My Little Fluttershy ^_^ (Chapter 4)
Manewhile....
"These fritters are simply wonderful, Applejack!" Rarity intones, "I must know what you put in these to make them so absolutely delicious."
"It's jus' good ol' Apple family apples," AJ replies
"Well Opalescence simply can't get enough. And she's a very picky eater, aren't you Opal?" Rarity tries to pet the white cat, but gets clawed at instead.
"I think they're great too," Spike agrees.
"Well that mighty kind a' you, Spike," then again, AJ thinks to herself, that dragon would agree with anything Rarity thinks.
The group was out at their favorite picnic spot, just past the pond on the rolling meadow hills. Everypony had done their part to help prepare and had, as per usual, brought their pets. At the moment, Winona was chasing the squirrels up the trees, wagging happily as they chattered playfully back at him. Twilight and Owlawicious read peacefully in the shade while Rainbow and Tank play a game of tag through the air. All the while pinkie bounces from pony to pony, toting gummy on her leg. "Rainbow, can gummy and I play tag? Gummy loves tag, see," Pinkie points to the toothless alligator on her leg, "he's tagging me right now."
"But how are you gonna tag us way up here?" Dash teases, Tank sticking out his tongue.
"Like this," she replies with a giggle, her limbs stretching to unnatural proportions as she bounces high into the air, "you're it".
Twilight chuckles at the two of them, distracted from her reading. She had brought a book that might explain the unusual disturbance above the Everfree Forest, Strange Storm and Stranger Calm by Thorina Thundercloud. 'There's plenty in here about all sort of localized storms, but it could be any of these,' she thinks to herself. 'Like dark magic, an angry dragon, a depressed donkey... almost anything,' Twilight sighs and closes the book. There's plenty of time for studying later, now I'm with my friends... Well 4 of them. I wonder where Fluttershy is?
"Hey, has anyone seen Fluttershy? She usually never misses these picnics."
"Who?"
"Fluttersh-" Twilight begins. Then she realizes it's just Owlawicious "Haha oh nevermind"
Spike laughs, then turns right back to admiring the beautiful Rarity.
"Oh I'm sure Fluttershy will be here any minute, darling," Rarity assures. "Probably convincing that cute little stubborn bunny of hers to come along."
"I don't know," Twilight says worriedly, "she's usually on time"
"Don't you worry one bit Twi, she'll be here as sure as the sun rises tomorrow," AJ drawls. "She loves these just as much as you or I and she wouldn't miss one for the world."
"Unless…" Pinkie sings, bouncing up and down as she talks, "she's been sucked into an evil wormhole, traveling through time and space itself into another dimension where we are nothing but a filly's television show... and twilight's an alicorn... But that's highly unlikely, right?"
"Um... Yes pinkie" Twilight says laughing "that is highly unlikely. Although..." She pauses "Thorina says a wormhole can be the cause for a localized cloud formation like we've seen over the Forest."
"Let's forget about the forest, guys," Dash whines, "we're here to have fun, right Pinkie?" She leans her hoof on Pinkie Pie's shoulder. "Oh and by the way.... You're it, slowpoke," she laughs, speeding away.
"Aww no fair," she complains, bounding after the rainbow trail left behind.
Applejack chuckles and grabs her lasso, about to give chase. But she stops when she sees a white bunny approaching "Hey lookie here guys, it's Angel. The poor little critter looks exahausted." The group stops, the tag game forgotten.
Rarity turns, looking around the meadow, "but where ever is Fluttershy?"
"Who?"
"Why... Fluttershy of course" says Rarity, then blushes. "I think that owl is trying to make a fool of me on purpose."
Angel stops in front of the ponies, panting heavily. His deep breathing accompanies frantic chatter, and it's almost impossible to tell what the bunny is trying to say.
"Slow down Angel," Twilight soothes, "where's Fluttershy?"
"Who?"
"Quiet Owlawicious, this is important. Now Angel, do you know where she is?"
The bunny nods quickly, shaking as he points in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Something seems to terrify him and he hides behind Dash's leg, causing the Pegasus to blush. "It's ok little guy."
"That's just not her in the least." Applejack wonders aloud. "Why in the hay would Fluttershy go into the Forest after you told all of us not to?"
"I don't know, Applejack," Twilight sighs, "but it looks like we're going to have to find out. Tell Winona to round up the pets and bring them home, we're heading into the Forest."
"The Forest?" Pinkie chimes "Oh goodie, I'll get my galoshes. Don't you just love word galoshes? It sounds like someone stepping in a puddle of mud. Galosh galosh, galosh galosh"
"Pinkie... please stop," Dash says sporting a disapproving-Dash face.
"Hehe sorry," giggles Pinkie.
"Stop fooling around you guys, we have to look for Fluttershy." There's a far off "who?" And Twilight rolls her eyes. "Ok Angel, lead the way."
The usually disobedient bunny hops in front of the ponies, obviously wanting his Fluttershy back as soon as possible.
As they travel deeper through the Forest, it's clear something is definitely wrong. Angel's leaps become slower and he's visibly shaking as he leads the group further in.
"Rarity, do you feel that too?" Twilight asks, her horn glowing faintly.
"Oh my... Yes I do, like a slow wave of magic" Rarity stutters "I do believe it feels rather dark." She shivers "And did I have to come?" she whines, shying away from a spider web "this place gives me the creeps."
"Don't worry Rarity" Spike proclaims puffing out his chest "I'll protect you." There's a crack and Spike jumps back onto Twilight "oh," he laughs nervously, "...just a twig."
"Galosh galosh, galosh galosh" pinkie sings in her own world, hopping through some puddles in yellow boots.
"Woah..." Dash's jaw drops, "hurry up guys, I think this is it"
Angel sees the black orb and hides back behind RD's leg, pointing at it.
"Ooooh it's so pretty," Pinkie exclaims
"And freaky," Spike adds, "what is that thing Twilight?"
There's no answer saves for the scratching of pen on parchment. Spike turns just as she finishes, "o, Spike send this off to Princess Celestia."
"Um… ok," green fire shoots form Spike's mouth, disintegrating the parchment into a wisp of emerald flame which flys off through the trees. "What did you tell her?"
"Just that I think we found the source of the dark energy that's been in the forest," Twi says, eyeing the floating sphere. "And that it seems to be draining the life force of the trees around it."
"These trees look darn near dead to me," AJ agrees, "and that floaty black circle gives me the willies."
"Well if we wanna know more, why are standing way over here?” Dash asks. "I say we take a closer look"
"No Rainbow Dash, it could be dangerous," Twilight warns. “We don't really know what happened to Fluttershy, but by the looks of Angel, it seems it was pretty bad. We wait for Celestia's orders."
Dash plops down and begins to paw at the dirt. "Hmph, I hate waiting."
"Pinkie!" Rarity yells, seeing the pink pony approaching the orb. "Get back here!"
She hardly seems to hear, as if under some hypnotic trance, and she continues slowly towards the orb.
Rainbow Dash is the first to act, swiftly pushing off with her legs, accelerating forward at tremendous speeds. She reaches Pinkie quickly, stopping in front of her, "earth to Pinkie, earth to Pinkie, come in Pinkie."
But she just continues forward, eyes fixated on the orb, as if she were seeing right through Rainbow Dash. "Come on Pinkie!" *Slap* "snap out of it!"
"Owie!" Pinkie exclaims, coming to, "oh... I guess I'm it now.... wait... where am I?"
As Rainbow Dash explains to Pinkie Pie what happened, Spike's emerald fire erupts from his stomach, producing a letter from thin air.
Twilight motions for Rainbow and Pinkie to join and Spike begins to read.
"My faithful student Twilight,
Look behind you"
Applejack scratches her head and raises an eyebrow "well.... that's it?"
"Yes, Applejack" comes a Trollestia chuckle from behind them.
The group collectively jumps as they hear her voice. A fog clears, revealing a smiling Princess Celestia "Hello, my loyal subjects."
Twilight quickly turns, bowing, and the other ponies follow. "Oh um Princess Celestia," she stutters. "I... I wasn't expecting you on such short notice. What a pleasant surprise. If you don't mind me asking... How did get here so fast?"
"Teleportation, my dear student. I believe you've done it too, on a smaller scale," says Celestia. "The reason for my haste is Fluttershy... she may be in grave danger. I heard your description of the orb, and had to come at once."
"Well... what is it?" Dash asks, unable to hide the restlessness in her voice.
"Patience, Rainbow Dash," the Princess admonishes, "I was getting to that. What we are dealing with here is a Darkfire dimension rip."
The Rarity turns wide eyed to Pinkie "but how... what... you said..."
The pink pony just shrugs, giggling, "it was just a hunch".
Twilight skews her head in confusion, "I've read about dimension rips in my studies. They come in all shapes and colors, but I've never read about anything like this one."
Celestia bows her head, "yes Twilight, because all information on the creator of the Darkfire rip has been stricken from the royal library... for the safety of my people."
Celestia's horn glows and a force field surrounds the orb. "There's an exchange of atmosphere between the two dimensions. It's obvious from the dead trees that wherever this dimensionrip leads to is filled with an atmosphere toxic to our Forest. This force field should prevent the spread as long as we have somepony maintaining it."
"So you know who opened the rip?”
"Yes..." The princess sighs, "sit down, my subjects, and let me tell you a story that hasn't been told for over three thousand years"
Pinkie sits down and pulls a bag of popcorn from her tail "Oh oh, I love story time."
The ponies gather around a fire and Celestia begins, "Luna and I weren't always the only rulers of Equestria. A long time ago, Equestria had three rulers. I, Celestia, ruled the daytime, raising and lowering the sun. Luna, my sister, ruled the night, raising and lowering the moon. And at midnight, in midst of Luna's reign, Princess Penumbra would rule the 25th hour, raising the dead"
Celestia's horn glows and the campfire displays an image of a jet black mare. Her elegant mane the same color as the orb, darkfire black and wild like flame. She stood with wings tipped in deep red as if they were dripping blood. A skeletal pattern adorned her black coat, adding to her already undead look.
Spike covers his eyes, shivering.
"Under Penumbra's rule, time as you understand it would cease, the living frozen where they stood, the dead allowed to rise."
An eep escapes Rarity's lips and she blushes, "I'm fine... go on," she says quickly, blushing.
"Oh, but this wasn't a scary time at all. The living were frozen, unaware of what went on around them as the dead enjoyed a second chance at life. Each night, their spirits rose from where they rested, socializing and playing with each other. And as the hour came to a close, the spirits would return, and Penumbra would let time resume as normal."
There's a lull as Celestia pauses, memories of the 25th hour flooding her consciousness.
"She looks so evil," Pinkie says, breaking the silence, her high pitch voice snapping Celestia from thought.
The princess continues, "Yes, Pinkie Pie. But while her appearance was eerily frightening, Penumbra's demeanor was calm and sweet. She wanted nothing more than the happiness of her subjects," Celestia sighs, "which is where the trouble started."
"The dead began to plead for more time, and so Penumbra had requested a second hour from me and Luna. Giving away that hour would mean cutting into the time of the living, potentially ruining the balance between day and night. The results of losing an hour would be catostrophic, displacing seasons and ruining food production. I explained this to Penumbra but she so wanted to please her subjects that she wouldn't hear it. Day after day she pleaded, and each time I tried to explain. Their requests not met, the dead began to complain how the living had so much time to spare and how we were greedy for not granting them more time. They just didn't understand the repercussions that would come from their actions. Increasing in anger, Penumbra continued to lobby for her people, until she finally snapped, freezing all of time. With an army of the undead, and under her new name Skullamena Crossbones she overpowered us, taking control of day and night. For over a year, the dead ruled the earth, the living only allowed to move in the 25th hour. The sun and moon would rise and set within 60 minutes every day. Seasons were almost nonexistent, causing plants and trees to die. Food became scarce, and the living suffered terribly."
Celestia sheds a tear, then quickly regains composer, "There was nothing I could do... she was too powerful for me and Luna."
"But her plan was flawed, for as time went on under those harsh conditions, more and more ponies left the living and joined the dead. The newly dead knew of the tragedies that plagued the 25th hour, and couldn't enjoy their life after death. Together with others sympathetic for the living, they staged a rebellion, weakening Skullamena's grasp. It was then that Luna and I were able to overpower the crazed princess, and banish her into oblivion, the regions between the dimensions. With the princess of the dead gone, Luna and I implemented a new system of rebirth to reward those who had helped restore balance.”
"But what does the orb mean then?" Twilight asks, still confused.
"It means Skullamena must've found a way into one of the infinite amount of dimensions... and is trying to come back to Equestria for revenge." Celestia looks far into the distance, a hint of fear on her face, "and who knows what new powers she could've developed over these thousands of years...."
Applejack lets out a low whistle, "woah... that's some scary stuff."
Rainbow Dash nods her head in agreement, "but what about Fluttershy? We need to go in and save her from the ghost ponies."
Celestia sighs "I'm sorry, but you can not go... It's far too dangerous, even for the brave of heart."
"We can't just leave her there though!" Dash says frantically. "She'll get torn apart!"
"Dash..." Twilight warns. Ideally, you're not really supposed to talk back to the ruler of all Equestria.
Celestia turns to Twilight "No, I understand, it's perfectly normal as the element of loyalty for her to want to go... but we don't know what we're up against. As it was created by a controller of time, Darkfire portals like this one can have quite a large number of time related side effects. Aging forward and backward have been documented, both of which can disrupt your memory and bring you to forget why you have gone in the first place." Celestia turns towards the force field she had put up "We must keep this up at all times to prevent the forest from falling victim. And to prevent anyone from getting too close." She eyes Rainbow Dash who ignores the gesture. "In the meantime, I want you, to go into my personal archives and read up on Skullamena. The more we know the better"
Twilight nods, immediately heading off.
Applejack sighs, petting Angel soothingly, "I just hope that Fluttershy is ok"
Rarity drapes her arm over AJ "We all do Applejack. We all do."