Now there would be no reprieve, no saving. She just had to run or she'd die like her mother. "We have something in common, little Brood of Posey." Apollyon reared his neck back to its full height, standing far above the tree line. "Neither of us will ever see the sun again." Apollyon struck with quicksilver speed, snaking his head down toward the fleeing pony. He could hear her hooves on the fragile ground, sense her panicked breathing. She would be an easy catch. Mouth agape, his forked tongue could already taste her scent on the air. Rainbow Dash got there first. Shooting from the monster's open jaw, she managed three flaps before her wing gave out entirely. Still, it was enough to launch her ahead of the dragon's fury. She careened into Fluttershy as the titan slammed into the ground just inches from her tail. The ground, weakened by years of slow rot, Dragon's Fire, titanic weight and radioactive glass fanned out in a spider web pattern, shattering on impact. The shockwave rolled up everything in its path, sending out a concussive wave of dirt, dust and silica. The two feathered ponies rolled along, helpless in the whirlwind. Apollyon fared far worse. Slamming into the ground at striking speed, his head broke through to the caverns beneath the forest. The splintering ground arced far back, crumbling beneath his helpless body. The mighty dragon began to fall, tipping forward into the pit and his own doom. His death roar never stopped till he hit the bottom, splitting his body and igniting a massive fireball. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash rolled to a stop at the tree line, Fluttershy slapping away the Dragon's teeth that surely had her. "Hey, it's me! Ow!" Dash held down her hooves, waiting for her friend to open her eyes. "Dashie? Oh Dashie, you were wonderful! You saved me jus like your mother!" Fluttershy hugged her neck. "Yeah, I guess I diiIIIIII!!!" screamed Dash as the splintering ground gave way beneath them. Fluttershy landed on stable ground but Rainbow Dash had nothing, freefalling into the rolling torrent of flame. She tried her wings, but they would not save her this time. Helplessly, she watched her friend fall upwards and away. Skystriker couldn't save them; Firefly wouldn't be swooping in and saving the day. She'd survived the dragon only to fall to her death. "Bye, Fluttershy." Dash waved sadly. Only, she didn't die. In fact, she'd stopped falling entirely. Fluttershy held tightly to her hoof, refusing to let her friend fall, a strained look across her face. If Fluttershy could hold on, if she could hoist her up, then she might live. Dashed sighed in relief. Then she looked down. "Fluttershy, PULL! Oh Celestia, get me out of here!" Dash scrambled, the fireball rising incredibly fast. She might not fall, but she'd certainly be roasted alive. With a mad dash the two ponies scrambled out of the way just as the explosion swept past, sending a rolling green and orange fireball miles into the air, a signal to all that a legend was dead. And no one would believe the two little ponies that'd done it. They lay there for a while, bellies up, panting with fear and relief and exhaustion. The radioactive dust gently fell from the heavens, not enough to worry about later in life, but enough to resemble the snow of the pair's Cloudsdale adventure. Finally, when they could stand it no longer, they burst out in girlish giggles of relief. "I can't believe we're alive!" Dash exclaimed. "I know. He was so big!" "Did we really just do that?" "Yes." Fluttershy rolled over into a tight ball. "And I don't ever want to see another dragon ever again." "Not even if they're a cute little baby dragon?" grinned Dash. "There's no such thing. They're all huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth gnashing, sharp scale having, horn wearing, smoke snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown up dragons." "Um, you sure about that? I'm not sure about that." "Yes." Fluttershy responded, covering her face with her mane. "Hey now, it's okay." Dash rolled over, hugging her friend. "It's all over. We won." "Can we go home now?" Fluttershy peeked out. "Sure, but we've got more walking. And I'm not sure where to go." "I don't mind, as long as we're together. There's nothing else in this forest that could possibly scare me." "Unless it's another dragon?" teased Dash. "Eep!" Fluttershy was hiding again. Dash just shook her head. She stood, offering a hoof. "Come on, scaredy cat. Let's go." Nothing else bothered the two fillies the rest of their night in the dark wood. Aside from some intermittent rain the journey was completely quiet. The deadly explosion of Apollyon had sent shockwaves throughout the forest, both physical and magical, sending every other creature scattering of hunkering down for the night, waiting on the dawn. Several hours later, with sore hooves, tangled tails and exhausted eyes, the pair began to notice a lightening of the foliage. Before where it had been impossible to see and often meant bumping into trees and rocks, now it was just hard to see. The dense canopy was growing sporadic, and for the first time since Apollyon's clearing they could spy an occasional glimpse of starlight. Encouraged by this prospect they kept walking. Conversation had failed them hours ago, the need for sleep draining any other emotion except the drive to live. They could sleep once they were safely home. So the pair kept walking, occasionally bumping into one another at first, and then fully leaning against each other by the time they couldn't stand up straight. Finally they emerged as the gray sky began to give way to touches of pink. One by one the stars winked out just as suddenly as they had appeared. The two survivors walked away from the deadly jungle, conquerors. Before them stood the rolling hills of Equestria; above, Cloudsdale. "I need sleep, Dashie." Fluttershy whined. "Yeah." Dash smacked her lips, heavy eye lids already sagging shut. They walked on, more out of motor habit than conscious thought. Cresting the hill they looked out over the tiny village of Ponyville. It was nothing but farms and homes, so small it didn't even have a railroad junction within fifty miles. The girls didn't care. Towns meant adults, and adults meant they could sleep. Staggering down the dusty road, Fluttershy took a tumble. It wasn't her first of the night, but certainly her third in the last twenty minutes. Dash was on her second. They couldn't go on. Off to the left, far removed from town, was a boarded up cottage. No pony had lived there in years. Run down and decrepit, the home needed paint and the garden weeding. Without saying a word the two girls both turned off the road, passing over the little run down bridge that creaked when they walked. They didn't even try the door; the boards would have been impossibly for them to remove even on their best days. Instead they tried the window. There was a gap between the sill and the lowest board. Some pony hadn't put it on straight, and it left just enough room for two fillies to crawl through the broken window. Fluttershy went first, being careful of the glass. Gingerly she got her wings through, straddling the wall, feet off the ground on both ends. That was when she noticed her problem. "I'm stuck." she whispered. "What?" "I'm stuck." she whispered again. "Fluttershy, we don't have time for this." Dash was whining now. "I can't get through, my rump is stuck." Fluttershy was larger, and older, yet still developing. Once again she cursed puberty. Dash mentioned something about 'plots' before planting her fore hooves on Fluttershy's flank and pushing. The older pony fell into a heap on the other side. Dash hopped in, making in through easily. Her wing was really throbbing now though. Inside the dust and grime hid itself well from the outside world. There wasn't much furniture left, just a few apple crates, some sheets and some old hay. Scooping the hay into a pile, Rainbow Dash lay down while Fluttershy dragged a sheet over. Neither of them had slept on the ground before, but they'd read that some ponies used hay as beds. It was a poor substitute to clouds in both their opinions. Curling up together, they both expected to be out instantly. Instead something flashed in Dash's eyes. Looking through the slat in the window Celestia's sun was just cresting the hill. The new day had come at last. "Look, Fluttershy. The sun." Dash scooped the lovely pink mane from her friend's aqua eye, spooning it behind her daintful ear. Snuggling in closer, she closed her eyes. "We made it." And with that they were both asleep.