Chapter 32
Troops moved for a day, while the Princess’s group waited in their hiding place. Though none had spoken out against Celestia, an unusual arrangement for the small camp was deemed wiser. Luna stayed at the edge of the camp, with the six friends guarding Celestia behind her.
That night Celestia lay with her eyes closed until she was convinced the other ponies were asleep. The blanket moved off of her by silent magic and she carefully moved out from under it. She slunk out without drawing any attention, but in the clear sky Luna’s moon gazed down at her. “I have to be sure,” she defended, “I can’t fail this time. You wouldn’t understand, though, would you?” She thought of her sister in the battle for the Ponyville Gap. Luna chose to take the risk to save the townsfolk, and defeat had proved her wrong. Celestia assured herself that her sister was far too busy to be watching her right now.
She moved quietly around the side of the tent until she was as close as she could get to where Rarity was sleeping. Her horn lit up her face. The magic light played through the neat curls that the stylist had given her and glistened on the oils that held them together and gave them their fullness. She knew the pain it would cause, but that was why she was there. Rarity wouldn’t forgive her, but then again she wouldn’t know.
The guilty glow reflected back at her from a set of eyes right beside her. She gasped and jumped back, but recovered herself somewhat seeing that it was only Fluttershy.
The yellow pony apologized, “I’m sorry I startled you.” Celestia was glad for the kind-hearted pony’s soft voice. “Why were you so frightened? Are you okay?” she asked, intent on helping. The old Princess marveled that the half-tamed pegasus had still doted over her after learning her true identity.
It seemed safe to confide in such a disarming and reserved pony. Celestia confessed in a whisper, “Because I’m such a bad pony. I’m bad even when I try to do something good.”
Fluttershy gave her a look of condolence, but instead of comforting her further, the feral pony sniffed the side of the tent inquisitively. She turned a surprisingly intense look to Celestia and demanded softly, “Were you being bad to Rarity?”
“I’m sorry, but I had to,” the alicorn admitted.
“You should be good to her. I mean, she’s been good to you,” Fluttershy rebuked. “You should stop.”
Celestia shook her head sorrowfully and explained, “I know, but it’s for you and all the other ponies. I have to.”
Fluttershy looked at her intensely for another second before bowing away. Her tiny voice gave a wavering ultimatum, “You need to stop. If you don’t, I’ll tell Rarity, if that’s okay. No, it IS okay. Please undo whatever you did, or I’ll have to stop you, but I don’t want to do that.”
Celestia took the opportunity afforded by the larger pegasus’s emotional sensitivity to order firmly, “No, you won’t. I can’t stop, and I won’t. I don’t like it but it has to be done, do you understand?”
The shy one hid behind her mane and whimpered, “Please.”
Celestia harshly answered, “No.”
She didn’t see the wild glint in Fluttershy’s eye, but she did see the pegasus turn and run. Celestia scolded herself for misjudging this one once again. She could not allow a witness to leave in such a distraught state. The small pony took chase, following Fluttershy out of the camp and into the treacherous forest. Celestia’s oversized pupils tracked the pink blur despite the thick shadows. Fluttershy had a way with the undergrowth that made it difficult to keep up. Celestia, in her dusk form, was smaller and could fit through tight gaps to maintain the pursuit. The shy one eluded her momentarily, but she soon saw a silky tail tuck behind a bush. She leapt over to the shrub but Fluttershy was away again. This hesitation showed Celestia that her quarry did not wish to escape completely, which was good. It would not do to tackle her, but rather to have her stop and talk it over.
The pink tail slid over the edge of a rock as it slipped down a hole. The duskling crawled through the opening and paused, adjusting her senses to the real darkness. She attempted to regain her breath, but was disappointed to realize she had had all the exercise she could stand. After the entrance of the den, it opened up into a wider space, but she could not tell how far back it went. She took several cautious steps and lit the interior of the small cave with her magic. She didn’t want to corner Fluttershy too closely, but she wanted it to be clear that she had found the pegasus. Fluttershy looked down at her from the top of a round rock that lay under a rise in the ceiling. The pegasus looked at her flatly, no longer timid but immovable, like the rock.
With renewed uncertainty, Celestia asked, “Fluttershy?”
Something that curved around the rock behind Fluttershy shifted. Celestia concentrated her light to see what it was. A long form with gray and brown fur surrounded the yellow pony’s pedestal. The beam passed along its body and three pairs of shoulders, coming to an apprehensive focus on a narrow snout with fierce fangs. Red eyes blinked at the intruding alicorn and the creature gave a hissing growl.
Celestia hastily diffused and dimmed her light and took a nervous step back. Fluttershy gently commanded, “Ripper, no. Friend.” Her guardian creature fell silent. The pegasus stared at her savage companion from her underworld throne.
“Ever since the trouble, I have lived with the creatures of the forest—all the creatures of the forest,” she began. “Do you think I’m a freak for living with predators?” she asked, but seemed strangely unconcerned about the answer. “Ripper can eat nuts and berries for a while, but eventually he has to eat meat. I feel sorry for the poor little critters he eats, but it would be cruel to expect him to starve. Once he got hungry enough, he wouldn’t listen to me anyway. The jungle does what it will.”
“But there is one thing I do,” she continued, changing her tone. “I have critters that are my friends. I won’t let Ripper eat them. He’s free to eat anything else, but when I tell him something is my friend, he leaves it alone.”
Fluttershy turned to transfer the discussion onto Celestia. “I know on the inside you’re a big alicorn Princess. What you do is between you and worlds. You do big, important things, and I could never control you. But I do have friends. Rarity is my friend. You can’t hurt my friends. You’re going to undo whatever you did to Rarity.”
The boldness of the wild pegasus and the fairness of her discourse—or perhaps the imposing fangs of the beast—forced Celestia to surrender. “Alright, I’ll undo it. First thing tomorrow, or you can tell them all about me,” she promised.
Fluttershy jumped down beside her. She discarded threatening airs but held her dignity as she requested, “Please don’t tell the others about Ripper. They might not understand.” Not to be blackmailed, she added, “I don’t want them to think about me differently, but I know they would accept me anyway. But they’re a lot more likely to forgive you if you tell them what you did yourself.”
Fluttershy strode confidently past and back into the leafy maze. Ripper followed close behind, smelling Celestia before moving on. The humbled alicorn also followed, sullenly. She added some spring to her step as she realized that she was not entirely certain how to get back to the camp herself.
When the three neared the Lunar army, Ripper whined and shied away. Fluttershy turned back to nuzzle the carnivore fondly before sending him on his way.
The ponies continued into camp. Before they went in to sleep, Fluttershy stopped Celestia and offered, “I may be a hermit but I do know something about friendship. If you apologize to Rarity instead of hiding everything, I think she’ll forgive you eventually. You’d be closer to being real friends afterward. Maybe if you would tell us what your problems are, we could help.”
“I’ll think about it,” Celestia covered.