Fluttershy sat there, paralyzed in fear as the gargantuan dragon lunged it’s heads at the horrified pony cowering before it. Bracing for the feeling of being ripped apart, she tightly shut the lids of her eyes and gritted her teeth, when instead of being ripped apart, she heard chains clanking.
The dragon had a red, transparent chain around each of it’s necks, keeping it from moving any closer toward the terrified mare before it, and with no warning, the dragon had dove back down into the black smoke below, much to Fluttershy’s confusement.
Fluttershy had checked herself to see if she was hurt anywhere shortly after the dragon’s disappearance into the black smoke. She had seemed just fine, just sore hooves was all, and a scarred mind from the dragon.
By that time she frantically went to the door she had entered from, finding it only to be locked shut. Horrified, Fluttershy went to the carving of the star and just lied down, hiding behind her mane, lightly weeping thinking that she would be here for the rest of however long she was supposed to stay here.
A minute? An hour? A year?
Fluttershy just wept, hoping she could be in Equestria with the beautiful Autumn leaves, the small
animals that lived in the land, and most importantly, her friends.
Twilight sat in her bed, looking out her window towards the stars above the night sky, tears rolling down her cheeks as she sat in utter sorrow. It had been three weeks since Fluttershy’s suicide and she hadn’t heart from any of her friends since the visit in the altar, most likely because she hadn’t gone outside since then.
The entire library was spotless except Twilight’s bedroom, which was littered with tissues, photos, and broken glass. Spike was trying to bring Twilight food, water, books, about everything that the small, purple dragon thought could cheer her up and at one point, he had even thought that she killed herself after the first week of her seclusion, quickly being relieved to hear her light weeping.
---
The caring little assistant knocked lightly on Twilight’s door. “Twilight? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“Twilight? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“Go away,” the lavender unicorn said bluntly through her lonesome grieving.
“Twilight, please come out. It’s been three weeks since Fluttershy... you know, and you need to come outside.” He paused for a few moments, waiting for a response, then continued. “You can’t just sit here like this forever. Please, just come out.”
“Just leave me alone. I don’t want to do anything or go anywhere. I just want to lie here.” She smacked her hoof against her pillow for emphasis, several feathers drifting out at the disturbance.
Feathers… just like on Fluttershy’s wings. Everything Twilight looked at reminded her of the friend she’d lost.
Twilight just lied down in her bed, tears lightly rolling down her cheeks thinking about Fluttershy and the adventures they she had gone along with. When they were going to wake up the dragon, when Photo Finish got a hole of her when she made her a model, also when she had turned Discord, the god of chaos, to good. Every second she though about Fluttershy, the farther she seemed to plummet into her horrible depression. She was gone, and nothing would bring her back.
Spike walked down the steps from Twilight’s room to the main section library where he had decided that he would write a letter to the princess. It read, Dear princess Celestia, Ever since Fluttershy committed suicide, Twilight has locked herself in her room and won’t come out. If you could, please come to the library as soon as possible. From, Spike, With an air of finality, Spike sent the letter. Perhaps this would rouse his best friend from her stupor.
Fluttershy had woken up, hoping that when she opened her eyes, she would be in her bed, in her cottage, in Equestria. Soon to realize that she wasn’t, she was still in the dark place she was before, looking blankly at the dark crimson stone wall. After checking her surroundings for what seemed like the hundredth time thinking she was just seeing things, realization finally sank in. She wasn’t in Equestria.
Checking her surroundings, her realization sank in deeper- she wasn’t in Equestria.
The petite, yellow mare sat up on her rump, trying her best to massage her sore hooves. A roar rumbled up from the abyss nearby, prompting a yelp of terror and another heavy dose of cowering. Finding that she wasn’t facing down a three-headed dragon, Fluttershy stood up on her hooves and gave her surroundings yet another survey.
Fluttershy stood up on her hooves, looking around again to see if anypony was around.
“Maybe somepony else got here like I did,” the pink-maned mare said out loud, just now realizing how silent this place was... too silent. Beads of sweat collected on Fluttershy’s forehead, then she felt something eyeing her. She looked around, only to see nothing on the black and crimson stone. Then, she caught something in the corner of her eye.
A flicker of movement was caught in the corner of her eye. Two glowing, orange eyes were staring at her, not showing any signs of hostility or fear, but instead curiosity.
The creature leaped down with utmost grace. It had black fur and pupils like a feline’s. It prowled around her in circles while sticking close to the hard, stone floor. The small mare could see a scar going across the cat’s face.
Fluttershy started to feel curious about this creature circling her, not seeming to want to kill her unlike most of the things she’s seen in here. “What, what are you,” The feline seemed to ease up when Fluttershy spoke to it, most likely feeling safe in her soft, kind voice.
The small, black-furred feline’s safe feeling was soon replaced with terror and fear as it heard what he forgot what he was hiding from. The feline flew off into a tunnel, a pack of demonic-looking dogs barging out of one of the many tunnels and stopping to smell the ground for the scent of the cat, resembling pit-bulls with glowing red eyes, black spiked collars, and prominent, sharp teeth. They rallied around what seemed to be a pack leader, a noticeably larger creature with three heads instead of just the one. On its collar was emblazoned the characters “Cερβερθσ.” It looked very familiar, as if Fluttershy had seen it before, though she couldn’t place her hoof on where it may have been.
The pack leader spoke up, in the same language as the many times before. “Λόκι, ο Απόλλων, Kerberos. Έλα, έχω τη μυρωδιά της runt. Ήταν εδώ πρόσφατα,”
Fluttershy let out another squeal of terror when the pack of dogs looked simultaneously at her.
Be warned, pony, a voice spoke, seeming to echo inside her head, if you look into a hellhound’s eyes three or more times, it means certain death. She looked up, seeing the familiar yellow eyes of the feline.
How did you? she thought to herself until she felt a cold breath on the back of her neck, turning to see one of the hellhounds standing there with a collar that read “Λοκι,” staring with hate-filled eyes. Two, the feline matter-of-factly stated.
The dog directly in front of her spoke in the same language she’d heard being spoken before. “Cερβερθσ, το άρωμα του runt είναι σε αυτό το πόνυ. Τι θέλετε να κάνετε με αυτό.”
“Καλό είναι να γνωρίζετε, Λόκι. Pony. Έχετε δει μια γάτα πουθενά; Αν μας πείτε πού είναι, θα σας αφήσει μόνο” the pack leader snarled in return, abruptly approaching Fluttershy.
Fluttershy simply stared in terror as the three-headed beast stalked up to her, its eyes boring into her soul, sizing her up as if she were a prize to be won.
“Must I speak in this language, or can you speak Greek?” The three headed dog asked, obviously annoyed.
The dog put his face close to the mare’s and snarled slowly, “Have you seen a small feline? Black fur and yellow eyes?”
“N-” Fluttershy managed to stutter out. They were then interrupted as the feline fell from a nook in the roof, landing with a thump right in the middle of the gathered hellhounds.
The cat and the hellhounds both looked at each other, piecing together what was happening.
The cat flipped around as the dogs lunged after it, the pair quickly dashing down a nearby tunnel. The other dogs seemed to realize that their prey had been within their grasp and was gaining distance on them, then took off barking after their leader, their lustful bays echoing behind them to ring into Fluttershy’s ears.
She stayed put for a long while after that, well after the vicious barks of the hellhounds had dissapeared and eerie silence regained once more.
Finally, she raised her head, took a deep breath, and stood on her hooves. She had to move.
She had to.