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// 18: You Leave Me Breathless [Romance] [Adventure] 
// Story: Thirty Minutes Shy 
// by Esle Ynopemos 
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((Prompt: Why does it hurt so much to love you?))

Fluttershy's chest ached. Her breath was rapid and shallow. She could feel her pulse pound in her ears, and her stomach twisted and churned. Her knees shook and her hooves trembled.

Fluttershy was in love.

Also, she was running for her life. The two tended to come hoof in hoof more often than she cared to admit. At least, they did when the object of her affections was the Princess of Magic.

“Left!” shouted Twilight. Her tail suddenly jerked to the side, no longer filling Fluttershy's vision and allowing her to see the sheer wall directly ahead of her.

Fluttershy's hooves skidded against the wet stone floor as she flared her wings to stop herself from ramming nose-first into the wall. If not for Twilight's warning, she would have. She used what momentum she had left to dart off down the tunnel to the left.

There was a terrific crash as their pursuer was not so quick to change directions. The sewers shook with the impact, sending motes of dust drifting from the dark, arched ceiling.

The name “glow-worm” was a terribly unthreatening term for the monster behind them. The creature nearly filled the whole tunnel, a good two pony-lengths across. Its tripartite maw was filled with rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth, and viscous green spittle erupted from it when the thing let out its ear-splitting roar. But what truly made the glow-worm dangerous was the glowing spines along its back from which it got its name. Those spines sucked all magic out of the area, making whole city blocks go dark and rendering unicorns helpless.

“Duck!” Twilight warned.

Fluttershy lowered her head as a low-hanging rusty pipe passed by. The tunnel filled with steam as the glow-worm barreled through it.

Twilight led the chase deeper and deeper into the sewers. Fortunately the place was lit by well-placed air-shafts instead of magical lighting. They would have gotten lost and cornered for certain if they had been running blind.

“Twilight,” panted Fluttershy. “Where are we heading?”

“The pumping station,” Twilight said, rounding another corner.

Fluttershy nearly missed the turn in her shock. “The pumping station?? Twilight, that's a dead-end!”

“Do you trust me, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy swallowed. Of course she trusted her. She trusted Twilight to the ends of Equestria. “Y-yes.”

She couldn't see Twilight's face, but Fluttershy knew she was smiling. “Good.”

A few more twists and turns and close calls with the worm brought them to the pumping station. Like Fluttershy had said, it was a dead end. Several large pipes led into the station, but they were covered with solid iron grates. Down below their level churned a reservoir. They would almost certainly drown if they tried to jump in and escape that way.

“T-Twilight?”

Twilight wrapped her hooves around a solid pipe at the end of the walkway. “Hold onto me, Fluttershy, and don't let go.”

Fluttershy nodded and put her hooves around Twilight's waist. There were worse ways to go, she supposed, than holding onto the pony she loved.

The glow-worm slithered into the cavernous room. It hissed and snarled as it drew nearer. Glowing magic arced between its spines, illuminating the whole pumping station. The light gleamed in its dull black eyes as it regarded the two morsels before it. The glow worm reared up to an incredible height, letting out a deafening roar.

Fluttershy squeezed Twilight tightly. “I love you, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled. “I know. Just hang on.”

A low rumble filled the chamber. The air stirred. The glow-worm glanced quizzically to the side...

...and was struck by a wall of water. Fluttershy hung on to Twilight for dear life as the sudden deluge threatened to sweep them off the walkway into the hazardous reservoir below. The glow-worm, having nothing to hold onto, toppled over the edge and disappeared into the murk.

Eventually the torrent subsided, leaving two drenched ponies heaving on the walkway. Twilight squeezed the dank water out of her tail. “Magical valves,” she explained, pointing to the inlets. “The glow-worm shorted them all out at once, so they flooded the chamber.”

Fluttershy peered over the edge at the churning water. “Where does it lead?” she asked.

“A drainage basin at the bottom of the mountain.” Twilight sat down beside her with a wet 'plop.' “From there, it should be able to find its way back to the swamps where it belongs.”

“Good.” Fluttershy rested her head in Twilight's lap. They both smelled like sewage, but she was just happy to be safe and sound.

Twilight let out a small laugh. “Happy anniversary, honey.” She leaned down to nuzzle Fluttershy's ears.

Fluttershy smiled. “Happy anniversary.”