//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Strained, Broken, and Shattered // Story: World of Chaos // by ugugg93 //------------------------------// Rainbow felt the most comfortable warmth she had ever felt before. It was like nestling yourself next to a crackling fireplace on the coldest and snowiest winter day. She adjusted herself to get closer to the heat source, wanting nothing more than to go back to a restful sleep. Sadly, she slowly, if reluctantly, started to stir from her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, only to be filled with a mass of yellow and pink. Confused, she- 'Wait,' she thought, 'Haven't I done this before? When have I... oh...' Opening her eyes fully with a sudden start, she had to will herself to not recoil in shock at the sight her eyes beheld. Only two inches from her, Fluttershy contently slept with a smile on her face as her slow and regular breath caressed the fine cyan hairs on Rainbow's cheeks. Even in the darkness of night, Rainbow could see every feature, every detail of the yellow pegasus's happy face. In her sleep, Fluttershy allowed a deep inhale of air, held it for a second, and released it with a sigh. “Mmmm...” the yellow mare said in her sleep, the alcohol from before was still potent enough in her breath to let Rainbow know it still held onto the mare's mind. Rainbow went to stand up, but realized that not only were Fluttershy's forelegs wrapped around her tightly, but Rainbow's left foreleg was wrapped around Fluttershy, completing the mutual embrace. Furthermore, one of the sleeping mare's hind legs had found itself comfortably placed in between Rainbow's own hind legs, electing a heavy blush from Rainbow at the immensely intimate position. It was only then that she realized a few physical things about the two of them. Firstly, Fluttershy's pink mane, usually groomed exceptionally well to the point of perfection, was heavily disheveled, the hair tangled and matted all over. If Rarity would've gotten sight of the state of Fluttershy's mane, Rainbow was sure that the white unicorn would have a heart attack. The second noticeable feature was the amount of matting that Fluttershy's coat had, a heavy amount of dried sweat that coated the mare's previously fine hairs being the prime culprit. Noticing herself now, the cyan pegasus now saw that her own coat was in the same state, her fur matted and caked with dried sweat. The final, and most terrifying thing that Rainbow noticed, was how incredibly sore her muscles were, especially around... her... hips... '… oh no...' Rainbow's heart started to speed up, the thought of what had previously transpired caused her to slowly begin to panic. 'What did I... what did WE do!? Oh no no no no... I'm not like that! I'm not into mares... am I?' Rainbow, even in her panicked state, somehow remained outwardly calm, not allowing herself to wake her timid companion. 'Ok ok ok... I can't worry about that right now. What I need to worry about is how do I get out of this? Maybe she won't remember what happened, and we can act like this never happened. Yeah... that's a good idea, right?' The feeling of Fluttershy's forelegs tightened around Rainbow waist, pulling cyan pegasus even deeper into the cuddle, mere centimeters now separated the two mare's lips. Rainbow flushed even deeper with color as she felt their facial hairs brush together slightly, tickling her face. Fluttershy let another deep breath fill her lungs, again held it in, then let out a content sigh. “Mmmm... Rainbow...” The cyan pegasus felt her heartbeat freeze at the latest murmur from her yellow friend... or whatever she was now. Sharp chills traveled down Rainbow's spine, and she started to slightly shiver from them... or maybe it was her fears... or maybe it was for some other reason that she couldn't focus on. Her heart eventually started beating again, but it was frantic, erratic, trying to force the cyan pegasus into action, though whether that action was to run, hide, or return the embrace that Fluttershy was unconsciously forcing upon her was unknown. Eventually, Rainbow decided on the course of action she was best at. Fly. In a very slow unRainbow-like fashion, she carefully pulled her left foreleg off of Fluttershy, picked up the sleeping mare's foreleg that was wrapped atop her, and placed it on the bed between the two of them. Even more carefully, Rainbow wiggled herself out from the... somewhat invasive position of her friend's hind leg, until all of her friend's limbs were to herself. Finally, Rainbow slid herself out from under the covers, every inch taking an hour, until all four of her hooves were on the floor next to the bed, and Fluttershy still asleep, none the wiser. Taking the same approach as before, Rainbow clumsily made her way across the room, the effects of the drinks from before affecting her still as well, every hoof of distance taking a week to cross as she slowly walked, until she finally got herself to the opposite side of the room. Looking in front of her, a locked window was all that stood between her, and freedom. She opened the window, the frame thankfully not squeaking, and felt the chilled night air wash across her mane, providing an invigorating shiver through her body. Putting a single hoof on the frame of the window, she took a final look behind her, and watched the peaceful sleeping mare that she might have... gone too far with. Fluttershy was, thankfully, still sleeping, her petite frame rising and falling with every small breath. Rainbow looked on in shame as she thought about what she might have forced upon her oldest and best friend, something she never, ever intended to do to her. A ragged sigh escaped the torn mare's mouth as the thoughts went through her mind, and what might happen to their friendship now. Turning back towards the window, she looked into the night sky, the moon overhead illuminating the town below just enough for the pegasus to see her path. Rainbow spread her majestic wings as she mentally plotted her flight path, her destination being a rogue cloud high above the town. Peering outside, she made sure that there were no ponies around that might see her leave the room, the warning that Sarlaka told her and Fluttershy at the top of Rainbow's mind. Seeing nopony, she looked back one last time at the small form of her companion, who by now had gotten herself into a much more relaxed position. Satisfied, she looked back towards her target, and with a strong beat of her wings, took off into the night sky. Instantly, she soared through the air, the wind bristled through the fibers of every feather of her cyan wings. The thrill of flying filled her soul as her wings went into autopilot, beating with unmatched strength as she gained more and more altitude. It wasn't long until she was well on her way to the cloud that would become her home for the next few hours, until she could sort out all the thoughts that were flying through her head. Until then, she cleared her mind as she flew through the sky, letting her worries flow through her, just like the wind. Little did Rainbow know, her flight did not go unnoticed. ____________________________________________________________________________ “Rrraaagh!!!” Applejack slammed herself against the thick door, the strong oak holding firm against her attempts to bash it in with her shoulder. Not waiting for a moment to pause, she ran back to the opposite side of the room, charged, and again threw herself against the closed portal with all her might, and still, the door held firm. Taking a second to breathe, she ran to the back of the room, and tried once more to crash through the doorway, knock out the guards, save Pinkie, and never let that mare out of her sight ever again. Yet, she again failed to break through. Again. And again. And again. Applejack limped back to the back of the room, her shoulder crying in pain with every haggard step. Finally getting into position, she took a moment to rest, completely out of breath, muscles exhausted. “Pinkie Pie...” she muttered to herself, “Ah'm comin'... jus' please... please hold on,” Again, she charged with all her might, putting more into this next hit than she had the previous two dozen impacts. As she slammed into the door, the sound of the deadbolt straining against the frame of the door was heard by Applejack, but still the force was not enough. Sharp pain was shooting through her shoulder from the final impact, she would have to add it to her list of numerous injuries she sustained previously from her tussle with the guards. She looked almost as bad as Rainbow did just a few days ago, though while Rainbow's injuries appeared to be only superficial and mostly only affected her appearance for a day or two, Applejack knew hers were definitely worse. Every bone and muscle in her body ached in pain, all the way from her rear hooves to the crown of her head had some level of pain attached to it. Her orange coat covered the bruises that surely were forming all across her body, especially her face. The worst injuries she had sustained were by far on her forelegs, which she was certain were nearly fractured in the two fights she had with the guards as they brought her back to her mockingly extravagant prison. Applejack hoped that the two stallions she knocked unconscious had her hoofprints forever imprinted on their faces. Slumping down onto the floor, the orange mare sat back on her haunches, her bare head leaned back against the door as she closed her eyes, her hat lost after the incident in the dining room just a few hours ago. Taking deep breaths, she slowly spoke to nopony in particular, “Ah'm sorry Pinkie... Ah truly am.” She couldn't fight the tears that started to build in her eyes, nor did she want to try, the waterworks were her only outlet for all the negative emotions that had built up within her. As the tears streaked down her face, she narrowed her eyes, and loudly proclaimed to herself, “Ah promise tha' Ah won' give up though.” Raising herself to her hooves, Applejack ran up to the barred windows, raised herself onto her hind legs, and hooked her forehooves onto the bars on the windows. With whatever strength she had in her, she did her best to pull the bars apart, push them together, or move them in any which way that she possibly could, but to no avail. As she should've predicted, the bars were specifically made to make sure that nopony could simply break them with brute force. Dropping down, she looked around the room for anything that she could use to gain leverage on the bars somewhat. The bed was worthless; the chairs were worthless; the tables were worthless; the candlesticks were... possibly a solution. Running over to a wooden end table, she looked at the candlestick. From what Applejack could gather from her simple inspections, the decorative pieces were a rich gold color, and were made of some kind of metal, though if the candlesticks were made of actual gold, or were only imitative was beyond her knowledge. The curves all along the decorative piece would provide excellent notches for Applejack to work the bars apart, though the thin nature of the entire candlestick itself might prove problematic. Tossing the unlit wax candle aside, Applejack grabbed the golden tool with her teeth, and rushed over to the window. Finding herself again on her hind legs, she carefully placed the candlestick in between two of the stubborn bars, until it was firmly jammed into position. Not bothering to release her grip of the candlestick in her mouth, she started to push on the instrument, the extra leverage causing the bars to slightly start to bend. The candlestick started to groan in agony as the pressure built, and her mouth shot fresh pain to her brain as the stick of metal pressed against the sides of her cheeks. Harder and harder she pushed on the tool, until she couldn't tell if the copper taste in her mouth was because of the gold plated candlestick, or the blood that she was sure was spilling into her mouth. Just when she was sure the bars would break from the force, her candlestick snapped, which sent her face into the the bars of the window. Her orange face met the bars with a loud thud, and she suddenly found herself lying on the floor on her back holding her forehead in agony. There she lay for several minutes, until the sharp pain of the impact began to fade into a deeper throbbing. Finally getting her vision back after such a hard hit, she felt a light trickle running down the left side of her face. Wiping her cheek with her forehoof, she noticed the crimson color of the fluid that came off of it, the newly made cut carved by the sharp break in her previously important tool. Setting her head back down in defeat, Applejack let her eyes wander the room around her. How ironic that a room that could be considered one of the fanciest of Celestia's Palace now only looked like a prison meant solely to mock her. The peaceful sky mosaic above contrasting perfectly to what Applejack was feeling right now; the birds flying freely in the sky, mocking her plight. The feathers on the walls only serving to remind the orange mare of the monster that she would like nothing more than to toss off the top of the castle that she was trapped in. The fancy bedding taunted her, whispering to her that she needed to relax, forget about her friend, lay down to sleep, and just let what was supposed to happen happen. Of course, this all paled in comparison to the final feature of the room. The portraits. The pictures of Discord and Lord Xavier all around here watched as the failure of a pony lay on the ground in defeat, their grins spreading across their faces as they watched. Applejack swore she could hear Discord laughing at her plight, his menacing smile spread across his face as if to say, “Hey! I could get out of here with just a snap of my fingers!” Lord Xavier's paintings told her even worse messages, his toothy grin mocking her as well, as if he was just asking her to try and stop him, and just try and save her pink friend, knowing full well that she was completely helpless, and was in no position to try and stop him. Together, they laughed at her hopelessly dire situation, and her pitiful excuse of an escape plan. Her ears nearly bled with the intensity of the cackling laughter. “RRRAAAAGGHHH!!!!” She screamed in fury, and with her mouth, threw the remains of the candlestick at one of the paintings. The tool tumbled through the air, the previously blunt object now a sharp and dangerous weapon. After an agonizing few seconds, the ruined candlestick tore into the offending painting, silencing the laughter from Xavier and Discord in the portrait. As the candlestick fell, it left behind a scar on the painted canvas, right where Xavier's grotesque face was, forever marring its image. Applejack stood, and, with a slight hesitation in her step, walked over to painting, looked at its ruined image, then back down towards the broken candlestick. Slowly, she lowered her head, grasped the weapon in her teeth, and looked back up at the painting. A smile grew on her face, and with a mad dash, she ran to the next painting, one of Discord, and tore through the fragile canvas, silencing the laughter spilling from that one. She worked her way to the next painting, this one of Xavier, and with a simple swipe, destroyed him. For the next few minutes, the orange mare danced a mad dance across the room, tearing into every image she could find of the two evil creatures. When her task was done, she shifted her focus on the beds, then the tables, then the various feathers she could find, defacing them all, only stopped when the candlestick broke to the point where it was impossible to hold in her mouth. All around her, it was as if a tornado had blown through the room, giving no object mercy, though the speed and viciousness that the true source of the destruction threw at it, a tornado wasn't far from the truth. A sudden clicking of the door brought the mare back to her senses, and she watched in shock as the door opened. Too far away to try and ambush the guards as she had previously wanted to, she could only look on as the door opened. Light streaming in, Applejack gasped. It was Pinkie Pie. Applejack could feel the lump in her throat and fresh tears welling up as she saw her. Pinkie's mane was completely disheveled, to the point that if it weren't for some mysterious force of the universe keeping her hair partially poofy, Applejack was sure that her hair would be completely straight. Her coat was completely matted, the normally bright pink colors darkened in areas, staining the formerly happy color. Her typically grinning friend's face was completely blank, her eyes wide in a state of completely shock. Tears were freely flowing down Pinkie's face, though no other signs of crying could be seen or heard coming from her. Applejack finally found her voice, “Pi... Pinkie Pie?” she spoke with a heavy tremble, “Ah... are you...” “He said we can leave now...” Pinkie said in a soft and flat voice, never once showing any sign of any emotion. With those words spoken, she turned, and, with a heavy limp, started to make her way out of the room, four guards following to make sure she stayed on the right path. For a brief second, Applejack paused, completely unable to come up with anything to say or do. However, she eventually settled with the only acceptable option at this point, which was to follow her broken friend. Hurriedly limping to catch up with her friend, Applejack eventually found herself side-by-side with the pink pony. Never once did Pinkie look at Applejack; her eyes constantly looking forward, and never showing any sort of emotion besides her blank stare. On the other hand, the orange mare was constantly stealing glances at Pinkie, hoping to at least once catch a sideways look, a turned head, anything to show that she was at least aware of her surroundings. “Pinkie...” Applejack started, “Ah'm so sorry. Ah don't know... Ah...” she trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. A few moments of silence passed before she gathered the courage to speak again, “Is there anythin' Ah can do, Sugarcube?” Again, Pinkie didn't answer. In fact, she didn't even react to anything that was said to her, as if Applejack wasn't even there. Settling on letting her keep her silence, the cowpony looked back forward, and allowed herself to be led by the guards to the main gate. Several hallways later, the pair found themselves at the same gate that they had found themselves at just that afternoon. Now though, the moon was high, and the hopeful mood that the two were in just a few hours ago was just as gone as the sun itself. Before the pair, their two saddlebags and Applejack's stetson were placed into two separate piles. Slowly, Applejack pulled her saddlebags closer to her, and checked the contents. Rummaging inside for a moment, it appeared, at least upon first appearances, that nothing was taken from them. Satisfied, she took the saddlebags, settled them onto her back, and strapped them on. Looking over at Pinkie, the orange pony noticed that she was having a little trouble getting her's on. With a slightly forced smile, Applejack reached over to help strap the bags onto Pinkie, but was surprised when Pinkie suddenly jumped back, her eyes wide and pupils merely pinpricks as she cowered, shaking a little in fear. Her heart breaking, Applejack said as softly as possible, “Its ok, Pinkie. Ah ain't gonna hurt ya. Ah'm ya friend, remember?” Reaching out with a forehoof, the orange mare didn't dare move any more as she waited for Pinkie to calm down. Slowly, Pinkie was able to stop shaking as much, and raised her body up from the ground, until she once again stood at her full height. Still doing her best to smile, Applejack nearly tip-toed herself to Pinkie until she was right next to her, giving her just enough space to make sure Pinkie knew she had 'a way out' if she needed. Carefully strapping the saddlebags onto her, she could feel her slightly tremble at her touch, though at least this time she didn't recoil. With a final tug, Applejack placed her stetson on her head, and the pair turned towards the exit, making their way back towards the main gate, and out of the city forever. The entire time, Pinkie's tears never stopped flowing. ___________________________________________________________________________ A soft moan emanated from the sleepy mare's mouth as she protested against her premature awakening. It was still dark out as Fluttershy exited the realm of dreams and returned to the conscious world. The bed was pleasantly warm, and it begged for the sleeping pegasus to just roll over, curl up into a ball, and go back to sleep. She proceeded to comply with the warm bed's convincing suggestions as she pulled the covers up to her chin, and snuggled back up with her companion. Except she was alone. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw that the space next to her was empty, though at the same time, she was confused on why she would even think that anypony would be occupying it with her. Sitting up slightly, a dizziness overcame her, and she quickly found herself lying back down on the bed, the room around her swirling every which way. Even more confusing was how all the muscles in her flank and hind legs were sore, even though, as far as she could remember, she had not exerted those muscles at all the past few days. “Oh my... what happened?” she softly spoke to herself. Thinking back, small bits and pieces of the previous night started to come back to her. After only a few minutes alone in the room, she had gotten lonely , and wished that Rainbow would be there with her to keep her company. She gathered her courage, and decided to join Rainbow downstairs, even if it was against every instinct that her subconscious was telling her. Wrapped in her protective cloak, she went downstairs and, after making sure Quill was alright, made her way into the dance hall. Noting that it was indeed a bar, not a welcome turn of events in the slightest, Fluttershy was tempted to run back to her room, avoid the crowd completely, and just wait for her friend. However, the thought of joining Rainbow gave her the motivation to continue forward into the gathering of ponies. Eventually, she spotted the beautiful cyan coat of her pegasus friend from under her cloak, and within a few minutes, and many apologies later, she was sitting on the stool next to her. Smiling to each other, they talked about a few simple things, and Rainbow introduced Fluttershy to what she had to admit was a very tasty drink, even if it burned when going down. Trying to make sure that she didn't disappoint Rainbow, she did her best to keep up with her cyan companion, downing glass after glass of the sinful beverage. Fuzziness filled her every sense, the two getting far out of hand with the amount of drinks they consumed, but in the end, it was worth it. Fluttershy eventually summoned enough of her nerve to ask Rainbow Dash to dance with her, something she never would've had the courage to do in her normal state of mind. After making their way to the center of the dance floor, the pair danced for a while, the time blurring together like her eyesight. Through it all, the music always kept to a slow and steady beat, perfect for the intimate dance that the two shared the entire night. A sudden memory rushed to her mind, causing Fluttershy's eyes to go wide, “Oh... my...” It was shortly after the last song had ended, or maybe it hadn't ended, the yellow pegasus couldn't remember, but that wasn't important. The important part is that Fluttershy had whispered to Rainbow that they should probably go back to their rooms, to which Rainbow drunkenly complied. Making their way up the stairs, the pair pressed their sides against one another, giving each other support as they made their way to their room. Stumbling into the room, Fluttershy let Rainbow make her way to the bed to sleep, Fluttershy kicked the door shut, and simply smiled at the perfect cyan mare in front of her. Flopping on the bed, Rainbow turned towards Fluttershy, and smiled goofily at her. Giggling at Rainbow, a phrase that Rainbow once taught her came to mind. Fluttershy whispered to herself, still in shock at the rush of memories, “Loss of control. Screaming and hollering,... and... passion...” The yellow mare made her way towards the bed, taking her cloak and wing bindings off as she walked, but instead of pulling herself onto her side of the bed and giving the drunken Rainbow her space, she had climbed behind her, and snuggled close. Rainbow had giggled at the close contact, their warmth being shared even through Rainbow's cloak. Fluttershy's forelegs wrapped around Rainbow as she smiled, gently running her hooves along Rainbow's sides as they spooned, eliciting a pleasant moan from Rainbow Dash, and an embarrassed blush from Fluttershy. She wasn't sure how long this simple playing had gone on, but eventually, Rainbow had rolled herself over, so that the pair now faced each other, mere inches separating their lips. With a burst of energy, Fluttershy found herself on her back, her wings splayed out on either side of her, the full yellow wings leaving no mystery to how Fluttershy felt about the sudden surge of passion from her love. Rainbow, now straddling Fluttershy's midsection, forcefully ripped the cloak off of herself, leaving nothing but the rope around her wings to restrain her own feathered appendages, her cyan coat almost shining in the dim light. Quickly, Rainbow tore at the rope with her teeth, until she was finally able to bite through the bindings, allowing her powerful wings to spread open to display their full span in earnest. Slowly, Rainbow lowered her face closer to Fluttershy's, the sound of their breathing grew heavy in the dark. Fluttershy's heart raced as Rainbow's lips grew near, the smell of alcohol entering the yellow mare's nostrils, and- Fluttershy shook her head, her face completely red with shameful embarrassment at the memories that were flowing through her head, the realization of what happened in their shared drunken stooper slowly made its way into her mind. The idea of what she and Rainbow had done earlier that night was terrifying to the mare, and she wasn't sure whether to be scared at what the two mares did, happy that Rainbow would share something that intimate with her, or... She looked over at the empty bed next to her, and felt an overwhelming sadness. Yes, what they had shared just a few hours ago was indeed magical, but if Rainbow wasn't here, then she must have awoken just before her, and left in disgust. Fluttershy had let her emotions get the better of her in her inebriation, and now had ruined not only the slim chances of the two of them of getting together, but had most likely her life-long friendship with her missing friend as well. Laying back down on the bed, she turned towards the wall, curled up in a ball, and wished to herself that she could go back to the beginning of the night, and redo everything. If she could, she would stay in her room until Rainbow came back, even if she enjoyed her company. She would refuse the drink that Rainbow offered to her, even if drinking with her was fun. She would refrain from asking Rainbow to dance, even if the moment was magical like no other. She would refuse to go any further than cuddling up with each other... … even if it felt so right... Fluttershy's ears perked up as she heard the door to her room slowly open, the rusted over hinges signaling to the yellow mare that Rainbow had returned. Not bothering with looking up, she continued to lay there in her protective position. Softly, as if Rainbow believed that Fluttershy was still asleep, the door closed shut, leaving a nearly silent 'click' as the lock engaged. A soft clopping of hooves against the wood of the floor emanated from behind her as the cyan mare made her way back to bed. Fluttershy was tempted to turn over, and ask where she had been the entire night, but if Rainbow was joining her in bed again, then why bother asking? She kept her eyes closed, and, against her wishes, let out a small smile as- Strong hooves grabbed her shoulder, and forcefully rolled her onto her back, a small “eep” escaping the surprised pegasus. Her surprise turned to fear as she felt her limbs painfully pressed against the bed, the darkness too deep and the shock too startling for her to make out what was going on just in front of her. All she saw was one... no... three... no... six shadowy shapes all around her, grabbing her legs, pulling them every which way. Before she could make the slightest of sounds, she found a dirty cloth pulled over her mouth, preventing any sound except for the smallest of whines. It was only a few seconds later that she found herself blinded by another dirty rag, and her legs tied to the four posts of the bed, completely defenseless to the souls in the room around her. The room was eerily silent as she heavily breathed, the only sounds in the room coming from her panicked whining and the heavy clopping of hooves on the floor next to the bed. No words were spoken for nearly a minute as Fluttershy assumed that the ponies or zebra or whatever were inspecting her, the thought of what was to come terrifying her to no end. Finally, one of the attackers, a male voice, spoke. “Good job boys. Time to fix this feathered problem...” A/N: I'm sorry...