Chapter 9: Take Down
Upon waking up the next morning, Fluttershy gave a little pout when she found that Rainbow wasn’t still in bed with her. It would’ve been wonderful, after such an amazing date and their first night making love to wake up together the next morning. However, the disappointment was only momentary, as she knew there would be plenty of mornings where that could happen.
Fluttershy smiled and hugged herself, getting out of bed and slipping on her nightgown. Last night had been, by far, the greatest she’d had in years. Not just because of the best lovemaking she’d ever had, but especially because of their date, and the start of their career together.
Life was just amazing.
“Oh, Dashie… I bet she went to make breakfast again…” Fluttershy mused, sniffing the air.
She couldn’t smell anything of the sort, but shrugged it off. Exiting the bedroom, she went to the kitchen, only to find it deserted. There wasn’t even coffee brewing in the coffeemaker. Fluttershy frowned in confusion, especially as she saw that it hadn’t been used at all what with the powder still being in the filter. It hadn’t even been turned on at all.
“Weird… Rainbow always has coffee in the morning…” Fluttershy murmured, shaking her head.
Going to the bathroom, she found the door closed, and listened in. Not a sound.
“Dashie? Rainbow, are you in here?” Fluttershy knocked on the door.
The door swung open to reveal an empty, unlit bathroom. However the scene was not without disruption. The bathroom mirror was shattered from a single point of impact, and what looked suspiciously like blood was smeared on the fractured glass… and most horrifying of all was, catching the light spilling into room, were several distinct strands of polychromatic hair caught in the fractures of the shatterpoint.
Aside from the surreal violence of the broken mirror, not a single thing in the restroom was out of place. Not even Fluttershy’s or Rainbow’s toothbrushes had tipped over in their cups. In fact the only other thing that didn’t belong was a note, stuck to the mirror and penned in something that had dried brown on the paper and smelled suspiciously of blood’s coppery tang, it simply read:
Miss me, little butterfly?
Having taken a few moments, or what felt like an eternity, to gather her bearings, Fluttershy looked about frantically.
“Oh… Oh my god! Oh my god!”
Quickly, she tore away the shower curtain, terrified at the prospect of finding Rainbow’s dead or unconscious body in the bathtub. There was nothing, only splatters of blood, along with the window being wide open.
“R-Rainbow…! Oh my God, Rainbow!”
Fluttershy tore out of the bathroom, searching everywhere in the small apartment she could, but there was no trace of her. Whatever happened, the perpetrator(s) had something to do with it. Growing more worried, her breathing getting heavy, her body numbing out, Fluttershy fell up against the wall in the kitchen.
“No… No… No… Rainbow… Rainbow…” Fluttershy shook, then came upon something else.
Another note was tapped to the fridge. But it wasn’t in Rainbow’s handwriting. It was typed.
Grabbing it, she read it over, wide-eyed.
Yeah, that’s right. We got your girl. Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you? Better watch yourself, pretty little Butterfly. Call the police and she dies.
Just you wait until I call you with instructions. Don’t even try tracing it, we’ll be watching your every move. If you want your precious little gumshoe back, you better heed my warnings. One wrong step and I’ll blow her brains out.
Oh, and check the desk drawer when you can.
Fluttershy, feeling as though she was almost out of her own body with horror in this moment crossed over to the desk drawer. Her hands fumbling and shaky, she opened it only to find a polaroid of Rainbow Dash, tied to a chair, half her face covered in drying blood, presumably from the cut sustained from the mirror. She looked as though she had sustained a beating as well, purple bruises blossoming over her olive skin, but what truly stood out in the photo was Rainbow’s eyes. Defiant to the last, her eyes blazed a warning to Fluttershy, she could almost hear the P.I.’s smokey voice growling to her, ‘Don’t let these bastards win...’
“D...Dashie… Rainbow…” Fluttershy uttered, falling to her knees and clutching the photo for dear life, “Oh, Rainbow… what did they do to you… Why you… Why… it’s me they want… They should’ve kidnapped me… I’m sorry… I’m sorry, my love…” She whimpered, beginning to sob uncontrollably.
It was then, of course, that the harsh metallic ring of Rainbow’s landline cut through the still, cold morning air.
Startled, Fluttershy looked to the phone, wide-eyed. Carefully, she reached up, answering it.
“H-H-Hello?” She asked shakily, trying to wipe her eyes and compose herself.
“Hello again, butterfly,” Came the all too familiar distorted voice. “I’m so glad I caught you, I knew if I kept calling you’d answer sooner or later~”
Although it was to be expected, Fluttershy felt a stab of fear. It was all coming to her. They knew where she was. They knew of their relationship. They knew how to get to her again. Getting the best of her. Whether it was from being thrown off course or their plan all along, she didn’t know. All she could do was try to figure this out.
She wanted to cry, scream, and run where they couldn’t find her. Fluttershy felt terrified, she didn’t know what to do then. Not when the kidnapper, Sombra himself (or rather, his associates) was confronting her in this way.
Looking at the photo again, she could practically hear Rainbow’s voice speaking to her. Telling her not to be afraid. That was what they wanted. Since day one, Sombra had preyed on her fear.
Today was not going to be that day. The last thing Fluttershy wanted to do was let Rainbow down by letting her own fear get the better of her. Wherever she was, Rainbow was counting on her, counting on to overcome this and not give Sombra what he wanted. It was time to take action and stop hiding away like a recluse. With the love of her life now in danger, possibly to be killed, she had no room to be scared.
Feeling a surge of anger and determination ebbing away the fear, Fluttershy stood up.
“All right, you son of a bitch, what have you done to her? I swear I will track you down and stop you,” she growled into the phone, channeling every bit of what her lover taught her, “Why did you kidnap her? It’s me you want, she has nothing to do with you!”
“Oh but she does, the minute you walked into her life,” the voice replied, “Not to mention the pair of you have peaked behind the curtain, and succeeded in unraveling a particularly vexing plot that had successfully had the police chasing after a ghost. This detective of yours needs to be silenced but I’ve persuaded my associates into a mutually beneficial arrangement...”
There was a pause that filled the air with a palatable anticipation that this Sombra seemed to relish.
“I learned my craft from the source, little butterfly, and I learned it well. I drank it in like a thirsty man at a bottomless well. My associates found my new talents useful, and so we struck a deal… but they never let me finish my work… it was like taking a lover only to me have her torn from me before completion… They told me to forget about you… that you were too much trouble.. but you, my butterfly, are my most lovely courtesan yet… I begged, I pleaded, and finally I was granted my leave to silence you… and to do it in my own way~”
“You sick bastard!” Fluttershy yelled, not even caring about her use of foul language, “Cut this nonsense and you tell me what you want from me! I see what you’re doing, you kidnapped my girlfriend in order to get to me, to get to my weaknesses and bend me to your will. You’re a sick jerk and I will not go down without a fight! What do you want from me?! What is it going to take for you to let Rainbow go?! Whatever it may be, I want to talk to her. Now!”
“Oh you’ve gotten so feisty,” Sombra said with a bemused laugh, “Not quite the paper-winged insect now hmmm? Very well, I’ll let you speak to your little girly.”
There was a little clatter, perhaps the sound of a chair scraping the floor and then,
“-uttershy! Fluttershy is that you!?”
All at once, Fluttershy nearly crumbled, but felt a small shred of relief, “Rainbow! Oh, Rainbow, thank goodness! Oh, darling… what did they do to you?” She sniffled a bit, managing to keep her composure.
“Got the shit kicked out of me my a pack of amateurs!” She shouted, her voice pitching as it seemed she turned to address her captors.
“R-Rainbow… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry I got you into this… That should be me in there! I’m the one they want… They only kidnapped you to get to me… It’s all my fault…” Fluttershy moaned sadly, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I let my guard down…”
“Don’t worry ‘Shy,” Rainbow said, speaking quickly, “Don’t give them anything, just run, run as far as you can, I can’t let them get you, just r-.....Hnnngh….”
Rainbow groaned in pain from whatever had just happened.
“Chatty, your little protector, isn’t she?” Came the mocking tone of Sombra.
“Let her go!” Fluttershy yelled, tears running down her face, “Let her go, you sick son of a bitch! I won’t let you do this!”
“Trust me, my darling little insect,” Sombra replied silkily, “You don’t have a choice… that is unless you’d like to be haunted by your lover’s dying screams.”
Letting out an angered growl, Fluttershy squeezed the phone a bit, “Cut the small talk and tell me what your conditions are.”
“It’s simple really. There’s a disused warehouse - well most people think it’s disused, it can be quite the beehive of activity for me and my friends - It’s down two blocks south of the main gate of the east side docks. You come pay me and my friends a little visit, and make sure to do so alone. Call the police, and you’ll be finding a pretty little rainbow-haired head on your doorstep.”
Fluttershy hesitated, remembering Rainbow’s advice in that every time the killer or suspect was luring you somewhere alone, it was a trap. She could sense it, this was definitely leading to a trap. Either to kill her, to kill them both, or to kill Rainbow.
“...Why should I believe you?” Fluttershy ground out, “For all I know, you’re luring me into a trap. Because you know I’ll do anything to save the woman I love. You’ve taken everything from me… and then you take the one person who matters the most to me… to lure me into a trap. To get to me further… Well, let me tell you something. If she dies… so do I. Then your efforts will be for naught.”
At these words, she heard Rainbow’s muffled protests in the background. It was then that she realized that Sombra must have had her on speaker phone.
“Hmmm seems like Ms. Dash has something to say...” Sombra said. There was a momentary rustling and something that sounded like a gag being removed. “Go on Dash, your tragic little partner is threatening to blow a hole in her own pretty skull.”
“Just run Flutters!” Rainbow protested, though her throat sounded choked, “J-Just run, and stay alive… please Flutters… You’ll find someone else...just… just stay alive, otherwise me dying doesn’t me a damn thing...just run!!! Just-”
“-tt-,” Sombra tutted, replacing the gag amidst Rainbow’s guttural protests. “Still with the running, but she makes a good point. Tragic as it may be, it would be a poor way to honor your love’s life to take your own. But who said it would come to that? You come to me and maybe the detective lives. You carry any longer and she certainly dies… slowly… painfully… and I won’t be giving you the choice of coming in. Heat or not. I’ll bring you in myself and make you watch, and if you take the coward’s way out I’ll just make sure to throw your body in with Ms. Dash while I take her apart!”
Heart shattering, Fluttershy collapsed to her knees yet again, tears streaming down her face. But she couldn’t falter, not like this. She couldn’t let him win.
“Fine! If I come there, you let her go! Take me instead if you have to! Anything! Just let her go!” Fluttershy yelled in anger. “I’ll give up my life to save hers if I have to! There’s nothing more you can take from me. I’ll comply if you promise to let her go.”
“See you soon,” Sombra said with false gaiety before the line went dead.
Hanging up the phone, Fluttershy collapsed, curling into the fetal position and crying brokenheartedly. She wanted to just die, to escape this horrible pain and sorrow. Everything was crashing down on her, moreso than ever. Having faced this all alone for so long, now to be completely alone when the one person who supported her was gone… Fluttershy was more lost and scared than she ever was.
Alone. Alone.
Curling up tighter, Fluttershy longed for her lover’s touch, anything to keep the reality of the situation from killing her inside.
“Rainbow… Rainbow… my love… Don’t leave me…” Fluttershy whimpered into the empty air, her sobs being the only sounds she could hear. “Please be okay…”
She lay there for some time, feeling cold, empty, like everything around her was gone.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been laying on floor when she finally felt strength enough to crawl to her feet again. Time didn’t seem to have much of a purpose anymore. When her she once again found herself on her feet, her legs wobbled unsteadily, the cold of the tile beneath her feet seeming to seep into her bones.
What happened next was a mockery of her usual morning ritual. She listlessly pulled on her clothes, feeling hurried and lethargic all at once.
Although not even close to hungry, Fluttershy forced herself to eat some cereal. Just to at least satisfy her body’s nutritional system. Even though she just didn’t care about anything. Nothing reached her, nothing made sense, nothing. All she felt was nothing. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and wait for this to be over. She didn’t even know what to do. There was nowhere to go, no one to talk to, nothing. She was alone, more than ever before.
“Rainbow….” She whispered to herself, thoughts of her captive lover invading her mind once more… but with the image of her lover also brought forth her fiery determination, a pale echo of which Fluttershy could feel.
What would Rainbow Dash do?
She would fight.
Fluttershy remembered when those thugs had tried to grab her all those days ago. Rainbow had faced them all down with her determination and her trusted steel. She immediately dashed across Rainbow’s apartment until she reached the P.I.’s desk, her hand’s tearing through it in search of her lover’s weapon. Maybe, just maybe, if she armed herself she could save Rainbow… Maybe she could be the hero that Rainbow always believed she could be…
“Yes… Yes… I can! I can be a hero… I can save her life!” Fluttershy said to herself, feeling a smile finally reach her features. “I’ll save you, Rainbow… I’ll come and save your life!”
As she searched the desk, she came across the gun in question within a box. But next to the box was a case. A clear CD jewel case, but the disk inside it was what caught her attention. Written on it on a sticker label was her own name.
“...What’s this?” Fluttershy pulled it out, looking it over. “A mixed CD? She… made me a mixed CD? Or… something else?”
Taking it over to the living room, she placed it into the DVD player, and took the remote to play it. Much to her surprise, the screen flickered to life, revealing a pair of arms adjusting the camera view.
On the screen Rainbow Dash suddenly came into focus. “There we go… okay…” She muttered to herself as she took a seat in front of the camera
“Okay...Hey Fluttershy… I’m not exactly sure how to start this thing… but if we’re going to be partners I figured I’d need to make one, ya know?” Rainbow said, looking a little uncomfortable. “So yeah, if anything happens to me, consider this my will. Man this is weird. Right now you’re asleep in my bed, and here I am recording this crazy thing. I hope you’ll never see this… and if you do I hope it’s after a good long run where we kick all kinds of ass together…”
The Rainbow on the screen sighed, looking down at her hands in her lap for a second before looking back at the camera. “It’s all yours, Fluttershy. I don’t really own much, but it’s all yours… and I know it isn’t really your line of work but I hope you’ll keep the agency running. We can help people… You can help people… and I hope we helped quite a few before you’re seeing this… You might not think you can do it without me, but I know you can. You can be strong. You already are so, so strong. I love you, Fluttershy... I love you so much.”
Rainbow’s form momentarily sagged, and not looking towards the camera, she reached over and shut it off leaving only a black screen.
Stricken, Fluttershy all at once burst into tears again. Tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears of hope, tears of despair. It was all a mix of emotions, unable to settle on just one. Hearing her, seeing her, it was all too much. She went to the floor, crawled closer to the TV, and rewound the bit.
“I love you, Fluttershy…”
She rewound it again.
“I love you, Fluttershy…”
Again.
“I love you, Fluttershy… I love you so much.”
Sniffling, Fluttershy rewound, freezing on the image. She gazed sadly at the screen, placing her hand on it where Rainbow’s cheek was at, “I love you, too… I love you… more than anything… I hope I can save you…”
Then there was the question of what to do about all this. How could she work this out to her advantage? Was there any other way?
As she thought further about it, something clicked. The day before, when they'd gone to the police station; Twilight Sparkle had given them her cell number. It struck Fluttershy then. Yes, Twilight was a police officer, but she wouldn't be breaching the conditions, technically. It was perfect!
Managing to reach for her cell phone, Fluttershy dialed Twilight’s personal cell. It went to voicemail.
“Twilight, it’s me… Listen, Rainbow was… kidnapped. Sombra and his associates are holding her captive in a warehouse somewhere. Two blocks south of the main gate of the east side docks. I’m going in there. Alone… If you go there, don’t send in back up. They can’t know I told you.”